[XELLENCE]

   
I have only owned the A17 for a short amount of time so take this with a grain of salt.  To me, the A17 was a very bright sounding player.  The highs were very crisp and could be slightly sibilant with my K10's.  Bass was slightly boomier and also had slightly more impact.  I didn't really notice anything special about the mids.
 
I would say that the AK Jr sounds slightly more balanced (probably due to the smoother sound), and sounds very similar to the DX90 which I love.  Level of detail I would say is about the same on both players.  It still has that AK house sound where it sounds slightly warm and very smooth/relaxed.
 
Overall, I would probably still prefer the AK Jr soundwise.  I don't remember the A17 impressing me that much when I owned it which is why I sold it off preferring my DX90.  The A17 lacks power and it was kind of noticeable on my K10's which sounded kind of flat (not much depth to the music).  Still for the price, I think it is a decently good sounding player with good looks, size, and UI.

Can you please provide more comparison between the DX90 and the Jr. on the K10?
 
I'm a K10 owner-to-be and am eyeing on some affordable and really portable DAPs.
 
Among all the DAPs, X5 II, DX90 and Jr. caught my eyes and I'm in a dilemma of which to choose.

 

[SashimiWu]

 
Can you please provide more comparison between the DX90 and the Jr. on the K10?
 
I'm a K10 owner-to-be and am eyeing on some affordable and really portable DAPs.
 
Among all the DAPs, X5 II, DX90 and Jr. caught my eyes and I'm in a dilemma of which to choose.

 
Sure thing.  Give me one more day.  I will be heading into B&H NYC to demo the AK Jr some more after work tomorrow so I will post my impressions tomorrow evening.

 

[hifistarter]

 

Perhaps a gold, and blue one will be on the way as limited edition, ala the 240

 

[doublea71]

  First and fore most, the AK JR is a music player.  Why are we trying to navigate through its menus and features like it was a smart phone?  Just choose an album and let the damn thing play MUSIC.  What I love about it is there are no distractions.  I can't check my Facebook or Twitter on it.  It forces me to relax and enjoy my favorite tunes.

The UI is promoted and highlighted by Astell & Kern on its own website, so blaming the user for doing something on it that it was designed to do doesn't strike me as much of an argument. They are a premium brand and even though it's their entry level model, people are reasonably going to expect a similarly premium UI experience at $500. However, I did watch your video on youtube and it didn't look half bad to me, but I've been using a J3 for the past 3+ years.  I'm guessing they'll be able to improve this in future firmware updates and put this to rest.

 

[swannie007]

  The UI is promoted and highlighted by Astell & Kern on its own website, so blaming the user for doing something on it that it was designed to do doesn't strike me as much of an argument. They are a premium brand and even though it's their entry level model, people are reasonably going to expect a similarly premium UI experience at $500. However, I did watch your video on youtube and it didn't look half bad to me, but I've been using a J3 for the past 3+ years.  I'm guessing they'll be able to improve this in future firmware updates and put this to rest.

I sure as hell hope they improve the UI as this is otherwise a nice dap.

 

[AUDIOBREEDER]

Those days are over, technology has advanced.

First and fore most, the AK JR is a music player.  Why are we trying to navigate through its menus and features like it was a smart phone?  Just choose an album and let the damn thing play MUSIC.  What I love about it is there are no distractions.  I can't check my Facebook or Twitter on it.  It forces me to relax and enjoy my favorite tunes.

 

[AUDIOBREEDER]

Thanks, looks like a well built player and the price not that huge. Will give it a try soon.

I have only owned the A17 for a short amount of time so take this with a grain of salt.  To me, the A17 was a very bright sounding player.  The highs were very crisp and could be slightly sibilant with my K10's.  Bass was slightly boomier and also had slightly more impact.  I didn't really notice anything special about the mids.

I would say that the AK Jr sounds slightly more balanced (probably due to the smoother sound), and sounds very similar to the DX90 which I love.  Level of detail I would say is about the same on both players.  It still has that AK house sound where it sounds slightly warm and very smooth/relaxed.

Overall, I would probably still prefer the AK Jr soundwise.  I don't remember the A17 impressing me that much when I owned it which is why I sold it off preferring my DX90.  The A17 lacks power and it was kind of noticeable on my K10's which sounded kind of flat (not much depth to the music).  Still for the price, I think it is a decently good sounding player with good looks, size, and UI.

 

[owek123]

i just got the sony A15 and nw zx1 and now this??!! i sooooo want one, especially that black AK JR, damn look sexy AF i wana use it naked..

 

[Richsvt]

Is there a new Black one that has come out? I have the silver but would love to see this in a matte black...never saw any mention of a different color anywhere. Please include pictures...

 

[owek123]

Is there a new Black one that has come out? I have the silver but would love to see this in a matte black...never saw any mention of a different color anywhere. Please include pictures...

the link is posted by XELLENCE.. http://www.loxpo.com/article-1565-1.html

 

[owek123]

here are some of the pics of the black version..

 

[Richsvt]

Damn, I really like the looks of the sheen on that. Thanks for posting the pictures...if I hadn't just gotten mine a little while back, I would go for the new color...

 

[SashimiWu]

So after demoing the AK Jr for a bit more (around 30 minutes or so), largely, I still feel the same way as I did before.
 
Using the UI was a bit better since I was a bit familiar with it before and way less frustrating.  However, I still felt that it was way too laggy/sloppy for a $500 product.  I do think that AK will eventually fix this through a firmware update but honestly it could be an issue with having an underpowered CPU instead.
 
Comparing the sound to the DX90, I still felt the AK Jr was smoother sounding.  It was slightly warm and sounded very balanced.  I very much like the tonality of the player and it seems perfectly in line with what I want to hear.
 
The DX90 sounded like it was the higher fidelity player.  It had better dynamics (probably due to the larger amount of bass impact) and you could definitely hear more detail.  The sound that it produced sounded way clearer in comparison of the overly smooth sound of the AK Jr.  It also seemed to me that the DX90 handled faster music better where it felt on the AK Jr, I was missing some things.
 
I think this is partially due to the fact that the DX90 presents the music in your face and overemphasizes certain aspects of the music.  However, I felt that the AK100II definitely sounded more transparent and clear than both models even though it had an even smoother sounding signature and a wider/deeper soundstage than both of the players.  So perhaps this is not the case.
 
Overall, I came away much more positive about the AK Jr than I did before.  I really wish I could have demoed it in a much quieter environment but I don't think the player is for me since to my ears the DX90 still sounds better.  Definitely gonna try to look into getting the new X5 from FiiO to see how it compares.

 

[asdfg]

Tried it at my local audiophile shop last week, it was great but not overly fantastic though 

 

[theonlytrueone]

Anyone know when the cases come out in the US and what price it will come out at?