[SoundBytes]

Why cant you listen to death metal on SP1000?

lol, man you totally can and I salute you (AC/DC), its just all that crashing and smashing to me isn't really a good test of true sound if I can make that point. If your into death metal and smash rock it will sound killer as the SP1000 is a killer unit but for the money if that is all you listened too you might be better off saving a few grand and get the DX200 or something in that price range. Wide variety of music... SP1000 and never look back.

 

[korvin12]

Price of copper is same as the stainless steel, USD 3499 and will be released end of july.

Noted, Thanks bro

 

[SoundBytes]

That dot is the home button...

Ok here are some pics of the SP1000 with the Swedish Leather cover. It is nice and has that new car smell

 

[Lucif6r6th]

Today, I demoed the SP1000 and compared against my DX200 with UERR (AMP1, 2.5mm balanced).
The SP1000 has noticeably better separation and layering. In contrast, the DX200 ended up sounding a little congested.
Sound signature wise, I didn't try the SP1000 to have more in-depth impressions but one thing that stands out to me is a slightly faster and more articulate bass.
SP100 truly sounds the best out there right now. DX200 is no slouch either even when it just costs a fraction of the SP1000's price

 

[Stillhart]

lol, man you totally can and I salute you (AC/DC), its just all that crashing and smashing to me isn't really a good test of true sound if I can make that point. If your into death metal and smash rock it will sound killer as the SP1000 is a killer unit but for the money if that is all you listened too you might be better off saving a few grand and get the DX200 or something in that price range. Wide variety of music... SP1000 and never look back.

No offense intended, but you're demonstrating a spectacular lack of familiarity with the genre. If you don't like metal and don't enjoy listening to it, that's perfectly fine and nobody would blame you. But implying that the music is so bad that a good player is a waste of money is pretty insulting to those that create and/or enjoy the music. For example, there can be a lot of layering of sounds on metal albums, making a good DAC with a black background and superior separation a huge benefit.

So far I've really been enjoying the SP1000. I haven't had a chance to put it through the paces yet, (comparing it to the AK320 and QP1R, trying different headphones, etc) but right off the bat I can tell you it sounds at least as good as the 320 (to be expected) and the user experience is a notable step up. I'll chime in some more when I get a chance to do more critical listening.

 

[jmills8]

No offense intended, but you're demonstrating a spectacular lack of familiarity with the genre. If you don't like metal and don't enjoy listening to it, that's perfectly fine and nobody would blame you. But implying that the music is so bad that a good player is a waste of money is pretty insulting to those that create and/or enjoy the music. For example, there can be a lot of layering of sounds on metal albums, making a good DAC with a black background and superior separation a huge benefit.

So far I've really been enjoying the SP1000. I haven't had a chance to put it through the paces yet, (comparing it to the AK320 and QP1R, trying different headphones, etc) but right off the bat I can tell you it sounds at least as good as the 320 (to be expected) and the user experience is a notable step up. I'll chime in some more when I get a chance to do more critical listening.

I demoed the 1000 for 30 mins. This was one of the many tracks I used.



Also tried slower tracks like: Tom Petty , Pat Metheny, and Steely Dan.

 

[SoundBytes]

No offense intended, but you're demonstrating a spectacular lack of familiarity with the genre. If you don't like metal and don't enjoy listening to it, that's perfectly fine and nobody would blame you. But implying that the music is so bad that a good player is a waste of money is pretty insulting to those that create and/or enjoy the music. For example, there can be a lot of layering of sounds on metal albums, making a good DAC with a black background and superior separation a huge benefit.

So far I've really been enjoying the SP1000. I haven't had a chance to put it through the paces yet, (comparing it to the AK320 and QP1R, trying different headphones, etc) but right off the bat I can tell you it sounds at least as good as the 320 (to be expected) and the user experience is a notable step up. I'll chime in some more when I get a chance to do more critical listening.

Your misunderstanding what I wrote. I did not say it was bad. On the contrary. I said it might not be worth the extra cash if that is all you listened to as that music, barring any slower parts, typically produces sounds that would not show the true difference of the SP1000 and thereby could be reproduced nearly the same in another less costly player. That is all I was saying, I was not implying anything negative for the record. By the way, some new pics posted above.

 

[Stillhart]

Your misunderstanding what I wrote. I did not say it was bad. On the contrary. I said it might not be worth the extra cash if that is all you listened to as that music, barring any slower parts, typically produces sounds that would not show the true difference of the SP1000 and thereby could be reproduced nearly the same in another less costly player. That is all I was saying, I was not implying anything negative for the record. By the way, some new pics posted above.

I guess I'm still misunderstanding. If you're not impugning metal music, you're implying that the SP1000 is only better than the DX200 in an extremely limited way that doesn't include anything you'd find on a metal album. I haven't had enough time with it yet to come to my own determination there, but I would certainly expect more given the price difference.

EDIT - Left out a "not"

 

[SoundBytes]

I guess I'm still misunderstanding. If you're impugning metal music, you're implying that the SP1000 is only better than the DX200 in an extremely limited way that doesn't include anything you'd find on a metal album. I haven't had enough time with it yet to come to my own determination there, but I would certainly expect more given the price difference.

Ok I'm done trying to justify it. Your bent on making a big parade out of it. Obviously the SP1000 works for every genre, you can hear the differences as you mentioned which I agree. Everyone go buy one, its a great player.

 

[musicday]

SP1000 looks so much better IMHO then AK380. And the newer UI looks great,any bugs reported?
My only question left:
Will they ever allow Tidal offline playback?

 

[SoundBytes]

SP1000 looks so much better IMHO then AK380. And the newer UI looks great,any bugs reported?
My only question left:
Will they ever allow Tidal offline playback?

Yes, the newer UI is fantastic and even faster when you add a microSD. I bought the SanDisk Ultra microSDXC UHS-I Card Premium Edition. Up to 95/mb/s 633x 256gb. If you can spend the extra cash on the microSD for the faster class 10 card, the UI will take advantage of the faster speeds. So if you do the latest update to v1.03CM there is no issues whatsoever. They released a fix for I believe some microSD's that were not being read or not being read fast enough by the SP1000. All good to go now. And I agree with you on Tidal (streaming hi-fi is really nice, just not sure I like the $20/month, still on trial), it would be really great if they got the SP1000 to let you store offline.

 

[jamato8]

Today, I demoed the SP1000 and compared against my DX200 with UERR (AMP1, 2.5mm balanced).
The SP1000 has noticeably better separation and layering. In contrast, the DX200 ended up sounding a little congested.
Sound signature wise, I didn't try the SP1000 to have more in-depth impressions but one thing that stands out to me is a slightly faster and more articulate bass.
SP100 truly sounds the best out there right now. DX200 is no slouch either even when it just costs a fraction of the SP1000's price

I would try the AMP2 amp on the DX200.

 

[Dionysus]

SP1000 looks so much better IMHO then AK380. And the newer UI looks great,any bugs reported?
My only question left:
Will they ever allow Tidal offline playback?

I dont know how many times not just on this same exact thread, but on a lot of other AK player threads. Astell & Kern players do not have offline mode,
search is your friend.
Astell&Kern Support June 12, 2017
Andy Didier: File downloads and offline mode through Tidal is currently still exclusive to the iOS and Android apps. It is not supported by Astell&Kern products at this time.

 

[musicday]

I dont know how many times not just on this same exact thread, but on a lot of other AK player threads. Astell & Kern players do not have offline mode,
search is your friend.
Astell&Kern Support June 12, 2017
Andy Didier: File downloads and offline mode through Tidal is currently still exclusive to the iOS and Android apps. It is not supported by Astell&Kern products at this time.

I knew that,but my question it was if they will ever support it.
Please read my question again.

 

[Dionysus]

I knew that,but my question it was if they will ever support it.
Please read my question again.

I did read your question........
The answer is still no different. Until Tidal removes the restriction away from just iOS or Android as AK quote above, anything else is just PURE speculation at this point in time. So maybe down the road, it maybe possible. It is really all just a software implementation restriction I would imagine so it could.