[lattejed]

Picked up an SE300 in Tokyo around Xmas — excellent sounding DAP. First A&K product but won’t be my last. Really impressed.

A few questions / suggestions would love to get some feedback on.

1. As others have requested, can we get an 80% charge limit / USB DAC mode charge disable? Would be great to extend the battery lifespan that way.

2. Is the DSD path direct or is there a DSD->PCM conversion?

3. Does anyone know of any ASR/L7-style measurements of this thing? Again, I think this thing sounds great but am really curious what kind of linearity they’re getting from the resistor ladder.

I have seen the brief measurements posted in this thread (from a Japanese blog).

Thanks in advance for any responses

I'm going to answer some of my own questions here. I have an ADI Pro 2 FS BE that I use for room correction so I pulled it out of the stereo and did some basic measurements last Sunday.

Not definitive but it appears the SE300 does DSD->PCM conversion. The measurements for DSD and DXD are virtually identical (NOS) and there's no mention of a separate DSD pathway. There's also an FPGA available for this in the design.

(I like to use HQPlayer on devices with a dedicated DSD pathway to 'bypass' the DAC. Makes very little difference here.)

Measurements for both of the above are marginally cleaner than 44.1k NOS. At 44.1k distortion products on a 1k sine test produced the pronounced 'grass' you've likely seen on other R2R DAC tests.

I was able to get <= 0.006% THD+N in my measurements, as stated by A&K. I was not able to get the same SNR but I'm 100% that was user error on my part.

Class A measured a little better than AB.

I was not able to do any linearity measurements.

Take this all with a grain of salt. I'm not experienced at testing audio gear and I wasn't getting sensible SNR results. I was, however, able to measure some other gear I have with published measurements which suggested the distortion measurements I was getting were accurate.

To be clear, I do not consider this a flawed design because it doesn't measure as well as a $99 CS43131 dongle. I have a bunch of audio gear and the SE300 is my go-to most of the time. Measurements are part of the story.

 

[Uncle00Jesse]

@JasonNYC would you mind asking the team if nugs.net can be added sometime in the near future? (It’s a very popular live music streaming service app). Thank you

 

[JasonNYC]

@JasonNYC would you mind asking the team if nugs.net can be added sometime in the near future? (It’s a very popular live music streaming service app). Thank you

It actually is supported! It was one of the first apps we whitelisted as they were an MQA partner. You would need to sideload the APK onto the player. It was never really popular on our players, so we really don't promote it much.

 

[Uncle00Jesse]

It actually is supported! It was one of the first apps we whitelisted as they were an MQA partner. You would need to sideload the APK onto the player. It was never really popular on our players, so we really don't promote it much.

That’s awesome thank you!

 

[Dron86]

Hi! I’ve heard that some Se300 owners, somehow use UAPP. Does anybody here have any suggestions how can this be done?

UPD. Solution found with VirtualAppEx.
Sound improves much.

 

[Huckle]

Hi! I’ve heard that some Se300 owners, somehow use UAPP. Does anybody here have any suggestions how can this be done?

UPD. Solution found with VirtualAppEx.
Sound improves much.

Can you provide a link, please?

 

[Dron86]

Can you provide a link, please?

Sent link to PM

 

[Roman Syd]

Could you please send me as well? And explain how to install it please?

 

[PEM75]

If you could also push the link to me with explanation
Thks in advance

 

[Richdgrant]

And me also please if that’s not too much trouble. Thank you

 

[Uncle00Jesse]

Anyone else finding class AB better than A? For me it’s not genre specific, AB is wider and more organic, A is more focused but sharper and thinner in all cases which can lead to some sensitivity. Not complaining as I’m loving the player as it is, but wondering if anyone has found the same

 

[R7photo]

Anyone else finding class AB better than A? For me it’s not genre specific, AB is wider and more organic, A is more focused but sharper and thinner in all cases which can lead to some sensitivity. Not complaining as I’m loving the player as it is, but wondering if anyone has found the same

For me, TISE300 is like plugging into vintage power amp used in concerts
A/ AB and also NOS/OS combos allow adjustments on the fly, placing me as the audio mixer master at the controls
I find that to me its track dependent, streaming and or files, but sound sorced, and how u like each track depends on mode choice
I actually love the implementation for users ajusted needs
I actually enjoy going back and forth
For me AB , may be more wide but A raw power, more meat without loosing width
I could be wrong

 

[npatrix]

I have an AK SE300 bought a few months ago, it has been updated with latest firmware versions (currently 1.14CM) and working flawlessly till today.

I was listening through the 3.5mm output, the source was roon, suddenly it stop playing, I thought it was a wi-fi drop, but it wasn't! The 3.5mm output seems to be permanently in SPIDF mode, every time I plug in on this socket the volume goes fixed (150), no sound out, if I use any of the other outputs everything is normal, I can control the volume and play.

I have tried a few things:
-Factory reset (didn't solve the issue)
-Tried different cables and HPs
-Using other sockets bal 2.5mm and 4.4mm (both worked perfectly)
-Change SPIDF settings to On/OFF on all possible combinations
-Connect the AK SE300 through a SPIDF cable from 3.5mm socket to an external DAC (works perfectly)

I believe something went wrong and the 3.5mm socket is permanently in SPIDF mode.

Has this happened to anyone? any ideas how to fix? @JasonNYC any advice?

 

[JasonNYC]

I have an AK SE300 bought a few months ago, it has been updated with latest firmware versions (currently 1.14CM) and working flawlessly till today.

I was listening through the 3.5mm output, the source was roon, suddenly it stop playing, I thought it was a wi-fi drop, but it wasn't! The 3.5mm output seems to be permanently in SPIDF mode, every time I plug in on this socket the volume goes fixed (150), no sound out, if I use any of the other outputs everything is normal, I can control the volume and play.

I have tried a few things:
-Factory reset (didn't solve the issue)
-Tried different cables and HPs
-Using other sockets bal 2.5mm and 4.4mm (both worked perfectly)
-Change SPIDF settings to On/OFF on all possible combinations
-Connect the AK SE300 through a SPIDF cable from 3.5mm socket to an external DAC (works perfectly)

I believe something went wrong and the 3.5mm socket is permanently in SPIDF mode.

Has this happened to anyone? any ideas how to fix? @JasonNYC any advice?

Not sure what the issue could be. This is the first time I've heard that happen for any AK player. Let me ask the team and get back to you.

 

[Zmey69]

Has this happened to anyone? any ideas how to fix?

Do a wipe data factory reset.
Follow the video instructions link.

1. Turn off the player
2. Press and HOLD the button of the previous track (the top one) while holding down, press and HOLD the power button together until the Astell logo appears.
3. Release two clamped buttons at the same time.
4. As soon as the inscription NO COMMAND appears on the screen, SIMULTANEOUSLY briefly press the on/ off button and turn the volume wheel up. Pressing the power button and turning the volume wheel up should be short and simultaneous.
5. If everything is done correctly, the android service menu will appear.
6. Using the volume wheel, select wipe data factory reset and confirm with the power button.
7. Select restart the device.
8. We are waiting for the player to reset all settings and load.

PS wipe data factory reset It will be useful if you want to refresh the SE300 and speed up its operation. Don't be afraid to do it safely.