[H20Fidelity]

I have spent a few hours with the AK300 unit using 3 Tralucent earphones.
 

1. Ref.1
2. 1Plus2
3. 1Plus2.2

 
I can say the sound of AK300 produces quite a strong amount of detail, the focus on imaging is quite apparent. For example, the image or picture of each instrument is well presented before you as are vocals. Its quite a focus feature that blends with strong separation, you can pick apart one sample from another but not enough to make the music sound too divided. Say you want to pick out the guitar on the left and zone in on that you're quite able to, then you may jump back to the vocal regions etc.
 
Layering and stage is quite strong though verdict is still out on the stage width, not that its anyway narrow just maybe not gigantic, but I stress again its not small by any means. Tonality wise I'm having a hard time labeling it as the mid-range and tone come's across quite neutral with my 1Plus2.2. Using the original 1Plus2 the treble did seem a little heated (using that combination) and I detected a little brightness or shimmer at times edging on cold.
 
Overall I would say the AK300 DAP with good IEMs is able to portray a strong picture of your music and ready to draw out an emotional aspect though much more time is required to give a solid conclusion. I'm really enjoying it though and have no regrets going ahead. Areas like build, screen, UI are all strong points for your money.
 
Will chime in more once I learn the units sound.

 

[Luvdac]

  I have spent a few hours with the AK300 unit using 3 Tralucent earphones.
 

1. Ref.1
2. 1Plus2
3. 1Plus2.2

 
I can say the sound of AK300 produces quite a strong amount of detail, the focus on imaging is quite apparent. For example, the image or picture of each instrument is well presented before you as are vocals. Its quite a focus feature that blends with strong separation, you can pick apart one sample from another but not enough to make the music sound too divided. Say you want to pick out the guitar on the left and zone in on that you're quite able to, then you may jump back to the vocal regions etc.
 
Layering and stage is quite strong though verdict is still out on the stage width, not that its anyway narrow just maybe not gigantic, but I stress again its not small by any means. Tonality wise I'm having a hard time labeling it as the mid-range and tone come's across quite neutral with my 1Plus2.2. Using the original 1Plus2 the treble did seem a little heated (using that combination) and I detected a little brightness or shimmer at times edging on cold.
 
Overall I would say the AK300 DAP with good IEMs is able to portray a strong picture of your music and ready to draw out an emotional aspect though much more time is required to give a solid conclusion. I'm really enjoying it though and have no regrets going ahead. Areas like build, screen, UI are all strong points for your money.
 
Will chime in more once I learn the units sound.

Ooooh...itching to hit the pre order button. Can you give some comparisons vs other Dap's that you have tried?

 

[H20Fidelity]

  Ooooh...itching to hit the pre order button. Can you give some comparisons vs other Dap's that you have tried?

 
I think it should be mentioned this is my first AK player, most of my time has been spent with iBasso units (DX90,DX80,DX50) etc. But..to make this worth it now owning the AK300 I'm heading back to the same store very soon to demo the AK320 and AK380. Today I was quite rushed and had to leave. But I will draw a larger picture on this unit in good time.

 

[Luvdac]

   
I think it should be mentioned this is my first AK player, most of my time has been spent with iBasso units (DX90,DX80,DX50) etc. But..to make this worth it now owning the AK300 I'm heading back to the same store very soon to demo the AK320 and AK380. Today I was quite rushed and had to leave. But I will draw a larger picture on this unit in good time.

Cliffhanger 

 

[Luvdac]

Pulled the trigger1 couldnt wait. Its on pre order so itll be a couple of weeks before its in my hands.

 

[H20Fidelity]

  Pulled the trigger1 couldnt wait. Its on pre order so itll be a couple of weeks before its in my hands.

 
Congrats!
 
I think you will be pleased, especially if purchasing at USD prices. In Australia it costs quite a lot more.
 
Really no regrets, you're getting the build and design of the higher tier units for quite a decent price (AK wise).

 

[329161]

Congrats!

I think you will be pleased, especially if purchasing at USD prices. In Australia it costs quite a lot more.

Really no regrets, you're getting the build and design of the higher tier units for quite a decent price (AK wise).

What about the sound?

 

[H20Fidelity]

What about the sound?

 
Hard to say with only a few hours on mine (and) not comparing to the AK higher units, however, I think for under $1k USD most will be pleased. 
 
AK300 does display itself as a higher-end source from the reference points listed on my profile (sources owned).

 

[InfiniteGene]

Hangin' out for an indepth sound analysis. My local dealer promises to get the ak300 in by next week. Will it slay Fiio x7 and onkyo dp -x1?

highly doubt so...

 

[Dionysus]

H20Fidelity can you please take a look at your firmware version. I'm on 1.03 as of yesterday.

 

[H20Fidelity]

H20Fidelity can you please take a look at your firmware version. I'm on 1.03 as of yesterday.

 
1.02CM.
 
Will probably update soon.

 

[reginalb]

Yea fingers crossed, let us know what happens!

 
Well, since formatting it in the AK, it seems to maybe be resolved (knock on wood). I have shut the device down manually and restarted, and allowed it to shut itself down after an idle period, and in both cases it booted up with the SD in the device without issue. So that's a relief. 
 
For other users: I'd recommend against using the formatting tool built directly in Windows 10 for formatting the micro-SD card that you use in the device. It seems to work until you have to reboot. I'll definitely keep an eye on it, though, hopefully it keeps working. I didn't try any other formatters in Windows, just did it right on the device. Also note: it seems that it's OK to use a card reader to transfer to the device. After formatting, I plugged my AK300 in to the computer, and was going to do a transfer to it while right in the AK, but that was going to take like 7 hours (was copying ~65GB to it), took less than an hour in a Lexar Professional USB 3.0 card reader. Using the reader didn't seem to affect my issue at all. (https://www.amazon.com/Lexar-Professional-USB-Dual-Slot-Reader/dp/B00WBK03OU/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1466597892&sr=8-1&keywords=lexar+usb+3.0+card+reader) Then use a micro-SD to SD adapter. So much faster that way.

 

[Luvdac]

   
Congrats!
 
I think you will be pleased, especially if purchasing at USD prices. In Australia it costs quite a lot more.
 
Really no regrets, you're getting the build and design of the higher tier units for quite a decent price (AK wise).

 
 

highly doubt so...

@ H20Fidelity - yeah, I actually ended up paying just under the US price, here in India. This is quite a feat and I have to give the boys at headphonezone.in a thumbs up for that. Usually we pay a minimum 30% surcharge over USA prices here. Ofcourse I still dont have it in my hands and it all is upto the (un)friendly Indian customs to release the shipment to headphonezone.in on time. Yes, I paid a whopping 15$ under the US price

 
@I nfinitegene- can you back that up with some data? As far as I know neither fiio x7 nor the dp-xi use Femto clocks, which have been used to very good effect in players like the soundaware esther m1pro and aune m2s. I'm not saying you arent entitled to an opinion and would love some constructive comparisons.

 

[H20Fidelity]

   
 
@ H20Fidelity - yeah, I actually ended up paying just under the US price, here in India. This is quite a feat and I have to give the boys at headphonezone.in a thumbs up for that. Usually we pay a minimum 30% surcharge over USA prices here. Ofcourse I still dont have it in my hands and it all is upto the (un)friendly Indian customs to release the shipment to headphonezone.in on time. Yes, I paid a whopping 15$ under the US price

 
@I nfinitegene- can you back that up with some data? As far as I know neither fiio x7 nor the dp-xi use Femto clocks, which have been used to very good effect in players like the soundaware esther m1pro and aune m2s. I'm not saying you arent entitled to an opinion and would love some constructive comparisons.

 
In Australia AK300 is $1399 AUD (about $500 more than USD retail).
 
But in my situation I recently had a relative come into some money, they wanted to buy me something.
 
Long story behind it and this was the gift I chose. So really I paid $0.00 AUD, though it was really a one off occasion.

 

[InfiniteGene]

  @I nfinitegene- can you back that up with some data? As far as I know neither fiio x7 nor the dp-xi use Femto clocks, which have been used to very good effect in players like the soundaware esther m1pro and aune m2s. I'm not saying you arent entitled to an opinion and would love some constructive comparisons.

 
Well recently tested AK300 with ibasso DX80, Opus #1 and AK240, I still prefer the separation of the dual dac players but they all got their own characteristic and flavor but i only tried them out for about 10mins each. Was on a shopping trip with a friend to buy a dap which is within his budget. 
 
Take note that i tested them with 64 audio A10 demos and on live tracks and some flacs. If possible you should try them out yourself to compare the differences. My comments are based on other dual dac daps as mentioned above and not the X7 and DP-x1 but i'm assuming that their performance are at a certain level which is comparable to those which i compared.
 
Ultimately if i were to op for design, UI and built, i'll still go for AK. I'm using AK320 myself thou.