[WayTooCrazy]

 I just may acquire this.

and lose the "balanced" out?

 

[howdy]

  and lose the "balanced" out?

I still have my Onkyo DP-X1 for my balanced out DAP. I think one source is sufficient with the balanced out. Also, to me, Balanced out is a sales gimmick anyways. They make Single Ended sound just as good volume matched. IMO.

 

[DrSheep]

I still have my Onkyo DP-X1 for my balanced out DAP. I think one source is sufficient with the balanced out. Also, to me, Balanced out is a sales gimmick anyways. They make Single Ended sound just as good volume matched. IMO.

As long as noise is controlled with enough output power, single end is totally fine.

 

[Greggo]

Anyone know if the PEM13 will be offered in a finish that matches this new AK300? (and is the balanced out from the PEM13 of really high quality in terms of sonics?)
 
If the AK300 can be charged while listening and has overcharge protection, then I am thinking about the AK300/PEM13 as a source for a full size balanced amp like a Cavalli Liquid Carbon so I could drive something like an HD800S or Ether at home and something like my EL-8 or a PM-3 while on the road or at the office.
 
Anyone familiar with AK stuff and some of the items listed above willing to offer an opinion? I am still on a mission to decide to build my next system around a nice DAP or continue to have a full size desktop rig and just use a phone and/or Dragonfly for portable music.

 

[DrSheep]

  Anyone know if the PEM13 will be offered in a finish that matches this new AK300? (and is the balanced out from the PEM13 of really high quality in terms of sonics?)
 
If the AK300 can be charged while listening and has overcharge protection, then I am thinking about the AK300/PEM13 as a source for a full size balanced amp like a Cavalli Liquid Carbon so I could drive something like an HD800S or Ether at home and something like my EL-8 or a PM-3 while on the road or at the office.
 
Anyone familiar with AK stuff and some of the items listed above willing to offer an opinion? I am still on a mission to decide to build my next system around a nice DAP or continue to have a full size desktop rig and just use a phone and/or Dragonfly for portable music.

I never have any issue charging and listening to my AKs with any of my Anker USB 3 hubs and IQ chargers.  Also, if you run Android with an OTG cable, you can get the AQDF v1.0 pretty cheap just to try it out.  I ran mine the other day straight from my Samsung Galaxy Note Edge with an short OTG cable to the v1.0 with no issue.  AQ just released the Black (v1.5) and Red version, but they are not perfect, as they are still only able to decode at 24/96 and not 24/192.

 

[Arun26]

http://www.moon-audio.com/astell-kern-ak300-digital-music-media-player.html
 
That was quick.
 
Any one bought from moon audio before? how is there return policy?

 

[WayTooCrazy]

  I never have any issue charging and listening to my AKs with any of my Anker USB 3 hubs and IQ chargers.  Also, if you run Android with an OTG cable, you can get the AQDF v1.0 pretty cheap just to try it out.  I ran mine the other day straight from my Samsung Galaxy Note Edge with an short OTG cable to the v1.0 with no issue.  AQ just released the Black (v1.5) and Red version, but they are not perfect, as they are still only able to decode at 24/96 and not 24/192.

I don't know why the Cambridge DacMagic XS doesn't get suggested more often for those situations. It does do 24/192 from an OTG cable. I use it on my Galaxy Note 3.

 

[DrSheep]

  http://www.moon-audio.com/astell-kern-ak300-digital-music-media-player.html
 
That was quick.
 
Any one bought from moon audio before? how is there return policy?

I got my AK240 Blue Note from them and various cables before.  They are good and an official retailer for iriver/AK.  Here is their return policy: http://www.moon-audio.com/customer-service#answer3

 

[The Life]

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.

This sums up very well why my DAP brand shuffle ended with AK. Using an iPhone for most of my mobile computing needs aside from music playback, I could not deal with badly designed or implemented hardware or UI. Most other DAP brands I demoed had UI or hardware design so inadequate to my tastes that I would have preferred to just get an iPod touch or classic for music playback.

 

[LikeABell]

  and lose the "balanced" out?

The specs on the website says that the AK300 has a balanced out.

 

[Watagump]

Balanced is so over rated. My cable is on its way back to Ted, getting rid of the 2.5mm TRRS for the 3.5mm TRS. The tolerance on the 2.5mm connection is just too dismal for my personal usage.

 

[DrSheep]

  Balanced is so over rated. My cable is on its way back to Ted, getting rid of the 2.5mm TRRS for the 3.5mm TRS. The tolerance on the 2.5mm connection is just too dismal for my personal usage.

Well to be honest, it was a bit puzzling that AK went with 2.5mm TRRS instead of the all too common 3.5mm TRRS, but I guess they don't want people to be stupid and plugs things the wrong way and fried their DAPs.

 

[Watagump]

 
Well to be honest, it was a bit puzzling that AK went with 2.5mm TRRS instead of the all too common 3.5mm TRRS, but I guess they don't want people to be stupid and plugs things the wrong way fried ****.

 
Its just a stupid connection IMHO. I had issues with the 100II using it and then the same with my 240. For what I cant even consider a sound improvement, I will be happy back at the 3.5mm. Zero issues using the stock cable right now, which I never had in the first place.

 

[DrSheep]

 
Its just a stupid connection IMHO. I had issues with the 100II using it and then the same with my 240. For what I cant even consider a sound improvement, I will be happy back at the 3.5mm. Zero issues using the stock cable right now, which I never had in the first place.

I think Sony almost had it right, but instead of dual mono for balanced out, set it up for dual stereo and change to balanced if needed.  Pono Player has their setup right.  This way it will make A/B test so much easier and safer, plus you still have a way for proper balanced output.

 

[Greggo]

So far I can't find any detailed specs, has anyone found published confirmation on the following:
 
Headphone Jack size/type?
 
We know it is a single DAC, but does the amp section offer a balanced signal?
 
If the above is SE and not balanced, what happens when docked with PM13??? is it an SE signal on XLR jack or is it a true balanced signal output?
 
....and is there a difference between the signal put out through the headphone jack and the signal that goes into the docking station/cradle?
 
Also, thanks to those above that responded to my earlier post. I do have the Dragonfly 1.0 and 1.2 and a Samsung Note 4, but have not used the latter for music playback as of yet. I am still searching and can't find any reference to quality of signal coming out of PM13 dock via XLR cables... I am very curious to find some feedback on how the AK300/320/380 in the dock would compare to a high end USB DAC.