[Gabehcuod]

I've been running a 400gb MicroSD, but I think it may be 1TB time, have like 300gb of music I haven't moved over and only 50gb left...
Thanks for confirming it actually supports a 1TB.

 

[thecrow]

If i am feeding the xlr into active monitors is it ok and/or wise to use the variable voltage out (as opposed to fixed 2v) as the volume control.

Does resolution drop at all - i’m thinking not (?)

i’m currently using a tc electronic level pilot
https://www.tcelectronic.com/Catego...essories/LEVEL-PILOT/p/P0D71#googtrans(en|en)
but am considering a solution with less (and better) cables

 

[sahmen]

Update: I

I'm having a problem of excessively low volume since I did the upgrade. I keep cranking the volume up past 35-40 in High gain, and I even get the high volume alert warning me that if I keep going any higher, I might get hearing damage, but what I actually hear from the unit itself is music at an excessively low volume, even when I'm listening in balanced mode. I have never experienced anything like this before, either from this or from another DAP.

If this is a problem of the firmware, then I wouldn't mind going to the previous one, if that is possible,

Or is it a problem of a settings change I have made without knowing I have made it? The last time I used it, I tried using the 5-pin XLR output to play through an external amp in order to see how it sounds, and it didn't impress me too much that way, so I stopped. I am wondering whether I may have changed the settings in some way without changing it back to normal on that day. If anyone has any helpful thoughts about this, they'd be appreciated. Thanks.

***Update: It turns out I can actually get it to play at decently loud volume levels, but only if if I crank it way up to 90 or past that, even in hi gain mode. But it was clearly not like that before this update. Previously, I couldn't and wouldn't even go near 30 in low gain with my HeKse in balanced mode, so what gives now. I think this firmware update has screwed somethings up, Is there some way to reverse it? Now it seems as if the unit itself is confused about how to control the low, high, and mid gain settings in volume, because the volume seems all over the place.

New Update: After re-reading the firmware update page, it is turning out that what I have considered to be the major screw-up off the update might actually be part of what is meant as the main set of improvements being brought to the KC by the firmware v1.21 as reported here:

https://www.astellnkern.com/eng/con...rd=&cg=&goods=SC35560&idx=1000153&page=1&no=8

Namely:

[Improvements]
- Volume safety feature added
: Volume safety feature can be turned on/off in the Settings Menu
: Alert when volume level reaches safety limit
(Function enabled as the default setting)
- Operational stability improvements

So it is basically an overhaul of the volume operational and scaling system!

First let me say just how relieved I feel after realizing that the update itself went as it should, and the changes I noticed in both the scaling and behavior or the volume control system were actually what the update was meant to put into effect :

Now, some gripes still remain, unfortunately:

1. Scaling the volume up to 100 points and over could be good thing, as it gives more playroom and refinement to the volume dial. However, why is it that using my rather easy to drive HekSE, the volume safety warning comes on around level 38, when "loudness" is so low that I can barely hear the music? To give me a warning that my hearing is about to be damaged any time, at a point when the sound is this ridiculously faint almost defeats the purpose of the volume safety warning altogether. Volume safety warnings can be even grossly counterproductive at level 38, if I have to crank it to level 80 and beyond to start hearing the KC play at a loudness level that sounds somewhat satisfactory to me. By the way, my hearing tests A-okay, and is certified "superb" with zero signs of impairment, so it would seem that the volume safety regulation range still needs some work.

2. And what's with the new wonkiness of the loudness gain setting system? I went between low, medium, and high gain, and the differences between them didn't seem to correspond logically to the loudness levels one would normally expect in such a 3-tier volume regulation system...

That should be all for now, although I have still not tested most changes carried in the new firmware as yet...

What I can say, so far, is that firmware v1.21's "improvements" still need even more "improvements." For a few hours today, I was beginning to think I'd messed up my KC big time.

 

[JasonNYC]

There's something not right - either about the Kann Cube update or the latest Tidal version (2.23) on APKPure. But since updating both, Tidal has ben extremely flakey, crashing, freezing and certain tracks/albums no longer playing, even though they are still available on Tidal. I've tried uninstalling and then re-installing Tidal. I haven't gone as far as a hard re-set of the Cube yet, as I can'r really face it. But if anyone else has had this problem and a hard re-set has solved it, please let me know.

Were you experiencing issues on the previous version of the Tidal app? I have not tried the newest version yet. I will download to my KANN CUBE and Android phone and test. I have had numerous problems with previous releases of the Tidal app on both my daily Android phone and players. Most of my players and my phone, I haven't bothered updating the app once I finally found a stable version. If you search other forums on Head-Fi, this is a reoccurring problem with the Tidal app.

 

[JasonNYC]

128GB is kind of limited for music storage memory with WAV and FLAC file formats. Astell & Kern advertise that the Kann Cube can utilize a micro SD memory card up to 1TB to extend the internal memory. Does this really work? Can I buy a 512GB micro SDXC memory card and just plug it in and play? Or are there a lot of caveats and obstacles (like available card file formats) to really using this supposed capability?

We recommend formatting as FAT32 foe best results. This can be done within the player itself by going to Settings ->System information -> Erase SD card.

1TB cards are officially supported on KANN CUBE.

 

[OverlordRush]

@JasonNYC Do you know what the output impedance of the XLR out? only the 2.5/3.5mm are listed on the AK site

 

[JasonNYC]

@JasonNYC Do you know what the output impedance of the XLR out? only the 2.5/3.5mm are listed on the AK site

Let me confirm, but I would assume there is no output impedance as it bypasses the amp, therefore is not amped.

 

[OverlordRush]

Let me confirm, but I would assume there is no output impedance as it bypasses the amp, therefore is not amped.

yeah, I am just wondering what the rated output impedance of the Line out, since a true line out would have a higher output impedance and usually messes up the sound signature of an iem if I would use the XLR output.

 

[471724]

Let me confirm, but I would assume there is no output impedance as it bypasses the amp, therefore is not amped.

The balanced XLR output impedance isn't specified in the A&K literature I have seen. From the block diagram this would appear to be the output impedance of the DAC, or that is, collectively of all 8 DACs on the chip. This is probably fairly low. Another way of looking at it is to consider that high output impedance causes high frequency rolloff because of the RC filter circuit formed by the output impedance combined with the cable capacitance. Cable capacitance and corresponding HF rolloff rapidly increase with increasing cable length. Since A&K don't caution about any maximum balanced XLR cable length allowable, cable capacitance and corresponding high frequency rolloff probably aren't a problem. So this also indicates that the XLR output probably has a low impedance, no more than 20 ohms or so.

It would be good to get a ruling on this from A&K.

 

[AspettiSignore]

yeah, I am just wondering what the rated output impedance of the Line out, since a true line out would have a higher output impedance and usually messes up the sound signature of an iem if I would use the XLR output.

That XLR output has a really high output impedance as you can see from the graph attached; it won’t be able to provide a linear power output to drive your headphones.

 

[OverlordRush]

That XLR output has a really high output impedance as you can see from the graph attached; it won’t be able to provide a linear power output to drive your headphones.

you gotta show me a graph bigger than that... i cant see anything...

 

[AspettiSignore]

you gotta show me a graph bigger than that... i cant see anything...

oops, not sure why it was that small, but here we go again...
Basically this graph shows you the voltage drop across all the connection interfaces on the cube. The volume knob is first turned to a position so that the cube outputs a steady 1 volt-peak-to-peak, that's about 0.35 Vrms, and we may observe just how much that voltage drops if we connect load of different impedance to it. A linear line that stays as close to the 1 vpp level as possible indicates a low output impedance.

 

[OverlordRush]

oops, not sure why it was that small, but here we go again...
Basically this graph shows you the voltage drop across all the connection interfaces on the cube. The volume knob is first turned to a position so that the cube outputs a steady 1 volt-peak-to-peak, that's about 0.35 Vrms, and we may observe just how much that voltage drops if we connect load of different impedance to it. A linear line that stays as close to the 1 vpp level as possible indicates a low output impedance.

would be a lot easier if you just show me the same graph but bigger? where did you get this measurement?

 

[AspettiSignore]

would be a lot easier if you just show me the same graph but bigger? where did you get this measurement?

oops again, forgot to attach the graph....

 

[AspettiSignore]

would be a lot easier if you just show me the same graph but bigger? where did you get this measurement?

https://sandalaudio.blogspot.com/2019/07/astell-kann-cube.html
you can find the measurements here, and it is mostly accurate; another head-fier pointed me this way. Although to read it you might need google translator, as it's all written in Japanese.