Astell and Kern KANN Alpha - the most brutally overloaded little piece of **** that I've ever had the pleasure of coming across
This will be a relatively short initial impression post as there's so much and so little to be said about this DAP at the same time... long story short this is pretty much the perfect DAP, period. I received a demo from my Spanish dealer today (supersonido.es - super nice shop with loads of good deals, I'd recommend checking it out), but my guy actually sent me a brand new sealed unit - I guess he didn't mind using it as a demo if I didn't want to keep it but yeah, it was pretty smart to send me a brand new unit cause this DAP ain't going nowhere - in fact it's about to trigger such a sell off on my end that I'm going to end up with some 1500 euros net by getting it and that is if I do not sell any desktop amps because of it...
I'm not really the type that uses Bluetooth and all those Connect features and whatnot, so these impressions will pretty much just cover the essentials, with a focus on how it sounds with IEMs and HPs.
1.
The power that this offers is nothing short of incredible - it drives both the Diana and the Diana Phi with ease, and it doesn't just get them to a decent volume (the LPGT does that when you almost max it out), it actually gets those planars moving properly. You get the full range, from impactful and present bass, to a full midrange, to well controlled and extended treble with none of that graininess that you often get out of amps that don't power the HPs adequately. Listening to the Diana V2 out of the KANN Alpha I am actually getting the sensation of it reaching its full potential on both technical ability and tonality. I'm looking forward to trying the Abyss 1266 TC on it - just as a guesstimate, it might be able to just about drive it without quite getting it to 100%, as I'm currently reaching about 2/3 of the volume listening to the Diana's. Of the two I personally prefer the Diana V2 pairing as the KANN Alpha has a clearer, slightly brighter signature, and the Phi benefits from a warmer source.
2.
Streaming - I can deal with listening to my personal collection on the go as I've downloaded some 30GB of "essentials," but let's face it, it's 2020. Streaming should be standard by this point
3.
Size - it is actually very compact for what it is. The size of the Alpha is pretty much that of the LPGT with the case, and weight is quite similar too. I used it outside twice today with 0 troubles of fitting it in the pocket of my jeans. It's a little bulky but not really anywhere near "massive" territory like the Cube
4.
Battery life - over 14 hours on low gain. Sign me the **** up, please and thank you. Most of the time I'll probably be using the Alpha in low gain anyways, as I get to a volume level of about 70-80/150 on the A18S and Thummim, no need to even go on the Mid Gain for those. It does tend to get a little fiery on High Gain -and the battery does drain faster naturally - I'll run some tests to see how long it can survive for while playing Tidal on High Gain to get an idea of just how long you can run HPs with it.
5.
Sound (IEMs) - all of this would naturally be pretty irrelevant if the DAP were all functionality and no performance (FiiO M11 I'm looking at you) - the KANN Alpha delivers and then some - on raw performance and tonality I'd still lean towards the LPGT as that delivers a little slower, more satisfying and textured bass, while the Alpha has an especially fast low end - it doesn't suck out bass quantity, and actually has better impact and presence than most AKs I've tried, but it also isn't really the kind of bass that really sucks you in and makes you want MOAR
The midrange and treble on the Alpha are both geared towards clarity, but this time around AK didn't overdo it. The SP1000M that I owned back in the day went for the usual fake it till you make it upper midrange bump and the SP2000 got my Elysium to sibilant (which I didn't think was possible
) - I love the SR25 as that also has more neutral (i.e less bright) tonality, but as you go higher in their offerings you end up with more and more treble for the most part. Anyhow, to get back to the Alpha, I find it that while it does provide a small boost in the treble (somewhere in the lower upper treble from initial estimate, 10k-ish), it actually retains a certain fullness in the signature that I especially enjoy. I'd still recommend to pair it with warmer monitors - I currently only have the A18S and Thummim here with me, but I can definitely see it overdoing the clarity if paired with something that's already bright as is. All in all, slightly clinical but not overly so.
Tonality aside, the part that I find to be absolutely crucial for any good DAP is the technical ability, and the Alpha really nails it. Staging is nothing short of massive, pushing the width of the Thummim even further than the LPGT, but losing out on some height in the process. Detail retrieval and instrumental separation are top notch, couldn't really ask for much more.
Verdict
I generally don't get super excited by DAPs and sources and whatnot, they always felt like more of a means to an end to me than a proper standalone product that I drool over and really follow and buy/sell actively. The Alpha is probably the first DAP that's really gotten my blood flowing, and I mean... with this kind of power, battery life, streaming AND a decently compact body on top of it all, how can it not?
Easily recommended for IEMs, and the only DAP I can genuinely recommend if you plan on driving headphones.
What a nightmare that has been. Really happy it turned out okay in the end.
