[Malevolent]

The problem for me is rather to justify to myself that I should keep the SP1000Cu, as I mostly use my AK380.The SP1000 has better resolution with more detail, but with the current firmware it just sounds too digital compared to the AK380.

Funnily enough, I'm in the same boat. I don't think I'd want to get rid of the SP1000 just yet, but the AK380 has been seeing a lot more playing time of late. Hell, it's my go-to source to test new products (IEMs, amplifiers, etc.). I'm just too familiar with, and in love with, its sound.

 

[haiku]

Funnily enough, I'm in the same boat. I don't think I'd want to get rid of the SP1000 just yet, but the AK380 has been seeing a lot more playing time of late. Hell, it's my go-to source to test new products (IEMs, amplifiers, etc.). I'm just too familiar with, and in love with, its sound.

Today, I´ve posted something on the King Rudi FB page, which you might enjoy, too. Please, download this track and play it 2 times at moderate listening level with your AK380 (or SP1000 too, of course), then listen to some music and share what you hear. For me, it solved all misery I´ve had with my SP1000 Cu!

 

[burtomr]

Today, I´ve posted something on the King Rudi FB page, which you might enjoy, too.

Ok, I give up, so what did you post? Do you have any idea how many 'King Rudi's' there are on FB? There's hundreds...

Please, download this track and play it 2 times with your AK380 (or SP1000 too, of course), then listen to some music and share what you hear. For me, it solved all misery I´ve had with my SP1000 Cu!

Ok, once again I give up, how did this tone sweep solve "all your misery"? Listening to 'tone sweeps' gives me misery every time...

 

[Andricop]

Hi and HNY !

I currently own an AK380 "Meteoric Titan" that I use with Earsonics CIEM and I'm very happy of how the combo sounds (rich, detailed and warm sound) but I find the AK380 a little bit too big. AK240 is smaller but I never tried it, so I have a question for those who have upgraded from an AK240 to an AK380 : how big is the difference in audio quality ? Does a version of the AK240 comes close to the AK380 Titan (AK240 SS for example) in term of sound quality or not at all ?

Thanks and enjoy your week-end !

 

[seedubchris]

Pretty big difference if you like pop and rock, dance music and hip hop. the 3 series are more resolving to my ears but the 240 is great too. just a bit more laid back due to the dacs but perfect if you like jazz and classical. probably better. More analog sounding.

 

[Bosk]

Hi and HNY !

I currently own an AK380 "Meteoric Titan" that I use with Earsonics CIEM and I'm very happy of how the combo sounds (rich, detailed and warm sound) but I find the AK380 a little bit too big. AK240 is smaller but I never tried it, so I have a question for those who have upgraded from an AK240 to an AK380 : how big is the difference in audio quality ? Does a version of the AK240 comes close to the AK380 Titan (AK240 SS for example) in term of sound quality or not at all ?

Thanks and enjoy your week-end !

Perhaps the new AK70 MKII might suit you? Although likely to be inferior to the AK380 sonically they are significantly smaller.

 

[gordec]

For those with the PEM13 cradle. Does it come with XLR cable? Also is it true balanced out? I'm thinking about building a true balanced desktop setup for HE1000 with AK380 as source. Thanks.

 

[seedubchris]

Hard to know with out opening one up. It does require power other than the 380 to function so my guess is there are a pair of op amps I'm there . Pretty weak output thought. Rather disappointing . I might be in the market for a balanced out setup if it improves on the output levels ..

 

[gordec]

Hard to know with out opening one up. It does require power other than the 380 to function so my guess is there are a pair of op amps I'm there . Pretty weak output thought. Rather disappointing . I might be in the market for a balanced out setup if it improves on the output levels ..

I don't know much about this subject. If you are just using it as a source, why does amount of output matter? AK380 has some of the cleanest signals. I figured it can act as a good source.

I just realized xlr out only works in player only mode not USB DAC mode. That kind of defeats the purpose of balanced out. For those with the AK380 amp, is the optical out from the amp superior to the optical out from the AK380?

 

[seedubchris]

There is no optical out of the ak amp. It defeats the digital out when the amp is connected . It would appear that the amp is only really useful if you are trying to power cans as opposed to iem's. As far as output goes many DAP's claim to have true direct outs but many fall short of the power needed to run in a true high end system properly. Sadly I think the AK stuff is in this lot. All that happens when you take the direct out is the player plays its headphone out at 100%. Yes this is clean but its double amping in reality which is why discrete components are still better and wont be replaced by a dap with it's headphone out set to 100%. If I could find a dap with a true discrete direct out I would buy it as I use the Alo audio "CDM" for an amp. The combination of the AK3.. with the tube front end of the CDM is a great pairing but I can't help but think there is a better source out there. Maybe the Onkyo Dx-p1A or the Hugo. Always on the hunt for the perfect synergy between components. Not there yet.

 

[ErikV]

Hello my name is Erik and I’m new to this forum and to Astell & Kern as well. I’ve bought the AK380 and the cradle to integrate the device in my home stereo as well. I can play the music on my player through te home setup. I have an Aurelic Aries network player connected to the usb cable coming from the cradle. I’ve i set the AK380 as a dac and the Aries recognises the dac and can play the files. On the display of the AK380 I can see the fact that the file is recognised.

My problem is that if I enable the cradle in the menu the dac option is no longer available. How do I get sound from the device if dac and cradle can’t be activated together or am I doing something wrong.

 

[seedubchris]

The cradle functions as a charger and balanced out, not dac out. If you want to use the 380 as a transport you will have to take it out of the cradle . I think the cradle also shuts the optical out off as well from the 380. Kind of a letdown . Welcome to the twists and curves of Astell and Kern...

 

[ErikV]

The cradle functions as a charger and balanced out, not dac out. If you want to use the 380 as a transport you will have to take it out of the cradle . I think the cradle also shuts the optical out off as well from the 380. Kind of a letdown . Welcome to the twists and curves of Astell and Kern...

Hmmm. Bummer. One would expect to be able to use the balanced mode as well while using the device as a dac.

 

[gordec]

The cradle functions as a charger and balanced out, not dac out. If you want to use the 380 as a transport you will have to take it out of the cradle . I think the cradle also shuts the optical out off as well from the 380. Kind of a letdown . Welcome to the twists and curves of Astell and Kern...

Very disappointing. Not sure what the thinking is behind this.

 

[seedubchris]

You probably noticed by now that the balanced out from the cradle is directly tied to the volume of the ak380 headphone out. They make it seem like the cradle is a working and functioning devise with its own internals that would if designed properly bypass the volume circuitry in the 380 and provide balanced out for high end home stereo and studio integration when in reality it is nothing more than an adapter for the headphone out stage from the DAP.If it was a real balanced line out it would be a non attenuated 3 to 4 volt rns line out. That is what I thought it was but they caught me wishing big time There are no benefits that I can tell to the $700 cradle sonically. Its just slight of hand on their part. They could have built a very trick system but instead chose to sell the illusion of a balanced system which is nothing more than an adapter driven directly from and through the 380 headphone out circuits. F'ing useless. No wonder they just gave the cradle away with the ak 320 bundle. I would be very upset if I paid top dollar for a piece of plastic disguised as a piece of hardware. the ak amp has a lot of the same pit falls. It also disables the dac out/optical out and can not be used in any way with the cradle. If you read the flowery descriptions of these products it seems like all of these features would all work together as a integrated system but the reality couldn't be further than the truth. If the core femto tec of the DAP didn't sound so good I would have returned all of it months ago...