[Layman1]

There's naturally been a lot of comparison with other DAP's such as the X7 and the sony ZX2 (not sure if I've remembered the model correctly).
I'm interested to hear comparisons between the DP-X1 and the AK models, especially the 240 and especially Red Wine Audio modded versions of AK players.
I'm aware that there have already been a few comments about them, but I'm specifically interested in hearing comparisons based on customisation of sound.
 
What's stood out to me so far on this thread has been the reports regarding the ability of the DP-X1 to customise the sound, not merely with EQ which is common to most players, but with the various functions/modes (ACG, Sharp filter etc).  For me, having a wide variety of options which enable me to tweak and try different combinations in order to find settings that make a particular genre of music sound perfect for me on a given day is a massive selling point.
 
What I don't know is whether any/all of the AK players offer the same functionality and if so, how it is similar/different to the DP-X1? (I'd ask the same question of the Questyle, but I'm chiefly concerned with AK products with this question).

 

[expat852]

 
What I don't know is whether any/all of the AK players offer the same functionality and if so, how it is similar/different to the DP-X1? (I'd ask the same question of the Questyle, but I'm chiefly concerned with AK products with this question).

 
Layman1, I use both an AK240 and a DP-X1.  A few subjective pros and cons, ignoring many points that are common to both:
 
AK240
- Android based; Android interface hidden from the user.  Quick learning curve as a dedicated music player
- Large onboard memory (256 GB); one microSD slot
- Many software issues unresolved (handling of compilations flag in tags).  However, UI and particularly EQ have improved over time
- Amplifier seems much more powerful than DP-X1; probably related, the AK240 gets quite warm when used
- Optical digital out.  No USB digital out
 
DP-X1
- Android-based; interface open to user. More flexible beyond playing music but steeper learning curve (some Services must be disabled to manage battery life)
- More sound customization options (ACG, digital filter, lock range).  Onkyo offers little info on how these impact SQ but the community here is putting the pieces together.
- Little onboard memory (32 GB); two microSD slots
- USB digital out. No optical digital out
 
My own thoughts: two years ago the AK240 was clearly at the top of the market without much competition, and even at its high price was a good value.  The market has evolved and now there are great options like the DP-X1 available at a fraction of the price.  Two years allows for a lot of progress and regardless of cost, I would take the flexibility and SQ of the DP-X1 over the stock AK240.  I cannot speak to AK240 mods or later AK DAPs, but I can say that there is some satisfaction in ceasing to pay the premium that AK demands.

 

[gearofwar]

AK240 < DPX1 < AK240SS < AK380

 

[Whitigir]

AK240 < DPX1 < AK240SS < AK380

Going by this Ak380 is the best then , ATM. Soon ak480 will be released with north of 5 grands hehehe

 

[dvmrp]

  Just write a note here in case it may help someone. After a week of email conversation with ONKYO customer support team and followed their suggestions, nothing can help the two issues that I am facing when connecting DP-X1 to Chord Hugo. DP-X1 works fine with anything below 192kHz and I like the audio quality as well, with or without DAC. The balanced output to Sony Z5 is great!. Unfortunately, when replaying DSF/DFF files and the output is set to DoP, there are occasional, random playback pauses for around 1s. The second issue is that if the output is set to the highest sampling supported by the DAC, it would be 384kHz in Hugo's case. Quite often after a few minutes, pretty random though, the output turns into white noise. I have tried different OTG cables but in vain. The Hugo works fine for any format playback using HF Player for iPhone/iPad for year. I actually installed the HF Player for Android on DP-X1 but the problems are still there. 
 
In particular I am pretty disappointed with their quality of support. They don't even bother to find a Hugo to test it but quote comments from unnamed forum that Hugo has the random pause issue with Mac. 

 
Recently I tested the following DoP capable DAC with DP-X1. I listened to the same album around 20 minutes one-by-one. Here are the results for your reference.
 
DoP playback works without any issue
- Sony PHA-3 (Direct DSD works as well)
- Denon DA-10
- Chord Mojo
- audio-technica AT-PHA100
 
Various DoP playback issue happens 
- Pioneer XPA-700
- Chord Hugo
 
Nevertheless, I am satisfied with Hugo and DP-X1 PCM 384kHz up-sampling when connecting to my stereo system. For mobile usage, DP-X1's balance output is good enough. Onkyo customer service blames the issue on the high CPU requirement on using DoP, but this fails to explain why other works but not Hugo and XPA-700 nor why the design does not take this into consideration.

 

[Hitec]

Ok have figured out the Tidal storage issue. It seems there is a glitch in that the main system storage settings record Tidal offline storage in both the internal slot and the SD1 slot. As long as you set it up right in Todal settings it works.

But one other annoyance is that you can only use SD1 for offline storage. Suddenly lose 200gb storage space

This service is $19.99 per month - wow.  Is it only because of high resolution streaming.  What else are they offering for all that money!
Do you get recording rights in that high resolution?
 
Thanks

 

[ReizeiMako]

I use balanced, ACG with Sharp filter and Lock Range one notch from the narrowest setting. I found the SE quite good, but many seem to think the balanced sounds better, but I can't say if it does or not. Mostly as I have had virtually no SE listening as I had a balanced cable made for my PM3 and 400i so it has been balanced almost since day one for me.

Try your setting and wow, I really like it! It seem to work well with SE too.

 

[Layman1]

   
Layman1, I use both an AK240 and a DP-X1. 
My own thoughts: two years ago the AK240 was clearly at the top of the market without much competition, and even at its high price was a good value.  The market has evolved and now there are great options like the DP-X1 available at a fraction of the price.  Two years allows for a lot of progress and regardless of cost, I would take the flexibility and SQ of the DP-X1 over the stock AK240.  I cannot speak to AK240 mods or later AK DAPs, but I can say that there is some satisfaction in ceasing to pay the premium that AK demands.

 
Hi there and thanks for the response
Well, my preference for the AK240 was based on the fact that it was indeed top end and largely unparallelled until relatively recently.
Also, I liked the design, quality and ease of use.
Plus, I imagined it would be possible to buy a used one (perhaps even an Red Wine Audio modded one) at a relatively reasonable price over the next 12 months comparable perhaps to the price of the DP-X1 UK release (although I'd probably still import it from Japan if I were to buy it). However, it seems you're confirming that beyond EQ, it has no extra native settings to modify the sound.
 
So in conclusion, I'm now inclined to agree with you. Despite a few concerns over the intermittent reports of sofware or physical issues, I very much agree that the combination of sound quality rivalling that of players of much greater cost, along with the flexibility to customise the sound of the DP-X1 makes it an outstanding choice at present (even more at the current price!).
 
Happy days (or at least, it will be once I can save up and buy one lol)

 

[Sonic Defender]

 
This service is $19.99 per month - wow.  Is it only because of high resolution streaming.  What else are they offering for all that money!
Do you get recording rights in that high resolution?
 
Thanks

Get the $10 service, sounds just as good to my ears (I did pay for premium for a few months). I think people are nuts if they don't see the value in subscriptions like this, just nuts. Sorry to be harsh, but I have spent at least $10 000 if not more buying music in my life. In order to have access to these enormous, fresh and growing libraries how much money do you think you would have to spend? Plus, you can access your collection anywhere. I think there is a generational difference between people my age who had to pay for all our music, and those who were conditioned to think that music was their right and paying for it is wrong. I'm not saying this describes you, but frankly I have had so many conversations with younger people who laugh at people who pay for music and they just can't see why anybody would when stealing music is so damn easy. I ask these people whether they expect to be paid for their work. I just get puzzled looks, they can't seem to connect the dots very well. Sorry for the rant, and it really wasn't meant to focus on you only, just a general rant triggered by your post.

 

[robm321]

^ Solid argument. 
 
I would opt for the $20 though. I do notice a difference with compressed vs FLAC, but that's just me. If its not a big thing, $10 a month for a monster library is a no brainer. 

 

[Peridot]

  ...  What else are they offering for all that money!
 

 
You get Kanye!
 
What more could anyone want?
 
I mean the only reason we're on Head-Fi is to find better ways to listen to Kanye, right?

 

[Layman1]

   
You get Kanye!
 
What more could anyone want?
 
I mean the only reason we're on Head-Fi is to find better ways to listen to Kanye, right?

 

[Layman1]

  Get the $10 service, sounds just as good to my ears (I did pay for premium for a few months). I think people are nuts if they don't see the value in subscriptions like this, just nuts. Sorry to be harsh, but I have spent at least $10 000 if not more buying music in my life. In order to have access to these enormous, fresh and growing libraries how much money do you think you would have to spend? Plus, you can access your collection anywhere. I think there is a generational difference between people my age who had to pay for all our music, and those who were conditioned to think that music was their right and paying for it is wrong. I'm not saying this describes you, but frankly I have had so many conversations with younger people who laugh at people who pay for music and they just can't see why anybody would when stealing music is so damn easy. I ask these people whether they expect to be paid for their work. I just get puzzled looks, they can't seem to connect the dots very well. Sorry for the rant, and it really wasn't meant to focus on you only, just a general rant triggered by your post.

Agree, mostly! I recently got to thinking how much it would cost to buy all the music on my computer (not all of it was 'ethically' purchased). I came to about £5'000 or £10'000, I forget exactly how much. With this in mind, I too feel that the streaming services offer terrific value for money and a way to 'set the record straight' regarding previous misdemeanours, ahem!

Throw in the fact that you can now get them in lossless formats and it's quite remarkable. Plus it's rather less cumbersome when moving house than the boxes of CD's I've carted around lol.
I still think the system could be better of course, but where it is right now is still pretty damn good and I for one am grateful for it's existence!
 
As a slight aside, I love the old TV show called Northern Exposure. It had a very eclectic music soundtrack but whenever you buy DVD sets of it, it's mostly been replaced with bland 'muzak' to save money on copyright/royalties. Annoys the hell out of me and I'd love to watch the show with the original soundtrack, but it goes to show how much of a valuable (and sometimes scarce) commodity music actually is!

 

[Hitec]

   
You get Kanye!
 
What more could anyone want?
 
I mean the only reason we're on Head-Fi is to find better ways to listen to Kanye, right?

   
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

 

[Layman1]

   
You get Kanye!
 
What more could anyone want?
 
I mean the only reason we're on Head-Fi is to find better ways to listen to Kanye, right?

Forget just being on Head-Fi; it's the main reason for my existence!