No one said anything about Jason. People were just questioning A&K as a company’s decision for Bluetooth v4.2.
Anyways now that it’s been clarified, let’s talk about other things lol.
Astell&Kern Launches KANN Ultra DAP and AK HB1 Bluetooth Amp/DAC
- Thread starter JasonNYC
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Anyways now that it’s been clarified, let’s talk about other things lol.
nioh - of course you're right!
Now we can talk about how new Kann Ultra works, how it plays, how it sounds, but there are no reviews yet.
How much power it gives to 32 or 300ohm HP? Will Tidal work in 3-4 years and will there be any sistem updates? Is software still stuttering?
Also curious how the KANN Ultra’s amp section compares to AK’s own PA 10.
Received yesterday. Disappointed to find the Ultra unable to drive my DCA Stealth without clipping, like the Max before it.
Pre-out into PA10 is a surprisingly good, desktop-grade experience. I’m finding this combo to have strong imaging, separation, bass, and a slightly warm character with minimal sibilance.
Pre-out into PA10 is a surprisingly good, desktop-grade experience. I’m finding this combo to have strong imaging, separation, bass, and a slightly warm character with minimal sibilance.
That's unfortunate, point of this kind of DAP is to drive hard to drive headphones on a go, one of a reasons I bought M17, but I dont own DCA Stealth so can't say nothing about that. Sorry to hear that
Write something more, don't be so sparing with words.
How does it work in general, does it make noise on low-impedance headphones, does switching to low gain on such IEMs have an impact?
I also have PA10 and I want to have two options when traveling, only ULTRA at home with PA10 - what do you think, does such a sandwich make sense?
The maximum volume and highest gain in class-A PA 10 100% corresponds to what volume and what gain in ULTRA?
Is the sound of ULTRA itself much lower without PA10?
I'm very curious about your answer
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UI and Operation:
I really like the Crimson UI and HD screen - the saturated colors really pop and make album covers look beautiful. Performance is fast and responsive, too, though I think there are bugs: AK Connect is not detecting my NAS and I'm getting a weird error at the system update screen.
HPs - Low Impedance/Low-ish Sensitivity Planars:
DCA Stealth (23 ohms/87 db?) performs like I mentioned above (disappointing). Not many options I know, but I would look elsewhere if you want one device to power headphones like these on the go. The PA10 for some reason is able to drive this headphone much better, regardless of source device, but it needs a separate source.
Ultra and PA10 is a very nice paring here in pre-out mode. Using pre-out mode on Ultra into PA10, there does seem to be a headroom cap with volume maxed out on both devices - loud for me at ~95db. Ultra line-out to PA10 gets louder than pre-out but sound is more strained. Ultra headphone out by itself gets louder, but distorts in the bass around 105/150.
HPs - High impedance: ZMF Aeolus and HD6XX (300 ohms)- have lots of headroom and sound really good (clear and transparent sound) with no discernable noise across all gain levels. The Ultra gets plenty loud by itself with these headphones.
IEMs: Not my primary use case but the A12T's sound good out of the Ultra, though does not have that full, 3-D, expansive sound I get from other DAPs. Bass not quite as refined, either. I'm hearing slight noise sometimes when changing volume while tracks are playing, no big deal.
Ultra and PA10 on a desk would bring high performance in a small footprint - I think thanks to that Pre-out on the Ultra. Maybe this makes sense if you have limited space at home. I would not want to travel with both devices.
The Ultra could make sense depending on what headphones you have (obvs). However, speaking in terms of pure headphone drive, I don't know what this gives you over the Max.
I really like the Crimson UI and HD screen - the saturated colors really pop and make album covers look beautiful. Performance is fast and responsive, too, though I think there are bugs: AK Connect is not detecting my NAS and I'm getting a weird error at the system update screen.
HPs - Low Impedance/Low-ish Sensitivity Planars:
DCA Stealth (23 ohms/87 db?) performs like I mentioned above (disappointing). Not many options I know, but I would look elsewhere if you want one device to power headphones like these on the go. The PA10 for some reason is able to drive this headphone much better, regardless of source device, but it needs a separate source.
Ultra and PA10 is a very nice paring here in pre-out mode. Using pre-out mode on Ultra into PA10, there does seem to be a headroom cap with volume maxed out on both devices - loud for me at ~95db. Ultra line-out to PA10 gets louder than pre-out but sound is more strained. Ultra headphone out by itself gets louder, but distorts in the bass around 105/150.
HPs - High impedance: ZMF Aeolus and HD6XX (300 ohms)- have lots of headroom and sound really good (clear and transparent sound) with no discernable noise across all gain levels. The Ultra gets plenty loud by itself with these headphones.
IEMs: Not my primary use case but the A12T's sound good out of the Ultra, though does not have that full, 3-D, expansive sound I get from other DAPs. Bass not quite as refined, either. I'm hearing slight noise sometimes when changing volume while tracks are playing, no big deal.
Ultra and PA10 on a desk would bring high performance in a small footprint - I think thanks to that Pre-out on the Ultra. Maybe this makes sense if you have limited space at home. I would not want to travel with both devices.
The Ultra could make sense depending on what headphones you have (obvs). However, speaking in terms of pure headphone drive, I don't know what this gives you over the Max.
How would you suggest I test this?
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Just to clearly illustrate the power, so I can visualize it on 300 ohm headphones:
1.Kann Ultra + ZMF Aeolus - low gain is yes or not enough even when the knob is at 100%?
2.Kann Ultra + ZMF Aeolus - medium gain is yes or not enough even when the knob is at 70%?
3.Kann Ultra + ZMF Aeolus - the highest gain is yes or not enough even when the knob is at 50 more%?
When you connect the same ZMF Aeolus headphones to PA10 at maximum gain, the volume knob is which volume from ULTRA 1,2,3 option you can compare?
Yes, I know that there are distortions at the end of the scale, so when I ask about 100% loudness, I mean the maximum acceptable loudness.
1.Kann Ultra + ZMF Aeolus - low gain is yes or not enough even when the knob is at 100%?
2.Kann Ultra + ZMF Aeolus - medium gain is yes or not enough even when the knob is at 70%?
3.Kann Ultra + ZMF Aeolus - the highest gain is yes or not enough even when the knob is at 50 more%?
When you connect the same ZMF Aeolus headphones to PA10 at maximum gain, the volume knob is which volume from ULTRA 1,2,3 option you can compare?
Yes, I know that there are distortions at the end of the scale, so when I ask about 100% loudness, I mean the maximum acceptable loudness.
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Orfik
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Has anyone tried the HB1? Deciding between it and the BTR15.
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The ZMF and Sennheiser 300 ohm dynamics are not that difficult to 'make loud'. My HD600 can hit loud volume from the TV for example. Impedance is one half, the other is sensitivity or efficiency
Google says for the DCA Stealth: Impedance: 23 ohm and Sensitivity: Approximately 86 - 87 dB/mW
So low impedance but also low sensitivity. I do not think this is a real reflection on the DAP though, driving the Susvara or Stealth etc on a DAP is a bonus. Owners of such sets will usually own an amplifier
Google says for the DCA Stealth: Impedance: 23 ohm and Sensitivity: Approximately 86 - 87 dB/mW
So low impedance but also low sensitivity. I do not think this is a real reflection on the DAP though, driving the Susvara or Stealth etc on a DAP is a bonus. Owners of such sets will usually own an amplifier
In this category only real DAPs are M17 & DX320, lets see what reviews will say.
What category of DAPs do you mean?
DAPs that have the highest output power only on battery power,
or hybrids connected to a power supply such as the M17.
Is DX 320 or 320 TI more advanced than Ultra - someone please write?
In fact, this marketing desire of manufacturers for the highest possible power in all portable devices
is disproportionate to the increasingly new models of headphones, even the expensive ones that
can be controlled even from a dongle connected to a smartphone.
There will probably always be headphones that only need stationary amplifiers.
I suspect it's a problem with the PA10. You can try lowering the ultra's line output level.
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DAPs that have power to drive almost all headphones to a certain degree. M17 can drive Susvara to its 85% with no clipping in overhead headphone mode connected to external PS . DX320 Ti has also high quality amp stage designed to operate in super Class A mode. Both of this DAPs can drive serious loads without clipping or shutting off. I own M17 and connected to external linear power supply my HD800S sings in full its glory, all the details,layering, staging, punch is there like on proper deskop setup. Ofc some headphones might not be fully driven if they are low sensitivity such as Susvara or Expanse but this DAP on reviews doesnt clip which is telling that Fiio did a good job collaborating with THX to properly design amp stage.
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