Astell&Kern AK100II Digital Audio Player Discussions | Drop

Astell&Kern AK100II Digital Audio Player

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karthik3685

Jun 19, 2018

Anyone know how the Pioneer XDP-100R compares to this ? (Furiously reading online now, but thought I'd ask for opinions)

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Raider275

Jun 19, 2018

karthik3685Signature is different. XDP has a warmer tone while this one has a more neutral presentation. Airy is key here. Also, XDP is much larger and has poorer batt life. Thats the achilles heel of all Pioneer players. However for 399 i recc u go grab a used one if possible, for around 250 pristine the ak100ii is a good bargain

Jun 19, 2018

karthik3685Do consider the Onkyo DP X-1A. It’s very neutral and GooglePlay music player has a lovely UI. There are other Hi-Res players that you can download as an alternative.
The X1A is an upgrade from the X1 which I have. It allows “deep sleep”, which means when idling it uses hardly any power, just like a mobile phone. Helps with battery life.
I like its neutral signature. Sounds great when fed through a variety of amps. Also, it gives me 200 GB of storage. Personally, I am delighted with the X1. When I bought it, the only alternative was the very expensive A&K. Despite one rather annoying “Line-out” bug (see my other posts) I’ve become rather cozy with it.

DaveinSM

Jun 20, 2018

Sujay RaoI agree. After having had the Astell&Kern AK Jr, the DP-X1A blows it away in terms of a much, MUCH better and more responsive user interface, which I attribute it to being basically an Android-based smartphone OS without the phone. The Onkyo is physically much larger than both AK units, but the touchscreen is also much larger, with clean, crisp, vivid graphics cover art display with flac files. The Onkyo also sounds at least as good to me as the AK, which also doesn’t have such a great battery life and a very primitive, clunky OS. Trust me: while you also have to watch your apps, Bluetooth, WiFi, and screen brightness/usage to save battery life, the Onkyo offers A far more sophisticated user experience to the AK Jr. This also appears to apply to the 100II, which is an ancient design in DAP terms.

Jun 20, 2018

DaveinSMVery true. Also, while it is easy to tell a mediocre device from a really good one, it may be impossible to say which one of two high end devices is “better”. Often, when you rate one as superior, what you may actually be saying is that you prefer one sound signature to the other.
You’re spot-on when you say having an intuitive UI and a pleasing user experience means a lot. Between two high end devices, a clumsy irritating UI can be a real pain to live with.
You’re right too that the DP-X1 (and 1A) offers a simple uncomplicated outer layer, but allows a range of complex tweaks in the belly of the menu. More than I’ve needed really. I think the Onkyo DP-X1A has been given far less credit than it deserves.
I’ve never tried its OTG function with a USB flash drive. Plan to do that sometime. Happy listening.

OneLove

2962

Jun 20, 2018

Sujay RaoOr DP-CMX1 GRANBEAT (DPX1A + unlocked dual sim 4g phone)

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Jun 27, 2018

OneLoveOoh! Thanks. Gotta check that out.

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May 1, 2019

Sujay RaoI enjoyed the Onkyo setup when I got to sit down with a DP-X1 for literally a few hours with nothing else to do. I liked that the Android OS would let you download Spotify, TIDAL, and iTunes for streaming and offline storage (the AKs back then, like this AK100 and several of the newer ones, didn’t support TIDAL offline downloading), the dual MicroSD card slots, and it was interesting to try to tease out the differences of sharp and slow cut off. I almost bought a Rubato model based off that experience. Ended up buying a second hand FiiO X7, was hoping the interchangeable Amp modules would protect it against obsolescence, plus it was a bit cheaper. I was very, very pleased with the sound quality of that player, and getting a larger MicroSD card seemed to solve my issues with being able to store downloads from streaming services, drove my HD 650 addictively well. However, the battery life was only good for a few days (not enough for a round-trip on business), startup time was slow, and it was big and bulky (barely pocketable). JUST got a Sony ZX300A at the end of last week! MUCH longer battery runtime (30-25 hours), more pocket friendly (very pleasing ergonomics), quick startup time that I usually don’t even see anyway because it has a sleep mode too, sounded quite good with my Pentaconn 4.4mm balanced HD 800 and 3.5mm Campfire IEMs. The UI is a gem... intuitive like a clickwheel iPod, but faster with library shortcuts and really nice distinct control buttons. The Bluetooth receiver mode is great, replacing onboard TIDAL, my iPhone 8 lightning to 3.5 dongle, and my Bluewave GET. The only fly in the ointment so far is last night, I couldn’t set up Bluetooth pairing with my 2013 VW Golf, and I deem that a fairly critical feature... it SHOULD be able to, so hopefully I can figure that out!

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May 1, 2019

EvshrugThe new FiiO M11 looks like a dream job. Humongous battery life. Every possible connection including the current rage 4.4mm plus every streaming option. I’m unsure about this, but it may have 2.way Bluetooth as well. Looks like they’ve talked to every audiophile kid in the toy store and put every wish into the bag. You could grow old with it. Only grouse is you’re stuck with a proprietary music player. No laterality there.

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May 1, 2019

Sujay RaoI like FiiO’s music app alright. If you can stream though, that means you also get Spotify/Tidal/iTunes’ player. Maybe you can add third party players like Neutron too.

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May 1, 2019

EvshrugI think it’s releasing end May. It checks so many boxes. If reports are right, it’s a competitive price tag I expect it to do very well. FiiO has built a serious audiophile identity right from their first DAP. On paper at least, they’ve really pushed the limits here.

May 1, 2019

Sujay RaoI had a FiiO X3 mk ll, because it was the most like my iPod Classic. Worked alright, but I wouldn’t buy the X5 mk lll, was fairly impressed with the X7 (but it was slow, and things crashed sometimes if there was more than one app open). I haven’t looked into the M11 yet.

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May 2, 2019

EvshrugI have a huge collection of CDs, tapes and inherited vinyls. 3 generations worth (priceless old 78 rpms included). Some are live recordings from soirées in peoples’ homes That’s upwards of 25000 tracks! I have both the 1st and 2nd gen X5s. Honestly they sound great even now. But with so many tracks, searching through a file structure instead of an iPod like UI was crushing. I don’t listen to new stuff army all, I mean rap, hip hop, trance and the lot. I listen to Classical (western and Indian), Jazz,, Blues, and Rock 90% of the best stuff in these genres happened before modern“hi-res” No matter how well you clean up or re-master them they will never sound like music recorded natively in hi-res. This is why I haven’t invested in ALACs and FLACs. Also, a little research has convinced me that, when blinded, it may be impossible to tell a FLAC from a high quality mp3 (LAME) I am planning to invest in a Bluesound Vault2 to digitise the lot. I can make that my library with FLACs or ALACs. With LAMEs the file sizes are smaller and a lot can fit into two 256 GB cards on the M11. I need that because I do a lot of listening at work and while driving.

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May 2, 2019

Sujay RaoI mean, with that many songs, you have literally YEARS of discovery ahead of you. Do you still have a system that can playback 78 rpms? One “audio lover” thing I haven't done yet was listen to reel to reel tapes. I hope that Bluesound Vault 2 works wonders for you! If you can preserve your collection in both LAME and high-res, that would be a good historian of you. I pan most of the mainstream pop/rap of today, but if I dig around I find stuff I like or love. Massive Attack, Wilco, Arcade Fire, Andrew Bird, Snarky Puppy, Infected Mushrooms, Yosi Horikawa... The list goes on, and hops between many genres. Not that you need suggestions for more music, lol! I still haven't looked at the M11. Does it have the ability to scroll songs (with the scrolling able to have some momentum), or have a scroll bar down one side that lets you seek to a particular letter of the alphabet? I liked that ability in the iPod, also the on-the-go playlists, and though I'm not sure yet if the Sony can make playlists (I know you can ”bookmark” stuff), it was nice to see the return of alphabetical seeking. There is also a feature called ”SenseMe” that seems to be an auto playlist generator like Pandora or Genius in Apple's iTunes, I’ll need to explore that some time.

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May 2, 2019

EvshrugI get your question about scrolling. I think it’s best to wait for video reviews on YouTube and try to find a clue. BTW, that Sony is a sweet player. I use an old gramophone for the 78 rpms, but there are a couple of players that do 78 rpm. There are softwares that let you record at 33, 1/3 and up-speed it to 78! I use Audacity to clean up the tracks. There’s an absolutely amazing device called Sweet Vinyl “Sugar Cube” that cleans up vinyl pops and crackles as it plays. Watch the many reviews available on-line. You’ll fall of your chair at how good it seems to be.

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