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😂

3500$ music player + apple earbuds = perfection

Nothing wrong with a $3800 paperweight.

@@traktorpro10 the sign of a real audiophile is the drawer in the kitchen that has 10 dead DAPS in it... 🙂

I have to say AK is pretty amazing when it comes to customer support. I have a much cheaper model and there was issues with the software that rendered it inoperable. It was 1 year out of warranty but I sent it in for repair and they sent me a new one, at no cost, not even shipping. Had a similar situation with a cowon MP3 player. Korean customer service in this space is different.

@@truiz5049 are you saying it took over 1 year to figure out a software error that killed the DAP ?

@@dixter1652 more like it was a year past warrenty when the software issue killed the DAP..

You pulled those numbers from your ass. Barbra Streisand effect in full force.

Exactly this, the biggest turnoff from DAPs is how incredibly slow the entire UX/UI gets within months - hell it already feels like using ancient hardware half a decade prior to current gen devices if your daily driver (smartphone) is flagship level. As for the actual hardware/components/MEMS being used, in addition to the top to botto ECE/mech design aspect (computer architecture mechatronics/control systems etc) involved - I'm sure it's expensive both in terms of supply chain logistics/materials and finding talented hardware focussed ECE's, but I find it hard to believe even enthusiasts would use this on daily basis without needing to upgrade their DAP every quarter or so (purely due to slow and clunky UX, not necessarily as an SQ upgrade).

yeah the problem with that statement is that one AK4499EX chip is 100$

Ahah it’s like putting an Arri lenses on a really cheap camera or something like that

If one is to charge it as often as a phone (once a day) no there is no reason to believe the battery will last more than a phone. And at 10hours specified playback time I think it will need to be charged once a day. Battery can be replaced (as on phones), but replacements will likely never be available. However, the market for such DAPs is so small and so niche (it's a luxury item) that people who buy such probably won't care too much about these aspects. In practice, for most people, the $500 DAPs are the sweetspot where affordability, features, sound and repairability (new battery) all come together nicely.

​@@valentinc22the only expensive equipment I own besides by headphones is the cayin c9, which has user replaceable batteries, which are common sony camera batteries. I intend of using it for decads, and wouldn't of bought it otherwise. Im sure as he'll not going to spend that on a dap that has Firmware and a sealed battery.

Pretty sure Astell & Kern will change the battery for you when it gets old and if you care about the money you'd need to spend on a battery replacement its just not a product for you

@@Amphibax It’s a product for people with spending problems, let’s get real 😅 We can carve out a ‘niche’ for every product if we try hard enough, but dude nobody has so much money that they freely give it for junk to clutter their space. At that point they laugh at your little niche and just invest the extra $4k and have an ungodly streamer setup with speakers.

@@sephondranzer do you need to to some more lying about how it has 1v of power, when it actually has 7v to satisfy your sociopathic ego?

not bad at all

Is there a big difference between the Apple and Google C to 3.5 ?

@@TheVeganVicar campfire andromeda 2020

@@Kunu_ There’s a pretty substantial difference - the Apple Dongle has like no distortion even at its max voltages whereas the Google one not so much. You should be able to use the Apple one on a Google device for audio no problem, though.

@@sephondranzer Appreciate it. I have a dac/amp stick for my phone but it's about the size of my thumb and sometimes is cumbersome. Had the Google dongle that came with my Pixel but it definitely didn't sound good.

You don’t need to get it. It’s not your business what other people spend their money on, so when you jump on here and essentially say, “all you need is…” you’re being critical of a product you’ve not even heard. If you’re happy with the Qudelix, as I am, then just be happy without harshing other people’s buzz. I’m also super happy with a DAC and amp that are price appropriate to my headphones and it really does matter. $2k ‘phones driven by a $200 amp is not the same as a well matched $2k amp. It also makes me realise what a bargain the Qudelix is.

@@michaellichnovsky8397 there is no possible way a source device can defeat a flawlessly tuned iem. PEQ is absolutely game changing in the most literal of ways. It literally transforms your headphone. I cant take anyone seriously if they want perfection, but deluded themselves into thinking the defult tuning of their iems is somehow already perfect.

@@michaellichnovsky8397 its genuine m3ntal illness.

3:46 doesnt it have peq maybe a bit finicky but still there or do you mean the qudelix eq presets thing?

@@fatigued its fixed band. Completely useless.

The M17 is hard to treat as a DAP. It’s not very mobile due to heating issues which necessitate a stand for prolonged use and its large size. The M17 ends up being made kind of obsolete by Fiio’s own R7, which ends up functioning almost the exact same as the M17 - a stationary all in one device. Fiio’s M15 would be a good comparison, though honestly it’s solidly just so much better than anything A&K puts out.

It's either Hiby or iBasso for midfi DAPs

Better get tanchjim space

@@dagnisnierlins188 He’s right, this thing is really similarly spec’d to the USB-C dongle from Apple as an amplifier… Holy hell this is the most obnoxious brand.

@@sephondranzer it's a bit more powerful than the Apple dongle. But at lower impedances it's only at a similar level to $60-70 dongles like the Moondrop Dawn or Truthear Shio, and has higher THD (not to the point it would be audible). At higher impedance (300Ω like the Sennheiser HD800S) it does have more power than those, it seems to be capable of higher voltages (most balanced dongles max out at 4V into higher impedance) but runs out of current at lower impedances. I agree, to me, it looks crazy. That it's SO much money and it can't even drive low impedance planars, that's just nuts to me.

Why do you find it cringe? Just curious. I use my dap to separate my files. I dont want 500GB of flac on my phone.

@@blorg8206 Actually by the description he gives at 11:28 - I think it’s slightly weaker. The Apple Dongle has no drop in quality at 1v. That’s an atrocious product.

It's not that it doesn't make sense, it doesn't make sense for your use case. Someone that doesn't have all that space, this might fit their wants just fine

@@djhmax09 3000 is still asking too much tbh, kinda an overkill

@@czyu3361 well then you're probably not the target audience for this. Value will be extremely subjective, although if its performance doesn't compare to other daps in the same price range then yeah it might not be worth buying

⁠@@djhmax09 For WHOSE use-case? Who needs something that performs like the Apple dongle at $4K? This is the most dishonest argument - people with that kind of money don’t waste it on tinkered s#!t that wastes space for no reason. They’d spend the extra 6k for a godly speaker-set even, cause you’re not understanding how ridiculous this proposition is. This isn’t about income, it’s about being gullible or having a problem with money. Seriously if you had the $4K to blow on this, you’d start to ask the guy if they have the money to spend on anything else that is pristine? You could make this ‘target audience’ excuse for any product - actually give me a reason they should buy something this trashy? And also tell me exactly who ‘they’ is. If you mean people with real money, you don’t at all get what you’re suggesting here.

I would like a comparison to the Tanchjim Space Portable Headphone Amplifier which measures very well and costs £60.

Facts😂

Good luck with that

Sure but some people don't want to 🤷‍♂️

Yes you can

No unethical chinese labour and small production runs.

⁠​⁠@@enjoshi-godrez8775 Okay first of all, they’re probably just as likely to be using unethically sourced materials. Secondly, maybe they’re limited because they’re overpriced scams that only so many people fall for?

​@@enjoshi-godrez8775honestly, yeah, unfortunately 😅

@@enjoshi-godrez8775how much labor could there possibly be on a device like this? Modern boards are all populated by pick and place machines, and wave soldered.

@@abrahamevangelista4215 the individual components can add up considerably if they are particularly rare. If you didn't know already, phone manufacturers skimp on a lot of essential components to save cost which is why they break so easily. Expecially apple products.

Convince me audio spoke about the comparison between the 2

Just get a qudelix and whatever amp you want to power planars. The benefits of PEQ will eliminate whatever benefits the dap has.

One day ...i sure you will spend $10000 or more if you keep view.

@@enjoshi-godrez8775 exactly

@@goldhill840 I’ve owned 3k daps before. Sold them all as they aren’t worth it

Probably not? I’m honestly not familiar with the Mojo 2, but a good modern DAC/AMP will walk circles around this. Besting most DAC’s out there as a modern $3800 device is in no way a big accomplishment, and a lot of DAC’s can still boast the same thing. You could get an RME ADI along with a Forge Amplifier for this price. This thing is in the same power delivery league as an Apple USB-C dongle ffs, I really want to guess ‘no’ to your question.

​​@@sephondranzerdo you have literally any evidence at all to back up what you just said?

@@sephondranzer Thanks. I have the RME DAC with original DAC chip set before the factory fire in Japan changed this. I also have and like the Mojo 2 which was great for the price. Cheers

@@Hahmier Did you watch the review and listen to those power specifications? Dude, that thing is not meant to compare with an actual DAC/Amp. Maybe some old crappy one, but any good DAC/Amp is better than that.

@@sephondranzer so you've never heard it then nor have you compared it to other daps in the same price range?

There is no comparison. Ipod plays music. This transports you there(with high-end headphones/IEMS).

Whatever a brother wants to spend😊 In audiophilic land nothing is justified when it comes to prices. For example: If people spend more on cables than the price of the device they're connecting...who's stopping ya?

You lie, I have a samsung phone, and doesn't sound as good 😅

Questyle dongle day works great 👍 👌 😀 👏 🙌, don't know how ASTELL justifies the price,,,, makes a good paperweight 😅

It makes a great paperweight 😂

Not much, stick with your Mojo 2.

Hilarious

i got the sony nw-a306 and it’s pretty slick. the sound is pretty much completely neutral but you can eq or do other things. it works with power amp EQ too.

@@Indy4Cookie thank you I will check it out!

I'm eyeing on the upcoming Hiby R3 Gen II; it'll be the update from the R3 Pro Saber 2022 but with the design language of the smaller R2 Gen II but with a larger screen and a 4.4mm balanced I'm suspecting pricing around the 200 range. Maybe you should keep an eye out for those in the near future You may also consider the Shanling M1S for something similar that's already on sale

For IEMs, not headphones. Someone who wants excellent audio quality without lugging around a dongle or portable DAC. Someone who can hear the difference between a dongle and something more exotic like this. And probably someone who wants kind of a luxurious experience in a well designed and refined package. There’s not a lot of portable hifi options like this that are actually well designed aesthetically, most are bricks. For me personally, I have a chronic health issue that means I have to spend a lot of time lying down on the couch waiting for it to pass. It’s nice to be able to pop in some IEMs and just listen to high quality audio without extra wires and dongles all over the place which take extra time to set up and may take up a lot of space on a couch. I can’t really go to concerts and so listening to music through a portable device is like 80% of my listening, and so a device like this starts to make a bit more sense, but I realize it’s a very specific use case.

@@CookieCurls lugging a DAP around is favorable to lugging a dongle?

@@kevingest5452 Absolutely. No extra cables, no worrying about the dongle draining my phone battery, or not being able to charge the phone when connected to the dongle without another dongle, or I can even just leave my phone at home if I want. DAPs have EQ that can be applied to any app not just one, which is an iPhone limitation. Expandable storage, more control over the DAC and Amp settings, Significantly better volume control. The list is quite long!

I think they’re partially just trying to look out for people who are susceptible to predatory antics. This reeks of it.

​@@sephondranzersomething being expensive doesn't make it predatory. You are m3ntally unwell.

@@jameskegen6812 Something being $3800 and having similar specs to an Apple USB-C dongle is kind of predatory. I’m fine, thank you.

​@@sephondranzerit doesn't have specs simular to a apple dongle. You've not heard it, and the person that has, AND passes all double blind source equipment tests he done said this 6:40 . You are a path0logical li3r.

@@sephondranzer what measurement do they perform similarly?

I mean its the same size as any other dap, unless you suffered some severe brain rot and forgot what a dap looks like or is.

@@enjoshi-godrez8775 I've never said anything about other daps. What I want to convey is that at this price point, it shouldn't be as bulky as it is now. Yea the sound might be better than other lower priced daps, but 3000 dollars just for it to be as big as the others? That's what I don't understand, idk why you are so offended lmao

@@czyu3361 its quite powerful. At least far more so than equivalent daps of its size. There are only a very select few daps on the market more powerful than it, and they're all larger. This is from trying it out at Munich High End this year. The other problem is to make it less bulky, would be to use thinner materials, which can make it feel cheap. I will never justify why this cost $3800, but you cant shrink an op amp, and all dap manufacturers are under that restriction. Texts instruments has been making audio chips for 40 years, for the past 20 they have been the same size, it might well be that they simply can't get any smaller, and since the sp3000 uses 4 dac chips, thats what you get.

@@czyu3361 also, the battery. More expensive daps are expected to have longer battery. We are still a long way off from solid state batteries, so there is nothing a manufacture can do. This device is already ridiculously optimised as is.

Because when you start making a lot of money you'll realize that 4000 isn't a lot of money

I wish focal make a wired version of Bathys that look as good ad b&o hx, sound as good as radiance.

​@@liujun050612you can "wire" the Bathys also and it's magnificent.

@@tdmduc I tried dac mode before. Still miles behind even Celestee.

Cayin n8ii is miles better than this one bc it's actually unique. Also the DX320 Max

That’s funny I just updated it a few days ago with a new update.