[emdeevee]

Would love to hear people's reactions to the sound quality versus the other AK DAPs. Does the "new" give you upgrades approaching the prior flagship? How much more sound does an SP2000 present in comparison? It seems clear from all reports it is the best sounding Kann, but how does that stack up? Does it continue the KANN trend of falling below those and why?

 

[Gymboy]

Once you try M17 on PL50 then you would be confused.

 

[pankaj1431]

Should have an update soon regarding Roon Arc and AK players and will post the info once I have it.

Hey Jason,

Any update about new FW to support Roon Arc and solve Wifi issues?

Cheers
Pankaj

 

[emdeevee]

Hey Jason,

Any update about new FW to support Roon Arc and solve Wifi issues?

Cheers
Pankaj

I tried the Roon ready feature but saw no reason to spend $ to support that, so canceled. Maybe with full ARC control, I'll reconsider.

 

[JasonNYC]

Hey Jason,

Any update about new FW to support Roon Arc and solve Wifi issues?

Cheers
Pankaj

Roon ARC support should be added in the next firmware update coming soon. No ETA yet on when it will be available. Will update once I have more info.

 

[morndewey]

Sent my KMax to A&K warranty repair.
Like I mentioned awhile back, I’ve continued to have mild static clicking when adjusting volume, both knob and touch screen. Didn’t always happen but frequently enough since late June.
Also had very noticeable hissing with my all-BA iems, two of them, one of which I sold (for other reasons).
Posted question as to whether anyone else had same issues but I don’t think anyone replied, one way or the other.
Really hope this gets resolved.
Very much missing the sound of this dap

 

[emdeevee]

Sent my KMax to A&K warranty repair.
Like I mentioned awhile back, I’ve continued to have mild static clicking when adjusting volume, both knob and touch screen. Didn’t always happen but frequently enough since late June.
Also had very noticeable hissing with my all-BA iems, two of them, one of which I sold (for other reasons).
Posted question as to whether anyone else had same issues but I don’t think anyone replied, one way or the other.
Really hope this gets resolved.
Very much missing the sound of this dap

That sucks, sorry to hear that. I've had none of those issues with my Max, which has maybe only 50 hours so far. I'm loving it!

 

[pankaj1431]

I tried the Roon ready feature but saw no reason to spend $ to support that, so canceled. Maybe with full ARC control, I'll reconsider.

I just made use of Black Friday deal from Roon (2$ for 3 months) and wanted to experience all the hype about it

 

[emdeevee]

I just made use of Black Friday deal from Roon (2$ for 3 months) and wanted to experience all the hype about it

As someone who has worked hard to organize a digital music collection, all of which can now reside on a micro SD of 1TB with lots of room for growth, I don't understand what Roon will bring me. I use my DAP and headphones for music, and my DAP can display lyrics if I want it to. What is Roon doing for those who don't need streaming?

 

[MikeO3]

As someone who has worked hard to organize a digital music collection, all of which can now reside on a micro SD of 1TB with lots of room for growth, I don't understand what Roon will bring me. I use my DAP and headphones for music, and my DAP can display lyrics if I want it to. What is Roon doing for those who don't need streaming?

Roon is a multi endpoint control system which let's you stream to devices using a proprietary protocol called RAAT (and supports others). This enables native format music to be streamed which includes the Kann Maxx as an end point. One of my use cases is enabling Roon Ready on the DAP and then using my tablet to play music. If I want to change rooms or devices, I simply redirect the queue to that device or add another room and get a whole home broadcast. Read more here.

I am glad you can fit your library on a card... Mine is a little large for that so Roon or JRiver are used to curate playlists and then I upload to my 1Tb card for portable. Roon ARC which was also mentioned enables streaming of the Roon library and also downloaded use of the media files.

 

[emdeevee]

Roon is a multi endpoint control system which let's you stream to devices using a proprietary protocol called RAAT (and supports others). This enables native format music to be streamed which includes the Kann Maxx as an end point. One of my use cases is enabling Roon Ready on the DAP and then using my tablet to play music. If I want to change rooms or devices, I simply redirect the queue to that device or add another room and get a whole home broadcast. Read more here.

I am glad you can fit your library on a card... Mine is a little large for that so Roon or JRiver are used to curate playlists and then I upload to my 1Tb card for portable. Roon ARC which was also mentioned enables streaming of the Roon library and also downloaded use of the media files.

So maybe if my library grows to such a size, I'll want it then. This rig is for my head only, already have music through the home.

 

[tb303]

I’m new to this forum and I’m new to high-end audio as well. I have no background on any of the technicalities relating to the audiophile world. My knowledge and experience on the matter is rudimentary at best.

I just bought a Kann Max and Meze 109 Pro after stumbling on their reviews on YouTube. I have never owned over-the-ear headphones or a DAP or anything close to a HIFI system in my life so owning these two pieces of audio kit is a real treat.

I can’t really make a review of either item that can significantly contribute to what more knowledgeable and experienced people have already done. All I can say is that both the Kann Max and the 109 Pro are fantastic!

I just need to learn about DAC filters and which one I should use. The Kann defaults to Apodizing something. Based on some of my reading online they said that Linear fast falloff is recommended so I put it to that. I’d like to know what your thoughts are. Thanks

Hi, DAC filters will change your sound signature, apodizing is objectively just bad, other filters can be justified depending on your headphones' synergy. Few examples: you can make your sound a bit warmer by choosing hybrid or improve soundstage by selecting fast roll-off, minimum phase.

 

[emdeevee]

Hi, DAC filters will change your sound signature, apodizing is objectively just bad, other filters can be justified depending on your headphones' synergy. Few examples: you can make your sound a bit warmer by choosing hybrid or improve soundstage by selecting fast roll-off, minimum phase.

Funny, cuz that's what it was set at on default, but appreciate your suggestions. I've been playing with them. And for my incoming Audeze LCD-i4, learning to carefully adjust and create EQs. Love this little machine.

 

[galaxysound25]

Dear All, I was planning to buy ifi Gryphon but then saw these nice looking DAPs. Could you please help me how the DAC n AMP of 'Kann Max' perform wrt mojo2 and gryphon. I know these both are half the cost of kann max but if you ignore the player part how will these compare. Will kann max be more future proof? Thanks for help

 

[Oniemtilt]

They are totally different products. Mojo2 (I am selling my like new one on eBay), is a DAC/AMP that requires a source (your iPhone, a computer, etc.). A DAP includes the source and player which could be streaming (Quobuz, Tidal, etc.), a hard-drive, or micro-sd card installed in the DAP itself. I own the iBasso dx320, A&K 3k (replaced my Kann Max), and HiBy RS6 and they are all great - but obviously cost multiples of the Mojo2 because they are different products. If you are using it primarily at your desktop there is no particularly good reason to spend the money on a high-end DAP and the Mojo2 sound is awesome. The reason I have DAPs is that I travel a lot and found that it was inconvenient to have my iPhone plugged into my Mojo2 when I needed to use my phone for other purposes. The only other comment I'll make about the Mojo2 is that somewhat inexplicably it only has (2) 3.5mm unbalanced headphone jacks. If you are a believer that balanced is superior to unbalanced (I personally can't hear a difference) then the Mojo2 is not for you.