[newworld666]

No iff Neutron player is well configured it should be 24bits all the chain, I can control it by connecting an external DAC to the toslink output of the Kann Alpha.
I will look tonight, but even as DAC the volume knob color is not accurate.

 

[Woodside 2021]

So is the WiFi drop out thing a common issue? Mine drops every 15 minutes or so. Although yesterday it managed to hold for about an hour after a reboot.

Do we know if A&K are planning to fix this in a future update? @JasonNYC

@JasonNYC, please advise if A & K are planning to fix the wifi drops on the Kann Alpha. I have had correspondence with A & K and they want to blame my router, but that's clearly not the issue as so many people on this forum are experiencing similar issues. I am really frustrated that I spent that much money on DAP that I have to refresh wifi connection every 7-10 mins.

 

[Kiats]

I´m still struggling with the lack of crossfeed in the A+K player settings of the Kann. I examined the manuals of the other A+K DAP and found no hints in any manual up to SP2000 player.
@JasonNYC:
Is there really no request from the user community for a crossfeed feature? More than 90% of my music is mixed and mastered using loudspeakers. It feels unnatural with headphones, because the channel separation with headphones blocks information from reaching the other ear. The virtual stage becomes very unnatural... With crossfeed this behavior is - at least for me - very much improved. A lot of high quality headphone gear includes therefore crossfeed. Astell+Kern is most adored DAP producer on the planet - why not implementing crossfeed in different flavors in the system-wide settings? People who like to hear bit perfect can switch off this feature.
Using Roon I'm really satisfied with Kann Alpha - top notch!!! Foobar2000 player on Kann offers crossfeed, but its implementation is faulty by cutting all music files down to 16 bit.
The code lines which have to be implemented in the A+K software would be minor....
Is there an internet link where suggestions to the Astell and Kern team are collected?

On Roon, have you set up crossfeed?

 

[Istoir]

KANN ALPHA is a current model and has not been discontinued.

Is there any support for replaygain?

 

[davidmthekidd]

I would welcome a recommended sdcard for this player, my current SDcard might be having issues with the Alpha, currently I have:
SanDisk 512GB Ultra MicroSDXC UHS-I

Thanks

 

[MikeW9788]

I've always used sandisk extreme pro in my cameras, phones and music players. No problems with any. Call sandisk. They may replace your card. They did for my friend and had the card for years.

 

[Onik]

I received refund from A&K for my faulty KA, now I bought new one and was hoping the wifi drop issues wouldn't be there, but nope!

but now I decided to use the KA as DAC and use Line out to my Burson Conductor C3 Ref, the 0.7v Line Out is the only voltage that sounds alright, and loud enough, but when using 1V-2V I hear distortion, I think Burson C3 Ref has more than enough gain for all headphones.

2nd problem with KA is when its on DAC mode the LED don't change to Green/Purple when playing 24bit/96khz Audio files on foobar, also when playing Tidal master audio files it don't change!


how do I know that my KA is decoding MQA files and playing 24bit/96khz audio files if the LED don't Change??

 

[Tomm11]

I would welcome a recommended sdcard for this player, my current SDcard might be having issues with the Alpha, currently I have:
SanDisk 512GB Ultra MicroSDXC UHS-I

Thanks

I'm currently using a Samsung Evo Select 512gb card in my Kann Alpha. Originally was using a Silicon Power "Superior Pro" 256gb card. No issues with either of those cards.

Always had good luck with Sandisk as well.

 

[klyaksa]

I received refund from A&K for my faulty KA, now I bought new one and was hoping the wifi drop issues wouldn't be there, but nope!

but now I decided to use the KA as DAC and use Line out to my Burson Conductor C3 Ref, the 0.7v Line Out is the only voltage that sounds alright, and loud enough, but when using 1V-2V I hear distortion, I think Burson C3 Ref has more than enough gain for all headphones.

2nd problem with KA is when its on DAC mode the LED don't change to Green/Purple when playing 24bit/96khz Audio files on foobar, also when playing Tidal master audio files it don't change!


how do I know that my KA is decoding MQA files and playing 24bit/96khz audio files if the LED don't Change??

Hello, it worries me a lot too. I also used Alpha as a DAC and the indicator color does not change. Where is the guarantee that the decoding is correct. Maybe this question can be answered by Mr. JasonNYC

 

[Progisus]

Hello, it worries me a lot too. I also used Alpha as a DAC and the indicator color does not change. Where is the guarantee that the decoding is correct. Maybe this question can be answered by Mr. JasonNYC

This has always been unclear with AK. I don’t think AK does the final decoding stage (upsampling and filtering) of mqa when used as a dac or streamer. I think it can be set (in settings) to software do the first unfold should your source not have this capability. I hope I’m wrong.

 

[klyaksa]

This has always been unclear with AK. I don’t think AK does the final decoding stage (upsampling and filtering) of mqa when used as a dac or streamer. I think it can be set (in settings) to software do the first unfold should your source not have this capability. I hope I’m wrong.

I used my smartphone as a transport with a cable from dd hifi with otg function. Files of different resolution and color do not change. Maybe need to use a transpot device that has a DAC, then Alpha decodes?

 

[Onik]

When using My KANN Alpha as source for my Amps, I am experiencing distorted sound, using LINE OUT Voltage(BAL/SE) 0.7V> on my Conductor C3 Ref and also on Loxjie P20, I can hear distortion no matter what I play.

To test my Amps I used my SMSL M300 MK II as a DAC which specs say BAL 4.2V and SE 2.1V, I heard no distortion with this DAC.


Did anyone experienced similar issues? Is something wrong with my brand new KA?

 

[newworld666]

With bal line out limited to 2V I don't have any issue with a monolith THX887 or a portable Less BX2+. Otherwise, using Kann alpha in non line out over 130 is quite distorted.
Are you sure you made the 2 actions to switch to line out mode ? first set in the parameters section the voltage and then switch to line out option when you move the volume knob ?

 

[Onik]

Are you sure you made the 2 actions to switch to line out mode ? first set in the parameters section the voltage and then switch to line out option when you move the volume knob ?

Yes, this is my 2nd KA and I know how to use the Line out function, and I didn't experience issue on my first one.

Edit: I tried this new KA with my Xduo xd05 and heard no distortion. Something not making any sense.

 

[MikeW9788]

Yes, this is my 2nd KA and I know how to use the Line out function, and I didn't experience issue on my first one.

Edit: I tried this new KA with my Xduo xd05 and heard no distortion. Something not making any sense.

Check your amp gain, even though astell&kern says it only works in low gain this is not the case. The gain settings affects the sound level dramatically. I use the device in high gain with my headphones because it sounds best to me but if I forget to switch it back to low gain it affects the line out playback which I also use frequently. I usually use line out in low gain 2v except in my car which likes .7v for whatever reason. In my kenworth tractor trailor which has a crappy stereo that does not play loud enough, I use mid gain and 1.25v to "force" it to play louder which actually works quite well and sounds better then it should. If you were to leave the amp in high gain and use line out I could see it overloading a lot of devices inputs.