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Astell&Kern AK380
Jan 21, 2017 at 11:57 PM Post #7,653 of 9,040
rei87 said:


3 CU units, 3 different states of internal mods....
Of course, what is a good comparison without some good ole blind tests.....
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A friend of mine was telling me about the internal mods done to his own AK300. I have been very skeptical about these stickers all along, but I must admit, the bass on his AK300 does sound a little more textured, a little weightier. Fearing that I might be succumbing to placebo, I tried another friend's AK240, with a sticker mod attached to his volume pot, and the bass presentation on his AK240 was certainly more prominent than on mine.
 
In any case, I might be tempted to get the volume pot sticker, just for the heck of it. I did hear some differences, and I can't explain it, but it did sound pretty good.
 
Jan 22, 2017 at 3:37 AM Post #7,656 of 9,040
rei87 said:
Not yet, that will come when I drop by Japan again end year. For now, its small stages reversible mods and enhancements to the player heh

Its nice being able to A/B these mods side by side, and not rely on memory which can be doubted.


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thomashk said:
  Quantum...Stickers...
 
Guys, ...
 

 
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Well, we went 'full retard', because we wanted to and could test the results 
bigsmile_face.gif


But, I'm sure that you must also have done your own tests to be so sure of your position, correct?  You must have at least done at least some A/B tests with two 380CUs; one modded 380CU and an unmodded 380CU side by side, right? Right? 
wink_face.gif
 

After all, from what I've seen, this forum has a strong belief of doing A/B tests, and blind tests if possible, when making assertions. Some pictures of your test rigs (opened up to show the mods of course), would be helpful to show where I might have gone wrong and added in confounds to the test.
 
Jan 22, 2017 at 3:42 AM Post #7,657 of 9,040
rei87 said:
 

 

Well, we went 'full retard', because we wanted to and could test the results 
bigsmile_face.gif


But, I'm sure that you must also have done your own tests to be so sure of your position, correct?  You must have at least done at least some A/B tests with two 380CUs; one modded 380CU and an unmodded 380CU side by side, right? Right? 
wink_face.gif
 

After all, from what I've seen, this forum has a strong belief of doing A/B tests, and blind tests if possible, when making assertions. Some pictures of your test rigs (opened up to show the mods of course), would be helpful to show where I might have gone wrong and added in confounds to the test.
Click to expand...

Well, since you're the one to bring up A/B testing, was your testing of these mods blind? Otherwise... the visual cue of "now I'm listening to mod A/B/C" makes whatever outcomes you're supposedly hearing hard to believe. 
 
Come on guys, just look at the website of these quantum stickers. This to me is on the same level of BS snake oil as the magical crystals from back in the day.
 
Jan 22, 2017 at 3:50 AM Post #7,658 of 9,040
Does Hello Kitty stickers on the volume port improve the sound quality of my AK240 further?!
 
Jan 22, 2017 at 6:41 AM Post #7,660 of 9,040
thomashk said:
  Well, since you're the one to bring up A/B testing, was your testing of these mods blind? Otherwise... the visual cue of "now I'm listening to mod A/B/C" makes whatever outcomes you're supposedly hearing hard to believe. 
 
Come on guys, just look at the website of these quantum stickers. This to me is on the same level of BS snake oil as the magical crystals from back in the day.
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Oh, lets not dodge the question :) Did you manage to conduct any comparison with multiple sets of CU units? I am sure you did. I mean, you couldnt have just claimed it to be ?BS snake oil" by just reading the site. 
 
Oh, and of course I wouldnt have mentioned A/B testing without some sort of blind testing. But before I mention how we did it, I am sure you will reveal your tests on these stickers :) 
 
Jan 22, 2017 at 8:12 AM Post #7,662 of 9,040
malevolent said:
   
A friend of mine was telling me about the internal mods done to his own AK300. I have been very skeptical about these stickers all along, but I must admit, the bass on his AK300 does sound a little more textured, a little weightier. Fearing that I might be succumbing to placebo, I tried another friend's AK240, with a sticker mod attached to his volume pot, and the bass presentation on his AK240 was certainly more prominent than on mine.
 
In any case, I might be tempted to get the volume pot sticker, just for the heck of it. I did hear some differences, and I can't explain it, but it did sound pretty good.
Click to expand...

 
I think what's often overlooked and hardly mentioned here with headphone/IEM/DAPs is the possibility of minute variations between the same model product during the manufacturing process. I understand products are assembled on a product line but when you consider each individual component having been manufactured indefinitely 100% the same is a long shot, there is certainly opportunity for various threshold levels. Think how many components go into a unit like AK380 (or any DAP), consider the different batches and quality control of components used over time, even the battery.
 
My money some of the time between varying opinions/comparisons goes on slight product variation. Just recently I purchased a second iBasso DX90 unit (love its performance), despite having both units on the same firmware running identically branded micro sd cards and their stock iBasso batteries one sounded slightly different. And I've also heard this with the same model IEM on multiple occasions.  Its an area never really brought up much I think needs consideration. 
 
.
 
Jan 22, 2017 at 8:58 AM Post #7,663 of 9,040
rei87 said:
Oh, lets not dodge the question :) Did you manage to conduct any comparison with multiple sets of CU units? I am sure you did. I mean, you couldnt have just claimed it to be ?BS snake oil" by just reading the site. 

 
Oh, and of course I wouldnt have mentioned A/B testing without some sort of blind testing. But before I mention how we did it, I am sure you will reveal your tests on these stickers :) 
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Of course not! The only people that have maybe done that are the handful of guys in this thread crazy enough to buy stickers for their super expensive DAPs :D

So your conclusion of your well organised, blind A/B testing was that stickers improved the sound beyond any reasonable doubt? That's amazing! It will change Hifi as we know it!
 
Jan 22, 2017 at 9:47 AM Post #7,664 of 9,040
thomashk said:
Of course not! The only people that have maybe done that are the handful of guys in this thread crazy enough to buy stickers for their super expensive DAPs :D

So your conclusion of your well organised, blind A/B testing was that stickers improved the sound beyond any reasonable doubt? That's amazing! It will change Hifi as we know it!
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Time to purchase some hello kitty stickers for my dap!!
 
Jan 22, 2017 at 10:00 AM Post #7,665 of 9,040
I seriously wonder how will Birgir aka Spritzer or Prof Kevin Gilmore of the Stax Mafia would comment if someone were to open their amps and apply those stickers and oil on the components.....

It would really be interesting for such experts and well known figures in the audio industry to chime in on this .
 
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