[asapdin]

For the guys who own AK240.
Can you hear a big difference between 24/192 files and DSD? Blind test? What's battery life in real life when playing highest format?
For Audeze XC do I need to amp,will I benefit from that or straight out the DAP balanced will be a better option? Thanks, Musicday

 
I can only speak from my own experience when I audititioned the AK120 II and 240 on Headfone shop here in Toronto before I purchased my very own AK240 the shop owner had DSD files and I can tell you that the DSD music was:
 
1. Instruments were more precise
2. Sound stage was huge
3. Felt like it was 3 dimensional sound
 
However keep in mind I do NOT have any 24 bit 192 kHz music, I do however have 24 bit 96 kHz so I am comparing it to those.
 
In a blind test I doubt anyone can easily tell between DSD and 24 bit 96 kHz at least from what I heard the difference was massive.
 
Also keep in mind that I was not able to distinguish between the AK240 playing the same music natively and the AK120 II playing the same music converted to PCM from DSD.

 

[warrior1975]

Basically, if it wasn't DSD you couldn't hear a difference, correct?

 

[asapdin]

Basically, if it wasn't DSD you couldn't hear a difference, correct?

Correct for ME at least anything that's FLAC 16 bit 44.1 vs. a 320kbps mp3 it sounds the same, however going higher there are some subtle differences like 24 bit 48 kHz there are some static noise on bad recordings I can hear them very subtle but the music is all the same, just a little bit more cleaner.
 
Going up to 24 bit 96 kHz is where it starts to get more noticeable at least for myself the music is more 3 dimensional, sound stage is wider, a lot more cleaner.
 
These may vary from individual to individual though, because the music I listen to I've listened to them for years on anything from a bad 128kbps mp3 to a quality 320kbps mp3 and now moving up to a higher rate 24 bit 96 kHz quality music yes I can easily tell the difference.

 

[warrior1975]

That's perfect, just what I needed to hear. I suspected I'd not hear any difference myself between them as I couldnt between the 100ii and 120ii. they are so close in price so it didn't matter at this point, if there was a gain I'd want it. I don't use DSD, have no intention of it either, and I prefer the size and looks of the 120ii.

Thank you!!

 

[asapdin]

That's perfect, just what I needed to hear. I suspected I'd not hear any difference myself between them as I couldnt between the 100ii and 120ii. they are so close in price so it didn't matter at this point, if there was a gain I'd want it. I don't use DSD, have no intention of it either, and I prefer the size and looks of the 120ii.

Thank you!!

 Even if you decide to go DSD the AK120 II plays DSD music beautifully like I said I could not tell the difference at all doing an A / B comparison of the same music of the same file quality.
 
 So you can't go wrong with the AK120 II.
 
 I made my choice to go for the AK240 because I wanted the extra storage space and I wanted a more smaller DAP.
 
 Is it worth $800 difference ($1699 for the AK120 II and $2499 for the AK240) for those reasons?
 
 For me? YES
 
 But for most people NO

 

[warrior1975]

I definitely have no need for that storage. As far is it being smaller, how does it feel in your hand compared to the 120ii? I love how the 120ii feels... Perfect for walking and fits perfectly in my pockets as well.

 

[asapdin]

I definitely have no need for that storage. As far is it being smaller, how does it feel in your hand compared to the 120ii? I love how the 120ii feels... Perfect for walking and fits perfectly in my pockets as well.

 I would have to honestly say the AK240 feels genuinely premium and its made from a full bodied solid scratch resistant duraluminum housing, it has a nice weight feel to it.
 
The AK120 II also feels solid in the hand it has a nice weight to it just like the AK240 doesn't feel cheap, and I think its simplistic rectangular slab design is an eye catcher especially that shiny aluminum housing I've always loved shiny things!

 

[warrior1975]

Me as well, love at first sight!! Believe it or not, that's what's truly holding me back, the beauty of the 120...if the 240 looked like it, I wouldn't be having this conversation right now.

 

[musicday]

I heard the AK240 gets quite warm when charging or playing high resolution music. Anyone can do a battery test with various music formats? Cheers

 

[asapdin]

I heard the AK240 gets quite warm when charging or playing high resolution music. Anyone can do a battery test with various music formats? Cheers

 Yes it does get warm when playing anything 24 bit 48 kHz and higher, also the battery drain is more significant the higher the music quality.
 
Playing 24 bit 96 kHz music you should be able to squeeze out 7 hours with the everything set off: EQ, Screen Brightness: 0, Balanced Setting: OFF, Gapless Playback: OFF, WiFi, & Bluetooth.
 
Anything lower than 24 bit 96 kHz (16 bit 44.1 kHz & 24 bit 48 kHz ) you should be able to squeeze out 8 to 10 hours, especially if you playing a lot of 16 bit 44.1 music in the mix.
 
I haven't done any DSD music tests yet because the pre loaded music just plain sucks, on the weekend I will probably set it on a loop to play continuously to see how many hours I can squeeze out of it, but if I had to guess I'd say 5 hours tops.

 

[b0ssMax]

I just ordered a Hugo and will want to connect it to my 240 via the mini toslink output to the Hugo. I want something of quality, but the specific need is a custom length—4 inches.

Does anyone have any suggestions? I normally buy my toslink cables from Lifatec and I have made an inquiry about whether they can custom build a cable for me. I thought I would reach out to the community to see if there are other worthy options.

I bought a toslink-mini cable from amazon that looks similar to the one that came with the hugo. Chopped it down to the length i wanted and that was it.

 

[DrSheep]

Sys-concept is your best bet, custom optical interconnect at a very reasonable price.
 
http://www.sysconcept.ca/product_info.php?products_id=349&osCsid=5b4uv1grab9qu9k4fkerhoqec6

 

[ATSCODE]

  Sys-concept is your best bet, custom optical interconnect at a very reasonable price.
 
http://www.sysconcept.ca/product_info.php?products_id=349&osCsid=5b4uv1grab9qu9k4fkerhoqec6

 
http://www.head-fi.org/t/697166/the-astell-kern-ak240/5715#post_10996004
 

 

[DrSheep]

Totally.  BTW, a while back they sent Jude a new interconnect prototype for trials, but I haven't heard anything since then...

 

[Mimouille]

Anyone ever some problems with the volume knob? Some imprecision, volume going a bit up instead of down, etc?