[Malcyg]

Thanks, Andricop for your reply. The AK380 price is dropped by third now. This why I am considering the upgrade.

There are black ones available now on Amazon at £1,494 which is the cheapest I’ve seen them. Less than half what some outlets are asking which may be a cause for concern - Gadget gadget gadget based in Hong Kong - don’t know them, but PayPal payments taken.

 

[Trebor1966]

Please give us a link

 

[Malcyg]

Please give us a link

Sure, here you go: https://gadgetgadgetgadget.com/prod...MI9Nm_4pmr2QIVo7XtCh04IAeUEAQYASABEgLfJPD_BwE

 

[Trebor1966]

Thank You - a good price but after shipment the custom will charge you additional fees...

 

[Fr_eak]

I am selling mine in case if any one is interested ... https://www.head-fi.org/threads/for...p-plus-mither-case-worldwide-shipping.871937/

 

[sandy1010]

It's a nice little amp. It drives Utopia, Hifiman edition X, LCD XC, HD800 with authority. HE1000 is the only headphone I had issues with.

Yeah drives my LCD3 & Aeon well, I’m happy with it. Makes the 380 a much more versatile beast.

 

[Malcyg]

Hey chaps, sorry to be asking Noob type questions about a product that is probably a bit old hat to many of you now, but I’ve only recently got mine so pardon the dumb questions.

I am really liking the 380 + 300 series amp combo, but it is a bit of a lump for fully mobile use. That leaves me with two options:

1) Connect and disconnect the 380 from the amp as and when required. My concern here is the screw connection as it doesn’t feel like it will withstand constant wear and tear to me. Any comments on this from experienced users would be appreciated.

2) Keep my AK240 for when I need full mobility and accept the step down in sound quality for convenience sake. In this respect, I have found the larger screen on the 380 to be great for making playlists whereas the 240 has always been too fiddly for my fat fingers. If I keep exactly the same file structure on both, can I make playlists on the 380 and then copy and use them on the 240?

Please don’t suggest option 3 - buy another 380 for use on the go! I have already thought of that and do not need any encouragement.

Thanks

 

[13candles]

Hey chaps, sorry to be asking Noob type questions about a product that is probably a bit old hat to many of you now, but I’ve only recently got mine so pardon the dumb questions.

I am really liking the 380 + 300 series amp combo, but it is a bit of a lump for fully mobile use. That leaves me with two options:

1) Connect and disconnect the 380 from the amp as and when required. My concern here is the screw connection as it doesn’t feel like it will withstand constant wear and tear to me. Any comments on this from experienced users would be appreciated.

2) Keep my AK240 for when I need full mobility and accept the step down in sound quality for convenience sake. In this respect, I have found the larger screen on the 380 to be great for making playlists whereas the 240 has always been too fiddly for my fat fingers. If I keep exactly the same file structure on both, can I make playlists on the 380 and then copy and use them on the 240?

Please don’t suggest option 3 - buy another 380 for use on the go! I have already thought of that and do not need any encouragement.

Thanks

First and foremost , please do not apologise. This is exactly what forums are catered for.

Having said that, I am a 380 + amp user as well. I am in love with my 380ss stack and I use it daily . I have absolutely no qualms about its form factor and weight ; bearing in mind that the entire unit is over 600gms... I think for a DAP + Amp stack ; it's the most integrated as you do not need any interconnects nor do you need to charge each component separately. So needless to say , it's my opinion that you keep the 380 screwed on to its amp as this will save you much trouble and ofcourse negate any wear and tear with the screw threads .

So my vote is that you continue using the 380 stack. I personally find that the amp brings about a different and better dimension to my tunes and caters to IEMs which need more juice to sound it's best like my SE5U.

Anyhow, at the end of the day , you know yourself and your needs best. So have fun and keep us posted !!!

 

[Malcyg]

First and foremost , please do not apologise. This is exactly what forums are catered for.

Having said that, I am a 380 + amp user as well. I am in love with my 380ss stack and I use it daily . I have absolutely no qualms about its form factor and weight ; bearing in mind that the entire unit is over 600gms... I think for a DAP + Amp stack ; it's the most integrated as you do not need any interconnects nor do you need to charge each component separately. So needless to say , it's my opinion that you keep the 380 screwed on to its amp as this will save you much trouble and ofcourse negate any wear and tear with the screw threads .

So my vote is that you continue using the 380 stack. I personally find that the amp brings about a different and better dimension to my tunes and caters to IEMs which need more juice to sound it's best like my SE5U.

Anyhow, at the end of the day , you know yourself and your needs best. So have fun and keep us posted !!!

Thank you and, yes I totally agree with all of your comments but there are times when I want something a bit lighter and more ‘pocketable’. So it is that use case that I am considering. As an example, I have just completed one of my most disliked chores - vacuum cleaning the house! It helps to pass a boring task with some music and the 380 amp stack is too lumpy and heavy to be truly pocketable. The gym and walking the dog are other examples that spring to mind.

So whilst vacuuming, I stuck the 240 in my pocket and it was great for the job until I switched halfway through to the 380 minus amp. Damn - sounds better! So my questions still stand and maybe option 3) is looming!!

Edit - decided on keeping the 240. It is very portable and, in isolation, sounds very good. It is only when you compare it to the 380 or 380 stack, that it seems slightly lacking. On going back, once you adjust, it’s more than good enough for such a portable and pocketable solution.

 

[Scorpion667]

Thank you and, yes I totally agree with all of your comments but there are times when I want something a bit lighter and more ‘pocketable’. So it is that use case that I am considering. As an example, I have just completed one of my most disliked chores - vacuum cleaning the house! It helps to pass a boring task with some music and the 380 amp stack is too lumpy and heavy to be truly pocketable. The gym and walking the dog are other examples that spring to mind.

So whilst vacuuming, I stuck the 240 in my pocket and it was great for the job until I switched halfway through to the 380 minus amp. Damn - sounds better! So my questions still stand and maybe option 3) is looming!!

Edit - decided on keeping the 240. It is very portable and, in isolation, sounds very good. It is only when you compare it to the 380 or 380 stack, that it seems slightly lacking. On going back, once you adjust, it’s more than good enough for such a portable and pocketable solution.

I feel like AK240 was an iconic device in terms of aesthetics/features/performance. That hasn't changed for me - I still think it's the best looking DAP of all time. I would def rock one when I'm packing light (summer shorts, slim jeans etc).

I recently snagged a used AK380. It's certainly a monumental upgrade from my AK70. My Xelento (favorite IEM of all time) has never sounded this good!

Even without the amp it's a bit of a beast in the pocket although we're talking size 30 slim fit pants on a 140lb frame. I can't see myself not rocking an AK240 when mobility/comfort has value.

 

[Bosk]

Hey chaps, sorry to be asking Noob type questions about a product that is probably a bit old hat to many of you now, but I’ve only recently got mine so pardon the dumb questions.

I am really liking the 380 + 300 series amp combo, but it is a bit of a lump for fully mobile use. That leaves me with two options:

1) Connect and disconnect the 380 from the amp as and when required. My concern here is the screw connection as it doesn’t feel like it will withstand constant wear and tear to me. Any comments on this from experienced users would be appreciated.

2) Keep my AK240 for when I need full mobility and accept the step down in sound quality for convenience sake. In this respect, I have found the larger screen on the 380 to be great for making playlists whereas the 240 has always been too fiddly for my fat fingers. If I keep exactly the same file structure on both, can I make playlists on the 380 and then copy and use them on the 240?

Please don’t suggest option 3 - buy another 380 for use on the go! I have already thought of that and do not need any encouragement.

Thanks

I'm in a similar position to you Malcyg. To my ears the AK380's built-in headphone amp is very underwhelming and it really needs an external amp (or the AK 300 series AMP) to sound the way it should. Without one I find the sound lacks authority and dynamics to a distracting degree unless my mind is on something else while listening.

I've run my AK380 with a Vorzuge Pure II+ (now for sale in the classifieds) which despite being a superb portable amp necessitates the awkwardness of stacking. I recently replaced it with an ALO CDM which is even larger and less portable but essentially sounds like a full-blown desktop tube amp when run in fully balanced mode from the AK380. As I do most of my listening with it at home the lack of portability is not dealbreaking but has made me more reluctant to take it on trips. In noisy environments like public transport I'm almost as well served by my iPhone, while in quieter ones using the AK380 without an amp has that annoying lack of dynamics.

So my plan is to pick up an AK70 MKII for on-the-go listening later in the year when budget allows. Much smaller and lighter than the AK380 and its headphone amp has the same driving power as the SP1000 which is almost double that of the AK380 when run from the balanced jack. The downside will be the guilt of spending so much on the AK380 and never using it as a portable source, but the DAC section is so good it doesn't seem out of place used as a home desktop component.

 

[Malcyg]

Thanks for the feedback. I have decided to keep the AK240 as I said since it is so pocketable. I am also occasionally disconnecting the 380 from the amp to use it on its own, but only very occasionally as I am slightly concerned about wear and tear on the screw attachment - maybe unnecessarily so.

One issue that has arisen with the 380 is the length of time it takes to get into Playlists. I never ran playlists on the 240 as I found the small screen too fiddly to bother with setting any up - I only have 1 playlist on the 240. I find it much easier to navigate the 380 because of the larger screen size and I now have 6 playlists set up and had planned on creating several more, but it is taking 20 seconds to open up the Playlist option from the main menu and I’d imagine that delay may increase as I create more playlists. Is this normal experience? On my 240, I can access Playlists instantly from the main menu, but I only have 1 list created.

A final point is that the EQ section seem to do nothing at all. I had read the comments and so I wasn’t expecting too much from it but even setting EQ points to extremes just seems to have no impact on the sound at all. I did see the US AK representative said that he was going to post some feedback from their technicians about the EQ and EQ Pro but I cannot see that he ever did. Am I missing something here?

 

[sandy1010]

Anyone else get serious lag trying to open the playlist tab? (The tab from the main screen)

Mine is taking 1-2 mins to open.

Thought initially it might be all the cue sheets so I deleted all those, but that didn’t help.

Is it just the 400gb SD?

 

[seedubchris]

I think it's the speed the micro sd card reads . I was thinking about getting a faster spec card for that very reason. Bet that would speed the playlist load up.

 

[sandy1010]

I think it's the speed the micro sd card reads . I was thinking about getting a faster spec card for that very reason. Bet that would speed the playlist load up.

It’s weird though because other functions aren’t slowed down nearly as much. They’re definitely slower with the 400gb card, but not as slow as the playlist button.

So your playlist button also takes a long time to load?