He says the DX90 has lower noise than then 240, he told me. He has everything up on Ohm as well: http://ohm-image.net/opinion/audiophile/rmaa-summary-ibasso-dx90-vs-astell-kern-ak240
Now i'm 100% sure that for balanced armature iems there are many choices ahead of the AK240.
Noise floor is a critical parameter. As output impedance and AK240 is outperformed there by a plethora of daps.
That kind of noise floor negates the whole point of using high resolution audio.
This is player is placebo and snake oil to nth.
Great idea not so well executed but marketing will fix that. Won't it?
A week as back i listened back to back to an leckerton UHA6II amping an iPod Classi,a modded AK120 and my iPhone 5s and honestly the 5s sounded to me as the UH6Ii where the AK lagged behind audibly.
He says the DX90 has lower noise than then 240, he told me. He has everything up on Ohm as well: http://ohm-image.net/opinion/audiophile/rmaa-summary-ibasso-dx90-vs-astell-kern-ak240
That is NOT a safe conclusion. That link has been posted before and the problems with the test have been pointed out before. The test was run with a loop back test using AN EXTERNAL AUDIO SOURCE. This would at best test how well each is at performing basically as a DAC and/or headphone amp. Unfortunately, this is not very helpful because the majority of people buy the AK240 or DX90 to use as a DAP - as the audio source itself. I am assuming that you are encountering problems listening to your AK240 as a DAP and not plugging an external audio source to it.
Furthermore, the results even if they were applicable here would only show that distortion and/or noise is higher than the DX90 - but not necessarily translate into the problem you describe. While it is theoretically possible that your hearing is so good that only you can hear it, but my suspicion is that something more probable would be the cause. It is regrettable but even 2500 dollar devices can be defective. I would recommend that you test your device with a variety of different headphones - preferably not just IEMs.
I was a little hesitant to buy the AK240 because I didn't bond so well with the AK120 II. I really found the bass on the 120 to be non-existant, not enough volume and the high-end detail was coming across as shrill. I have to say that the 240 has just been fantastic. I get a lot more volume from 240, enough to even to drive planars like my HE560's well. I have to try my LCDX with the 240 as that is made to be driven by less powerful devices. Right now I am listening on a pair of DT1350's and VModa M100's, which I use for portability. I hear no extraneous noise at all, nada, zilch, zero. On live recordings I get some small amount of noice but that I am sure is from the recording as it comes through on all of my high resolution devices.
I have only recently become an active head-fi'er after lurking for a while and I have to say that this forum has led me to some incredible equipment. Even my current portable setup blows away what I used to use and was happy with at home! My portable setup went from HTC-One > Vmoda In ears to Fiio X5 > Vmoda M100 to AK240 > DT1350. I couldn't be happier and my wife and wallet coulnd'nt be sadder.
It isn't a matter of disagreeing with you. AK products have a reputation for being extremely "black". People sometimes don't like the sound signature or how it pairs with their headphones - but typically they don't complain about how noisy it is. In addition, i haven't experienced any such background noise. Haven't heard any other reports of hiss or noise from other headfi folks. Because of this, there is a chance that you have a defective unit or should look for other causes like headphone pairings. Headphones with extremely low impedance are more likely to hiss.
Sorry Bro, it is definitely the other way around. AK products have A reputation for being noisy. Ak100, ak100mk2, ak120 all had noise, just lower than before. The ak240 should be no different, seeing as it has such high output impedance.
Sorry Bro. I don't know who you are hanging with but my AK240 with balanced Shure 846s are silent as a tomb. If you can get your hands on a pair and hear hiss on a clear track I would urge you to get to an ear specialist quickly and check for tinnitus or some other condition. The output impedance out of the balanced out is 1 ohm and out of the 3.5 is 2 ohm.
Sorry Bro, it is definitely the other way around. AK products have A reputation for being noisy. Ak100, ak100mk2, ak120 all had noise, just lower than before. The ak240 should be no different, seeing as it has such high output impedance.
Listen to them. The hiss is very evident on the ak100 and ak100mk2. I was using the fitear parterre at that time, so it wasn't even very sensitive an earphone.
I've never heard any hiss on my AK-240. The noise floor is superb .. Unless you've actually listened, you shouldn't be speculating about what might, or might not be.
I have listened to the ak240, but with the akg812 so probably wouldn't be able to detect hiss. My point here is that we should stop denying that there might be hiss and blame it on that guys player. Ak is known to have hiss and I was just providing some evidence of this from the past. Currently measurements have also come out on tylls site that the ak240 has more impedance than stated on the site.
I have listened to the ak240, but with the akg812 so probably wouldn't be able to detect hiss. My point here is that we should stop denying that there might be hiss and blame it on that guys player. Ak is known to have hiss and I was just providing some evidence of this from the past. Currently measurements have also come out on tylls site that the ak240 has more impedance than stated on the site.
You keep making statements like 'reputation' ak is known' actually it is known to be to have a low noise floor. You don't own a A&K and so provide us with links to back up your statements. Mine is dead silent with my excellent and sensitive IEMs.
You keep making statements like 'reputation' ak is known' actually it is known to be to have a low noise floor. You don't own a A&K and so provide us with links to back up your statements. Mine is dead silent with my excellent and sensitive IEMs.
I read Shigzeo heard hiss. I however do not hear any with my UERM and F111. The F111 picked up noise in the Herus but nothing on the AK240. The TG334, which is a hiss and noise magnet, was completely silent with the RWAK100 when I owned that combo. The RWAK100 was a black void. I've been extremely pleased with the AK240. From my experience I'd say AK has a reputation for very silent devices.
Anyway I feel for anyone picking up noticeable hiss. It's certainly annoying, so I caved and bought the iem perk on my Geek Wave.
That is NOT a safe conclusion. That link has been posted before and the problems with the test have been pointed out before. The test was run with a loop back test using AN EXTERNAL AUDIO SOURCE. This would at best test how well each is at performing basically as a DAC and/or headphone amp. Unfortunately, this is not very helpful because the majority of people buy the AK240 or DX90 to use as a DAP - as the audio source itself. I am assuming that you are encountering problems listening to your AK240 as a DAP and not plugging an external audio source to it.
Furthermore, the results even if they were applicable here would only show that distortion and/or noise is higher than the DX90 - but not necessarily translate into the problem you describe. While it is theoretically possible that your hearing is so good that only you can hear it, but my suspicion is that something more probable would be the cause. It is regrettable but even 2500 dollar devices can be defective. I would recommend that you test your device with a variety of different headphones - preferably not just IEMs.
It could...even a care costs 10 times more than that would have even more defective parts. I had a Honda Civic back in 1988 (bought brand new) and there were problems with it over the 2-year ownership.
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