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Whitedragem
185
Sep 30, 2019
“The leather case for the AK240 Bluenote was made from a process called “Full Vegetable Tanning”. This traditional method has been used in Italy for over 200 years. The process brings out the special characteristic of leather while creating a natural tanning look. A variety of trees and plants are involved in this tanning process which takes about 40 days to complete and only the most experienced professionals in Italy possess the skills to do it. This special leather material has a lot of oil in it that will allow the leather to shine the more it is used.” from A&K... from whitedragem... the albums included with this player is what a budding hi-res listener needs. (a big collection!) whilst I do not have anything like this playback unit in my past or present kit catalogue, I have a parallel to share- HDCDs! ... In the late nineties HDCD was launched onto the world. at the time I had been trying to buy a better CD player. A Denon 5-disc carousel unit, carousels generally offering vastly better aspects of sound over cheap single disc units, really impressed me. The Denons strength, the feature that made me sit up and go ‘wow’, was any HDCD formatted disc. when the HDCD light illuminated I knew I was in for a treat... Now in fairness this is true of HDCDs on any entry level kit (they sound amazing and are a night/day difference to ‘regular CDs’). My pursuit then had me settle on a higher pricepoint single tray HDCD player (which still serves me).. the parallels with ‘hi-res’? HDCD was our first taste of ‘hi-res’ (a twenty bit format essentially on CDs typically 16bit ‘redbook standard’.)... as soon as a user had to put a ‘non hi-res’ file on? well it equalled frowny face moments. :-( I had to spend double my budget on a CD player, forgoing multidisc transport capabilities just to wind up with a player that made all music sound good... The Astell&Kern AK240 makes ALL files sound exceptional. Their gift with this piece? —A large hi-res catalogue is the ‘right way to do it’. being able to enjoy every piece of music, for hours or days at a time. Not having to land back in the reality of lesser recordings, if one doesn’t want to, until the listening session is well and truly complete. Trust me, only owning one or two HDCDs made me waste months /years curating a large collection to enjoy. That being said, a player of this class/tier makes even low bitrate mp3s sound phenominal (just don’t mix them into a hi res playlist). the silly thing for ‘spec sheet warriors of DAC chips’; my lowly FiiO has the same DACs (4490) as the newer AK unit after this one..(that doubled the price again I believe)... Many people dont understand that it is the way these units are configured; the ‘total circuit’ that matters. the higher end 4490 DACs in my device will sound lame compared to this A&K, and couldn’t touch the AK fitted with the same DAC chips with even a 10ft pole. AK put so much thought into clock timings and jitter reduction/ accurate playback, that lesser DAPs (like my FiiO X5) kinda just gloss over the sound file, spitting out the best they can. truth is the best mp3 sound I have ever heard was through my ‘dual DAC’ FiiO- and I hadn’t believed mp3s would sound that good’. My device is a couple of tiers below this Drop, and so I would certainly consider this part a piece of HiFi to keep; it will continue to please for ten-twenty years... (battery replacement worthwhile) A player like this A/K 240 makes music from a small portable box that kills well regarded $1500 priced point CD transports from a time when CD players ruled the markets and that money got a top tier mass market unit. (most DAPs wouldn’t) having that sound, anywhere, with a full library onboard is wonderful. having a DigitalAudioPlayer of this tier that makes any soundfile better than good home separates can muster, and then having it loaded with a large library of hi-res quality recordings (I took a look, and it doubled my interest!!); this is the hi-fi transport in-your-pocket that allows never being stuck with average music anywhere ever again.... feed it into the car, the workplace stereo, and your mates backyard bbq, no one will ever complain. and take the pepsi challenge; load your friends/workmates music onboard and play it back, dynamically, soundspaciously so.... every layer, every nuance, all the ‘hidden details’ all played back from a ‘pack of cards’. anyone saying that flagship parts get ‘outdated’; flagships never become outdated. other flagships may come along, but the best are still the best available. audio is by tiers. a ‘bad’ DAP in a high tier will still eat for breakfast the best rated mid and hi-fi parts. for the record -This part is considered an excellent DAP, then and now, only ‘now for half the price’; unique to BlueNotes 75years, a birthday gift TO US. It like buying a great music collection and getting a top tier DAP as the storage box. Brilliant. safe buy, happy reflections always for nabbing one of these limited edition pieces.
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