[Dionysus]

I think there are a ton interested, it doesn't mean that they post on forums. Look at past AK DAP at the 1700 dollar price point none of them have been as feature rich or as sexy as the AK SE100. Wait till it launches, you will see this thread grow. Some people on these forum seem to have an agenda or hate for AK, don't let that sway your interest.

 

[glassmonkey]

I was only joking on the SE100 and nobody being interested. Tongue-in-cheek, if you will.

I think the SE100 looks interesting. The SR15 looks like a way for them to use up existing component stock with a new packaging. The intentional gimping of the 'normal' player is ridiculous.

 

[Mike-WI]

The SR15 doesn't seem competitive with other available DAPs.
Presumably some will buy it for looks and with marketing, but...

 

[JasonNYC]

The SR15 looks like a way for them to use up existing component stock with a new packaging

Actually, the SR15 uses a completely new DAC chip not used in any AK player before, the Cirrus Logic 43198 DAC. Previous players used the CS4398.

 

[Mike-WI]

@JasonNYC -

RE: SE100

I have looked online, but may have missed these items:

1) what is the return policy for A&K?
2) are there any professional review links available?

It is hard to pull the trigger on a pre-order without knowing either of those.

Thanks,

Mike

 

[JasonNYC]

@JasonNYC -

RE: SE100

I have looked online, but may have missed these items:

1) what is the return policy for A&K?
2) are there any professional review links available?

It is hard to pull the trigger on a pre-order without knowing either of those.

Thanks,

Mike

@Mike-WI

Depends on where you purchase the player as to the return policy. Most of our dealers have their own return policy. If you are in the US/Canada and purchase directly from the Astell&Kern US E-Store, our return policy is:

You have 45 days to return a product for refund.

If returned within 14 days of delivery date with all accessories and like new condition, you receive a full refund.
Returns made after 14 days but up to 45 days from delivery date incur a 15% restocking fee.
If a product is returned in not new condition or missing box or accessories, a 15% restocking fee is assessed.

There are a few initial reviews from people attending High End Munich, but no full reviews available yet. They should be coming soon.

 

[Mike-WI]

@Mike-WI

Depends on where you purchase the player as to the return policy. Most of our dealers have their own return policy. If you are in the US/Canada and purchase directly from the Astell&Kern US E-Store, our return policy is:

You have 45 days to return a product for refund.

If returned within 14 days of delivery date with all accessories and like new condition, you receive a full refund.
Returns made after 14 days but up to 45 days from delivery date incur a 15% restocking fee.
If a product is returned in not new condition or missing box or accessories, a 15% restocking fee is assessed.

There are a few initial reviews from people attending High End Munich, but no full reviews available yet. They should be coming soon.

Thank you for the fast reply.

Mike

 

[jondextan]

The SR15 doesn't seem competitive with other available DAPs.
Presumably some will buy it for looks and with marketing, but...

I’d buy the SR15 if it’s a better AK70mkII with longer battery life. The SR15 has a bigger battery than the 70mkii on paper. I just wonder why the AK70ii was labeled a mid tier when the similarly spec’d SR15 (could be better) is an entry level.

 

[JasonNYC]

I’d buy the SR15 if it’s a better AK70mkII with longer battery life. The SR15 has a bigger battery than the 70mkii on paper. I just wonder why the AK70ii was labeled a mid tier when the similarly spec’d SR15 (could be better) is an entry level.

AK70/AK70 MK II was always labeled a entry-level player in our lineup.

Maybe the confusion is how it fits in with the AK Jr? The AK70/AK70 MK II was always branded as our entry-level WI-Fi enabled player, where the AK Jr was an entry-level player without Wi-Fi.

 

[solblack]

Pure specs won't tell you about sound tuning may be power specs are important for the headphone choice is made. Other than that I think you cannot speculate anything with specs. see how marketing the specs works!

It's also getting good "Reviews" from user who also own "AK" now that's something. I'll wait to see what folks say about the new "AK's"

 

[JLW654]

I think there are a ton interested, it doesn't mean that they post on forums. Look at past AK DAP at the 1700 dollar price point none of them have been as feature rich or as sexy as the AK SE100. Wait till it launches, you will see this thread grow. Some people on these forum seem to have an agenda or hate for AK, don't let that sway your interest.

Thanks, I am new so not really aware of how things develop on the forum as yet.

 

[glassmonkey]

Actually, the SR15 uses a completely new DAC chip not used in any AK player before, the Cirrus Logic 43198 DAC. Previous players used the CS4398.

That may be an unintentionally revealing statement. Upgrade the playback capabilities and go to USB-C and I'll stop thinking of it as mostly recycled AK70 parts.

 

[JasonNYC]

That may be an unintentionally revealing statement. Upgrade the playback capabilities and go to USB-C and I'll stop thinking of it as mostly recycled AK70 parts.

@glassmonkey I apologize, I must have misread something. Not sure what the "unintentionally revealing statement" is. SR15 uses a completely new DAC, so that isn't recycled from the AK70 and playback capabilities ARE upgraded. The SR15 does NATIVE DSD playback. AK70 and AK70 MK II convert DSD to PCM during playback.

I 100% agree with you though on the USB-C. As an Android smartphone user who has had USB-C on my previous two phones, it is a much better connector than microUSB.

 

[lesc]

OMG, Currawong, head-fi divinity in the flesh has descended upon me! Ruunnnn!
On a more serious note, I rebuilt the music library from the ground up about 5 times trying different methods each time, putting all my music solely on the AK120ii (twice), all my music on the 128gb SanDisk Ultra microSD (twice, this route sucked because every time I turned on it would process all 15,000 songs for 30 min, draining 20-30% of the battery before I could even start listening), 50/50 split (once, this route also semi-sucked in terms of time to consolidate songs and was a pain to go back and forth between what was on the device itself and the microSD).

Does this mean that all AK units reindex contents of the microSD card each and every time it is turned on? If so, what is the point of having the ability to add 400 GB external cards when it can bog down the units so? Even 5 minutes is too long, in my opinion.

 

[JasonNYC]

Does this mean that all AK units reindex contents of the microSD card each and every time it is turned on? If so, what is the point of having the ability to add 400 GB external cards when it can bog down the units so? Even 5 minutes is too long, in my opinion.

AK players will index the card a few times after first inserted. It then does a quick scan on bootup to see if any files changed and indexes just the changed files. I usually recommend forcing a full manual index the first time you insert a new card or make a lot of changes. To manual scan - settings, Default settings, initialize media scan. This forces the player to do one full media scan instead of several over a few restarts. Usually can take anywhere from 3 - 10 minutes depending on the amount of files in internal memory and on the external card.

The players DO NOT do a full scan every time they turn on after the initial DB build.