[LouisArmstrong]

Listening on AK380Cu and Layla again. This time it is Ella Fitzgerald. Sublime. Simply sublime. 

 

[CuriousRabbit]

.

 

[Jalo]

It can't be liquid can it. Or gas.

A block of solid silver

 

[bmichels]

What I wish Is that this time A&K releases the "standard édition" and the "special édition" ( copper, SS,....?) at the same time so that early adopters buying the standard édition will not feel frustrated when a Cu or SS version is released few months later ...

 

[angelom]

I was 10 days with ak380 and today I send back to Amazon.
 
It’s beautiful player and very heavy, this is nice feeling but isn't good for a portable music player. I’m 10 days with ak380 because I don’t hearing a difference in SQ between the ak380 Cu and my ak240 standard, and I am more time with the ak380 that I want because I saying to myself I need to comparing more and more because I want to be sure completely. Maybe two times when I comparing a lot of times, with a lot of different music and different earphones and headphones, I think maybe the ak380 is little more warm but I don’t sure this is really true, maybe it’s because I read that here before and I think this is influence what I hearing sometimes. The truth really is I comparing many times and I don’t think it is real difference.
 
At the end I prefer the ak240 design because it’s better for use with only one hand quickly and I can put in my pocket easy, and can use the external volume button better and more fast. The ak380 is very heavy and sometimes this weight is bad in fact, it depend sometimes in the trousers I’m wearing or the type of pocket (I know this is maybe stupid or crazy for people but is important for me).
 
If I lose my ak240 or someone steal it I’m sure now I buy the ak240 again.
 
I try 2 very expensive products recently, the Shure kse1500 and the ak380 and I decide they aren’t for me. I’m happy because I don’t spending a lot of money in this products, but I’m worry too because this products are more and more expensive and I don’t hearing important or real advancement in SQ or nothing at all, and with kse1500 I preferring my Flare Audio R2 Pro! (this is an earphone that is cost 400 English pounds, but I pay half the price because of the special discount of 50% discount I receive in Amazon UK when this earphone was new in market).

 

[tienbasse]

What I wish Is that this time A&K releases the "standard édition" and the "special édition" ( copper, SS,....?) at the same time so that early adopters buying the standard édition will not feel frustrated when a Cu or SS version is released few months later ...

This is not how marketing works.

Especially when you sell overpriced DAPs and you want to release one new model every 6 months like they do to sustain the hype with customers looking for the next "best" thing to throw away 5k$.
 
At this price point, I would expect nothing short of an actual gold case, since it would at least justify the price, right next to their "amazing" SQ.

 

[speedracer1]

  I was 10 days with ak380 and today I send back to Amazon.
 
It’s beautiful player and very heavy, this is nice feeling but isn't good for a portable music player. I’m 10 days with ak380 because I don’t hearing a difference in SQ between the ak380 Cu and my ak240 standard, and I am more time with the ak380 that I want because I saying to myself I need to comparing more and more because I want to be sure completely. Maybe two times when I comparing a lot of times, with a lot of different music and different earphones and headphones, I think maybe the ak380 is little more warm but I don’t sure this is really true, maybe it’s because I read that here before and I think this is influence what I hearing sometimes. The truth really is I comparing many times and I don’t think it is real difference.
 
At the end I prefer the ak240 design because it’s better for use with only one hand quickly and I can put in my pocket easy, and can use the external volume button better and more fast. The ak380 is very heavy and sometimes this weight is bad in fact, it depend sometimes in the trousers I’m wearing or the type of pocket (I know this is maybe stupid or crazy for people but is important for me).
 
If I lose my ak240 or someone steal it I’m sure now I buy the ak240 again.
 
I try 2 very expensive products recently, the Shure kse1500 and the ak380 and I decide they aren’t for me. I’m happy because I don’t spending a lot of money in this products, but I’m worry too because this products are more and more expensive and I don’t hearing important or real advancement in SQ or nothing at all, and with kse1500 I preferring my Flare Audio R2 Pro! (this is an earphone that is cost 400 English pounds, but I pay half the price because of the special discount of 50% discount I receive in Amazon UK when this earphone was new in market).

I clearly respect your view-point and your decision to pass on the AK380.  That said, my experience was different.  
Specifically, I had the AK240 and the AK380 together for comparison side by side for several months before I purchased the amp module and then a few months later before I sent the units off to Vinnie for the RWAK modifications on both the AK player and the amp.  I respectfully say that each step I made I have heard honest sound improvements money/cost aside.  I do wish going forward that AK relocate the volume knob back to where the AK240 knob is, take some of bmichaels comments (very good) for product/feature improvements and I hope with a future AK will replace those flimsy power pins on the amp with a much better power transfer mechanism.  
Sincerely,
-Speed…

 

[xxx1313]

I have had the weekend to really listen to an AK380 black and the black Amp and It truly sounds great, however I have owned an RWAK for a couple years and if you put a blindfold on my and asked me to pick out which is which, I doubt I could. I listened with my Roxanne, modded D2000 and a little with my LCD-4(neither could drive them). I'm not sure what kind of price you are getting, but maybe consider getting the RWAK Mod and save yourself some Money?

 
 
Doc, thanks for your thoughts. I had the chance to compare my AK240 with the AK380, and the AK380 has much more air and detail. I also had the chance to try the AK380 Cu, but not side by side with the AK380 duralium. The sound of the Cu version seems a bit warmer, more emotional. I will get my AK380 in two months and I think I will order the Cu amp. So I will see then how god this combination really is.

 

[Dillan]

What amp does the AK380 use? Also what amp does the attachment amp use that you can get seperately? I'm assuming both are not dual amps for a true balanced output but a single amp right?

 

[roofus]

see below

 

[roofus]

  Listening on AK380Cu and Layla again. This time it is Ella Fitzgerald. Sublime. Simply sublime. 

Layla 1 or Layla 2?

 

[tupac0306]

Am I the only one that have this problem with AK380? 
 
It sounds very meaty and dull right after I switch on the device, then the sound opens up and goes back to its normal performance after some running time.

 

[LouisArmstrong]

  I clearly respect your view-point and your decision to pass on the AK380.  That said, my experience was different.  
Specifically, I had the AK240 and the AK380 together for comparison side by side for several months before I purchased the amp module and then a few months later before I sent the units off to Vinnie for the RWAK modifications on both the AK player and the amp.  I respectfully say that each step I made I have heard honest sound improvements money/cost aside.  I do wish going forward that AK relocate the volume knob back to where the AK240 knob is, take some of bmichaels comments (very good) for product/feature improvements and I hope with a future AK will replace those flimsy power pins on the amp with a much better power transfer mechanism.  
Sincerely,
-Speed…

Agree. While AK380 is not that much of an improvement over the AK240, the AK380 Cu really took the game up a notch and is noticeably better than both the stock AK380 and the AK240.

 

[Ultrainferno]

I seem to be having a different problem, my AK keeps (r)ejecting the microSD card automatically (64GB Samsung), when it doesn't I can access all files via Folder but not anything is showing up in the album/songs, etc.
It just starts scanning the library and then says SD card safely removed at the same time. This is a demo model on 1.24
 
Is this the famous AK - Samsung Sd card issue? I won't have my Sandisks for another couple of days. I hope it's just a matter of an incompatible card.

 

[angelom]

 
Agree. While AK380 is not that much of an improvement over the AK240, the AK380 Cu really took the game up a notch and is noticeably better than both the stock AK380 and the AK240.

 
Noticeably? Two persons and I didn't hearing a difference in SQ between the ak380 Cu and ak240 standard, and I was 10 days comparing (the other two persons comparing only two times). "Noticeably" for me is mean that the people can hearing the SQ difference immediately and easily. We didn't hearing a difference and we don't think the ak380 Cu is better than ak240 standard.