Astell & Kern SR25: The next A&norma player

[mwizenbe]

Last few tips I can think to try out (more like stab-in-the-dark):
1) Change authentication method on the your router. Try a less computation-intensive encryption. Read about their pros/cons before testing.
2) If these settings are accessible on the your router; try playing with DTIM interval, WMM and/or MU-MIMO. Default always works for me but, on-paper, these settings can affect wifi connection power levels and sleep states.
Be careful with these changes as they can/will royally mess up your entire wifi system.

3) Lastly, as a final resort. I would buy a used/cheap Access Point, or a router that can be configured as an AP. Hang the AP off your existing router and set the AP to solely talk to the SR25. I think this would have the highest chance of bypassing the wifi problem you are having with SR25.

Once again, thanks. I had already tried 1) changed to WPA with no change, and also dared change it to no encryption, was still dropping after 5-7 minutes.

2) I do not dare to try and I actually do not think that the hub provides me with the option (thankfully ) - used to do that a lot some years ago when things were less sophisticated . Agree with you that SR25 should not be asking for a different configuration, default works for every single device I have connected - would make no sense and would mean the SR25 would be to blame for not accepting the default for these variables.

I had not tried 3) before, so went for it, but, once again no change - actually it starts dropping after 4 minutes . I have an Apple Airport Extreme that I have configured as an Access Point. Disabled 5GHz, maintained only 2.4 GHz and allowed WPA encryption. SR25 is the only wireless device connected to it.

Thanks fo all your help.

 

[purplesun]

Once again, thanks. I had already tried 1) changed to WPA with no change, and also dared change it to no encryption, was still dropping after 5-7 minutes.

2) I do not dare to try and I actually do not think that the hub provides me with the option (thankfully ) - used to do that a lot some years ago when things were less sophisticated . Agree with you that SR25 should not be asking for a different configuration, default works for every single device I have connected - would make no sense and would mean the SR25 would be to blame for not accepting the default for these variables.

I had not tried 3) before, so went for it, but, once again no change - actually it starts dropping after 4 minutes . I have an Apple Airport Extreme that I have configured as an Access Point. Disabled 5GHz, maintained only 2.4 GHz and allowed WPA encryption. SR25 is the only wireless device connected to it.

Too bad nothing worked. It was a long shot anyway. Guess you will have to decide whether you want to keep the SR25 as is, or get another streaming DAP instead.

 

[pepodenata]

This explains a lot.... I thought I was going mad when going between tidal and SD card stored tracks.

This is not so in Kann Alpha. At least in Qobuz I have tested the equalizer and it works.

 

[JelStIy]

This is not so in Kann Alpha. At least in Qobuz I have tested the equalizer and it works.

Interesting!

 

[Puertex]

Hello ! Has anyone experienced a noise at the end of a track and before the next track starts playing? My SR25 does this frequently. I turned off gapless play but did not work. Any ideas? Thanks ! Puertex

 

[Bosk]

Owning the SR25 has been a pleasure so far.

Size is close to ideal for a portable unit. A slightly larger screen would be nice, hopefully A&K can continue shrinking bezels in future. If they removed the slant (which I find unnoticable during use) and were able to fit a 4" screen on a DAP of this size that would be close to perfect.
Battery life is spectacularly good for an A&K DAP, USB-C is a huge ergonomic upgrade over USB-A and faster transfers are a nice bonus, and the volume wheel is larger & more pleasant than that of the SR15. I'm not a fan of the Prev/Play/Next buttons being so small & close together, but's a design choice not specific to this model.

In terms of sound quality I feel the SR25 resides solidly in mid-fi territory. It doesn't do anything wrong and I can listen to any album knowing nothing sonically essential is missing, however that luxurious feeling of effortless articulation and analog richness present in top tier DAPs & DACs is absent. Which to be fair isn't something I'd unhesitatingly pay for in a unit intended for portable as opposed to home use, my view being that subtle details are often lost in noisy & outdoor environments, public transport especially.

My concern is that A&K's house sound of smooth articulation doesn't translate quite as well to mid-range equipment as Sony's bass-heavy warmth. High-quality treble is fairly central to the realization of A&K's sonic vision, something difficult nay impossible to achieve in mid-range gear unless say the entire sonic balance is tilted upwards in which case you often end up with characteristic brittleness or harshness. This isn't really a knock on A&K as the SR25 is still a very good performer for the form factor, if anything its amazing what they've been able to extract from the humble CS43198. I simply feel its a chip that doesn't allow the full embodiment of what A&K is trying to achieve.

My final gripe is also fairly minor, but of course when one pays this much for a glorified iPod the little things matter. I have the official A&K case for the SR25 and the quality lags noticably behind the SR15 Dignis, AK380 official & SP1000M official cases I've owned. Though the SR25 case is faultlessly designed and satisfyingly thick & protective, the quality of the leather itself is step down, as is the treatment via oils and whatnot of said leather. Understadably A&K must make a determination on how much the stereotypical purchaser of each tier of product is likely to be willing to spend on a case, and sales of each unit might not be high enough to just the release of more than one case per DAP, but I do feel the SR25 is a premium enough product to deserve something more than merely "adequate" in this department.

Nitpicks aside the SR25 does most things right and is a meaningful step up from the SR15 & AK70MKII. Having owned all three, this is the first I could live with as my only music source without accutely aching for something more. Sound of this quality in such a small package is quite an achievement.

 

[funksoulava]

Anybody using AK Connect via Wi-Fi connected to your amp? I noticed that after playing a few tracks, the app will become unresponsive and I have to close the app and reconnect. For the app to detect my SR25 will take a few minutes. Anybody have the same issues?

 

[mwizenbe]

Anybody using AK Connect via Wi-Fi connected to your amp? I noticed that after playing a few tracks, the app will become unresponsive and I have to close the app and reconnect. For the app to detect my SR25 will take a few minutes. Anybody have the same issues?

Welcome to the team of owners facing major issues with the streaming capabilities of the AK SR25 - same happening to me - AK Connect and Streaming - the player can not maintain a stable WiFi connection for more than 5-7 minutes. It then disconnects and needs to be reconnected again. I have the same problem with AK Connect - once it disconnects, you have to turn off AK Connect, turn it on again, wait for it to be recognised by another device (receiver, smartphones, tablet) and then it would work again normally - for another 5-7 minutes

 

[Tristy]

Welcome to the team of owners facing major issues with the streaming capabilities of the AK SR25 - same happening to me - AK Connect and Streaming - the player can not maintain a stable WiFi connection for more than 5-7 minutes. It then disconnects and needs to be reconnected again. I have the same problem with AK Connect - once it disconnects, you have to turn off AK Connect, turn it on again, wait for it to be recognised by another device (receiver, smartphones, tablet) and then it would work again normally - for another 5-7 minutes

Return it?

 

[mwizenbe]

Return it?

I am still struggling - I started the process already, but would prefer to get a replacement that actually works. The sound and the other functionality of the SR25 are amazing for the price. But I also want to be able to stream from Qobuz, and use AK Connect to control the SR25 remotely from my IPAD...

 

[funksoulava]

I am still struggling - I started the process already, but would prefer to get a replacement that actually works. The sound and the other functionality of the SR25 are amazing for the price. But I also want to be able to stream from Qobuz, and use AK Connect to control the SR25 remotely from my IPAD...

Besides these issues, you also need to select the next song to play before the current one ends, otherwise the app will freeze.

I bought an ifi Zen Blue to connect the SR25 to my amp via Bluetooth just to get around the Wi-Fi issues.

 

[mwizenbe]

Besides these issues, you also need to select the next song to play before the current one ends, otherwise the app will freeze.

I bought an ifi Zen Blue to connect the SR25 to my amp via Bluetooth just to get around the Wi-Fi issues.

Line Out working impressively well - even unbalanced, the sound is almost vinyl like - smooth, clear, clean. I learned (googling) it is a two (or three or four) step process to make it work: 1) you have to turn Line Out on via settings; 2) then change volume up or down to get the screen that would 3) allow you to press the Line Out onscreen for it to activate and 4) confirm. I am using an Audioquest Golden Gate 3.5m to RCA cable.

 

[Queen6]

Line Out working impressively well - even unbalanced, the sound is almost vinyl like - smooth, clear, clean. I learned (googling) it is a two (or three or four) step process to make it work: 1) you have to turn Line Out on via settings; 2) then change volume up or down to get the screen that would 3) allow you to press the Line Out onscreen for it to activate and 4) confirm. I am using an Audioquest Golden Gate 3.5m to RCA cable.

A&K should take the time to clarify the lineout procedure, equally I can see why they have implemented lineout in such a manner. Imagine accidentally triggering lineout with sensitive IEM's plugged into the player and ears, could be a bad day all around...

Q-6

 

[pippen99]

I agree the line out works very well. I use it to connect my SR25 to my AVR to stream Tidal and SiriusXM through my speaker system. I mainly use XM as background so since AKconnect cannot control APK apps it is relatively useless. I find the SQ of the SR25 line out to be superior to my XM tuner.

I use this to connect balanced to my AVR. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07K1CY2VT/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

[mwizenbe]

A&K should take the time to clarify the lineout procedure, equally I can see why they have implemented lineout in such a manner. Imagine accidentally triggering lineout with sensitive IEM's plugged into the player and ears, could be a bad day all around...

Q-6

Thanks - I will give it a go - it will be interesting to compare the difference between a balanced and unbalanced connection to the AVR.