[kkcc]

I would love to purchase an Astellnkern AK120 the looks the build the spec but........ The fiio x 3 has a wolfson 8740 dac and so does the cheaper AK 100 model but my point is at the price the Ak 100 should sound twice as good as the fiio to justify the premium and the dual dac Ak 120 must then beat it's cheaper sibling by double in the sound department. So it's like this I would just as happily buy the fiio for $200 if it's sounds half as good as the astellnkern models. Can someone convince me otherwise. Maybe the fact it can be used as a stand alone reference dac?

If x3's sound, form, and features can satisfy your needs then obviously it is rather pointless to buy a more expensive one! Definitely AK120 does not sound "twice at good" as Ak100. Ak100 will not sound better than x3 by the margin their respective prices suggest. Both AKs aren't really appealing to value or budget users. The only reason I go with AK120 is I need something that sound better than Ak100 but with similar size and useability.

 

[lee730]

I agree with kkcc. As you move up the chain the laws of diminishing returns get more an more painful. But you also have to take into consideration what those differences in sound quality mean to the individual. Some see it as a grain of sand while others may see it as the entire dessert .

 

[Gintaras]

+1 kkcc
 
personal choice and preferences are what matters in the end.

 

[audionewbi]

I've found AK120 gets war when running on batter.

 

[tresvigint]

anyone tried ak120 headphone?
is it good enough to pair with headphone? such like hd650, beyer dt880, hifiman, etc
 
and any update price for ak1200?
since the price still varry from 1200$-1600$

 

[audionewbi]

anyone tried ak120 headphone?
is it good enough to pair with headphone? such like hd650, beyer dt880, hifiman, etc

I found it pair well with ES10. No problem driving it.

 

[the wizard of oz]

ATH-ES10 are 42Ω, so that doesn't say much. 180, 300 & 600Ω headphones driving capability is the point.

 

[audionewbi]

Quote:

ATH-ES10 are 42Ω, so that doesn't say much. 180, 300 & 600Ω headphones driving capability is the point.

If you are willing to ship some for me to test I be more than happy to test them for you, I dont have many headphones, I have three, two are out on the loan and I only have one with me. the ES10.
 
But having said that I can say it will not be able to drive anything as high as 600 Ohm, the AK series are design for portability, 300 and 600 Ohm headphones are not designed for portability. 

 

[Swimsonny]

I will get mine soon and stick them with the Hifiman HE-500 and Sennheiser HD580 and see how they do, the AK100 was very poor here!

 

[GSARider]

Drives my HD800's fine, but not the same as my HDVD800 obviously. Sound with my Momentum'sbis pretty good too.

 

[musicday]

Quote:

one makes his own choice... i agree X3 looks great on paper and is worth a try since its price is also very manageable. i am curious to try this against C3+BH to see if X3 is ''can do it all one''.
also i heard from another headfier Fiio is readying their reference DAP called X5.... makes me smile since this way it sounds like purchasing BMW... X3, X5... i wonder what about X6? 

Fiio ( James ) is the only guy, CEO of a company who listen and actually does something regarding his products based on costumer thoughts.
Fiio X3 was created, developed upod Head Fi members requests.
So he does listen, and even after nearly 3 years hasn't changed the price of X3.Great guy this James.

 

[iamdacow]

Just curious here, how would 2 dacs improve on sound quality, whats the theory behind it? Thanks

 

[tresvigint]

does AK 120 need firmware update like ak100?
 
looks like ak100 got problem with the firmware

 

[Gintaras]

does AK 120 need firmware update like ak100?

looks like ak100 got problem with the firmware

nope, that was modified patch transforming ak100 into ak120
by the way it works but some people had issues, nothing to do with proprietary firmware upgrading which works fine.

 

[Retrias]

Quote:

Just curious here, how would 2 dacs improve on sound quality, whats the theory behind it? Thanks

one dac behind each channel gives you better sounds thanks to dac not hampered of having to produce sounds for two channels , that is the basic gist of it