Astell & Kern KANN - DAP with Massive Storage & Battery

[Miniculthero]

What cans work best with the Kann, they state it can drive full sized cans but presumably something like hd800s is not an ideal synergy. Has anyone tried an array of different headphones and can give a detailsd account of how they sound through the Kann.

 

[jrbgarcia]

What cans work best with the Kann, they state it can drive full sized cans but presumably something like hd800s is not an ideal synergy. Has anyone tried an array of different headphones and can give a detailsd account of how they sound through the Kann.

Elears sound like they aren't getting enough power, sound slightly veiled. Grado RS2e sounds good as well. HD600 doesnt sound like it's getting pushed properly as well

 

[Shetzu]

the Line out 3.5mm that I can use to toslink which quality has? 32/384? Microusb has 32/384

Since Kann has separate Lineout both balanced & 3.5mm the quality is superb and you can use it to attach any of your gadgets. For cables you have to search the Net for what you want. Yes you can bypass the built in amp of the Kann and use only the DAC of Kann.

 

[Shetzu]

What cans work best with the Kann, they state it can drive full sized cans but presumably something like hd800s is not an ideal synergy. Has anyone tried an array of different headphones and can give a detailsd account of how they sound through the Kann.

I have the Hd800 and it works perfectly with Kann. The Kann has enough power to drive Hds. So far I have not felt any senergy lacking at listening level. However if you listen to your HPs at high volumes surely one requires a dedicated amp.

 

[frankieteardrop]

@frankieteardrop

Saw your post about the duplicates and meant to reply. I'm sorry I never responded. I will take a look again and get back to you.

Hey @JasonNYC - just happened yet again. Any updates?

 

[rick81]

Thank you everybody! It's ok sandisk sd for KANN?

 

[Luvdac]

Thank you everybody! It's ok sandisk sd for KANN?

All sd cards should work in it but SanDisk...wow!!
16/44 recordings sound like 24/192...
Ok. Just kidding. Sure thing, go for SanDisk.

 

[rick81]

Hahaha Samsung are well supported? I found are cheaper than sandisk

 

[kertong]

No issues here at all.

Thank you for confirming. I stopped by my local hifi store (the same one I bought my Kann new from) and tried out the Kann demo unit they had out. Volume wheel was nice and smooth, now I know mine is busted - mine sticks in weird places and doesn't feel very smooth/linear.

Took some photos and from what I recall, the wheel was centered in the good demo unit - looks smooshed towards the bottom on mine.

Going to head back up to the shop (an hour drive) and try to work out an exchange. sigh..

 

[Shetzu]

Thank you for confirming. I stopped by my local hifi store (the same one I bought my Kann new from) and tried out the Kann demo unit they had out. Volume wheel was nice and smooth, now I know mine is busted - mine sticks in weird places and doesn't feel very smooth/linear.

Took some photos and from what I recall, the wheel was centered in the good demo unit - looks smooshed towards the bottom on mine.

Going to head back up to the shop (an hour drive) and try to work out an exchange. sigh..

Yes I do see the gap above and less gep below of the wheel as per your image attached. Since we all have paid $1000 for this unit I feel A&K should be more quality conscious and such lapses from their side should not be habitual. If you have the option to change it please do so. All the best.

 

[kertong]

If you have the option to change it please do so. All the best.

Thanks Shetzu. I took some time off work and drove up to SF an hour for an exchange. Couldn't believe it - the owner told me I didn't follow their exchange instructions and that I needed to go home, email them my serial #, and wait for astell&kern to 'approve' the swap before I came up again. I was shocked! I was just in their store last week and bought a prima luna tube amp; and a week before that the audeze LCD-XC, and the isine 20 a few weels ago. Shocked that they didn't stand behind the product and gave me such a hard time - totally condescending and even called me a liar for telling them "I thought you said you'd swap this on the spot since I was within the 14 day exchange period." Perhaps I misunderstood what they said but calling me a liar to my face was so insulting!

If any astell&kern people are reading this thread - is this standard procedure for an AD to have to set up an exchange like this before swapping an obviously defective unit? One of the employees there compared my volume wheel to their in-store demo unit and immediately acknowledged that I was right and the volume wheel was busted yet they didn't want to let me exchange units in store.

Couldn't believe these people were authorized astell&kern dealers. After some back and forth, I asked the owner of the store if he could call astell&kern right then and there. He begrudgingly did so, and 5 minutes later I had the swap "approved" and walked out of the store with a new kann.

The kann is perfect now, volume wheel works as expected; but I have such a bad taste in my mouth left that I'm having trouble enjoying the unit. Should've just bought from B&H.

 

[JasonNYC]

Thanks Shetzu. I took some time off work and drove up to SF an hour for an exchange. Couldn't believe it - the owner told me I didn't follow their exchange instructions and that I needed to go home, email them my serial #, and wait for astell&kern to 'approve' the swap before I came up again. I was shocked! I was just in their store last week and bought a prima luna tube amp; and a week before that the audeze LCD-XC, and the isine 20 a few weels ago. Shocked that they didn't stand behind the product and gave me such a hard time - totally condescending and even called me a liar for telling them "I thought you said you'd swap this on the spot since I was within the 14 day exchange period." Perhaps I misunderstood what they said but calling me a liar to my face was so insulting!

If any astell&kern people are reading this thread - is this standard procedure for an AD to have to set up an exchange like this before swapping an obviously defective unit? One of the employees there compared my volume wheel to their in-store demo unit and immediately acknowledged that I was right and the volume wheel was busted yet they didn't want to let me exchange units in store.

Couldn't believe these people were authorized astell&kern dealers. After some back and forth, I asked the owner of the store if he could call astell&kern right then and there. He begrudgingly did so, and 5 minutes later I had the swap "approved" and walked out of the store with a kern.

The kann is perfect now, volume wheel works as expected; but I have such a bad taste in my mouth left that I'm having trouble enjoying the unit. Should've just bought from B&H.

Sorry to hear you had an issue with one of our dealers. I just sent you a PM to follow up with you. I am happy to see everything worked out for you.

 

[kertong]

Sorry to hear you had an issue with one of our dealers. I just sent you a PM to follow up with you. I am happy to see everything worked out for you.

Whoa! Insanely fast response! Thank you @JasonNYC; thank you for standing behind the product and following up. A lot of my angst was already melting away as I'm at work now listening to the Kann through my Noble Kaiser Encores in balanced mode. Lovely unit.

Following up with you via PM. Thanks again!

 

[zeleknot]

Not quite sure what the issue may be, I haven't heard of any issues personally with either the 1st gen or 2nd gen CD Ripper and KANN. I'll need to talk to our support team and see if I can get more info for you. Since it is the weekend, it may be a day or two before I have a response for you. Just curious if you have the latest firmware update? The latest firmware included updated support for the CD Ripper. It is version 1.05 released 10/30/17.

Hi Jason

Any news on the issue I have with ripping CDs with the screen turned off? I ripped over 30CDs by now and the issue remains, if I turn off the screen while ripping and then turn it back on to see the progress, sometimes the ripping stops. If the screen is always on it rips fine but Kann gets hot and I'm afraid of a "burn in" in the screen.

Thanks upfront

Z.

 

[JasonNYC]

Hi Jason

Any news on the issue I have with ripping CDs with the screen turned off? I ripped over 30CDs by now and the issue remains, if I turn off the screen while ripping and then turn it back on to see the progress, sometimes the ripping stops. If the screen is always on it rips fine but Kann gets hot and I'm afraid of a "burn in" in the screen.

Thanks upfront

Z.

Sorry, not yet. I will follow up again with the team tonight when they get into the office.