[AnakChan]

So the demo AK380 I've got in my hands for the past 5 days has had probably only about 30 hrs of burn in. I'm still having glitches whereby I simply can't play my DSD/DXD files as the volume is fixed for 95% of the time. I'm therefore limited to FLAC for now. I've escalated my issues to iRiver and will see what they say.
 
Meanwhile I've had the opportunity to run this side-by-side to the Calyx M which I've borrowed from @Currawong.
 
Points noted about the AK380 so far (aside from the fixed volume on DSD) :-
- boot up takes quite a long time
- can run pretty hot
+ UI is the familiar AK240-styled UI. Smooth and fast
= Size in hand is large but still quite manageable
+ 2.5mm TRRS works great...no crackle, not cutouts (with the Beat Audio Prima Donna so far)
+ Volume dial is smooth, no skipping

Sonics: Bear in mind that it's still pretty new and I can't test DSD which is what I usually test most stuff on. (Comparing to the Calyx M as that's the only other DAP I have at the moment).
It seems to have a slightly warmer signature and a feels like a marginally more textured bass than the Calyx M.  Along with that seems to have greater depth imaging but only slightly. Despite that, the Calyx M has a slightly deeper rumble in the sub bass level.
 
Soundstage, despite all the buzz about it being bigger than the (RW)AK240(SS) variants - which I do agree with - I'm actually finding the Calyx M to be even wider. As such I also feel the Calyx M has a slightly greater separation.
 
Resolution-wise, they both seem to be on par. If anything I think there's just a bare hairline more resolution in the AK380 whilst the Calyx M just that slightly more "wooliness" but's really a very miniscule difference.

I'm gonna burn in the AK380 more whilst waiting to see what iRiver has got to say about the DSD volume issue. But otherwise, right at this particular moment, ignoring the Calyx M's size and slower GUI, I'm actually leaning in more towards the Calyx M's signature. The strengths of the Calyx M in terms of of the soundstage and the big sound it produces seem to be more grabbing than the misc smaller benefits of the AK380 over the Caylx M. Let's see if burn-in and future firmware upgrades to the AK380 would change that.

 

[ianmedium]

So I got to listen for a good number of hours this weekend to a friends 380 and compared it to my 120/glove set up listening unbalanced through my well burned innT5P's

I am not going to bother with talk about price. If someone really wants this they will pay whatever it costs. Heck, people thought I was mad when I spent $1200 on my 120, these are not rational purchases after all as we are trying to get the last ounce out of our experience, if we did not do that we would all be listening on our phones to low bit rate mp3's!

So, well. I was impressed with the sound quality over what I had heard when listening to the stock 240 which frankly left me cold as I felt it just sounded mechanical and very HiFi bells and wow which I found after four tracks in very tiring and boring.

The 380'is not like that, it's much more like my glove/120 combo, much more natural and organic sounding but with slightly better micro detail resolution than my glove/120 set up. A bit more space around the instruments as well.

Mids were about equal to my set set up, treble a tiny bit sweeter and bass a little better resolved over the glove/120.

It's a very nice sounding unit and overall very similar in sound signature to my glove/120 but with the slight differences mentioned.

When I went back to listening to the glove/120 I did not feel that those differences that the 380 had warranted for me needing to change to it.

In my experience the differences were so small that listening to my set up I almost immediately forgot about them and just got absorbed in what both players do really well, forgetting the micro details we all fixate on as audiophiles and just getting lost in the emotion of the music.

I would compare both the 120/glove/380 to Naim equipment that has been well set up and matched. Lots of emotion, pace, rhythm and timing which really engage one to the point you forget about the technicalities.

As to the gadgets on the 380 I have no interest in them so did not bother playing with them, simply listened to the music.

On the strength of this I am even more impressed with what Mike has done with the glove and its integration with the 120 and feel no need to change.

If I did not own the glove/120 it would be a tough choice. Either find a gently used or NOS120 and get a new glove or keep things simpler and purchase a one box solution in the 380.

I think what I would love to see AK do is bring out a 380 stripped down with a simple interface, none of the techie bells and whistles and sell it for just under 2K, I think that would be wonderful. Just a pure music player. Get rid of the android OS ( never been a fan of that) and have a UI like the 120 which I can live with easily.

If you have the 380 well done, it's a marked improvement in terms of musicality and emotion over the 240 I feel.

If your in the market for a 240 I would say save your pennies and get the 380 as it's just so much more involving.

If, like me you have the glove/120/100 then unless you want the extra technical bells and whistles of the 380 then use the money you would have spent on more music, after all, that's what this is all about in the end eh!

 

[burtomr]

WoW...$1000 vs $3500......

....
 
I know, I know price is irrelevant (not really!?) but that's quite a difference.

 

[AnakChan]

WoW...$1000 vs $3500......:eek: ....

I know, I know price is irrelevant (not really!?) but that's quite a difference.

Mine could well be a botched demo unit (cos no one else seems to be having this DSD volume issue so far!?) but let's just say it's an isolated issue not affecting the rest of the AK380, right now I'm going to have to say I prefer the Calyx sound.

Now maybe 100 hrs to 200 hrs later my opinion may change...or it may not!!??

P.S. Comparing within the AK world though I agree with what others have said here.

 

[Jalo]

@Anakchan, if future reviews hold up to what you said about the Calyx M and the 380. I can see a newer version or mk2 of the 380 from A&K sooner than later. It seems like that A&K have a tendency and history to not improve on their existing models but rather releasing mk2 or a new model where they put their new improvements for the sake of marketing. If Calyx M can compete with 380 step for step, and given the big difference in price, AK has no choice but to improve on the level of the 380 and release and newer model. Meanwhile I am enjoying my 240ss greatly.

 

[angelom]

Okay, so, I went to see Phil at Custom Cables, auditioned the AK240, AK380, Acoustic Research M2, and my ZX2...

Out of the two AKs, I'll buck the trend and say that the 240 sounded better to me, cleaner tonally, the 380 seemed a little shouty to me, I walked out of the store with the M2... Relatively speaking, a fraction of the cost of the AKs, but not too far off of them overall, nicer screen, seemingly more power on tap, happy

As such, guess I'm bowing out of this thread...

 
 

again, subtle differences, slightly wider panning, and placement accuracy...

To me, if you'd never owned an AK (and / or general high end DAP) then the 380 would be the best overall, even despite that (to me) slight emphasis on the mids, the sound quality is (annoyingly) fantastic... But by the same token, if you have, and are used to, the 240, then that change in tonality may well be more of a turn off than a turn on, and the overall difference to these ears, unless you have a HUGE disposable income, isn't justified as a second purchase (I tip my hat to Pierce (sorry if I have the name wrong am on iOS whilst posting) for having both however, cannot help but have envy at his wallet!!)...

Both have an inky black output with the Laylas which I can no longer say is true of the ZX2 (funny how ignorance is bliss!) so cannot say that one has a better noise floor than the other, just that both are fantastic in that regard...

Some cynicisms from me, stupidly hard to volume match as the two players have different scales (the 380 has a much higher on screen scaling than the 240), but one improvement that the 380 has is that the balanced (2.5mm) output is on by default, rather than the 240 where it is an either / or scenario (so, if you had two of the same sets of the siren earphones on the 380 you can do a realtime single ended versus balanced comparison, impossible on the 240 from what I can see, although as I didn't have two pairs, it might be a case that plugging into one output disables the other, am unsure)...

The screens are very different, I must confess that as I was concentrating on the music I forget which one was which, however one had natural colouring, the other was oversaturated...

So, why did I walk out with the M2? Cheaper, drives the Laylas fantastically, gives them equal authority (if not arguably Moreso) than the AK players they're designed for, and the thought of having £5k's worth of gear in my pocket whilst walking through the streets of London.. /shudder...

 
 
Hello Duncan.
 
I'm a little confused because of the two parts I put in bold in your two posts. Do you think personally that the ak240 is better or the ak380?
 
Please can you saying more in detail why you preferring Acoustic Research M2 than ak240 and ak380?
 
Thank you.

 

[AnakChan]

@Anakchan, if future reviews hold up to what you said about the Calyx M and the 380. I can see a newer version or mk2 of the 380 from A&K sooner than later. It seems like that A&K have a tendency and history to not improve on their existing models but rather releasing mk2 or a new model where they put their new improvements for the sake of marketing. If Calyx M can compete with 380 step for step, and given the big difference in price, AK has no choice but to improve on the level of the 380 and release and newer model. Meanwhile I am enjoying my 240ss greatly.

 
I wouldn't say they haven't. So far I haven't heard any one complain about the  2.5mm TRRS socket and the volume (yet)? At least with my very preliminary tests, I'm actually going to say that AK has been consistent in what it's doing...take that statement for how you will . But it's the Calyx M, to me, is the surprise. I heard the Calyx M 1 year ago with it's old firmware and didn't even care for it. The v1.01 firmware is a game changer to the Calyx M.

 

[ianmedium]

WoW...$1000 vs $3500......:eek: ....

I know, I know price is irrelevant (not really!?) but that's quite a difference.

Not reall as the combined cost of the glove and 120 was $1800 as I purchased both new.

I think though is that there are certainly differences where the 380 is superior but as we all know at this end of the spectrum the differences are not as night and day as say comparing a $200 player with a $1500 player, well, in my personal experience anyway.

 

[ianmedium]

Mine could well be a botched demo unit (cos no one else seems to be having this DSD volume issue so far!?) but let's just say it's an isolated issue not affecting the rest of the AK380, right now I'm going to have to say I prefer the Calyx sound.

Now maybe 100 hrs to 200 hrs later my opinion may change...or it may not!!??

P.S. Comparing within the AK world though I agree with what others have said here.

I saw you wrote your thoughts after I posted mine without reading yours and having heard the calyx as well would agree completely with you.

I was just keeping my thoughts within the confines of choosing between Astell & Kern players.

In truth if my set failed right now and would cost more to fix than was worthwhile doing I too would go for the Calyx, deeply impressed with the sound quality of that one but more importantly ( and I think actually this point is more important at this level than anything else) the sound signature is much more to my liking.

In fact. It's a player I have recommended to friends on a number of occasions as I liked the way it plays music so much.

If I did not have a player at the movement and did not want to stay within the AK landscape which in all honesty I don't anymore then I would go for the Calyx in a heartbeat and save a bunch of money which could go to improving my headphone set up and more music!

 

[burtomr]

Not reall as the combined cost of the glove and 120 was $1800 as I purchased both new.

I think though is that there are certainly differences where the 380 is superior but as we all know at this end of the spectrum the differences are not as night and day as say comparing a $200 player with a $1500 player, well, in my personal experience anyway.

 
Oh yes, I know Ian...I was actually responding to Sean's Calyx M vs. AK380 post.

 

[ianmedium]

Oh yes, I know Ian...I was actually responding to Sean's Calyx M vs. AK380 post.

Ahh, got you now! In that case, yeah, wow, the Calyx is a serious impressive player and who would have thought even four years ago that we would be calling a $1000 player a "bargain"!

 

[jwbrent]

I think though is that there are certainly differences where the 380 is superior but as we all know at this end of the spectrum the differences are not as night and day as say comparing a $200 player with a $1500 player, well, in my personal experience anyway.

 
I agree with you here. High end audio is about diminishing returns as more and more money is spent, however, as we become absorbed in our hobby, those small differences we pay large sums of money for become more and more meaningful.

 

[cheznous]

It is interesting to read the comments so far and also my own poor experience with the AK380.
I think we may have reached the point that there is not really much to be done to improve the current top DAPs which retail say
average 1,000 pounds.
I think perhaps AK have over reached themselves with the AK380 and the consensus may well be that it is not worth the money.
I think the biggest incremental improvements I have experienced have come when I changed fromm my Westone 4r to the Shure 846 and recently the Laylas. Now they were big worthwhile changes.
I do believe the AK380 is actually stupidly overpriced and gives no improvement, yes I will say it, no improvement over the other current top players.

 

[Duncan]

Hello Duncan.

I'm a little confused because of the two parts I put in bold in your two posts. Do you think personally that the ak240 is better or the ak380?

Please can you saying more in detail why you preferring Acoustic Research M2 than ak240 and ak380?

Thank you.

hi!

On the second post, the next sentence after the bold helps to explain, that whilst the AK380 isn't necessarily for me due to increased mid presence, overall for majority of people, the increased mids will be more of a turn on than a turn off, but if having, and liking the 240, the cost to me isn't justified...

Re the M2, it just presses my buttons more tonally, and the sheer power it has grabs the Layla's, throws them around the room, and beats them into submission, fantastic drive for a fraction of the cost of the AKs...

But, the fact the M2 cannot do gapless with the stock player is somewhat insulting at this price level in 2015... Also, you cannot scan tracks with the hardware buttons, only skip, but hopefully as an early adopter, I'll be rewarded with a firmware update to fix those foibles.

 

[angelom]

Thank you for reply Duncan.
 
I think that I understand better now. I will read more about M2 too and I hope future firmware makes this player better.