[DrSheep]

Thanks do you think Bose Quiet Comfort 15s are good enough for the Jr?

No.

 

[Vartanarsen]

 
No.

Then, whats a good one for the AK Jr.?

 

[DrSheep]

Then, whats a good one for the AK Jr.?

What's your budget?

 

[Vartanarsen]

Couple of hundred, but if they are just as good as my qc15s, ill just keep my qc15s

 

[Styxx10]

Does anyone know, or have any contact with the Reps from Astell & Kern.
I know they are pretty quiet to any concerns I have seen posted.
My main problem is that the use of the player as a DAC isn't being really correctly
advertised, knowing as we all do , the issues people have experienced.
 
They should let future purchaser's aware that the DAC functionality isn't available
if you use Windows 10 64 bit, which , I think most modern day PC's would.
The only option to use the function of the Player as a DAC is to disable USB 3 in the
PC BIOS , that then means that the transfer of files to the player is impacted on By slowing down the
transfer....
It's a "Lose, lose " situation. Would really like to hear from the folk of Astell & Kern
if this can be rectified......

 

[swannie007]

Good luck with that. Their after sales presence is virtually non-existent! Worst after sales service I have experienced with a dap. My 2c worth. Cheers.

 

[DrSheep]

Couple of hundred, but if they are just as good as my qc15s, ill just keep my qc15s

Try the Shure SE215 or 315, but again I rather you return your Jr. and get the SE535LTD with the combined budget.

 

[howdy]

  Good luck with that. Their after sales presence is virtually non-existent! Worst after sales service I have experienced with a dap. My 2c worth. Cheers.

I agree 1,000,000 %

 

[DrSheep]

  I agree 1,000,000 %

You guys must have not been talking to the right people, as my experience has largely been positive.  They have gone as far as contract me on their own, which they saw my AK240 Blue Note unboxing video on YouTube and I had some parts broken in the box.

 

[gr8soundz]

  You guys must have not been talking to the right people, as my experience has largely been positive.  They have gone as far as contract me on their own, which they saw my AK240 Blue Note unboxing video on YouTube and I had some parts broken in the box.

 
Good customer service means you should be able to talk to any service rep and get some assistance.
 

 

[howdy]

   
Good customer service means you should be able to talk to any service rep and get some assistance.
 

 

  You guys must have not been talking to the right people, as my experience has largely been positive.  They have gone as far as contract me on their own, which they saw my AK240 Blue Note unboxing video on YouTube and I had some parts broken in the box.

Ive been talking to someone from AK direct about getting an update for this player for over a couple of months and i just get led on. That is not good service.

 

[DrSheep]

 
Ive been talking to someone from AK direct about getting an update for this player for over a couple of months and i just get led on. That is not good service.

An update on what?  PM if you don't want to post here.

 

[nephilim32]

Hello all AK family.

First and foremost I wanna thank Dr. Sheep, Clee290 and everyone else here who contributed to the knowledge of this product for making it user friendly. I learned quite a bit before buying my AK Jr thanks to all o you.

Overall, my impressions are pretty good about how I feel with this DAP. I find the JR to be incredibly warm sounding with a very thick mid range that leaves me toe tapping from here to kingdom come!
There really isn't even a hint of digital edge with the JR And pairing the JR with the SONY MDR Z-7's makes for a very very pleasant listening experience for long periods of time.
I've experimented with a variety of bit depth formats and even lower ones for that matter. Long story short the JR displays very well what kind of source quality you really do possess. I also found it interesting (depending on the recording) that the AK JR, because it's DAC staging is really advanced and strong, can actually make a poultry 290kps bit rate sound somewhat bearable. I think that is amazing. I really love the Wolfson 8740 chip. It's my first experience with it and I think it's that of a great one. CD quality format in WAV or FLAC are full of life even in basic red book 16/44.1 or 48k.
The UI: yeah. I get it. It is more bare bones than anything else. I updated the firmware of course and I find that menu navigation is a little quicker, but overall I really don't have a problem with it. It's fine and it's highly functional considering how much SQ exist in this little sucker!! I do little cause the jr is very portable!! It is my best friend while traveling and hitting the streets.
Anyhow, once I get into around 40gigs of internal storage I will crab an SSD card, so I can maybe preserve a less lag experience with the UI ?

EQ'ing: now I experimented with this quite a bit and I feel that the 5 band EQ isn't not very sophisticated and maybe more tailored for IEM's than anything since the neutral setting is at -2 DB. Tried the pro EQ and it gives you slightly thicker low end, but your mid range gets a bit squished so I find nothing PRO about it...once again bare bones!
Above all, the Natural or normal (flat) non EQ setting is by far the best and I prefer it by far. The SQ is incredible.

Do I feel the JR is worth the price? Based on SQ alone maybe I do, but I think because the UI is more basic than anything else I feel the unit should be about 100$ less MSRP, however that SQ is huge on the jr!!

Internal amp. 1.95 VRMS into just 2 ohms does the trick I feel. I think the maximum headphone driving capabilities of the JR maybe around 75ohms and no more! I use the MDR' z-7's and they are 70 ohms and I hover around 64 to 72 on the volume attenuator and it goes up to 75 so I know The Z-7's just make the driving cut if you will. Anyway, a very nice pairing!!! I am absolutely loving it. Sure beats the crap out of my I pod nano paired with my FIIO e-17. It's actually a joke compared to the SQ of the JR.

So overall. I love the JR and I'm gonna keep it for a very long time. It's very revealing, accurate and easy on the ears even at higher volumes.

Lastly. Here are 5 albums I found to be an incredible experience with my Jr paired directly with the Sony MDR's at just 16/44 and 24/44 in WAV or FLAC.

1) fear factory-- Genexus
2) David Bowie-- Black Star
3) disturbed-- Immortalized
4) the Alan Parsons Project-- Vulture Culture
5) Hibernal-- Replacements (available on bandcamp.)



One more thing. I will be looking into getting a great pair of CIEM's to pair with the JR for ultimate portability and experience. I feel the jr could handle some nice CIEM's out there.

 

[DrSheep]

Great review and thanks for the feedback and kudos.

 

[nephilim32]

Great review and thanks for the feedback and kudos.

Thanks so much. Happy to share, but I should also mention that I owned the SounDroid Vantam for a few months and paired it with my Blue Mofi's shown here


Although a good listening experience, but the AK JR absolutely crushes that pairing. That's just how good I find it to be....i am starting to think there is nothing 'JR' about this AK model. What a player. Also the 'gapless' playback is pretty good. Like it better than the I-pod's crossfade feature.

Anyway. I've got a ton of importing to do music wise to get my JR stacked with tunes.

Once again. Thank you for all your help.