[Bengkia369]

saw on their official FB, I wonder how this budget DAP in the AK lineup sounds like?!
Honestly, I'm not a big fan of AK70 sound.

 

[artpiggo]

This time they are coming with dual dac so I have a quite hope on this model as it is small and portable. would be nice to use as secondary DAP if the sound meets my requirement.

http://news.mynavi.jp/articles/2017/09/20/ak70mk2/001.html

Price: 79980 JPY

 

[yerim]

Looks promising except the price.

 

[qsk78]

I think they are trying to catch up after onkyo launched their dp-s1 with dual sabre DACs. But onkyo is much cheaper and I believe still be with a better SQ.

 

[nanaholic]

Uses dual Cirrus Logic CS4398 (from AK240) instead of single from the MkI and balance output is 4Vrms @ no load which is the same as the SP1000 series and nearly double that of the MKI. THD and S/N is also improved.

It seems that this is a modernised small AK240 on lots of steroids. Seems strange they call it the AK70MkII, I would think it should brand a new model number to avoid the confusion and cries of being "too expensive".

 

[alphanumerix1]

https://www.astellnkern.com/eng/con...scg=CG210240&spos=2&tcg=&tpos=0&gcode=SC24760

 

[tienbasse]

Success will be in the pricing, because competition is fierce in this lower mid-range market (thinking FiiO X5iii, Opus #1, Pioneer/Onkyo DAPs and other less famous DAPs).
And most of the listed competition has 2 micro sd slots, which A&K abandoned a while ago, except on Kann.

Tough, tough market.

 

[musicday]

IRiver used to be my favourite company for portable audio, but to see them release so many players very often is disappointing.

 

[nanaholic]

Pricing will not be the determining factor - AK is the Apple of the DAP world where everyone else are Android makers, pricing don't affect them in the same way that it does for other brands - how many years has it been where people claim the prices of Apple device will kill their business because you can get cheaper/better with Android? Years and we are still waiting. Remember AK is the one who trail blazed the market for a nice looking, user friendly palm size device and distilled it into the AK70 while everyone else's aim back then was stuffing the most powerful thing in their device, ignoring ergonomics and user experience and was just comparing on spec sheet check boxes alone. Everyone though AK were crazy with the girly colours but it turns out they were right and it attracted lots of new budding audiophiles. The similarity is uncanny and its no wonder AK is bullish on the pricing and announcement. AK will be selling a lot of these, especially catching a few upgraders from the AK70.

 

[Bengkia369]

Pricing will not be the determining factor - AK is the Apple of the DAP world where everyone else are Android makers, pricing don't affect them in the same way that it does for other brands - how many years has it been where people claim the prices of Apple device will kill their business because you can get cheaper/better with Android? Years and we are still waiting. Remember AK is the one who trail blazed the market for a nice looking, user friendly palm size device and distilled it into the AK70 while everyone else's aim back then was stuffing the most powerful thing in their device, ignoring ergonomics and user experience and was just comparing on spec sheet check boxes alone. Everyone though AK were crazy with the girly colours but it turns out they were right and it attracted lots of new budding audiophiles. The similarity is uncanny and its no wonder AK is bullish on the pricing and announcement. AK will be selling a lot of these, especially catching a few upgraders from the AK70.

Agreed. And perhaps a few upgraders from other brands might jump to AK70ii due to the fact it is Astell & Kern a premium brand that released a nice looking DAP that is least expensive compared to AK380, SP1000 that they can't afford.

 

[tenedosian]

With its feature set (especially balanced output) and price level, it also seems to be a direct competitor to new Sony ZX300 which will be released very soon.

In the coming years, it is likely that we shall see some heating competition between Astell & Kern and Sony.

Got my popcorns.

 

[Thesonofkrypton]

They have to go and throw a spanner in the works. Was all set to get the Sony ZX300.. now can't decide. I wanted the original AK70 but decided to wait it out for the ZX300 and now the ak70 II is a def a new contender for my money lol

 

[WayTooCrazy]

This is looking like the device I might want when I upgrade from my X5iii. I'm hoping for "solid" firmware from AK... something Fiio has continually failed to provide.

 

[stoobot]

Was also looking at the Sony ZX300 as my next DAP, which had stolen my attention from looking at a used AK70 (mk I)... now all of a sudden it looks like A&K have my attention again. Fantastic timing from a business point of view, as I'm sure I'm not the only one!

 

[Thesonofkrypton]

Was also looking at the Sony ZX300 as my next DAP, which had stolen my attention from looking at a used AK70 (mk I)... now all of a sudden it looks like A&K have my attention again. Fantastic timing from a business point of view, as I'm sure I'm not the only one!

It's certainly good to have options