Astell & Kern Junior (AK Jr.) Impressions Thread

[Richsvt]

That is awesome news as I ordered mine from Drew as well...thanks. Let us know what you think when you get your hands on it...getting excited.

 

[DrSheep]

  That is awesome news as I ordered mine from Drew as well...thanks. Let us know what you think when you get your hands on it...getting excited.

Me too, and I am going to load up my SanDisk 128Gb microSD tonight for testing, so I can answer for you guys once and for all whether the card works for it or not.

 

[Jpbas1]

Thrilled that mine shipped today from Drew @ Moon Audio. I hope having given my Dad the Fiio X3 gen II was a good idea.

Unfortunately, not arriving until after the long weekend. Excitement builds....

 

[DrSheep]

Just got mine from FedEx, and here are a couple of things I found:
 
1, The build quality is very good and feels much more solid than the AK120.
2, As you can see below, it boot and scanning my SanDisk 128Gb microSD with NO issue with firmware 1.00.
3, The "click" for the slot is a little too deep, so I have to use something else to poke the card into place.  This could be an issue if you want/need to change cards frequently.  On the upside, it will be rather unlikely that your card will pop out of place by accident.
4, The scan rate is comparable to the AK240.
 
Listening impression will follow.
 

 

 

[Richsvt]

Dr. That is awesome. Great news about the 128g card. I was hoping that it would work. Excellent first impressions. Damn, I'm jealous. I'm getting mine tomorrow. Can't wait to hear what you think SQ-wise as to how it compares to what you've got in your stable. I'm going to be gauging off my 100ii, iPod Classic 7g and my X3ii. I will post something once I get it...

 

[dbdynsty25]

FedEx kills me sometimes.  My package was sent via 2 Day...and it arrived this morning at the FedEx depot next to my house. However, they won't try to deliver until next Tuesday and apparently I am not allowed to come pick it up early.  It has to have a delivery attempt first allegedly.  That's what they claim anyway...so here I am, getting to now wait another 4 days to listen to it.  Damn.

 

[clee290]

Similar thing has happened to me with Purolator. I saw the truck outside my house, then it just drove away and package was marked as attempted delivery. Guy didn't even get out of the truck. I complained to their support on Twitter and they made the guy come back to deliver it

 

[Photoman]

  Just got mine from FedEx, and here are a couple of things I found:
 
1, The build quality is very good and feels much more solid than the AK120.
2, As you can see below, it boot and scanning my SanDisk 128Gb microSD with NO issue with firmware 1.00.
3, The "click" for the slot is a little too deep, so I have to use something else to poke the card into place.  This could be an issue if you want/need to change cards frequently.  On the upside, it will be rather unlikely that your card will pop out of place by accident.
4, The scan rate is comparable to the AK240.
 
Listening impression will follow.
 

 
 

 

  Just got mine from FedEx, and here are a couple of things I found:
 
1, The build quality is very good and feels much more solid than the AK120.
2, As you can see below, it boot and scanning my SanDisk 128Gb microSD with NO issue with firmware 1.00.
3, The "click" for the slot is a little too deep, so I have to use something else to poke the card into place.  This could be an issue if you want/need to change cards frequently.  On the upside, it will be rather unlikely that your card will pop out of place by accident.
4, The scan rate is comparable to the AK240.
 
Listening impression will follow.
 

 

Please talk about the UI also  Thanks

 

[DrSheep]

 
Please talk about the UI also  Thanks

Sure, but anything specific in mind?

 

[Photoman]

Sure, but anything specific in mind?

can you make a playlist and name it? Also can you que up a song in the current now playing section? How is the scrolling long list? Does it show letters when scrolling? I have a 128gb card with over 9,000 songs. And also the sound of course. I have a fiio X1 hopefully it's sound is better for 500 Thanks

 

[DrSheep]

Ok...
 
Q1: can you make a playlist and name it?
A1: I tried and you can make playlist on the fly but not name them.  I guess you have to rename it when you connect to the computer.
 
Q2: Also can you que up a song in the current now playing section?
A2: YES!  Your song has a dot next to it, hit that and 4 icon options shows up: 1, add to playlist; 2, queue to bottom of current list; 3, queue to top of current list (to be played next); 4, delete.
 
Q3: How is the scrolling long list? Does it show letters when scrolling? I have a 128gb card with over 9,000 songs.
A3: Depends on current song being played: nothing playing scrolls pretty fast, mp3/AAC still scrolls fast, 24/192 FLAC you get some slow down be still pretty good, but DSD64 the thing just drag and skips all over the place.  However, this test was done with my 3000-ish songs from the SD and not the internal memory, so I don't know how much of a difference will it be.
 
Q4: And also the sound of course. I have a fiio X1 hopefully it's sound is better for 500 Thanks.
A4: I have not heard the X1, but I think people generally agree that the iBasso DX90 sounds better, which I had.  The AK Jr is definitely better than the DX90, and in fact it sounds really close to the AK120 but a hair less warm.  Of course my impression is still very early, as was only able to listen to it on and off for the last 6 hours.  The battery died so I need to recharge, which was my fault as I didn't charge it out of the box.  Anyway, for $500 the AK Jr. is an ok deal, but definitely a good buy when price drop in the future.  Also note that the new scroll wheel design is very good, and the clicks are much more solid compare to both the AK120 and AK240.

 

[Photoman]

Ok...

Q1: can you make a playlist and name it?
A1: I tried and you can make playlist on the fly but not name them.  I guess you have to rename it when you connect to the computer.

Q2: Also can you que up a song in the current now playing section?
A2: YES!  Your song has a dot next to it, hit that and 4 icon options shows up: 1, add to playlist; 2, queue to bottom of current list; 3, queue to top of current list (to be played next); 4, delete.

Q3: How is the scrolling long list? Does it show letters when scrolling? I have a 128gb card with over 9,000 songs.
A3: Depends on current song being played: nothing playing scrolls pretty fast, mp3/AAC still scrolls fast, 24/192 FLAC you get some slow down be still pretty good, but DSD64 the thing just drag and skips all over the place.  However, this test was done with my 3000-ish songs from the SD and not the internal memory, so I don't know how much of a difference will it be.

Q4: And also the sound of course. I have a fiio X1 hopefully it's sound is better for 500 Thanks.
A4: I have not heard the X1, but I think people generally agree that the iBasso DX90 sounds better, which I had.  The AK Jr is definitely better than the DX90, and in fact it sounds really close to the AK120 but a hair less warm.  Of course my impression is still very early, as was only able to listen to it on and off for the last 6 hours.  The battery died so I need to recharge, which was my fault as I didn't charge it out of the box.  Anyway, for $500 the AK Jr. is an ok deal, but definitely a good buy when price drop in the future.  Also note that the new scroll wheel design is very good, and the clicks are much more solid compare to both the AK120 and AK240.

Thanks one more thing please. Say you shuffle all music and a song is playing can you go to that artist albums straight without going back out and searching for him

 

[mhoque]

  Just got mine from FedEx, and here are a couple of things I found:
 
1, The build quality is very good and feels much more solid than the AK120.
2, As you can see below, it boot and scanning my SanDisk 128Gb microSD with NO issue with firmware 1.00.
3, The "click" for the slot is a little too deep, so I have to use something else to poke the card into place.  This could be an issue if you want/need to change cards frequently.  On the upside, it will be rather unlikely that your card will pop out of place by accident.
4, The scan rate is comparable to the AK240.
 
Listening impression will follow.
 

 

Dr. will you be able to give some idea about the sound signature ? thanks in advance.

 

[BensonTT]

@drsheep.. Does the Jr sound nice and airy/huge soundstage like the Dx90?

 

[DrSheep]

Thanks one more thing please. Say you shuffle all music and a song is playing can you go to that artist albums straight without going back out and searching for him

No unfortunately not.
 

Dr. will you be able to give some idea about the sound signature ? thanks in advance.

What's your setup and have you have any experience with iBasso, Sony, or AK?  The best I can give you is a slightly brighter sounding version of the AK120 and a hair less smooth, I am guessing that the Jr should be closest to the AK100 MK2 SQ wise but I can't be sure.