[howdy]

How are they charging so much for their players when the Onkyo DP-X1 is coming in at the $800 price range and comes with a balanced out option and a killer screen, WiFi, etc, etc.?

I hear ya! I have the DP-X1 and it is my favorite DAP thus far. Has everything I need and a fair price.

 

[Watagump]

  How are they charging so much for their players when the Onkyo DP-X1 is coming in at the $800 price range and comes with a balanced out option and a killer screen, WiFi, etc, etc.?

 
 
They charge what the market will determine. Consumers have the power, dont pay the price, they come down. But, people pay it so they stay so ridiculously high.

 

[lookingforIEMs]

They charge what the market will determine. Consumers have the power, dont pay the price, they come down. But, people pay it so they stay so ridiculously high.

Agreed. Even with the ak380/ cu/ black, there is a market and probably will always be a market for high end daps. This provides even more credibility for the brand, allowing prices for other models to follow in the same direction as the high end daps

 

[329161]

If it sounds as good as the qp1r, then I'll consider it. Otherwise, why bother?

 

[masterpfa]

  How are they charging so much for their players when the Onkyo DP-X1 is coming in at the $800 price range and comes with a balanced out option and a killer screen, WiFi, etc, etc.?

We are talking about Astell&Kern?

I am not surprised that they are charging so much, I am more surprised that they are charging so little, taking their range and previous history on pricing policy

IMO opinion regardless of specs this is a DAP that A&K hopes, captures the previous envious, potential and wavering A&K owner who did not quite have the funds for the previous generation AK1xx, AK2xx and AK3xx players. This I would imagine, A&K would hope captures the potential Pioneer, Onkyo, Questyle buyer who had never considered their player solely based on the high prices.

Their first attempt at a budget player the AK Jr was well received, the AK300 with the AK300 family compatibility I think is a smart move.

 

[AxelCloris]

  How are they charging so much for their players when the Onkyo DP-X1 is coming in at the $800 price range and comes with a balanced out option and a killer screen, WiFi, etc, etc.?

 
Why does a Ferrari 458 Spider cost more than 10x the price of a Mazda MX-5? Both are quality 2-door convertible sports cars and can take passengers from one location to another. A&K aren't targeting the same section of the market as Onkyo and it shows.

 

[qafro]

So does it have a Google play to download Spotify?

What about Spotify?? [quote name=

Yeah but no TIDAL streaming or talk of MQA capability. How can you release a product in 2016 for that much without these features?

 

That is what I was wondering to, it says you can download Google apps and Tidal and Spotify would be those. I think you would be able to load your "offline" content to the internal 64gbs.

Also, according to their website this would be a "successor" (or better than) to the AK240 as they always list them Best to worse.[/quote]

 

[unityplanet]

   
Why does a Ferrari 458 Spider cost more than 10x the price of a Mazda MX-5? Both are quality 2-door convertible sports cars and can take passengers from one location to another. A&K aren't targeting the same section of the market as Onkyo and it shows.

I agree, A&K is oriented on luxury market segment, like to compare B&O and Sony

 

[Crazypaladin]

TBH, at $899, AK300 seems tempting a purchase. I would believe this would sway some numbers of people of stay away from AK in recent years to come buy them at this price point. We should see in a couple of months time. I must say AK plays their cards well this time.

 

[Iron-Buddha]

...and luxury is always a bad value proposition.  I'm not one to spend $2K+ on a DAP, but I get it and I don't get angry that they exist.  As an AK100ii owner, I would have picked up the AK300 instead were it available, ergonomics be damned.  I don't see much of a place for the AK100ii other than form factor.

 

[AxelCloris]

  ...and luxury is always a bad value proposition.  I'm not one to spend $2K+ on a DAP, but I get it and I don't get angry that they exist.  As an AK100ii owner, I would have picked up the AK300 instead were it available, ergonomics be damned.  I don't see much of a place for the AK100ii other than form factor.

 
Since the AK100ii has the Cirrus Logic chip and the AK300 has the AKM they're bound to have a bit of a different flavor to them. I haven't had the chance to compare both side by side so I can't say how they'd sound different. The 100ii is also smaller and a bit more ergonomic than the 300, so that could draw some people in as well.
 
They're still breathing life into the 100 series. They recently announced a cool limited edition K-ON! version of the AK100ii that goes on sale later this month (5/27) in Asia.
 
 

 

[RCMusic]

Are these binaural microphones?

From the pictures it looks like the mics are the variation of miniature DPA mics, 4060/4061 for example, with attached connector instead of standard microdot connector used in pro applications. Included stereobar could be used to put the mics at the distance approximately matching distance between human ears, so it can be looked at as some sort of 'binaural' configuration, but actual head shape (and ears on it) would help.

 

[DrSheep]

Originally Posted by AxelCloris /img/forum/go_quote.gif
 
They're still breathing life into the 100 series. They recently announced a cool limited edition K-ON! version of the AK100ii that goes on sale later this month (5/27) in Asia.
 

Spoiler: Warning: Spoiler!

 
 

 

I NEED one... someone help me order it please?

 

[WCDchee]

I hear ya! I have the DP-X1 and it is my favorite DAP thus far. Has everything I need and a fair price.

It really depends how you see it. If you're looking at the Internallnal retail price, the Onkyo is no cheaper than the ak300. Will it sound better? Perhaps. That's Subjective.

But what I think most people fail to consider is this. I've spoken to a lot of retailers and distributors in my country, and they admit, that the products from astell and kern have by far the best track record in terms of durability and consistency. A couple of the local retailers actually offered the Onkyo dp-X1 for sale, but the RMA rate was so high (up to 40%) that they just gave up after 1 batch. Other Brand’s have problems of SD cards getting stuck and what not. Of course not everyone experiences this, But I think taking the retailer's experience into account is the most objective way of assessing this.

Also, another thing is the finish of the product. Even the Onkyo, which I will argue has the best finish after AK and cowon, really doesn't convey the same sense of immaculate construction as the AKs. The new cowon a are catching up, but still, AK is some distance ahead. In terms of the smoothness and stability of the UI and the firmware, retailers have also reported that AK has been giving customers the least problems.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not an AK fanboy. I don't have a single AK product, and I think they're sorely overpriced for th sound quality. But AK isn't just about sound quality, and if you take everything into account, I can see why they're priced above the rest.

 

[howdy]

It really depends how you see it. If you're looking at the Internallnal retail price, the Onkyo is no cheaper than the ak300. Will it sound better? Perhaps. That's Subjective.

But what I think most people fail to consider is this. I've spoken to a lot of retailers and distributors in my country, and they admit, that the products from astell and kern have by far the best track record in terms of durability and consistency. A couple of the local retailers actually offered the Onkyo dp-X1 for sale, but the RMA rate was so high (up to 40%) that they just gave up after 1 batch. Other Brand’s have problems of SD cards getting stuck and what not. Of course not everyone experiences this, But I think taking the retailer's experience into account is the most objective way of assessing this.

Also, another thing is the finish of the product. Even the Onkyo, which I will argue has the best finish after AK and cowon, really doesn't convey the same sense of immaculate construction as the AKs. The new cowon a are catching up, but still, AK is some distance ahead. In terms of the smoothness and stability of the UI and the firmware, retailers have also reported that AK has been giving customers the least problems.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not an AK fanboy. I don't have a single AK product, and I think they're sorely overpriced for th sound quality. But AK isn't just about sound quality, and if you take everything into account, I can see why they're priced above the rest.

Good points. I had a AK Jr. and I really liked it and the sound was what I looked for, my only reason for selling it was lack of customer relation. I had talked to them numerous times about one simple fix and waited for months for them to implement it and they never did. That request was to have true random shuffle all music. I had 6000 songs on there but every time I shut it down and turned it on I had to listen to the same thing, I even memorized what was coming next. So to me, right now the onkyo does everything I need it to flawlessly. when I saw that this was going to be released and I can play Tidal with it and it that it does not have ridiculous price, and maybe just maybe the shuffle will work properly, I just may acquire this.