Astell & Kern AK100 II initial review

[Puma Cat]

Ha! That's great, Russell!

I am VERY impressed with mine; I know it's pricey, but IMO, it's worth EVERY PENNEY.

Your description of the sound quality is very accurate. What I really appreciate about the AK100 II is that the sound is very neutral, but spacious, airy, very musical and natural-sounding as well with excellent imaging. It's accuracy and extremely natural tonal range reminds me of my Sennheiser HD600s. I think it has a truly excellent DAC section, and it literally blows any of portable DACs I've heard (Dragonfly, LH Geek Out, Schiit Fulla, HRT Streamers) completely into the weeds!, and whie the Pono sounds good, it does not sound as good as the AK100 II.

What I find most interesting is that your experiences and observations parallel those in my mini-review very closely.

The other thing about it is that all sorts of content is played back completely seamlessly; doesn't matter the res, or format, 16/44, 16/48, 24/192 PCM, DSD, it all just works and sounds absolutely gorgeous.

Just a terrific product.

[mithrandir39]

Originally Posted by Puma Cat

penHa! That's great, Russell!

I am VERY impressed with mine; I know it's pricey, but IMO, it's worth EVERY PENNEY.

Your description of the sound quality is very accurate. What I really appreciate about the AK100 II is that the sound is very neutral, but spacious, airy, very musical and natural-sounding as well with excellent imaging. It's accuracy and extremely natural tonal range reminds me of my Sennheiser HD600s. I think it has a truly excellent DAC section, and it literally blows any of portable DACs I've heard (Dragonfly, LH Geek Out, Schiit Fulla, HRT Streamers) completely into the weeds!, and whie the Pono sounds good, it does not sound as good as the AK100 II.

What I find most interesting is that your experiences and observations parallel those in my mini-review very closely.

The other thing about it is that all sorts of content is played back completely seamlessly; doesn't matter the res, or format, 16/44, 16/48, 24/192 PCM, DSD, it all just works and sounds absolutely gorgeous.

Just a terrific product.

The bass response on this thing is awesome! I'm still kinda shocked at the "grip" it has on low freqs.

[Puma Cat]

Originally Posted by mithrandir39

The bass response on this thing is awesome! I'm still kinda shocked at the "grip" it has on low freqs.

I'm still kinda shocked on how good the thing sounds overall. I was hearing stuff with it with my Senns on recordings I know really well that I had not heard before.

[mithrandir39]

Originally Posted by Puma Cat

I'm still kinda shocked on how good the thing sounds overall. I was hearing stuff with it with my Senns on recordings I know really well that I had not heard before.

I haven't experienced that yet. For me the biggest difference is the sense of reality;I.e. snare drums, voices and guitars sound more real and less like a recording.

[Puma Cat]

Originally Posted by mithrandir39

I haven't experienced that yet. For me the biggest difference is the sense of reality;I.e. snare drums, voices and guitars sound more real and less like a recording.

Sounds like an improvement to me! One of the things that impresses me about the AK100 MkII is how natural-sounding it is.

[Antonmb]

Just ordered the AK100 II, Amazon had it for $50 off. Should be in my hands by Wednesday.

[mgbaron]

I've been thinking about getting the AK120 ii (mostly for the additional storage over the 100). I heard that it can only do gapless playback with FLAC files, but I'm wondering if they might have fixed that. Does anyone know? My library is in AIFF.

[mithrandir39]

Originally Posted by mgbaron

I've been thinking about getting the AK120 ii (mostly for the additional storage over the 100). I heard that it can only do gapless playback with FLAC files, but I'm wondering if they might have fixed that. Does anyone know? My library is in AIFF.

I haven't noticed any difference, myself. the additional storage would definitely be nice!

[mithrandir39]

Originally Posted by Antonmb

Just ordered the AK100 II, Amazon had it for $50 off. Should be in my hands by Wednesday.

It's a great buy! You'll love it!

[Puma Cat]

Originally Posted by Antonmb

Just ordered the AK100 II, Amazon had it for $50 off. Should be in my hands by Wednesday.

Tony, please post your impressions here when you have a chance.