The New iRiver AK100: A High-End DAP - Page 137

Is there any easy way to convert cd's to FLAC so I can play them on my AK-100. What is the best and most transparent program for this for my apple computer?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jwm48324 

Is there any easy way to convert cd's to FLAC so I can play them on my AK-100. What is the best and most transparent program for this for my apple computer?

xld

Quote:

Originally Posted by goodvibes 

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jwm48324 

Is there any easy way to convert cd's to FLAC so I can play them on my AK-100. What is the best and most transparent program for this for my apple computer?

xld

Took my CDs to a ripping service. I have so many and categorizing my classical music collection is incredibly difficult. Since readytoplay is local, I don't have to pay shipping fees either.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jwm48324 

Is there any easy way to convert cd's to FLAC so I can play them on my AK-100. What is the best and most transparent program for this for my apple computer?

As others mentioned, XLD does a great job. Remember that once you have set up all the prefs to your liking to save it as a profile! (So you don't have to go over it repeatedly)

Also, if you can be patient, apparently iRiver is adding ALAC support, and the firmware update MAY be out before the end of the month. ALAC files of course work in iTunes and on all iDevices, so this would save you the trouble and space of ripping/transcoding the same music twice! Also in that case, you could rip your CDs straight into iTunes (choose "Apple lossless" in the Import options), but XLD is still the better solution (and can add the rips into the iTunes library automatically too)

I have transcoded my favourite albums from ALAC to FLAC for now and am holding off on more pending that release...

The announcement/release of the firmware update to support Apple formats should come tomorrow (21st).

Quote:

Originally Posted by AnakChan 


Yep agreed. Otherwise there wouldn't be enough oomph.

I think what lee was trying to say though with his "HO" was that he meant the whole section out there...i.e. the "HO amp" section. That is implying the resistors are between the DAC & headphone out amp & I'm not certain if that's the case. I was under the impression it's actually DAC -> amp -> resistors -> Heaphone out.

Also don't believe the resistors are actually removed, but merely bypassed.

Stock AK100:

WM8740 d/a >> analog output stage >> FET buffer (for the current to drive headphones) >> 22-ohm resistor >> connector and circuit board traces to attach main board to upper board that has the headphone jack >> Headphone Jack

RWAK100:

22 ohm resistors are removed (so a new path is created), and the new wiring is connected from the FET directly to the headphone jack pins, so:

WM8740 d/a >> analog output stage >> FET buffer >> Headphone Jack

This is true, and RWAK100 orders are shipping this week!  

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vinnie R. 

http://www.iriver.com/support/download_list.asp

Time to play some AIFF and ALAC!

Works great. Just do a library scan after upgrade. Purchased AAC artwork doesn't display, need to look into it a little more. Not tried self-ripped AAC yet.

Quote:

Originally Posted by AnakChan 

Works great. Just do a library scan after upgrade. Purchased AAC artwork doesn't display, need to look into it a little more. Not tried self-ripped AAC yet.

Usually, iTunes purchases and "Download Album Art" store the artwork in a separate database rather than embed it in the files. The process is transparent when transferring to iDevices, but for the AK100 and other players it needs to be embedded. You can go to dougscripts.com/itunes/ and look for an "Embed Artwork" script to add to iTunes or use a 3rd-party manager/tag-editor.

(Wow, iRiver actually delivered the update as promised, and on time. Nice! Downloading now...)

I'm at about 160 hours of burn in now on the unit and it still seems to be improving some. The treble is more smooth now and I no longer get fatigued from the apparent treble spikes I was getting earlier on, on this unit. Depending on the track things can get a bit cluttered (lacking in dynamics in comparison to my other setups, I feel this is the amp sections limitations showing) but still overall it's quite a good unit. Using an amp will solve that problem (minor if anything & still smaller than a DX100 combo). Gonna continue burning it in til 250+ hours and see if it gets any better :).

WARNING! Do NOT reformat the internal drive! in case you ever considered it (since it's OK with the inserted cards). I'll spare you all my bleeping.

The tinkerer in me couldn't help trying it, in an effort to clear out the internal drive all at once, I reformatted it in the same format as originally (FAT32), on Mac OS X, named it "AK100" then put the default folders back.

While everything still looks OK when connected to the computer, when trying to do a library scan, it fails, and System Information shows:
Internal 1KB left/ 19.36MB, rather than the expected ~31GB (which show up correctly when connected to a computer)   :'(

It is still usable by using folder navigation to the external cards, but it is of course a substantial limitation of the AK100 usability. I'll keep you posted about any response from iRiver.

If anybody comfortable with their Mac could open Disk Utility, and click on the (i)nfo button in the toolbar for both the actual drive and the AK100 partition and post a screenshot of that, it might help me figure some things out in the meantime...