[alvinmate]

I have the HE1Kse running from the AK SP1000. I listen mainly to classical. It is a good combination. No need for the optional amp.

Hi thanks for your reply. This gives me great confidence that I'm looking at the right stuff. Just waiting for the lockdown to end so I can demo.

 

[danpong]

I have question about DAC filter settings. What is it for?? I just recently pickup the DAP again after couple months away and quickly update to new firmware. To my surprise, the sound quality was way worse than before. The sound on some frequency was breaking like playing it with very old pc. At first, I was thinking it was my iem or cable. However, after a few DAP and earphone swap, the problem remain with SP1000. Some DSD file has no problem but many FLAC or ALAC has very big issue playing. It was like the CPU is not fast enough to decode the song. Any suggestion.

Please help

 

[rosci]

I have question about DAC filter settings. What is it for?? I just recently pickup the DAP again after couple months away and quickly update to new firmware. To my surprise, the sound quality was way worse than before. The sound on some frequency was breaking like playing it with very old pc. At first, I was thinking it was my iem or cable. However, after a few DAP and earphone swap, the problem remain with SP1000. Some DSD file has no problem but many FLAC or ALAC has very big issue playing. It was like the CPU is not fast enough to decode the song. Any suggestion.

Please help

 

[rosci]

As has been discussed in this thread, there appears to be a bug in the most recent firmware version of the SP1000M (1.66) by which the sound signature has become unnaturally "dark" and switches back to the "normal" open sound signature as soon as the DAC filter settings are changed.

The problem is that it appears to fall back to the "dark" sound whenever new music is picked (or the device is turned off and on again).

@JasonNYC : Do you have any indication as to whether or not this has been registered as a bug to be fixed with a future firmware update by Astell & Kern?

Many thanks for your help in advance.

 

[rwelles]

+1

 

[cilibiu]

+1

+1

 

[toomasg]

As has been discussed in this thread, there appears to be a bug in the most recent firmware version of the SP1000M (1.66) by which the sound signature has become unnaturally "dark" and switches back to the "normal" open sound signature as soon as the DAC filter settings are changed.

The problem is that it appears to fall back to the "dark" sound whenever new music is picked (or the device is turned off and on again).

@JasonNYC : Do you have any indication as to whether or not this has been registered as a bug to be fixed with a future firmware update by Astell & Kern?

Many thanks for your help in advance.

Are you sure the sound signature you are hearing when changing the filter setting can be considered "normal"? My experience is that treble becomes unnaturally "hot" to be suited for any long term listening.

 

[rosci]

Are you sure the sound signature you are hearing when changing the filter setting can be considered "normal"? My experience is that treble becomes unnaturally "hot" to be suited for any long term listening.

I suppose that's a matter of synergy and depends on how you combine it (sound signature of your headphones and cable).

All i can say is that the sound signature turned "darker" after the fw update and returns back to my perceived "normal" after changing dac filter settings. And the difference between "dark" and any of the filter settings is way more pronounced than the differences between the various filter settings themselves.

I have nothing against AK introducing a darker additional filter setting as long as I can continue to use any of the existing filter settings without it constantly falling back to the "dark" sound signature.

I hope this makes sense.

 

[toomasg]

I suppose that's a matter of synergy and depends on how you combine it (sound signature of your headphones and cable).

All i can say is that the sound signature turned "darker" after the fw update and returns back to my perceived "normal" after changing dac filter settings. And the difference between "dark" and any of the filter settings is way more pronounced than the differences between the various filter settings themselves.

I have nothing against AK introducing a darker additional filter setting as long as I can continue to use any of the existing filter settings without it constantly falling back to the "dark" sound signature.

I hope this makes sense.

It does, just as you confirmed yourself going from one filter to another can not affect sounds signature so dramatically. Hypothetically, perhaps just the super-slow roll-off filter may affect the sound a bit more in audible high-freq range, if your ears and headphones reach that far. There must be something more at play and hoping AK will get to the root of it.

 

[toomasg]

@JasonNYC Could there be an issue with DAC implementation in AK devices, where the DAC is getting instruction for operating at wrong sampling speed regardless of source material (octa or hex) and thus always defaulting to NOS (or super slow roll-off in Asahi Kasei lingo)?

 

[danpong]

If there is a bug, can I install old firmware?

 

[toomasg]

If there is a bug, can I install old firmware?

In theory. With a few disclaimers:
A. When rolling back an FW all user content gets erased.
B. An obvious one - you loose all other improvements that came with later versions.
C. If you download it from a dodgy site there are no guarantees you won't get other surprises included.
D. If not following a procedure explicitly approved by AK you'll potentially void your warranty.

 

[miko64]

As has been discussed in this thread, there appears to be a bug in the most recent firmware version of the SP1000M (1.66) by which the sound signature has become unnaturally "dark" and switches back to the "normal" open sound signature as soon as the DAC filter settings are changed.

The problem is that it appears to fall back to the "dark" sound whenever new music is picked (or the device is turned off and on again).

@JasonNYC : Do you have any indication as to whether or not this has been registered as a bug to be fixed with a future firmware update by Astell & Kern?

Many thanks for your help in advance.

I actually goes to mono - nothing else…

 

[miko64]

I actually goes to mono - nothing else…

Obviously annoying same for se200

 

[JasonNYC]

I passed along the reports about the DAC filters to the QA team and it is being looked into.

I have done testing myself, about 45 hours with the SP1000SS and 30+ hours on the SP1000M, numerous headphones and IEMs and rolling between current and previous firmware and have not had any issues.

I do factory reset before moving between firmware versions. Has anyone tried a factory reset and still experiencing the same issues?