It's been an uneventful and boring Saturday so I figured I would spend some time typing this up although I didn't plan to. It was an exciting day for me yesterday... Thanks to a very generous head-fi'er I was able to demo the ZMF Caldera (through Mjolnir) and use it sort of as a test to see how well I would enjoy headphones. Long story short, they just won't work for me. The lack of any isolation on an open back means I have to turn them up way too loud to block out exterior noise and I'm not comfortable with that, and for whatever reason I just don't have interest in closed backs. I can't say I didn't try though! Tonality wise I heard the Caldera to have a warmer low mid with a more relaxed upper mid and slightly elevated treble response. This didn't quite work for me as I felt the treble cut through the mid range too aggressively and sounded rather unnatural. Regardless I am very appreciative to have been able to test this in my own home.
I also received the SP3000T demo from MusicTeck. Ever since I heard this at CanJam NYC and was quite impressed by the DAP and it has been something on my radar to spend more time with, so I've been testing it with the Storm and comparing against the Mjolnir. I'm looking to add a DAP for my occasional portable use but I'm conflicted on how much I want to spend on one since the Mjolnir is my primary source of listening. Here's some brief impressions so far:
As expected from an AK flagship, the build quality is outstanding. The device is quite heavy but feels very premium, I also think the volume knob is much better on this compared to the SP3000 as it's no longer functioning as a screen on/off button as well, there is a lock button on the top of the DAP now and a fourth button on the left side to take you to the AMP toggle screen, however if the screen is off this button is rendered useless as it doesn't actually swap the amp modes itself. It is essentially a shortcut.
The Mjolnir to me is my baseline neutral-reference sound and has very minimal coloration to its tonality. The SP3000T in comparison has a fuller and slower decaying mid bass, a warmer and more forward mid range, with a smoother but nicely detailed treble response. The balance between warmth and clarity is done rather well but I wouldn't suggest pairing this with already warmer tuned IEMs as it may be too much of a good thing. While the presentation is on the fuller and more punchy side compared to SP3000, it is still quite typical overall of what I am used to from AK-Ultima DAPs in giving a smoother, more relaxing feel to music as opposed to the more incisive dynamics and sharper transients from something like the MASSKobo 475 or DX320 Max. Soundstage is above average in size with a great sense of imaging, providing just enough separation between notes to stop things from sounding like they're too close together or congested. Background is "black" in OP amp mode as expected and has a
very very faint "tape reel" background noise when using the tubes, but nothing worth making a big deal over at all.
As you scale through the modes I hear the overall tonality to remain fairly similar in being warm-tilted but the differences mostly lies in how I hear the mid bass decay and forwardness/fullness of the mid range. OP AMP mode has the tightest bass and slightly more revealing and pulled back mids compared to tube mode, with hybrid sitting somewhere in between. You can also toggle between 1-5 settings in the hybrid mode to give a tilt towards OP or Tube mode. There is also low, mid, and high current modes when you are using the hybrid or tube modes. I like hybrid 2 (leaning closer to OP amp mode) with lower current the most so far from all available settings as I like the balance between warmth and detail it provides. I have noticed when you are using the full tube mode and high current that the DAP is quite sensitive to bumps and the tubes will ring with a rather drawn out "eeeeeeeee" linger which I find quite off-putting and distracting. It's less noticeable on Storm but with easier to drive IEMs I can imagine this being very annoying, and borderline deal breaking. It's not as noticeable on medium or low current, or using the hybrid mode. One thing I do find a tad strange is that if I tap the back of the DAP to get it to ring but then cycle from tube to OP amp mode and back to tube, the ringing stops...
I also occasionally hear this ringing even when the DAP is stationary but it has to be in tube mode and high current. Moving around the house with the DAP in my pocket doesn't seem to trigger it like tapping the back of the DAP does. I also did get to compare the SP3000T to the SP3000 Gold at NYC and between the OP mode of the T and the Gold I felt the SP3000 still has higher detail, resolution, clarity, and bigger staging, but I think the T is probably the better buy as you're getting more choices to tinker with without sacrificing too much.
WiFi is on the weaker side. I have some dead zones in my house where the signal gets quite weak and the SP3000T drops out completely there, whereas some other DAPs like the N30 LE or RS8 will stay connected but have a weaker signal. I would assume this is probably done on purpose to help shield the tubes from interference. The DAP can also get warm to the touch but nothing that I am finding problematic. Battery life also seems quite average at best but this hasn't really had any charging cycles and I think I am still spoiled from the RS8 and R8 II which have much larger capacity batteries in comparison. You also cannot lock the side buttons when the screen is off, why this isn't an option blows my mind. Also AK REALLY needs to let you scale the display here to take advantage of the screen resolution and real estate, because apps like Spotify are far too zoomed in for no reason as pictured below.
I think my biggest conflict here overall is that at $3000 MSRP it's quite a lot to ask mostly due to the depreciation of other DAPs that are available and offer "more" for less. Anywhere between $1500 and $2300 ish you can pick up an R8 II, RS8, DX320 Max, M9+, ZM2, etc... it makes shelling out for a brand new TOTL DAP in 2024 quite hard to swallow, at least in my mind it does. You can also add about $700 to the MSRP of the SP3000T and pick up a used N30 LE which is a different tier all together of performance. If this was priced around $1800 I think would have bought one already. As of right now I don't think I'll pick one up, but I will send this back to MT and see how much I miss it and go from there, regardless I am really enjoying spending my time with it and what I am hearing at home is definitely where I left off at with it in NYC.
really cool, congrats!
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