Hello, I just joined, primarily for the audiophile products. Looking at purchasing the NHT C3 speakers for our new living room. Space is about 15 feet wide by 33 long and they will fire long ways. Space is just for general listening, music room with all equipment is downstairs, so hoping they will fill it with sound nicely. Cheers.
Mar 18, 2024
When used as a portable player, I expect to mostly drive CIEMs, so I'm not terribly concerned with amp performance; I can always get the amp module if I decide I want more headroom.
And as good (or "bad for the price") as the sound quality may be, I really don't expect this (or any) DAP to outperform the setups I already have for headphone / loudspeaker listening at home. The AK380 only has to do better than an iPod Classic with a dead battery and a phone with poor signal performance and a crappy data plan.
My CIEMs are still in the works, so I have been listening through a pair of 6xx. The AK380 drives them acceptably well, and music is clear and enjoyable (more than a few "wow" moments). After reading quite a few good reviews on the 660 S, though, I auditioned a pair ... and bought them on the spot.
The 660 S presentation is much more forward and lively than the 650s, detail retrieval is fantastic and they're just a little bit easier to drive. They go plenty loud and sound better on the AK380 (without the amp module) than I ever imagined I'd hear full size cans sound outside of the house. Finally, I can take high-end sound on the go and show my friends what they've been missing. ;-)
I'm really glad I didn't let the negativity in this thread deter me from joining this drop. This player is certainly something special, and the drop was a good deal for this player.