[musicday]

From other website :
AK240 will be available for demo at Bristol sound show in February.

 

[Steph86]

From other website :
AK240 will be available for demo at Bristol sound show in February.

 
Hi,
 
I can confirm there will be approx 6 AK240 units on demo, with various headphones (balanced and unbalanced).

 

[CosmicHolyGhost]

   
 
http://callmechang.blog.me/10183990941
 
I still couldn't get over the picture with AK240 driving HD800 since they didn't even add an amp there.

I could... the guy looked unimpressed...

 

[ALRAINBOW]

Hello all. Food for thought. Read and understand
And I am not knocking the product.

As different methods of hearing an dap
A change in resolution accurs

Speakers being driven from the dap
Using external amp for speakers would reveal
The most about the quality of the chain
Next would be a really good headphone
Like the HD800. Those headphones reveal
A tremindis amount if detail.
And last would be IEM s.
So using headphones would be the min to really hear
What 2500 DAP sounds like.
Now given the HD800 are a finicky headphone
It could be synergy as well not letter the dap
Be heard in its best light. So going between
Headphones and IEM S would be the proper testing
For the unit.

Al

 

[southbeach]

At the Hamburg Show 1st/2nd of Februar y there will be 4 Pieces ak240 on Demo.....including the New Air Motion 2way HAMT-1 from obravo

 

[ianmedium]

Personally, having heard the HD800's its really unfair to use them right out of ANY Dap and then judge the Dap on the sonics from that. The HD800's really only start to sound special I feel with a tube or solid state amp with enough power and quality to drive them really well. Anything less does not do justice to A, the HD800 (I have fallen foul of this one myself having heard them with less than amplification and thought them lifeless, then heard them with really great tube amplification and then could hear what all the fuss is about!) and B to the amp and source feeding them.

Far from being simply a revealing headphone that will show up anything lesser in the chain ( and they do do that with the right amplification) they show up their inadequacies of not being driven well ( I don't think Sennheiser ever hidden the fact they need good amplification which is probably why they came out with an amp of their own!) which can potentially corrupt someones thoughts on what the rest of the chain is like.

I feel headphones better to that task are things such as my T5P's which are much easier to drive and less finicky with what they are being fed in terms of being driven well.. However, and this for me is the true test of something transparent to source and amp I feel, they rise to what is being fed them. Up the quality and the sound quality goes up, they are I feel a more transparent headphone which is why they probably have suffered the wrath of many as it shows up their Mp3 files for what they are or their lack of quality in the chain.

I would never use HD800's for monitoring in recording sessions unless I knew they were being driving well, I would the T5P's ( though still, my choice in the main are my ER4's for that roll).
Once again, these are just my personal thoughts, others may have different ones.

 

[seeteeyou]

.

 

[ALRAINBOW]

Read my post. Line out is a good test of DAC and analog
Stages

 

[DMinor]

Read my post. Line out is a good test of DAC and analog
Stages

 
When you have a true/clean LO (by that I mean immediately from dac bypassing the board completely) and clean/neutral/transparent amp, you will hear the clean sound with totally different sound stage with the amount of details.
 
The key is to have a clean audio path from dac to amp output with the least electrical resistance. If the sound is colored (by that I mean polluted) somehow, I consider that a failure regardless of the dap price tag. Some head-fi'ers like colored sounding not me.

 

[ALRAINBOW]

I think we are saying the same thing. And this would be a test of the DAC. Not the amp.

On another thought. Was the hd800 being drive in al mode. As this would effective double the votgtGe
To the headphones. As I am not considering buyi g this as it is way more than I would spend
On a DAP. But I am very interested in how this unit sounds and under what conditions

Al

 

[DMinor]

So does anyone know if the Ak240 has a true and absolutely clean LO?

 

[Tokyolifer]

http://cafe.naver.com/akuser/29724
 
Impressions from a Korean guy who attended the session...In Korean language, so below is a quick summary (I am Korean American).   It looks like he brought his own equipment  to the session Fitear 334, LCD-XC and hd800, which we saw in some of the photos.  He also brought the Alo amp to the session (mk3). This is probably the same guy in the photo listening to hd800...
 
In general, he thought AK240 was a better match for classical music than rock, and that a little more driving power (especially in the treble) would help.  He had good things to say about the detail/resolution - almost too much of it sometimes, especially with female vocal, he says.  He specifically mentions that he felt like he was carrying around his desktop system when using AK240/mk3 combo.   Not sure what the connection was there - probably SE, not balanced.  He also mentions that in some cases AK240 sounded better than a 3 stack - I am assuming he meant iPod-CLAS-mk3 - especially with treble and midrange...Obviously more bass with the stack driven by mk3.  One interesting thing he mentions is that he liked AK240 (unamped, I think) with the hd800 very much, but not so much with the LCD-XC.  He felt like he was getting only 80% of what the LCD-XC could deliver.  A little puzzling to me, because I would think LCD-XC would be much easier to drive than hd800...
 
Not the most focused review I have read, but at least a perspective from someone who tried AK240 with equipment that we are familiar with...

 

[AmberOzL]

  So does anyone know if the Ak240 has a true and absolutely clean LO?

I doubt it.

 

[ALRAINBOW]

One word synergy the hd800 are just a really good headphone but very unpridictable with equipment. And then is quite where the man was cause those headphones have no isolation at all.

Al

 

[DMinor]

 
I doubt it.

I don't know why it is difficult. It's so simple and clean for producing the hi-fi sound quality. Why do they have to run from the dac thru the board, get polluted and then to the LO?
 
I am also looking for an amp without using dc blocking caps yet capable of completely killing any dc offsets at output to headphones.
 
Been there done that, and I have been blown.