[DrSheep]

  What does LOD stand for?

I guess I can understand the design philosophy behind AK wanting to pair their new flagship player with soup-to-nuts accessories, but I shudder to think what the price for the CD drive will be.  I guess we'll see if there are enough really wealthy audiophiles out there with money to burn who are also technically obtuse with computers to justify it.  But why would such a person buy CD's in the first place?  And how do you add tags or album art?

Also, noise isn't an issue for digital information.

Line Out Dock to bypass the internal amp and what not.

 

[piksnz]

Any info on preorders or SQ?

 

[goodvibes]

AIFF is almost the same quality as wave.

It's technically the same quality, as is FLAC or ALAC though I'm a .wav kind of guy. Nice that AIFF tags better than WAV. On a computer, I'd use DBpoweramp as my ripper tagger. I believe it's now available for the latest OS as well as Windows. This is what I'd use for CDs without a dedicated ripper/server.
 
Nice to see this thread has settled down a bit.

 

[Audiowood]

  For me at least the sonic improvement over the AK240 is obvious and naturally expected. Although it's not marked as a replacement of the AK240 (I asked Alex An if the AK240 will continue to be sold and firmware continued to be developed, the answer is "yes" - coming from his FB I don't know if it's his personal or work account), the AK380 does seem to be targeted as a more superior model to the AK240 rather than a replacement.

I'm told I'll be getting a loaner when it's closer to production (which isn't far off).

 
Good to hear.. I am actually hoping to that Ak380 would be at least on par with Chord Hugo, as the AK240 sounded pretty close but still not there yet. In direct comparison, the Hugo sound stage is larger and bass goes lower, overall dynamic is punchier and sounded more natural (Analog). If the Ak380 sounded as good as Hugo, I dun mind that $1000 more as getting hugo to pair Ak240 is $5000 + cable etc, with Ak380 I save $1500 overall. I feel the weakness of AK240 is in the amp section, as I tested the DAC section with Zana Duex, it sounded better with Hugo. Not sure how much the amp would cost, but I am hoping AK380 can achieve Hugo level without the amp module (Since I am using LCD X - easy to drive).
 
You also mention something about the borrowing Layla from Currawong and I assume you must be impress. I am very close to getting the layla myself but was afraid that being flat may not be my cup of tea. How is it really, do you prefer that over your other IEM - any input helps alot.

 

[Audiowood]

Oh wow another promising report that sunk my wallet.
 
 "Bass did have more impact and it was without doubt a more complete sounding standalone player. It’s still got the familiar 240 sound though, great clarity, refinement, detail and more of a clinical sound than a warm luscious dynamic one"
 
So more bass than AK240 - yeah!
 
"I will say that in a quick AB between my 240 to Leckerton UHA760 rig and the 380 in balanced, I wasn’t rushing to get my wallet out for a 380, there were aspects that were more detailed and more refined but I didn’t feel I could have justified the cost."
 
so AK380 sound better than AK240 with Lecerton UHA760 (not sure which OP-Amp version). Anyway thats a good sign on the AK380 amp section. Unfortunately I feel it may justify the cost as I luv to carry only one DAP with no amp attached. Tried of Hugo and AK240 combo. 
 
I wonder how much is the amp module, I bet its gonna cost another grand.. i dunno.
 
RWAK is very likely going to dissect it and found a cheap copper wire hidden somewhere and offer to replace it with gold. Its too bad knowing that you spend already spend $3800.. so why not go all the way. so there you go.. Ooommphh

 

[warrior1975]

Definitely getting more interesting... I should probably unsubscribe this thread and save myself money and the agony of making a costly decision.

That last mini review debit has piqued my interest even further...

 

[jwbrent]

Enjoy the Music has a review ...

 

[jwbrent]

Has anyone heard what the price will be for the CD ripper and whether it will work with a 240?

 

[DrSheep]

  Has anyone heard what the price will be for the CD ripper and whether it will work with a 240?

No idea but from the pics it looks as if the CD is connected to the dock and not to the AK380 directly, so who knows what's going on in between.

 

[Mython]

  Has anyone heard what the price will be for the CD ripper and whether it will work with a 240?

 
 
The price of a decent industry-standard external CD ROM drive is, what, $75?
 
I rip all my CDs using Exact Audio Copy (EAC), because the error correction is very reliable. I cannot reasonably conceive of a more reliable method of accurately ripping CDs, regardless of price (unless one has access to the kind of multi-thousand-dollar industrial-grade drives used by CD replication plants). Therefore, I can't help but think the AK ripping drive is rather gimmicky for all but the very-most-severe computer luddites (and I'm assuming that head-fiers have access to a computer, if they are regular contributors, unless they only ever access the forum using a smartphone or tablet device).
 
Are there any head-fiers here, with a large CD collection, who do not have access to a computer with a CD-ROM drive?

 

[bflat]

  No idea but from the pics it looks as if the CD is connected to the dock and not to the AK380 directly, so who knows what's going on in between.

I don't see a power cord to the CD ROM so it must be getting power from the USB port on the dock. Therefore, the answer to the original question is no, will not work with and AK240 unless there is a new dock for the AK240. Of all the things I would seriously consider buying is an equivalent AK240 dock with the balanced out.

 

[DrSheep]

   
 
The price of a decent industry-standard external CD ROM drive is, what, $75?
 
I rip all my CDs using Exact Audio Copy (EAC), because the error correction is very reliable. I cannot reasonably conceive of a more reliable method of accurately ripping CDs, regardless of price (unless one has access to the kind of multi-thousand-dollar industrial-grade drives used by CD replication plants). Therefore, I can't help but think the AK ripping drive is rather gimmicky for all but the very-most-severe computer luddites (and I'm assuming that head-fiers have access to a computer, if they are regular contributors, unless they only ever access the forum using a smartphone or tablet device).
 
Are there any head-fiers here, with a large CD collection, who do not have access to a computer with a CD-ROM drive?

Just make sure you run EAC with the AccurateRip plug in.
 

I don't see a power cord to the CD ROM so it must be getting power from the USB port on the dock. Therefore, the answer to the original question is no, will not work with and AK240 unless there is a new dock for the AK240. Of all the things I would seriously consider buying is an equivalent AK240 dock with the balanced out.

Well, doesn't the AK240 supports OTG?  Although unlikely, I wouldn't rule out the possibility yet.

 

[bflat]

   
 
The price of a decent industry-standard external CD ROM drive is, what, $75?
 
I rip all my CDs using Exact Audio Copy (EAC), because the error correction is very reliable. I cannot reasonably conceive of a more reliable method of accurately ripping CDs, regardless of price (unless one has access to the kind of multi-thousand-dollar industrial-grade drives used by CD replication plants). Therefore, I can't help but think the AK ripping drive is rather gimmicky for all but the very-most-severe computer luddites (and I'm assuming that head-fiers have access to a computer, if they are regular contributors, unless they only ever access the forum using a smartphone or tablet device).
 
Are there any head-fiers here, with a large CD collection, who do not have access to a computer with a CD-ROM drive?

No, Amazon has several for under $25. If there is such a AK380 buyer who needs to rip their CD collection without their own drive, then it's far better and easier to ship your CDs off to one of many ripping services who charge about less than $1 per CD to rip them in the format of your choice and with full meta data and album cover art. Of course I am assuming the AK CD player is going to be $299.

 

[Mython]

  Just make sure you run EAC with the AccurateRip plug in.

 
Yes, I do, thanks - not that it actually seems to improve ripping quality, as such. Just checks to see if your rip matches what someone else previously ripped, so far as I can tell

 

[bflat]

  Well, doesn't the AK240 supports OTG?  Although unlikely, I wouldn't rule out the possibility yet.

Sure, OTG will allow AK240 to switch to host mode, but there is no way the AK240 is going to provide 1-2 amps of current to power the CD drive. The new AK380 docks appears to have an AC power source which would also provide the necessary ground for the balanced XLR ports.