Astell & Kern AK Jr Discussion

Discussion in 'IEMs and Portable Gear' started by Griffon, Oct 21, 2015.

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  1. Griffon

    Griffon 2nd biggest asshole on SBAF

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    From the old site: http://www.changstar.com/index.php/topic,2609.0.html

    Edit and edit:
    While AK is not a particularly favored brand of mine for their perceived boosting inflation of the portable market, the Jr after these time still stands as a solid product in my experience. Also a question for the community: does Jr accept microSD larger than 64G? Thanks!
     
  2. velvetx

    velvetx Gear Master West/Vendor Spotlight Moderator

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    Per Steve Guttenberg Article:

    Astell & Kern claims the AK Jr will accept microSD cards up to 200GB.

    My Comments:

    Really for $500 it's an awesome little player. Though lacking in the power department to power full sized headphones (not all but quite a few LCD-X, HD-650 etc). It does a great job imaging details and perfecting the sound stage. In many cases I would choose this over the AK 120 or 240 not just because I thought the Jr sounded better but for the price it really does make you think twice before spending quad digits on a portable player.
     
    Last edited: Oct 21, 2015
  3. Griffon

    Griffon 2nd biggest asshole on SBAF

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    Oh that's a swift answer! Thank you!

    I recently picked up a demo 100II for about 550USD and am also quite satisfied, and I would also pick Jr over 120II in most scenarios purely based on sonics (haven't heard 240). Jr and 100II gets about the same head time.

    In terms of power, I don't expect a DAP to power something like HD650. Instead of having plenty of power to burn to drive high z or low sensitivity cans, a DAP should do a good job to drive some portable gear very well. I've tried some other portable gear such as AT MSR7 or Beo H6 and they sounded quite decent directly from Jr.
     
  4. burnspbesq

    burnspbesq Friend

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    No first-hand experience with 200 gig cards, but I can confirm that 128 gig cards work.
     
  5. burnspbesq

    burnspbesq Friend

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    audiofrk has my Jr. Hopefully he will be inspired to post impressions after he has had it a while.
     
  6. BRCMRGN

    BRCMRGN New

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    200GB seems to work fine in all A&K DAPs. I have tested AK100, AK120 Titan, AK120 II, AK240, AK Jr
     
  7. Stapsy

    Stapsy Friend

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    I think I may have to try the Jr. I liked the original AK100, but for the price I ended up getting a CLAS and Amp for my iPhone. After spending a lot of time with a brick setup, having something small and portable that can easily hold all my music is very appealing.

    Is the interface any better on the new Jr? I found the AK100 to be a little laggy. That was right after the initial launch with the original firmware.
     
  8. AustinValentine

    AustinValentine Friend

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    The Mac USB 3.0 problem ended up being a dealbreaker for me :( Really a shame because I liked it quite a bit. (I picked one up while impatiently waiting for the GO V2+ to release.)

    Still, it's a very good sounding unit and a solid buy given the price!
     
  9. velvetx

    velvetx Gear Master West/Vendor Spotlight Moderator

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  10. Griffon

    Griffon 2nd biggest asshole on SBAF

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    Austin sorry to hear that!

    I heard Jr's UI is the same quality to the original AK100.
     
  11. Stapsy

    Stapsy Friend

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    Man if shipping to Canada weren't so pricey I would be all over that deal.
     
  12. imackler

    imackler Key Lime Pie Infected Aberdeen Wings Spy

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    Soo.... I'm a bit of a worry wort. Anyone hear of AK replacing batteries (for a fee, of course) or users replacing them? $379 looks tempting, but its still a bit of a jump...
     
  13. Stapsy

    Stapsy Friend

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    Have any of you guys tried the AK jr with external amps? It doesn't look like it has a line level out that can bypass the internal amplifier. I am wondering if I could use it with the Vali for my desk at work or while traveling.
     
  14. imackler

    imackler Key Lime Pie Infected Aberdeen Wings Spy

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    Actually contacted Astell. They quoted me $40 to replace battery if ever needed.
     
  15. Griffon

    Griffon 2nd biggest asshole on SBAF

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    Read the link in the first post.
     
  16. Stapsy

    Stapsy Friend

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    Thanks. For those that may have the same question as me but don't want to go to another site, there is an option for line out in the menu.
     
  17. Dr4Bob

    Dr4Bob New

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    Has anyone compared the AK jr to a proper diyMod 5.5 iPod?
    I am quite happy with mine but the price of the AK is tempting- no reason to make a lateral move, however...
     
  18. audiofrk

    audiofrk Guest

    I actually a/b with my rwimod + piccolo amp. The stack has slightly better staging and a fuller sound also I like the digital filter on the imod better. Initially I thought the ak Jr had better detail but the transients actually just decayed faster (I'm attributing this to the filter).

    Over all sound wise the ak Jr was a small step back in sound quality. I actually have heard my imod with other amps I like better than my own so I think the Jr would fall behind even more.

    I tried the Jr both line out with digital attenuation on, feed into my amp. The results were inconclusive. I was using a fiio silver line out and combine with my bass light amp and the sharper lean Jr the sound was sooooo bright. Don't really believe cables can make or break a set up so I would like to see if another amp would make a difference.

    Used uerms, koss protapros
     
  19. Dr4Bob

    Dr4Bob New

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    Thanks audiofrk- exactly what my budget and I was hoping to hear, cheers!
     
  20. audiofrk

    audiofrk Guest

    No problem but remember this is on audio quality alone not taking everything else into account. For instance my stack is about 38cm while I he ak Jr is only 11cm.

    The ui/OS is a mixed bag rockboxx has its pros but it definitely is file based browsing. Ak Jr has bugs no doubt they pop every now and again. Though it's slightly more visual and "intuitive" still like the zune HD ui better.
     

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