[warrior1975]

AK already said no SS version, they wouldn't lie to us about a future dap...

LMAO@cosmicholyghost

 

[Sauntere]

http://audiophileon.com/news/astell-kern-ak380-player

 
It may well be true but it reads like an opinion piece from a hater.
 
I won't be buying one of these either since since i already own an overpriced AK240. I think to get any real improvements in SQ
we need to wait a few generations of players for a technological breakthrough or implementation breakthrough. 

 

[Audiowood]

Just read this very different account of the 380 after listening at this years high end 2015 show

http://audiophileon.com/news/astell-kern-ak380-player

 
Thanks for the link.
 
LOL .. I wasn't expecting such a review. I would thought it will mention some vast improvement and best ever he has ever heard like so many out there..
 
"the company now has an extensive line of players covering a variety of price points which to be honest... don't sound that much different from one another."
"That price is £3000 which I find every bit as unnecessary as it is ridiculous."
 
 

 

[Audiowood]

Personally I find the AK380 a very beautiful player. I am still on the fence about to buy or not, I am very happy with AK240 right now.

 

[AnakChan]

  At last someone has the intellectual honesty to say this. I should test soon against my AK240SS...will see.

I'm sure this is going to make me sound like an AK lover but you'll just simply have to take my word for it that I'm indifferent to AK and any other brand.
 
That, to me, was hardly a review that, to me, such a post on his page is a disservice to the audiophile community and his readers. There was very little about the product itself and its sound more a rant about the price. The little sonic review component I read is that the "audible difference appears virtually indistinguishable" from it's AK120 & AK240 brothers, which I'd politely disagree. At least in my ownership of the AK120 & AK240, they're noticeably distinguishable.  To say the AK380 is indistinguishable from the AK120 & AK240 is to also imply the AK120 & AK240 themselves are also indistinguishable from each other.
 
The only sentence I do agree is that the AK380 is an exploitation of this hobby, but so is the AK240, Ak120, Paw Gold and any other player that's over $1000 (and we do let ourselves get exploited so we only have ourselves to blame). That's assuming the AK380 is for "us", but as alluded many posts ago, AK is heading the way of a lifestyle brand, not solely audiophile brand.
 
My take, research more about the reviewer himself to get a better understanding of "how he hears". This isn't anything personal against audiophileON but I'd rather know about the reviewer himself to see if there's a general trend of "in-common" hearing with my ears, or not. And briefly perusing through his site, I feel there's little that reviewer & I have in common.

 

[ianmedium]

I think he mentioned some valid points that have not been brought up by other reviewers or press about this player for instances the player freezing up which to me is completely unacceptable at this price point and A&K's excuse was just as unacceptable. To me it shows that they have not listened to previous purchasers and are quite content in feeling it is more important for acts of one upmanship to be maintained than it is to wait to release a player that works properly.

We have had it will all of their players now, you would think that they would have learned and instead waited another six months so as to iron out these bugs instead of expecting people to pay to do that for them.

I understand what you say that A&K are not forcing anyone to own their players but they do know their audience and they know a great many of them are young and impatient so will jump!

I also disagree that he is doing a disservice to the community. All he is saying is what a lot of us owners are saying and it's something I rarely if ever see from the usual suspects that review the equipment.

My hearing must not be as good as yours as though I can hear differences they are not as monumental as some say they are.
When I compared my 120 back to back with the 240 I could hear tonal differences which are not the same as improvements in SQ. in the end as you know I went the glove route as that for me gave more of a difference and improvement in sound quality for a great deal less money.

He does like the sound of the players but at what cost? That's his commentary and I think it's personally refreshing to hear such candor instead of the usual excuses and sycophancy that is the product of most of the reviewers and bloggers one sees.

Honestly, have you ever seen a reviewer talk about bugs or freezing screens before, I have not. Neither have we seen anywhere what a dealer told me this weekend that the problem A&K have acknowledged to him that occurs on certain 120's mine included which is that the number one slot for the so card is prone to problems and is why they got rid of two card slots. Shame I heard of this long after my warranty is out of date!

No, I do think it fitting to have harsh critique of a company and its products when that company is continually pushing up the cost of its players which, like headphones has a knock on effect with other companies.

Remember, this is not the terra player, a one man band who builds the things at home, that I could expect to have issues to sort out ( but from what I recal its a very stable DAP in that respect) but with a company the size of iRiver and the resources at its disposal half baked products are pretty much inexcusable I feel.

You know how much I have championed them in the past but one can only go so far with that when so many people including myself have had serious issues that should not have been there in the first place!

I will be transparent here. When the 240 came out I was offered a very favorable discount ( which I declined as I did not feel right in accepting that) if I exchanged my player for the new one as I had done some favorable reviews, a discount not open to normal purchasers. I wonder how many who review their players have been offered the same...

 

[AnakChan]

> I think he mentioned some valid points that have not been brought up by other reviewers or press about this player for instances the player freezing up which to me is completely unacceptable at this price point and A&K's excuse was just as unacceptable.

About the freezing, there is a reason why the product isn't released yet except HK. Latest info is that the AK380 is still a few weeks away from release in Japan and US. What was the date of the review? This is beta firmware of which is a different versioning from the AK240 (presumably to incorporate CD burning capabilities, etc.). Also, if it's a different DAC, would the firmware require different kernel modules to support the AKM vs the CS?
 
BTW, I didn't encounter any freezes when I tried the AK380.
 
> I understand what you say that A&K are not forcing anyone to own their players but they do know their audience and they know a great many of them are young and impatient so will jump!
 
I agree, I think AK knows who their audience is - I am actually saying we're making the mistake to think the audience is primarily us.
 
> I also disagree that he is doing a disservice to the community. All he is saying is what a lot of us owners are saying and it's something I rarely if ever see from the usual suspects that review the equipment.

OK we agree to disagree about that page being a disservice. I still stand by my comment that it's not a review. I do agree he's saying what a lot of the other members here are saying however he had the further advantage of touching/playing the device which the members here haven't and his conclusion is that it's virtually indistinguishable from the other AK players and competitors? That's why I encourage members to read his other reviews, see if it applies to you. This will provide a better confidence if his reviews apply to the audience or not.

> My hearing must not be as good as yours as though I can hear differences they are not as monumental as some say they are.
 
I think we're all aware of the law of diminishing returns. But this isn't what the page was saying. He was saying "virtually indistinguishable".
 
I disagree with AK's pricing and I've mentioned before my feedback isn't just to the audience here but to the makers themselves. What they do with my opinion is up to them. However, I don't speak for everyone's wallet and RoV varies greatly from one individual to another and it's not for me to decide.
 

 

[Googaliser]

In terms of the AK380 being a disservice to this hobby, applying the same logic to other hobbies:
 
La Ferrari is a disservice to car enthusiasts
dCS Vivaldi is a disservice to Audiophiles
Petrus is a disservice to Wine lovers
 
All the above are top percentile price-wise and on the flat part of the diminishing return curve, but the world is a more interesting place with them, than without them in my view. Plus the R&D finds its way into the other 99% quite quickly benefitting us all eventually. 

 

[ianmedium]

He did not say the player was a disservice but the reviewer was! And seriously, Any portable player should never be mentioned in the same breath as the DCS, that's almost sacrilege!

 

[Googaliser]

He did not say the player was a disservice but the reviewer was! And seriously, Any portable player should never be mentioned in the same breath as the DCS, that's almost sacrilege!

Apologies, you are right - although the journalist wrote the following, which is equivalent to a disservice:
" To me the AK380 seems far more of an exploitation of this hobby than a contribution to it." 
 
The reference to the dCS Vivaldi was in the context of both representing the top 1% of their respective genre's, price-wise - not a reference to their relative sound quality.

 

[Rotijon]

  In terms of the AK380 being a disservice to this hobby, applying the same logic to other hobbies:
 
La Ferrari is a disservice to car enthusiasts
dCS Vivaldi is a disservice to Audiophiles
Petrus is a disservice to Wine lovers
 
All the above are top percentile price-wise and on the flat part of the diminishing return curve, but the world is a more interesting place with them, than without them in my view. Plus the R&D finds its way into the other 99% quite quickly benefitting us all eventually. 

They dont make a new La Ferrari every year. Plus, you couldn't get one even if you want one. I dont need to tell you how amazing the Laferrari is

DCS vivaldi is FGPA done right, even though FGPA is basically reinventing the wheel, at least they do it pretty damn well. Its like insisting tyres are handmade, well, at least its handmade.

Petrus, i know jack about wine, no comment.

There is nothing, absolutely nothing innovative about the AK380 and the technology in it. Its only success is in proving that people are thick and are willing to pay more for imaginary increase in performance. The reviewer is right, the AK380 seems far more of an exploitation of this hobby than a contribution to it.

 

[raypin]

  In terms of the AK380 being a disservice to this hobby, applying the same logic to other hobbies:
 
La Ferrari is a disservice to car enthusiasts
dCS Vivaldi is a disservice to Audiophiles
Petrus is a disservice to Wine lovers
 
All the above are top percentile price-wise and on the flat part of the diminishing return curve, but the world is a more interesting place with them, than without them in my view. Plus the R&D finds its way into the other 99% quite quickly benefitting us all eventually. 

mmm.....I fully concur......just to add: AK/iRiver has a full range of products catering to all market segments. There's a DAP for everyone in the AK/iRiver world. So, why the hang-up on the AK 380???? I don't get it. If you think the AK 380 is not better than the AK 240, then buy the AK 240 and save yourself the thousand buck difference. If you think the AK 240 is not better than the AK 120 II, then buy the latter. If you think the entire AK range are just not better than any of the cheap iRiver MP3 player, then stick with the cheap iRiver MP3 players. For me, it is elementary: it all boils down to choice. AK/iRiver provides us with that choice. As does Fiio, Hifiman, iBasso, Terra, etc. Me? I'm an AK 240 lover. Will I buy the AK 380? I'm tempted but I'd like to hear it straight from the horse's ears first before rendering my personal verdict.

 

[LouisArmstrong]

Simply because the price has treaded well into traditional Hi-fi brand territory.  I would pick the traditional brands like Esoteric, dCS or Chord any day rather than IRIVER (well I know very well that the former two don't make portable DACs / players so don't give me a lecture on comparing apples to oranges yada yada yada). AK380 is simply not worth it, period. 

 

[LouisArmstrong]

  In terms of the AK380 being a disservice to this hobby, applying the same logic to other hobbies:
 
La Ferrari is a disservice to car enthusiasts
dCS Vivaldi is a disservice to Audiophiles
Petrus is a disservice to Wine lovers
 
All the above are top percentile price-wise and on the flat part of the diminishing return curve, but the world is a more interesting place with them, than without them in my view. Plus the R&D finds its way into the other 99% quite quickly benefitting us all eventually. 

I agree with the three examples you raised but I don't find the world to be a more interesting place with the AK380. It can certainly do without it.

 

[raypin]

mmm.......traditional vs. newcomer? Sometimes the newcomers win. Lamborghini started as a farm tractor company. Look at where they are now. Raging bull vs. prancing horse. Both are now at par.