I see that dealers in the US and Canada are now taking orders for the new dongle
Add images
Almost $500 for a DAC dongle seems a bit over the top. Most DAC dongles cost less than $30. The CrinEar Protocol Max, at $90, is one of the more “expensive” dongles and sounds fantastic. Basically the Protocol Max is all overkill one needs.
I’m a big fan of the AK DAP but to each his own
The Astell & Kern DAPs, while expensive, are very serious pieces of high end audio kit and, being digital audio players, are able to optimize each facet of the digital audio playback chain. A DAC/headphone amp dongle has to work with a smart phone and therefore cannot optimize the input to the dongle, hence my offhanded dismissal of the HC 5. Assuming that one is using a dongle for “on the go” listening, where listening conditions are often far from ideal, then something like the Protocol Max makes sense while the HC 5 appears to be, as I said, overkill.
I’ve listened to the same hi-res and dsd albums on my AK SP-3000 and iPhone 15 with the HC4, the same superb IEMs and superb cable and I have the hearing of a 16 year-old and they sound superb on both. As I said, to each his own
1 Like
That’s wonderful. It’s your money to spend as you please.
Promotional material:
First USB DAC cable featuring the premium AK4499EX DAC with
Octa-Core DAC Configuration The High Driving Mode technology perfected in the SP4000 now powers the AK HC5, achieving exceptional sound performance in a remarkably compact form. A horizontal OPAMP layout delivers driving power on a completely different level from typical portable USB DACs. Rich density, deep spaciousness, and powerful energy — experience flagship-grade sound from a compact size.
In stock now for US customers, Canadians as of Monday and looking forward to comparing to my AK SP- 3000
Just received the new AK HC 5 dongle and am listening to Jordi Savall Carlos V in DSD on iPhone 17 Pro Max and the audio quality is as good if not better than on AK SP-3000
3 Likes
Congratulations! Would love to hear more once you have more experience with them, both in terms of audio quality and user experience.
Thanks for this good review of the HC5. I listen on IEM’s and it’s as good as the SP-3000 [in fact, it’s the same first generation DAR as opposed to the SP-4000 2nd generation]
2 Likes
Happy to report that the AK HC 5 dongle attached to the iPhone 17 Pro Max is performing as expected and that this Jordi Savall DSD album with DAR as in SP-3000 listening with same UE IEM’s sounds as good on phone as on DAP Screenshot 2026-02-08 at 3.32.32 AM|326x500
2 Likes
Excellent recording. What version of the recording are you using? Also what headphone/IEM are you using?
ECM Japan SACD; UE Premier IEM’s with AK; Stax at home
2 Likes