Connecting an Astell and Kern AK380 to a Nac 272 N

Optical, or balanced to DIN would be my preferences.  At this price, the onboard DAC is probably worth hearing.  The PEM13 dock looks very good.

I will be interested in your findings versus the DAC in the 272.

Nick

I don't have a 272, but the only Naim device I know  you can connect a player to a USB port is the V1 DAC. 

The USB port only supports iOS devices. Have you tried either optical, or a 3.5mm to DIN analogue connection? 

I just bought an 3.5mm to rca connector so will see if this works as i plug in to the analogue inputs.

Hi 

I connected to the NAC via an analogue input but when i play the AK380 it plays via spotify connect for some reason.

The preamp volume does not work and the volume is controlled by the AK380.

Is this correct as I thought the preamp would be controlling the volume?

You need to enable the analogue input, I suspect. 

The inputs are enabled yet the ak380 bypasses the nac272.

I have checked all the inputs and it is not coming from any of them.

The sound quality is awesome though.

rich51080 posted:

The inputs are enabled yet the ak380 bypasses the nac272.

I have checked all the inputs and it is not coming from any of them.

The sound quality is awesome though.

I am confused.  It seems as though the hookup has failed — the resulting sound must be silence, yet its quality is awesome — are you pulling our legs?  Or did you write this in a hurry?

Nick

NickSeattle posted:

rich51080 posted:

The inputs are enabled yet the ak380 bypasses the nac272.

I have checked all the inputs and it is not coming from any of them.

The sound quality is awesome though.

I am confused.  It seems as though the hookup has failed — the resulting sound must be silence, yet its quality is awesome — are you pulling our legs?  Or did you write this in a hurry?

Nick

 

It's been a while since we discussed inky blackness

rich51080 posted:

Hi 

I connected to the NAC via an analogue input but when i play the AK380 it plays via spotify connect for some reason.

The preamp volume does not work and the volume is controlled by the AK380.

Is this correct as I thought the preamp would be controlling the volume?

If the AK380 plays via Spotify Connect that's nothing to do with the 272.  Check on the A&K forums for a solution to this.

If it's connected and configured properly then the 272 will control the volume.

If the analogue input in use has the 'AV Fixed Volume' setting set to 'Yes', then the 272 won't control the volume.

rich51080 posted:

The inputs are enabled yet the ak380 bypasses the nac272.

I have checked all the inputs and it is not coming from any of them.

The sound quality is awesome though.

The only way to bypass the 272 is to connect the AK380 to the power amp via a different route (e.g. directly and bypassing the 272).

If the sound isn't coming via any of the inputs on the 272 and the AK380 isn't connected to the power amp via a different route, then it can't sound awesome as you won't get any sound at all!
So, either the AK380 is connected to the power amp via a different route bypassing the 272, or your way of determining what input is in use is deeply flawed.

Since you believe it's possible to bypass the 272 and get sound without connection to any input, you'll need to tell us what you have connected to what and how you have configured it.  Otherwise you're just expecting us to second guess what you've actually done.

I've been playing with my AK70, and have discovered that if I press the little speaker icon I can choose to send the music to my 272 or either of the QBs. I tried a 24/192 album, checked the Naim app and that is the quality that plays. The AK will control the volume, as will the volume knob on the 272. The sound quality is very good, though slightly different to usual - I'd say less good, perhaps a bit screechy - because my Qnap and 272 are wired and also transcodes to WAV. I wonder if this is what the OP is doing? 

Hungryhalibut posted:

...my Qnap and 272 are wired and also transcodes to WAV.

Hi HH,

A little off topic but are you transcoding from 16bit to 24-bit using MinimStreamer? Flac to WAV ? 

I’m transcoding flac to WAV using Asset, keeping the original resolution. Upscaling to 24 bit sounds worse. 

Hi everyone 

I managed to get it up and running using a mini toslink on the ak380 connecting to the digital input of the 272 via toslink.

The sound is incredible, very spacious and detailed. The bass is tight and the treble is sparkly with no sibilance.

The sound reminds me of the CDX2 I demoed.

Previously i connected the ak380 using an analogue input and for some reason this bypasses the 272 and its volume which is weird as I expected it to work with the analogue setting.

I am happy with my 272 as I now have a few options which I use.

USB Connection using a memory stick, digital using the AK380 as source and cd replay using the cd5i plus my Audio Technica at-lp5 turntable.

rich51080 posted:

Previously i connected the ak380 using an analogue input and for some reason this bypasses the 272 and its volume which is weird as I expected it to work with the analogue setting.

I am happy with my 272 as I now have a few options which I use.

The analogue input CAN'T bypass the 272, but the analogue inputs on a 272 CAN be individually set to AV mode with fixed volume - check the settings for that analogue input.

However as you're happy then that's the main thing.

The Astell and Kern 380 as a source is AMAZING. Blows the CD5i away by ease

I don't get it, you have a 272 and I would assume the streaming via the 272 is superior to the Astell & Kern - so why would you like the connection ?

The AK380 is loaded with 24 bit music. The streaming is superb too.

I will be purchasing a Nas drive next as everyone has said get one.

Until then the AK380 wil suffice. Remember it is a £3000 source and is highly rated,

I didnt buy the N272 just for the streamer - I found it had more pro's than cons - the streaming is a bonus. The Iradio is great. USB connection is awesome and really musical with hi res files.

I wanted a good preamp as I got rid of the 122x. Next I am getting a Nap250.

I am changing one piece at a time as the components are expensive,

Rich, it is usual to store music on a NAS when using a Naim streamer, which is why people have told you that you should do this. If they think you will get better sound quality this way, they are making an untested assumption. There is no guarantee that a NAS will sound any better than your A&K, which, after all, costs nearly as much as a 272. There is, however, another reason for using a NAS, which is that you would no longer need to plug in the A&K when listening to your Naim system, and also, the NAS would be a backup in case you lose the music stored on the A&K.

rich51080 posted:

The AK380 is loaded with 24 bit music. The streaming is superb too.

I will be purchasing a Nas drive next as everyone has said get one.

Until then the AK380 wil suffice. Remember it is a £3000 source and is highly rated,

I didnt buy the N272 just for the streamer - I found it had more pro's than cons - the streaming is a bonus. The Iradio is great. USB connection is awesome and really musical with hi res files.

I wanted a good preamp as I got rid of the 122x. Next I am getting a Nap250.

I am changing one piece at a time as the components are expensive,

What usb connection? 

Ak380 via toslink you are listening nac272, AK380 is just a very expensive transport .. 

A Nas - nap 250 and an xpsdr will make things far better in time...

no rush enjoy every step slowly..

congratulations on new 272 

The Naim app is just so much easier to use from a phone or tablet, rather than poking around at the little screen on an A&K. As to the nas being a backup for the A&K, the former is far larger. I just copy the music I want from my nas to my A&K. There are over 3,000 albums on the nas, way more than the A&K can take, even with a 200Gb SD card. 

The USB slot on the front of the 272 I use too. 

Yes the AK380 is an expensive transport buts it's amazing sound warrants it. 

I copy CDs to my PC and copy to the AK. 

My next purchase is a NAP 250. 

Loving my new Focal 936 speakers too