Hi
@JasonNYC
Like others have mentioned here and there, I believe that with the SE300, Astell & Kern has delivered their best-sounding DAP ever. And I’ve owned or listened to over 50% of your DAPs since the AK100 mk1, including the SP3000...
I'm thrilled to own the SE300 Titanium edition! It's the audio source I've been hunting for months, if not years. A huge shoutout for that.
However, this superb sound quality is crippled by the OS performance. Honestly, it's probably the worst experience I've ever had with an Astell & Kern device. We could take comfort in the fact that it's a new release, but it's been over six months now, and six OS versions already.
I've wrapped up my review of the product, but I'll only edit the final words after getting answers to the following points:
1. From powering on to accessing the content on my SD card (1TB, but currently only about 300GB full), it takes over a minute. I've never wasted so much time with any of my previous AK devices, even the older generations like the SE180. Have you identified this as an issue, and if so, when can we expect a firmware update to shorten this endless wait?
2. When the content finally shows up, and I select a track from an album, not only does it not start playing until I hit the Play button, but it also starts randomly somewhere in the middle of the song... Have you identified this issue, and if so, is a patch in the works? When?
3. It's unacceptable that Roon Arc isn't implemented, while it is on the Kann Ultra, a lower-tier device. I guess the SE300's weaker processor is to blame, but honestly, it can't be worse than with Qobuz or Apple Music. So, please ask your devs to allow us to install the Roon Arc apk, and let us decide whether it's functional or not.
4. And please, try to make the AK engineers understand that if we're willing to spend so much on a DAP, we're not going to quibble over an extra 50 dollars for a faster processor, or more RAM… What's the point of this unwise choice?
Additionally, I want to clarify that I've listened to two different SE300 units. My very own unit isn't defective. And don't get me wrong: I'll keep and enjoy my SE300 for many moons to come, despite everything I wrote. Soundwise, I maintain it's an outstanding device.
Thanks in advance for your answers mate!