[T.R.A.N.C.E.]

Dignis Italian nubuck leather case is nice!

 

[abitdeef]

Dignis Italian nubuck leather case is nice!

I’m feeling a 70’s vibe. Looks like suede.

 

[T.R.A.N.C.E.]

I’m feeling a 70’s vibe. Looks like suede.

Yep, looks and feels like a tougher suede, nubuck leather is sanded on the outer skin layer of the animal, while suede is sanded on the inner skin layer, so nubuck is more durable.

Got a recabled copper litz balanced koss portapro incoming soon, love it when the cable costs more than the headphone haha.

 

[showme99]

went back to my local store, they said A&K still have them on a waiting list and that they'll know in about a month if they're approved to continue to receive and sell A&K products :/

There's a few of them available on the canadian Amazon website (Amazon.ca):
https://www.amazon.ca/Astell-Kern-Portable-Resolution-Player/dp/B07D8CZR9X/

What were your reservations about ordering from there?

 

[kenchar]

The SR15 is such a cute player, i love its leaning look and i just like its smooth angular design. im a bit tired of the whole "ipod" look that a lot of Chinese manufacturers use for their DAPs. i want something strikingly visually diffirent which is why i like A&Ks design for their DAPs. but im also considering the Sony WM1A DAP its very visually different from everyone else but... its also more expensive :S

Where are you located? I think the Headphone Bar in Vancouver has them or you can at least order it from them.

 

[Tsukuyomi]

Dignis Italian nubuck leather case is nice!

Wow, very pretty. I would of loved this in a dark brown or dark cream nubuck leather. But this colour looks great also, jealous.

 

[Tsukuyomi]

There's a few of them available on the canadian Amazon website (Amazon.ca):
https://www.amazon.ca/Astell-Kern-Portable-Resolution-Player/dp/B07D8CZR9X/

What were your reservations about ordering from there?

Its more expensive lol, also if anything happens to the player im stuck since the window of return with amazon is 30 days upon confirmation of delivery.

After tax in my province, it comes out to a hair under the sony wm1a. Which im not sure of which is better. Ive heard many say the sony wm1a is better but that proprietary 20pin connector and mythically rare cases for the device are a pain. However that battery life... does anyone own both ?

 

[Tsukuyomi]

Where are you located? I think the Headphone Bar in Vancouver has them or you can at least order it from them.

Ill check them out as soon as i get to my office at work. Thanks for the tip!

 

[T.R.A.N.C.E.]

After tax in my province, it comes out to a hair under the sony wm1a. Which im not sure of which is better. Ive heard many say the sony wm1a is better but that proprietary 20pin connector and mythically rare cases for the device are a pain. However that battery life... does anyone own both ?

I was in a similar position (I'm in Australia), was tossing up between SR15 at $899, ZX300 at $620, WM1A at $1079, AK320 at $1079, KANN at $1200.

I had a Sony NWZ-ZX1 in the past and was a fan of the uniquely fluid yet detailed sound only Sony can produce due to their digital dac tech.

In the end decided WM1A is too big and heavy for me, and was let down that the ZX300 only uses Sony's signature capacitors on the balanced output due to size constraints, if all my headphones were magically rewired for Sony balanced I would have sprung for the ZX300, but I may end up getting one at some point to accompany the SR15.

As for KANN, well that thing is big and ugly, and AK320 is using old software, inferior dac and lower power amp than SR15, but uses a better reference clock which boost's it's detail retrieval and makes it slightly more analytical sounding than SR15, but SR15 measures better than AK320 in signal to noise, crosstalk and bass+treble extension, which means it has a better designed circuit.

 

[bgtip]

@JasonNYC
May I kindly request scrobbler for last.fm to be considered for SR15's music app? It could be offline scrobbler if online is impossible or difficult to implement.
Thanks in advance.

 

[Tsukuyomi]

I was in a similar position (I'm in Australia), was tossing up between SR15 at $899, ZX300 at $620, WM1A at $1079, AK320 at $1079, KANN at $1200.

I had a Sony NWZ-ZX1 in the past and was a fan of the uniquely fluid yet detailed sound only Sony can produce due to their digital dac tech.

In the end decided WM1A is too big and heavy for me, and was let down that the ZX300 only uses Sony's signature capacitors on the balanced output due to size constraints, if all my headphones were magically rewired for Sony balanced I would have sprung for the ZX300, but I may end up getting one at some point to accompany the SR15.

As for KANN, well that thing is big and ugly, and AK320, using old software, inferior dac and lower power amp than SR15, but uses better operational components in the pcb which boost it's detail retrieval.

did you get a chance to listen to the WM1A with your music? or side by side with your Sr15?

 

[T.R.A.N.C.E.]

did you get a chance to listen to the WM1A with your music? or side by side with your Sr15?

Afraid not, it's a 3 hour drive for me to get to a store that has all these on display, blindly went for SR15 based on information and spec.

If WM1A came in SR15 size I would have got the WM1A though, but I'm willing to bet SR15 is just as pleasing to the ear, just different.

 

[Tsukuyomi]

Afraid not, it's a 3 hour drive for me to get to a store that has all these on display, blindly went for SR15 based on information and spec.

If WM1A came in SR15 size I would have got the WM1A though, but I'm willing to bet SR15 is just as pleasing to the ear, just different.

a buddy of mine is also from Australia, nsw. he was like "its 3 hour drive to anything in Australia" haha love it.
thats a shame tho i've heard from many people the SR15 has a musical sound very AK house sound.
but the Sony WM1A is "reference" sound? idk

 

[Dustpond]

@JasonNYC
May I kindly request scrobbler for last.fm to be considered for SR15's music app? It could be offline scrobbler if online is impossible or difficult to implement.
Thanks in advance.

I would like to add a request for audible.com to be added as an app for the SR15.
Thanks

 

[abitdeef]

From my memory checking out the 1A the SE out was more powerful than the ZX300 and had a bigger stage and a bit more control than ZX300.

However the balanced sounded remarkably like the ZX300 balanced and I was hard pressed to tell the difference.

I personally like the sound of the sr15 better than the ZX300 balanced out, it’s just more focused and natural, where the Sony has that Sony sound going on.

WM 1A isn’t that neutral or reference compared to say aune or Fiio x7 or ibasso 200. It still has a touch of warmth and that reverb sheen that makes things sound yummy. It and the ZX300 sound like they have a tiny peak in treble maybe around 5khz? But they both can sound a bit bright with some phones.

I’m with trance on the sIze of 1A though- too big and heavy, but I’d love to have the Sony battery life on sr15. Oh and zx300 hisses a bit more than 1A. SR15 has a similar low level, much better than AK70.

You couldn’t go wrong with any of them though.