[Dillan]

   
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.

Cool hopefully you prevented other users troubles in the future.

 

[alvinmate]

So guys what do you make of this new entry level player AK70?

 More choices and expanding their target market  I guess..
 
I wonder how much better AK300 would be from AK70?
 
 

 

[Linus Jian]

Can u share some comparison between your ak320 and the ak300? I was planning to buy ak320 but suddenly ak300 came out... I prefer the color of the ak300 but sound quality is more important to me.

 

[Eden Tan]

Can u share some comparison between your ak320 and the ak300? I was planning to buy ak320 but suddenly ak300 came out... I prefer the color of the ak300 but sound quality is more important to me.

I just got a AK320 after comparing it with AK 300. My views are the same as InfiniteGene. The SQ of the 320 is significantly better than the 300 especially in the soundstage and depth. If you have the money, go for the 320.

 

[Luvdac]

I just got a AK320 after comparing it with AK 300. My views are the same as InfiniteGene. The SQ of the 320 is significantly better than the 300 especially in the soundstage and depth. If you have the money, go for the 320.

Hmm, I seem to have inadvertently stepped into some sort of millionaire's club here 

Well of course the sq of the 320 is better. It's twice the price!!!!!
Can we have some realistic comparisons with similar priced DAP's? Comparing it with the 320 is hardly fair. Comparing it to fiio x7, dp-x1, ak100ii,Plenue-1,calyx m would be more real.

 

[reginalb]

  Hmm, I seem to have inadvertently stepped into some sort of millionaire's club here 

Well of course the sq of the 320 is better. It's twice the price!!!!!
Can we have some realistic comparisons with similar priced DAP's? Comparing it with the 320 is hardly fair. Comparing it to fiio x7, dp-x1, ak100ii,Plenue-1,calyx m would be more real.

 
Don't worry, the direct correlation between price and SQ, even when the differences are "Night and day," often evaporate when forced to tell them apart blind. There are plenty of single DAC devices that are just fine when it comes to crosstalk (stereo separation) and once proper measurements are done, I doubt there is an audible difference between the 320 and the 300. You're WAY beyond the threshold of audibility for the things that matter for an amplifier with the 300.
 
For example, unless the 320 has little gnomes inside of it that are running along your HF wires and physically moving the drivers around in your headphones, the soundstage isn't going to be any different. But your brain is a powerful thing, and that can definitely create big differences. Go in knowing this, and you'll be alright. That said, it's a great little player. Beautifully designed, a seemingly solid EQ, though I haven't had a ton of time to play with it yet, plenty of storage for thousands of songs (my 3,000 fill up only a bit of the 200GB micro-SD I have loaded, and I haven't touched the internal storage yet - which could hold my whole library in something like Opus, AAC, or MP3). Since I don't ever listen to all 3,000 of those songs, and I have plenty of space left over, I doubt I'll soon be needing more storage personally. 
 
The UI is serviceable, but I was expecting a lot more from it considering the views of A&K fans. The controls in the pull down menu are confusing (mainly because they all do the opposite of what you would expect) and the albums don't get properly sorted in to albums. My identical library on my ZX1 gets properly sorted in the album view, but this one splits up albums when they have different artists on the tracks. So I have a jazz compilation set that starts with the number  "50" and has 3 different sets of "top 50's." So if I tap albums I am greeted (since numbers go at the top) with 150 instances of the same album cover, right after 3 instances of Moby 18. Same album view on my ZX1 greets me with one copy of 18, they 3 top 50 jazz albums, and moves on. Clearly their filter criteria is quite spot on. Frustrating because if I could get my hands on the source, I could fix that today. What can you do?
 
Go in understanding that you might have some little niggles, but that it's a great device overall, and you'll be plenty happy.
 
Unless there is channel imbalance, some high level of distortion, or some weird frequency response from one of them, the 320 doesn't sound different. That's just how it is. 

 

[The Life]

People too often listen either their pockets and not their ears. Frankly, in the previous generation, I thought the Ak100ii sounded better than the 120ii and 240 and in this generation, I have already found that I still prefer it to the 380 and 320. In fact, in this regard, I am more excited for the Ak70 than even the 300.

 

[The Life]

So guys what do you make of this new entry level player AK70?  More choices and expanding their target market  I guess..

I wonder how much better AK300 would be from AK70?

The AK70 appears to be the 100ii with a higher output and USB digital out, AKA, my dream DAP. Long live AK's policy of making cheaper DAPs that look and (often) sound better than their more expensive DAPs.

 

[Luvdac]

   
Don't worry, the direct correlation between price and SQ, even when the differences are "Night and day," often evaporate when forced to tell them apart blind. There are plenty of single DAC devices that are just fine when it comes to crosstalk (stereo separation) and once proper measurements are done, I doubt there is an audible difference between the 320 and the 300. You're WAY beyond the threshold of audibility for the things that matter for an amplifier with the 300.
 
For example, unless the 320 has little gnomes inside of it that are running along your HF wires and physically moving the drivers around in your headphones, the soundstage isn't going to be any different. But your brain is a powerful thing, and that can definitely create big differences. Go in knowing this, and you'll be alright. That said, it's a great little player. Beautifully designed, a seemingly solid EQ, though I haven't had a ton of time to play with it yet, plenty of storage for thousands of songs (my 3,000 fill up only a bit of the 200GB micro-SD I have loaded, and I haven't touched the internal storage yet - which could hold my whole library in something like Opus, AAC, or MP3). Since I don't ever listen to all 3,000 of those songs, and I have plenty of space left over, I doubt I'll soon be needing more storage personally. 
 
The UI is serviceable, but I was expecting a lot more from it considering the views of A&K fans. The controls in the pull down menu are confusing (mainly because they all do the opposite of what you would expect) and the albums don't get properly sorted in to albums. My identical library on my ZX1 gets properly sorted in the album view, but this one splits up albums when they have different artists on the tracks. So I have a jazz compilation set that starts with the number  "50" and has 3 different sets of "top 50's." So if I tap albums I am greeted (since numbers go at the top) with 150 instances of the same album cover, right after 3 instances of Moby 18. Same album view on my ZX1 greets me with one copy of 18, they 3 top 50 jazz albums, and moves on. Clearly their filter criteria is quite spot on. Frustrating because if I could get my hands on the source, I could fix that today. What can you do?
 
Go in understanding that you might have some little niggles, but that it's a great device overall, and you'll be plenty happy.
 
Unless there is channel imbalance, some high level of distortion, or some weird frequency response from one of them, the 320 doesn't sound different. That's just how it is. 

Good to hear a sober voice in the thread. Me, I'm coming from a Fiio x5ii (Where btw I had access to 2 x 200 gb cards) and hoping for a more accurate  delivery thanks to the femto clocks and akm chip. I almost pulled the trigger on the fiio x7, but realised that for a few dollars more I'd be getting a premium and well designed product.
The UI difficulties sound worrisome and I hope AK sort it out in future firmware upgrades.
I think the Sony's have the most polished of UI's but I steered clear of them due to the weak onboard amp. I played around with a friends zx2 for a while and found it quite heavy as well as that weak amp section.

 

[Luvdac]

BTW, is the ak380 amp compatible with the ak300?

 

[H20Fidelity]

I'm really enjoying mine, very mature sounding unit, brings out some excellent quality from my 1Plus2.2.

 

[InfiniteGene]

  BTW, is the ak380 amp compatible with the ak300?

yes it is...

 

[329161]

Good to hear a sober voice in the thread. Me, I'm coming from a Fiio x5ii (Where btw I had access to 2 x 200 gb cards) and hoping for a more accurate  delivery thanks to the femto clocks and akm chip. I almost pulled the trigger on the fiio x7, but realised that for a few dollars more I'd be getting a premium and well designed product.
The UI difficulties sound worrisome and I hope AK sort it out in future firmware upgrades.
I think the Sony's have the most polished of UI's but I steered clear of them due to the weak onboard amp. I played around with a friends zx2 for a while and found it quite heavy as well as that weak amp section.

The Sony's amp deficiency is solved to some degree by disabling the sound enhancement dsp.

 

[reginalb]

  Good to hear a sober voice in the thread. Me, I'm coming from a Fiio x5ii (Where btw I had access to 2 x 200 gb cards) and hoping for a more accurate  delivery thanks to the femto clocks and akm chip. I almost pulled the trigger on the fiio x7, but realised that for a few dollars more I'd be getting a premium and well designed product.
The UI difficulties sound worrisome and I hope AK sort it out in future firmware upgrades.
I think the Sony's have the most polished of UI's but I steered clear of them due to the weak onboard amp. I played around with a friends zx2 for a while and found it quite heavy as well as that weak amp section.

 
 

The Sony's amp deficiency is solved to some degree by disabling the sound enhancement dsp.

 
Disabling the DSP definitely helps, without a doubt. But as to the ZX1, power still isn't really all that great. My Clip+, for example, could drive my AKG Q701 headphones, while my ZX1 really can't to a sufficient loudness. The Clip+ was nicely transparent, and powerful for its size, but the ZX1 should be able to pump out some more power than that little guy.

 

[329161]

Disabling the DSP definitely helps, without a doubt. But as to the ZX1, power still isn't really all that great. My Clip+, for example, could drive my AKG Q701 headphones, while my ZX1 really can't to a sufficient loudness. The Clip+ was nicely transparent, and powerful for its size, but the ZX1 should be able to pump out some more power than that little guy.

Disabling the dsp on the zx1 and zx2 makes them able to drive efficient cans easily....eg around 30 ohms. They won't be able to drive hd800s.
Sorry about going off topic.