[Traveller]

It's all good and well that the AK3xx can "identify" a call from a AptX HD device, but this alone in no way guarantees that the AK3xx will actually operate in AptX HD mode... . As you (and many others on the Internet) pointed out, the CSR8675 is a requirement for AptX-HD support...

Are you suggesting the AK380 displays AptX HD and then actually goes ahead and just uses AptX? ... I agree that it seems very unlikely the CSR8675 can be in the AK380 unless they had early access to the chips which DOES happen in the industry... .

 
I'm only suggesting that the timeline is against us but I do trust A&K (as well as iRiver - manufacture of my first serious DAP - the iHP-120*). Enough that I recently parted with a lot of € for their AK320

 
The XB10 is an awesome product in that we can now use our favorite transducers with a source transport that is as much as 10M away... .!
 
Having acknowledged that, I also sincerely hope that one day I can buy a pair of TOTL BT headphones which will work with my AK320 to provide 24bit precision and do so completely wireless! This additional feature would add even more value to an already impressive DAP, not to mention provide the AK70/3xx owner with the satisfaction that their DAP won't feel "dated" so quickly...  

 
 
Fingers crossed

 
 
*Would you believe... my 2001 iHP-120 is still in use. While people were shelling out for the non-MP3-friendly iPod 1G, I had a DAP that could not only play MP3s, but could record them as well... via coax or TOS-Link. It also made it easy to output my digital collection (via coax) to my home system... in fact, when my CD Player was getting fixed a few months back, it came in very handy 

 

[gr8soundz]

  I also sincerely hope that one day I can buy a pair of TOTL BT headphones which will work with my AK320 to provide 24bit precision and do so completely wireless! This additional feature would add even more value to an already impressive DAP, not to mention provide the AK70/3xx owner with the satisfaction that their DAP won't feel "dated" so quickly...  

 

 
Like these:
http://www.head-fi.org/t/821419/hd-bluetooth-tesla-headphones-from-ak-beyerdynamic-24-bit-aptx-hd-2016-ifa
 

 

[ginster6]

I got mine XB10 about 3 week ago.   and just came back from an international flight.  SFO to HND.   
connection is iPhone 7Plus to XB10 to AK Angie2.
 
I have to say it was great compare to the previous trip SFO to HKG.  Using   IP6+ to PHA3 to Z5/Z7  - (felt like 5 pound of gear, all the cables.)  sound great, but no fun.
 
Battery life : use about 5-6 hour.  slept for the rest of flight time.  in first class.  had to use the lay flat seat..  
                  used for about another 45-60min trip from HND to hotel  and still had some little juiced left.
 
Use wise :    This is where its a real winner to me.
                -  Light weight.   

                - I can leave my phone in pocket. or in this case the plane storage pocket and kept IP7 charged.
                - volume and track control.
                -no cable all over the place
 
sound wise.:   The angie2 was still in the break-in phase.  but it had enough volume to blast my ear drum out.  and still learning the angie2.     Though I am running it though my ip7, no aptX HD.  only itunes downloads.  (sold my AK380 Copper) it sounded good, not great.  using PHA3 was better sound..   but for the dollar and propose.  I dont think you can go wrong for travel uses.
 
 
Once I have more time with it...   I will chime in again.

 

[Traveller]

I got mine XB10 about 3 week ago. ...(sold my AK380 Copper)...

Thanks for the feedback

As I also have the Angies I am curious about your opinion once you've had a little more time with them. However, I hope you have access to other DACs / DAPs for testing as I don't have an iP7 and guess that just like my LG G4, it's a very nice "DAP" but there are better options for the Angies out there.
 
Seeing as you sold your 380 maybe you have some remaining "fun-budget" for a Mojo*...

 
*Just be aware you need a CCK cable I believe to use with an iPhone... I have Android and use an OTG cable for it.

 

 

[ginster6]

  Thanks for the feedback

As I also have the Angies I am curious about your opinion once you've had a little more time with them. However, I hope you have access to other DACs / DAPs for testing as I don't have an iP7 and guess that just like my LG G4, it's a very nice "DAP" but there are better options for the Angies out there.
 
Seeing as you sold your 380 maybe you have some remaining "fun-budget" for a Mojo*...

 
*Just be aware you need a CCK cable I believe to use with an iPhone... I have Android and use an OTG cable for it.

 

all my "fun-budget" went to 2017 CA. banned fun stuff.

 

[Traveller]

Just arrived

 

 

[Amacbrown]

On sale £119 from http://homeavdirect.co.uk/astell-kern-ak-xb10-extreme-bluetooth-aptx-hd-dac-headphone-amp  just nabbed one

 

[Traveller]

Originally Posted by Traveller /img/forum/go_quote.gif

AptX HD is useless on AK players. Max 1 metre, with cutouts. 20cm with no signal cut outs, but only if you have no other wireless things around, and you don't move too much flesh around the device.

... it's clear that your AK70 has major issues with BT connectivity-quality. I have to say that either you're unlucky, or I'm the lucky one, because I have no trouble with BT connectivity and my AK320. Works as good as any other BT "source". 10M without an major issues, even through standard office walls (the "hollow" ones

).
 
Quote:

Hmm....I have tried an AptX Sony headset, the MDR-1000X with the AK380 with 1.40 firmware and it's fine. On the AK380 screen aptX appears. I then try the XB10 and aptX HD appears on the AK380 screen.
I also have no issues with range with the AK380 being on one side of the room and the XB10 on the other, 20 feet away...no break-ups.

 
@shigzeo it looks like I was wrong regarding the AK3xx and its BT capabilities. As noted above, I can use it up to 10M away, but it really needs a relative line of sight with no "real" obstruction in the path. Since obtaining the XB10, I did some extensive testing and came to the realization that even the slightest obstacles (like my upper torso) will cause havoc with the signal - even if the 320 is 1M behind me... 

 
Back on topic, I'm pleased to report the XB10 is certainly not the the cause (or any part thereof), working perfectly with my LG G4 smartphone (A2DP + AptX). No drop-outs, etc. even with obstacles in the path. I have the opportunity to compare the BT quality connectivity-wise with my aging Phiaton PS 210BTNC; while it is oldskool BT3.0, it works with the same BT-profiles as the XB10 (A2DP, HSP, ...). Functionality is 1-1 with the exception of multi-pairing, DCT and of course, AptX HD.
 
My modest concerns right now start with the fn2key assignment. I will use the fwd / back function more often than say, the "BT" key, yet I have to struggle to find those keys. I could also do without the beeping when changing volume. Although the XB10's battery has slightly more capacity than the PS 210, it only manages half the operating time and I can't figure out why that might be... .
 
Just like @jonstatt, I verified that the AK320 displays the AptX HD logo when connected with the XB10. Unfortunately I don't have the same feedback from say, my Windows 10 devices or even my Android device. The audio quality pretty much guarantees AptX is in use, but actual confirmation would be comforting.  CSR's Harmony BT stack is all but obsolete and its the only (Windows) BT stack AFAIK which returns the "using AptX" logo message. One option that might have solved this dilemma is "voice feedback" - something the PS 210 has. For example when I press the pairing key on the PS 210 , I hear "Pairing Mode On", pwr on, "Power On", once connection's established, "Device Connected" and so on. A&K could have used this functionality to indicate the codec in use, like "Device connected using AptX".  Splitting hairs maybe, but I call it my wish-list for the XB20...

 
Audio quality is a whole other topic to be tackled once I have spent more time with the XB10

 

[raypin]

Mm..bought an XB10 yesterday. Not bad. SQ is barely acceptable and still some ways off before it can be good enough to replace or compare favorably with wired listening. Tried it on my iPhone 7 Plus, AKt8ie and Onkyo DPX1, balanced on the XB10. Had some problems with audio cut-off, which can be irritating....and surprising considering that cheap wireless earphones do not have this problem. AK needs to make the wireless connection more robust or reliable.

 

[jonstatt]

Mm..bought an XB10 yesterday. Not bad. SQ is barely acceptable and still some ways off before it can be good enough to replace or compare favorably with wired listening. Tried it on my iPhone 7 Plus, AKt8ie and Onkyo DPX1, balanced on the XB10. Had some problems with audio cut-off, which can be irritating....and surprising considering that cheap wireless earphones do not have this problem. AK needs to make the wireless connection more robust or reliable.

It's worth pointing out though that neither of those devices supports APT-X HD. The iPhone in particular only supporting AAC which while better than SBC is still some way off what APT-X is supposedly capable of. I haven't had any issues with audio cut-off at all.

 

[raypin]

Mm..what playback devices are you using? Because on my AK 240, I have not had a single track played back that wasn't cut-off by the XB 10. This is totally unexpected since I have a high regard for AK products. This feels like a beta version, not a finished product that meets my expectations from an AK product. There is no physical obstruction so I am stumped by the cause of this problem. Right now, the 240 is just inches away from the XB10.

Edit: bad bad connection with the ak240. Much better on my AK380 cu. Just one audio cut-off problem after playing a dozen HD tracks.. SQ is still just acceptable. It is just ok.

 

[jonstatt]

Mm..what playback devices are you using? Because on my AK 240, I have not had a single track played back that wasn't cut-off by the XB 10. This is totally unexpected since I have a high regard for AK products. This feels like a beta version, not a finished product that meets my expectations from an AK product. There is no physical obstruction so I am stumped by the cause of this problem. Right now, the 240 is just inches away from the XB10.

Edit: bad bad connection with the ak240. Much better on my AK380 cu. Just one audio cut-off problem after playing a dozen HD tracks.. SQ is still just acceptable. It is just ok.

Yep, others have reported issues with the ak240. I guess it has a weak Bluetooth radio. As you found , that the AK380 is much better. I would never say we have reached a replacement for corded connections, I thought that this is the best Bluetooth quality I have heard to date.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Traveller]

Edit: bad bad connection with the ak240. Much better on my AK380 cu. Just one audio cut-off problem after playing a dozen HD tracks.. SQ is still just acceptable. It is just ok.

Yep, others have reported issues with the ak240. I guess it has a weak Bluetooth radio. As you found , that the AK380 is much better. I would never say we have reached a replacement for corded connections, I thought that this is the best Bluetooth quality I have heard to date.

the XB10 has very decent BT performance (operating distance, drop-outs etc) and compared to my Phiatons, pretty much identical [BT] performance. The AK320, on the other hand, has terrible BT performance and the odds that the 380 has a different BT configuration (chip-set, code) is pretty much nil.
 
As for AptX HD... I'm still not sure how useful it is. Currently the 320 is the only source I own that presumably can take advantage of the codec (and I'm personally still not 100% convinced that is honestly the case). I also find it rather annoying that my Windows10-based Notebook installed the XB10 with a fixed value of 16b44K.1Hz. To the best of my knowledge, A&K doesn't offer Windows drivers either...

 

[raypin]

Mm..they should not have released this to market until the XB10 works flawlessly with ALL AK players. It is embarrassing. I had planned on using the XB10 with my AK 240 for days when I need a fuss-free, portable and wireless listening. Not happy.

 

[Traveller]

Mm..they should not have released this to market until the XB10 works flawlessly with ALL AK players...

As far as I read on the diverse AKxxx* threads as well as on this one, the DAPs have the BT issue, not the XB10. If the source signal is weak, there's not much the XB10 can do about it...
When I use the XB10 with [any of] my Windows workstations as well as my Android-based LG G4, the XB10 functions just as good as any other BT headset I've used.
 
*Let's be honest here; who would expect A&K to be overly-concerned about BT performance when designing their €1~3.5K [dual-] DAC equipped DAPs? It should be considered a crime to bypass that much € in DACs via BT, LOL

They obviously pulled out the XB10 out of their [magic] hat in anticipation of future iPhone 7 owners... . My advice? Don't buy an iPhone 7