[Sound Eq]

  I could be wrong, but I've never seen an AK presence on Head-Fi  to respond to users/buyers comments.  My guess is that a large segment of their customer base frequents this place, or at least stops in once in awhile.  I think it would be a smart strategy on their part.  Their might even be a good reason why the amp is designed the way it is.  If that's the case, I'd love to hear it from AK/Iriver.

to be honest all respect to fiio and ibasso and other companies then who at least are here on the forums and take us seriously
 
i am selling my ak380 combo and i will buy a fiio x7 or the new ibasso dap 

 

[DrSheep]

  to be honest all respect to fiio and ibasso and other companies then who at least are here on the forums and take us seriously
 
i am selling my ak380 combo and i will buy a fiio x7 or the new ibasso dap 

So quickly?

 

[Sound Eq]

  So quickly?

unfortunately yes because i am not happy at all compared to the price i paid for
 
i invested over 4000 usd for nothing
 
i could have bought so much gear and be much happier than this ak380 and amp combo
 
i am so unhappy as this was the biggest purchase for me and it was not easy to pay all this and then not get what i expected
 
with my iems even if i feel they can get loud but they sound shouty, only exception is my shure 846
 
when i comapre the 5tx headstage arrow connected to my cowon d  and the sound i get, it makes me so unhappy that i paid over 4000 usd for the ak380 dap and amp combo

 

[biglemoncoke]

from my interaction with jimmy (ops manager from iriver), they are aware of customer discussion within head-fi but that's nothing to say that they actively (and siltently) check for our feedback and include it in their next product iterations...
 
that aside, i too am a bit disappointed on the ak380 but for other reasons... currently dealing with an issue where the unit i received has significant light bleeds...
 
going to send my unit to jimmy and see if they can replace one for me without faults...
 
 
 
 
least to say given that we all paid about 4k for the unit, we should be expecting top quality in both form and functionality.... :/

 

[LouisArmstrong]

In short, A&K is just a luxury wannabe. It has done the price part right, but not the quality part. To me, the AK380 Cu is just another cheap Korean DAP which pretends to be an American / European brand and makes use of audiophiles' (conscious or unconscious) competitive mindsets, and is not that much different from the Cowon D2 that I purchased ages ago. To those who don't give a damn about the price (like me), we still buy it because it sounds reasonably good and because it is cool to say how much it costs - not that it is nearly worth its price. I am just being brutally honest. I would be surprised if I am the only one here to have bought the AK380 (or the Copper version in my case) with this mindset.
 
To those who saved up your good money or spent the better part of your bonus on it - good luck. 
 
AK380 is pretty much like the Apple Watch Edition, only much cheaper. The Edition, for example, is now selling at half price at the Apple Taiwan outlet, less than one year after its debut. You should expect the same when you buy AK, only that the loss is much smaller maybe.

 

[biglemoncoke]

  In short, A&K is just a luxury wannabe. It has done the price part right, but not the quality part. To me, the AK380 Cu is just another cheap Korean DAP which pretends to be an American / European brand and makes use of audiophiles' (conscious or unconscious) competitive mindsets, not much different from the Cowon D2 that I purchased ages ago. To those who don't give a damn about the price (like me), we still buy it because it sounds reasonably good and because it is cool to say how much it costs - not that it is nearly worth its price.
 
To those who saved up your good money or spent the better part of your bonus on it - good luck. I am just being brutally honest. I would be surprised if I am the only one here to have bought the AK380 (or the Copper version in my case) with this mindset.
 
AK380 is pretty much like the Apple Watch Edition, only much cheaper. The Edition, for example, is now selling at half price at the Apple Taiwan outlet, less than one year after its debut. You should expect the same when you buy AK, only that the loss is much smaller maybe.

 sounds about right FeelsBadMan

 

[DrSheep]

I am still find it odd that US and Europe brands playing a relatively minor roll on the high end DAP market, given their long history of high-fi and tech know how.  The Pono is high-res but not high end, and the Tera Player is high priced, but not really high end.

 

[raypin]

 
IMHO, the benefit of adding the amp is small.  I don't know if there's anything they can do to improve via firmware.  I'd have to say at this point, I don't find the benefit worth the purchase price.  Of course, the beauty of the amp is the design. I got mine for a great price as mint-used.  Otherwise, I'd be seriously tempted to return it.
 
I haven't tried it yet, but I'm going to try the  380 with non-AK amps later.  

 
mmmm......based on personal preference, the ak380 cu works really well with the mass kobo 404, alo audio the panam (with the french military tubes)  and the alo audio continental dual mono,  driving the  lcd x, 3f, ether o, beyerdynamic t1 (2. gen) Oppo PMx2,  Oppo PM1 and the hd 800 S. I've had no problems at all. Just enjoying the heck out of the cu........and, oh yeah, my cu has been problem-free. Tarnishing minimized by using the supplied case and using  copper polish.

 

[coolmingli]

  In short, A&K is just a luxury wannabe. It has done the price part right, but not the quality part. To me, the AK380 Cu is just another cheap Korean DAP which pretends to be an American / European brand and makes use of audiophiles' (conscious or unconscious) competitive mindsets, and is not that much different from the Cowon D2 that I purchased ages ago. To those who don't give a damn about the price (like me), we still buy it because it sounds reasonably good and because it is cool to say how much it costs - not that it is nearly worth its price. I am just being brutally honest. I would be surprised if I am the only one here to have bought the AK380 (or the Copper version in my case) with this mindset.
 
To those who saved up your good money or spent the better part of your bonus on it - good luck. 
 
AK380 is pretty much like the Apple Watch Edition, only much cheaper. The Edition, for example, is now selling at half price at the Apple Taiwan outlet, less than one year after its debut. You should expect the same when you buy AK, only that the loss is much smaller maybe.

I thought you said the 380 copper is The crap, now it is same as the Cowon D2?

 

[Uncle E1]

the bling bling of the copper is good enough for the premium

 

[LouisArmstrong]

 
I thought you said the 380 copper is The crap, now it is same as the Cowon D2?

AK380 Cu is the best sounding DAP I have ever heard, but to me it is still just another DAP. 

 

[Jazzi]

  unfortunately yes because i am not happy at all compared to the price i paid for
 
i invested over 4000 usd for nothing
 
i could have bought so much gear and be much happier than this ak380 and amp combo
 
i am so unhappy as this was the biggest purchase for me and it was not easy to pay all this and then not get what i expected
 
with my iems even if i feel they can get loud but they sound shouty, only exception is my shure 846
 
when i comapre the 5tx headstage arrow connected to my cowon d  and the sound i get, it makes me so unhappy that i paid over 4000 usd for the ak380 dap and amp combo

Come on hykhleif, don't jump off the cliff so quickly.  Admittedly, the amp leaves a lot to be desired, but for me, the AK380 by itself is absolutely top notch.  

 

[Jazzi]

 
AK380 Cu is the best sounding DAP I have ever heard, but to me it is still just another DAP. 

Seems strange that it's both the best, and just another.  Oh well, the best part is everybody gets to like what they like.  I don't have the CU, but I think the 380 SQ is great.  I like it a lot.  My biggest complaint is with the amp.  They could have done so much better.

 

[Sound Eq]

 
Come on hykhleif, don't jump off the cliff so quickly.  Admittedly, the amp leaves a lot to be desired, but for me, the AK380 by itself is absolutely top notch.  

it is top notch with my shure 846 only, thats what makes it difficult as with shure 846 its dam good to let it go, but when i use sony xba z5 , asg 2.5 or my oppo pm1 everything goes downhill, unlike with my mojo where everything sounds good
 
i will wait and think of buying another iem like u12, and i might wait maybe Ak will release another amp and by that everything will be solved and shine

 

[Eroica4th]

I'm not into A&K, but I think they do listen to their costumer especially Alex An, via Facebook. ExAmples :