[flymetothemoon]

  Initial impressions (paired with Earsonics EM6):
 
1. Physical build and quality is superb i.e at least on par with an iPhone and I would say higher quality as the body is more complex. The box, the leather case and the AK240 itself all scream high end.
 
2. Sound quality surpasses anything I've heard in compact form: Audioquest Dragonfly; Meridian Explorer and it seems better than my Ayre QB9 (but I've still to compare the AK240 with the QB9 and my top of the line STAX system - more about this later).
 
3. No doubt the DAC has high resolution processing any file format and delivering clear instrument separation and lots of detail. Also easy to notice by ear the diferences between CD quality and high resolution files. Sound signature seems well extended with clear treble and no complaints about lack of bass.
 
4. Loading the device with music files is easy. It connects to my Mac via android file transfer and then it's drag and drop. Occasionally the connection between the Mac and the AK240 is interrupted but it's an easy fix by unplugging the cable and reconnecting.
 
5. For those using Mac - Android File Transfer it should be mentioned that this Google program is very basic e.g allows to transfer files between the computer and the AK240 but doesn't allow to reorganize the AK240 so - plan before you start randomly dropping files in the AK240.
 
6.Interface / user experience very good. Simple, well organised, it works.
 
7. Drives easily any IEM and other low impedance headphones. I've tried my Earsonocs EM6 and my Grado RS1 - both work great. High impedance headphones will require an external dedicated amp. Needless to say that it's pointless to buy an AK240 and then use cheap / low quality headphones.
 
8. Good value for money despite the high price.

Well written and agreed.

 

[koub78]

Hi,
I’m new on the forum. I’m a 35 year old French guy.
First of all, I want to apology if my English is not perfect… and thank you per advance for your help.
 
Month ago, I bought an AK240 with 128Gb extra memory in US for a very « reasonable price » (2300USD instead of 2600 EUR in France)
I connected it to my shure SE846 with a double helix peptide v2 balanced type4 OCC Litz cable.
I’m really really happy with the sound. It’s great !
 
My only issue is to get music to listen !
Let me explain… I do have many CD I digitized and also bought few HD albums online but I would have loved to stream content in order to discover new artists, listening to specific tracks etc…
 
In France we have Qobuz which is a kind of Spotify, Deazer etc…
They provide high quality with 24 bits download when you buy tracks and 16 bits FLAC streaming for a 20 EUR per month subscription.
It’s exactly what I’m looking for but, unfortunately, they haven’t developed a client for the AK240 but only for smartphone and computer.
 
As I’d love to listen to music when I’m traveling, would you know if it would be possible to link the A240 to an iPad or an iPhone in order to stream from the iDevice and get the sound from the AK240 ?
Then the Qobuz 20EUR subscription would be perfect to get 16 bits FLAC and when I really love something I can buy it in 24bits.
 
If not possible to connect, is there any other solution than Qobuz to get good quality on the AK240 with a subscription ?
How do you try artists you don’t know, specific tracks etc… ?
Where do you find your music ? Do you buy everything you have on your device ?
 
Thanks a lot for your help,
K

 

[Bechti]

Discover new music --> spotify (similar to the service you are using)

If I like it I buy it in HD (couple of internet stores) or simply buy the CD, then transfer it to the AK.

Maybe it's a personal thing, but I want to "own" my music not simply own a right to use a track over internet.

 

[cjfreitag]

Does anyone have an alternative to Android File Transfer that works on a Mac? The transfer utility works OK, but I am really frustrated by my inability to deal with files and folders once they are on the device...anything from nesting a folder to changing a tag means I have to delete something, make the change I want to make on the computer, and then re-transfer it. It's a PITA.
 
If there are better solutions on the Windows side it would almost be worth running a Windows emulator, but I would prefer to find a native OSX option.

 

[chawya22]

  Does anyone have an alternative to Android File Transfer that works on a Mac? The transfer utility works OK, but I am really frustrated by my inability to deal with files and folders once they are on the device...anything from nesting a folder to changing a tag means I have to delete something, make the change I want to make on the computer, and then re-transfer it. It's a PITA.
 
If there are better solutions on the Windows side it would almost be worth running a Windows emulator, but I would prefer to find a native OSX option.

I use SyncMate Expert. It's not perfect and it's not free. Transfers are done using the finder as opposed to AFT's own file system. It still locks up on occasion and you sometimes get weird permissions errors. I think it's more of an issue with how the AK240 handles files than a problem with SyncMate. Overall, IMHO, it's far superior to AFT. As an added bonus you can use it with Android and IOS. 

 

[flymetothemoon]

Hi,


I’m new on the forum. I’m a 35 year old French guy.


First of all, I want to apology if my English is not perfect… and thank you per advance for your help.


 


Month ago, I bought an AK240 with 128Gb extra memory in US for a very « reasonable price » (2300USD instead of 2600 EUR in France)


I connected it to my shure SE846 with a double helix peptide v2 balanced type4 OCC Litz cable.


I’m really really happy with the sound. It’s great !


 


My only issue is to get music to listen !


Let me explain… I do have many CD I digitized and also bought few HD albums online but I would have loved to stream content in order to discover new artists, listening to specific tracks etc…


 


In France we have Qobuz which is a kind of Spotify, Deazer etc…


They provide high quality with 24 bits download when you buy tracks and 16 bits FLAC streaming for a 20 EUR per month subscription.


It’s exactly what I’m looking for but, unfortunately, they haven’t developed a client for the AK240 but only for smartphone and computer.


 


As I’d love to listen to music when I’m traveling, would you know if it would be possible to link the A240 to an iPad or an iPhone in order to stream from the iDevice and get the sound from the AK240 ?


Then the Qobuz 20EUR subscription would be perfect to get 16 bits FLAC and when I really love something I can buy it in 24bits.


 


If not possible to connect, is there any other solution than Qobuz to get good quality on the AK240 with a subscription ?


How do you try artists you don’t know, specific tracks etc… ?


Where do you find your music ? Do you buy everything you have on your device ?


 


Thanks a lot for your help,


K

 


You cannot stream music from your iPhone/iPad

 

[Mimouille]

Well I am a 35 year old French guy too and I buy tons of music from Qobuz and fill the A240 up

 

[cjfreitag]

  I use SyncMate Expert. It's not perfect and it's not free. Transfers are done using the finder as opposed to AFT's own file system. It still locks up on occasion and you sometimes get weird permissions errors. I think it's more of an issue with how the AK240 handles files than a problem with SyncMate. Overall, IMHO, it's far superior to AFT. As an added bonus you can use it with Android and IOS. 

Does this allow you to manipulate files on the device itself? For me, transferring is not the problem issue...

 

[som4ew]

SyncMate transfer rate slower than AFT, I have used both , I use SyncMate for minor file editing, but copy pre - tagged files and folder with AFT.

 

[chawya22]

  Does this allow you to manipulate files on the device itself? For me, transferring is not the problem issue...

Yes, the AK240 mounts on your desktop and you treat it just like any other OS X folder. As I said before, you still occasionally get weird errors that require a disconnect or restart of the AK240. I guess it's still going through puberty and hopefully firmware updates will make it a little more stable. 

 

[koub78]

Hello again, I know we can't stream iphone content from the AK240 but I asked if we could connect the iDevice to get the sound from the AK240 but use the iPhone to stream online HD music with Qobuz. In fact, it would be perfect if the AK240 could have the same functionality than the AK10. Any idea ?

 

[koub78]

Well I am a 35 year old French guy too and I buy tons of music from Qobuz and fill the A240 up

Hello Mimouille, do you download Qobuz file from the AK240 itself ? I heard Qobuz developed a specific program to buy & download music directly from the AK player but I don't know if it's already available or not. As I bought the AK240 in the USA and not in Europe I thought I couldn't get the Qobuz app for regional issue...

 

[Bechti]

  In fact, it would be perfect if the AK240 could have the same functionality than the AK10. Any idea ?

 
We should address this to AK, I think it's really a pity their priciest Model doesn't have this feature of one of their cheaper models!
 
I'm hoping for a firmware update!

 

[jlbrach]

May I ask how one gets the music on both the internal memory and the SD card to integrate and show up on one list when one looks for artists or albums etc?I am awaiting delivery of my 240 and want to hit the ground running when I receive it.

 

[kerrys30]

  May I ask how one gets the music on both the internal memory and the SD card to integrate and show up on one list when one looks for artists or albums etc?I am
awaiting delivery of my 240 and want to hit the ground running when I receive it.

 
I think it scans when boots up.  I say this as I received mine, plugged into laptop and transffered songs to internal memory.   Booted up and they were all present in Album, Artist, Song, search function etc.    Then I later pulled an SD card from my 120 and added to the 240 and again after turning on everything was there in Album, Artist, Song, search function again!!    I may have been lucky but had no problems so far
 
Only problem so far -  I was trying to use media center 19 to have better control over playlists but cant seem to integrate both internal and SD there......the playlist is found on internal storage but only shoes the songs I have added from there.........