Astell&Kern AK240 high-end music player

[HiFiGuy528]

what are your thoughts on this guy?

Astell&Kern

[jdandy]

Mike.......I won't buy one. Just under $3k is ridiculous for any handheld pocket music server, high-res or otherwise. It's too small and the hard drive is too skimpy to be practical in a home two channel system, so the dual purpose sales approach doesn't fly with me. It's cute, no doubt sounds great, but not for me. Too many pockets to fill up with gadgets every time I leave home and then have to watch over it every second to keep some sticky finger from walking off with it. I'll pass.

[G8YU]

Originally Posted by jdandy

Mike.......I won't buy one. Just under $3k is ridiculous for any handheld pocket music server, high-res or otherwise. It's too small and the hard drive is too skimpy to be practical in a home two channel system, so the dual purpose sales approach doesn't fly with me. It's cute, no doubt sounds great, but not for me. Too many pockets to fill up with gadgets every time I leave home and then have to watch over it every second to keep some sticky finger from walking off with it. I'll pass.

Ditto.

I only consider spending a couple hundred dollars on a small device I might lose.
I wonder if it really makes portable headphones sound that much better? Remember, this is a portable device, so your probably not walking around in public wearing your LCD-2, HD-800 or other large headphone.

[Yamaki]

I have the little brother (AK100) and am very happy I purchased it. I spend an hour in the AM and an hour in the PM on a commuter train so music is my travelling companion on work days.

Plus, since I don't listen to .mp3's and lossy Apple files at home, I can't stand to listen to them with a pair of headphones either.

Listening to FLAC on a good set of headphones (Sennheiser Momentum's), even from a small portable player like the A&K 100 is wondrous compared to an iPod with .mp3's and low resolution Apple files.

[RoadDawgWest]

Originally Posted by Yamaki

I have the little brother (AK100) and am very happy I purchased it. I spend an hour in the AM and an hour in the PM on a commuter train so music is my travelling companion on work days.

Yamaki,
I couldn't agree more on music being a great traveling companion. If I traveled on business like I once did I would consider one of the (AK) players.

I agree with Dan on this one. Even if I was on the road 50% of the year I still would not drop nearly 3K on this player.

[HiFiGuy528]

I think AK products are not for someone who listens to 16/44.1 files exclusively. Their players are for someone with commitments in high-res and wants to listen to it while on the go.

[radio times]

I'll certainly read the reviews. Heard the 120 with 680kpbs and it was top end hi fi all the way. Well, same price stereo system perhaps. Might go 320kpbs on the F886 as a stop gap, and in a few weeks the ZX1 will be on blighty's shores.

[HiFiGuy528]

I'm trying to get my paws on the ZX1.

What I like about the AK240 is the lack of full Android OS. Astell&Kern used their own skin and it's simple to use while retaining some Android features.

[Toocool4]

I would love to try it to see if it’s as good as they claim it to be.

The Astell & Kern AK240

head-fi.org/t/697166/the-astell-kern-ak240/1080#post_10201890

I love good quality reproduction and just because I am on the move does not mean I have to put up with lo-fi.

I use portable player everyday on my daily commute to and from work, it’s important for me to enjoy my commute hence a good setup.

At the moment I use a combination of either Sony Walkman D6C or DC2 or DD9, with Ray Samuels P-51 Mustang amp and headphones a Beyerdynamic T90 drivers in a T70 housing or Etymotic ER-4S. I have not heard a digital portable player that I would leave my setup for yet.

[Yamaki]

I have 16 bit / 44.1 kHz up to 24 bit / 192 kHz on my unit and it sounds wonderful. I have embraced higher resolution digital music and am very glad I found this product.

The battery life on these things is amazing!