The Astell & Kern AK120

[spkrs01]

Quote:

After my brief impressions today (at Tokyo Headphone show) I would rank in this order of preference to my ears..
 
MS-AK100. Clear, clarity, lush mids, beautiful, slight emphasis on vocals.
RWAK100. Smooth, clear, more apparent highs than MF mod, subtle V signature.
AK120. Clear, no body, no real bass.
AK100
 
*check my sig!

 
That is exactly how I heard the AK120 right out of the box........ 

 

[ExpatinJapan]

Quote:

lol I love your honesty & humility. Those are traits harder to come by these days .
 
"*My opinions are those of a possibly tone deaf hobbyist."

I think it maybe fairly accurate (RE: My sig).
 
I am also not musically trained at all which means that perhaps my impressions are intrinsically flawed perhaps.
Thats my worry, i fear of misleading people with my simple impressions, but we all want to hear impressions of new gear at the same time.
 
Ah, catch 22.

 

[AnakChan]

Cheers Expat, met & conversed with you often enough to trust your judgement . That's great to know.

Looks like I'll get a quick chance to listen to the MS-AK100 tomorrow before it flies back to its home country.

 

[Saintkeat]

Oh dear that is disconcerting to hear. But I did like the stock AK100. Perhaps my impression might be a little different.

 

[lin0003]

Wow, is the AK120 really not even as good as the RWAK100? If so, then I'm out since it will not be as good as my HDP-R10.

 

[Gintaras]

If they use the same components and build , then why not ? It's a front end component , just also fits in a pocket.
Just thanks that Iriver is making it and not Meridian,Linn or Naim. They would put a zero on the end !
If it sounds as good as my Ikemi or old CD12 it will be a bargain

If Naim or Linn would make this Iriver would be out of biz in no time, i have Naim CDx2 and can tell you it beats many pleayers around from high end. AK is not anywhere close here in sound.

 

[Gintaras]

All these negative comments on the price...I think I know what the problem is. Because of a site like head-fi, we have a feeling of inclusion and belonging. We're all the same, we all have a passion for music and sound. But the truth is we're not all the same. I can't afford this DAP, but you know what? It's not targeted towards me, it's targeted to those who can afford the very best. When things are prohibitively expensive, reality sets in and you realize that we're not all in the same boat. For some people that realization is disconcerting. But should you really be pissed about this?

i am afraid you not very correct, i can afford ak120 but will not because such price is insult to intelligence, i also have rwak100 and i doubt ak120 will offer me so much as to pay the asking price. better i pay one more ak100 and mod it at Rudi's friend or pay new smaller iBasso if price is ok or add some other daps. again number of dacs in player will do little unless the output stage was well revised.

 

[Afterparty]

Quote:

i am afraid you not very correct, i can afford ak120 but will not because such price is insult to intelligence, i also have rwak100 and i doubt ak120 will offer me so much as to pay the asking price. better i pay one more ak100 and mod it at Rudi's friend or pay new smaller iBasso if price is ok or add some other daps. again number of dacs in player will do little unless the output stage was well revised.

Nonetheless Gintaras, it's quite understandable that for some people spending ~1300 on a music player is realistically unacceptable.
It's crazy money to be honest.. 1300 is 3 months of backpacking in India, all included

 
-- Back on topic- Waiting for more comparisons between ak100 rwa100 and ak120

 

 

[ExpatinJapan]

That is exactly how I heard the AK120 right out of the box........ 

ah good i am not crazy then

 

[Gintaras]

Afterparty, agree here, sadly the world does not remind a paradise. still 1300$ sounds like a joke to me unless we talk about really very high end sound and excellent implementation without bugs. i doubt ak120 is that good. i enjoy rwak100 and love this because it ticks many boxes for me. i was prepared to pull a trigger on Terra but only Wav was a real stopper for me since 99% my music is flac. back to Iriver we must hear from fellow headfiers who got ak120 but i really doubt it will sound twice better and will have seamless iPod like implementation which brings us back to the question How Much is 120 worth when this is not ideal product and should i wait for iBasso new Dap or similar? to put it simple ak120 specs are not convincing me for this price and i want to hear more from users of it.

for sure there will be people who will happily buy it and everyone is free in his choice. but remember people who bought ak or rwak 100 perhpas do not need to save for years to be able to afford one, agree? :-D

 

[Mimouille]

Will tell you in a few hours if you want, I am heading to Jaben and another shop...

I am going to Shanghai. I wonder if there are any there?

 

[spkrs01]

The Ak120 has gapless and it is shown by the icon at the left of the time that looks like a timer, it is actually a G between the two lines

 
 

 

[mark_h]

Don't assume that those who are critical of the price are so because they cant afford it! Some of us have been around the audio hamster wheel a few times and realised that a lot of these bespoke solutions are vastly overpriced and do not offer a value-for-money improvement over much lower priced components. Somebody mentioned the Ikemi earlier in this thread, well I have one, I picked it up for £700 and if this new player proves to be a better source, well... i'll eat the Ikemi.
 
NB. Speaking of VFM, the last speakers I bought had a ten year warranty.

 

[kenz]

The high asking price for the AK120 could be an indication of the popularity and success of the AK100 globally.
iRiver or any maker of electronics would not have the confidence to ask for such a price, if they know the product cannot sell.
 
What's important, at least for some of us, is whether the AK120 has that much more improvement overall than the AK100, to justify the additional price.
 
With the DX100 and HM-901, the difference in price is USD 829 versus USD 999. That's USD 170 difference between a single and dual sabre dac player.
Not to mention many other hardware differences and/or improvement.
 
For AK100 and AK120, the difference in price is EURO 699 versus EURO 1,299. That's a huge EURO 600 difference for cheaper DACs (compared to Sabre).
 
As good as the AK120 may sound, most audiophiles would probably spend that money elsewhere to enhance their listening experience. That is unless iRiver can prove us all wrong.

 

[AmberOzL]

Quote:

 
Indeed, 1299 on amazon.de. Still ridiculous... "buddy"? Now, google "irony".

Sorry sir, didn't mean to be disrespectful. Forgive me for my language, it is not my mothertongue. I just wanted to show the price in Germany that's all.