Anyone recommend a portable FLAC player ?

[Deckard]

Well the Ak70 arrived and what a cracking bit of kit - lot smaller than I thought it was going to be but the interface is night and day compared to the Ak Jr. The AK connect I found a bit odd as it seems strange to "push" music from my iPhone to it via the A&K app but could be useful if I really can't find the track I want on my Ak70.

Bought some used (2 weeks old) 1000XM2 for 266 quid which aint bad so I can fully enjoy wireless Aptx HD (lets see how well that stands up to scrutiny when they arrive later this week) but Oxygene on my HD700 and it last night was sheer bliss Might have to take a nosy at an HD streaming sub now too...All in all can't recommend it enough and its a great DAC too.

[VNVObit]

Well the Ak70 arrived and what a cracking bit of kit - lot smaller than I thought it was going to be but the interface is night and day compared to the Ak Jr. The AK connect I found a bit odd as it seems strange to "push" music from my iPhone to it via the A&K app but could be useful if I really can't find the track I want on my Ak70.

Bought some used (2 weeks old) 1000XM2 for 266 quid which aint bad so I can fully enjoy wireless Aptx HD (lets see how well that stands up to scrutiny when they arrive later this week) but Oxygene on my HD700 and it last night was sheer bliss Might have to take a nosy at an HD streaming sub now too...All in all can't recommend it enough and its a great DAC too.

Glad you are enjoying it.
never used the streaming facility as have squeezeboxes (picoreplayers+DAC and headphone amps) in the rooms I listen (family don't like my music)

find it really excels when playing post rock (Mono, Mogwai, Explosions from the Sky) or neoclassical/ambien (Christine Ott, Glissando)

[Deckard]

You got a case for yours ?

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Astell-Kern- ... qEV4PNfXgg



Cant decide if go with the mint or a funky purple or a boring black...

or I like this standing one -

[Deckard]

Too late I bought the emerald / mint one

[VNVObit]

Use a padded cloth earphone bag at present as tend to listen to complete albums/playlists rather than song by song.

Never been tempted by the official cases

[Deckard]

Just got their MQS streaming server to work 2 mins ago so now can stream my entire 3TB hard drive of FLAC (or better) direct to my AK70 anywhere in the house so just need to keep my "essential" files on it for outside use. Its a shame their AK app doesn't allow you to dump Hi-Res files on it like the Onkyo one does...or does it ? (goes off to the web to look see) - well its allowing me to dump hi-rez files in the iPhone app it via file sharing in iTunes so just need to fire the Ak up in 5 and see if works ok....and lo and behold it does - How is it connecting though ? Presumably through wifi in which case at home I'd be better off using my home wifi and then out and about it wouldn't work ? .....although I suppose like the Oppo I could use it via a usb cable to my iPhone as a DAC ?

[Deckard]

She's a pretty little thing now...

[VNVObit]

Does look very neat

[VNVObit]

Saw the A&K Kann on offer (£649) over easter at Richersounds and got it on a 14 day trial
not returning it.
Has slots for a SD (up to 512gb) and a Micro SD (up to 400 GB) plus a further 64gb internally so plenty of storage capacity even if using dsd files
DAC is excellent as is the internal Amp which is plenty loud enough for my headphones

suspect it is being phased out for the next generation and thought it worth looking into given the price reduction(normally £899 on Amazon). I suspect the next generation will probably be priced over £1000

Definitely a step up from the AK70 but only if you are prepared to use wired headphones (actually if I was solely going to stick with my bluetooth ones I would have gone for the Sony NW-A45 which has LDAC

What HiFi review is here

[Deckard]

Another bump as another good offer if you can get Tidal on your DAP -

If you haven’t yet tried Tidal HiFi but are curious about streaming in optimum sound quality (and why wouldn’t you be?), now is a good time to try it: Tidal is currently offering new subscribers three months of the service for just £3 ($3) – that’s just £1 ($1) per month for glorious hi-res streaming!

[VNVObit]

I had been eyeing up a new DAC (I was looking at the Chord Hugo) and saw the new DAP from FIIO, the M17. It's probably more accurate to describe it as transportable than portable as it wouldn't fit in a pocket easily. It's reasonably heavy at 610g ( over 3 times that of my iPhone) and ships with its own stand (including USB powered fan for dissipate heat).

More specs can be found in this review

It runs a customised android with its own App Store (though you can access the google play store too). Currently using PLexAmp with it which is responsive. Streaming all tracks from my Raspberry Pi music server (running both Squeezebox and Plex. Haven't noticed any stuttering or buffering so saved the issue of transferring music (though may ultimately put some of my DSD files on it via micro SD.

Sound is very good. I also picked up HIFI Man Sundara balanced headphones (Planar headphones) and have noticed some detail I missed when listening

All in all slightly more than the Hugo but feel I've got considerably more for my money:D

[Deckard]

From the sublime here to the ridiculous - My father in law wanted a super cheap mp3 / radio to take abroad - so i did a bit of googling and got him this -

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B08 ... =UTF8&th=1

It arrived today - I had zero expectations for it really bar it would get the job done.

1/ Its tiny like super tiny......as this video shows -



2/ It works really well, like really well. 8GB storage, plug in and drop files in. Radio works well with the earbuds which have several to choose from to fit your ear and the BT is v4.0 - Using my melomanias I could detect zero difference between this and the audio from my iPhone. Supports pretty much all file formats including FLAC.

3/ Came with a three year warranty and a QR code link to setup and even looks like it gets decent software updates.

Colour me surprised.

[Deckard]

Anyone want an Astell SR15 DAP player ? - Pristine with box and all original packaging - less than 2 years old - only going as bought a newer model - reasonable offers considered but currently on ebay for around 300

[Rhythm]

From the sublime here to the ridiculous - My father in law wanted a super cheap mp3 / radio to take abroad - so i did a bit of googling and got him this -

LttP as I missed this post but wow! I had no idea Sansa were still doing their Clip range. They're absolutely awesome little devices, I've had a few of them.

[Mat]

LttP as I missed this post but wow! I had no idea Sansa were still doing their Clip range. They're absolutely awesome little devices, I've had a few of them.

I bought one for my step-mum a few years back and she fell in love with it (having FM radio for Radio 4 was a massive bonus).
I bought her a couple of spare for Christmas last year. Brilliant little boxes, especially for those who can't get their heads around the idea of streaming music.