Astell&Kern Launches KANN ALPHA Digital Audio Player

[FiGuY1017]

Sq seems worse after the update. Could just be my ears

 

[dbboy]

What a surprise having an update for AK product after such a long time.

 

[pepodenata]

Sq seems worse after the update. Could just be my ears

Indeed. It's just your ears. The sound is as good as ever.

 

[FiGuY1017]

Indeed. It's just your ears. The sound is as good as ever.

Yes after further listening last night the magic returned to my Ed5

 

[pepodenata]

:chupa de cerveza:

 

[AlexxxAA85]

Hey guys!
New owner of an Alpha and I'm very impressed with the SQ when comparing it to my DX314!
I have a question.
I don't know if I'm doing something wrong when trying Line Out?
I have it on low gain, but when I turn on line out, nothing really happens. The volume is still adjustable. Only in the volume screen it says line out. Is this normal? I don't see the point of using the line out function lol. In the settings I have it at the max 2V option. I will try again today but I wanted to ask.

 

[JasonNYC]

Hey guys!
New owner of an Alpha and I'm very impressed with the SQ when comparing it to my DX314!
I have a question.
I don't know if I'm doing something wrong when trying Line Out?
I have it on low gain, but when I turn on line out, nothing really happens. The volume is still adjustable. Only in the volume screen it says line out. Is this normal? I don't see the point of using the line out function lol. In the settings I have it at the max 2V option. I will try again today but I wanted to ask.

Once you turn on line out, turn the volume knob until you see line out in the middle of the screen. Press the line out on the screen to enable it.

The extra step is to prevent accidently turning on line out with headphones on.

 

[AlexxxAA85]

Once you turn on line out, turn the volume knob until you see line out in the middle of the screen. Press the line out on the screen to enable it.

The extra step is to prevent accidently turning on line out with headphones on.

LOL thanks a bunch!!! Now that I know that, it is indeed a great safety function. And I'm glad it was just me not knowing and it's not a glitch

 

[pepodenata]

Hey guys!
New owner of an Alpha and I'm very impressed with the SQ when comparing it to my DX314!
I have a question.
I don't know if I'm doing something wrong when trying Line Out?
I have it on low gain, but when I turn on line out, nothing really happens. The volume is still adjustable. Only in the volume screen it says line out. Is this normal? I don't see the point of using the line out function lol. In the settings I have it at the max 2V option. I will try again today but I wanted to ask.

Alpha is an excellent SQ player. Test mid gain with headphones and IEMs. I always prefer medium gain because of the extra body the music takes on. It would be very good if you could share a comparison with DX314 here.

 

[AlexxxAA85]

Alpha is an excellent SQ player. Test mid gain with headphones and IEMs. I always prefer medium gain because of the extra body the music takes on. It would be very good if you could share a comparison with DX314 here.

I definitely will!
So far my work week has been crazy so I haven't had much time to compare. And the little while I did, was only in low gain. I'll definitely give mid gain a try. Hopefully the battery does not take a hit compared to low?

 

[pepodenata]

I definitely will!
So far my work week has been crazy so I haven't had much time to compare. And the little while I did, was only in low gain. I'll definitely give mid gain a try. Hopefully the battery does not take a hit compared to low?

The battery will take a hit with medium and high gain, but it's something you definitely want to do.

 

[AlexxxAA85]

Been testing the Kann Alpha a few days and I'm very happy with it. It's so liberating to have only my music and not have to worry about android draining the battery. Not needing to leave the DAP on Airplane mode for worrying about the connections impacting the battery.

By the way... this combo, with this song pictured... the bass is surreal.

 

[Ravenor]

Been testing the Kann Alpha a few days and I'm very happy with it. It's so liberating to have only my music and not have to worry about android draining the battery. Not needing to leave the DAP on Airplane mode for worrying about the connections impacting the battery.

By the way... this combo, with this song pictured... the bass is surreal.

I’m very tempted to get one! But I can’t chose between Cayin n6ii, Ibasso dx260, and Kann Alpha. I’m looking for an analitycal, slightly warm (deep bass) headphone. Any advice?

Been testing the Kann Alpha a few days and I'm very happy with it. It's so liberating to have only my music and not have to worry about android draining the battery. Not needing to leave the DAP on Airplane mode for worrying about the connections impacting the battery.

By the way... this combo, with this song pictured... the bass is surreal.

 

[tb303]

I’m very tempted to get one! But I can’t chose between Cayin n6ii, Ibasso dx260, and Kann Alpha. I’m looking for an analitycal, slightly warm (deep bass) headphone. Any advice?

Yes, Kann ALPHA, high gain, minimum phase fast roll off DAC filter, EQ off, balanced cable, copper cable paired with ZMF Atrium Open or silver cable paired with ZMF Aeolus.

 

[eobet]

Does anyone know if there's a way to only play songs not in playlists?

I just copied my entire music library to one of these to use at work, but I'm unsure about how to set up playlists... I don't really use playlists on my PC, it's all just tagged with genre and mood and not sure the Kann Alpha supports that. I often also just play songs that have 4 stars or more on the desktop, and not sure that has transferred over either.