The New iRiver AK100: A High-End DAP - Page 153

Quote:

Originally Posted by daseinpdx 

I think that a 400 dollar price tag is not reasonable.   The ak100 is better than the 400 dollar hifiman 602 in sound, better ui, more stable os, plus touchscreen.  It sounds better than a modded ipod, which costs around 550-650, with no external card slots and no touchscreen.  People think that the iBasso sounds better, but it costs 800+ and it is a much bigger build. Hifiman 801, about 800 dollars.  Colorfly around 750.   Tera player costs 1000+ us dollars.  Some people also like the studio v player's sound better at around 400, but it does not have a touchscreen.

 

A lot of the extra cost is because of the touchscreen; most DAPs don't have it.

  

Don't get me wrong.  I think 700 dollars is a lot of money, but it seems like the price fits the price of what is already in the market.   Obviously, I would prefer if it cost less, but I would prefer it even more if it was free.  Not going to happen obviously.  You are not going to get a DAP with a touchscreen for 400.

It would be cool if you could just purchase the units directly from iRiver at dealer cost. Just under $500.00 then IMO it would really be worth its price. But price is a subjective thing in the end and in that we all determine what is worth what to us. :)

The above claim from iRiver is true?

As I know before AK100, there were several portable audio players with Wolfson WM8740.

Doesn't the Hifiman 801 have that same chip? But maybe they mean it's the first of its kind to support native 24/192 and 24/96 playback? In that it could be a language barrier thing since they did mention the 24/192 playback in the first sentence :).
 

Quote:

Originally Posted by Achmedisdead 

You can get a touchscreen iPod for $149.....just sayin'. There are other things that drive up the cost more than the touchscreen, I think. I hope for the price they are asking that it sounds much better than the iPods.

Didn't include any of the ipod touches because there are no real audiophile mods for it.  If you want audiophile quality sound right now from an apple product, you would have to go with one of the mods of older ipods without touchscreens.  Most people would not find the ipod touches to meet their audiophile needs.

Quote:

Originally Posted by daseinpdx 

Didn't include any of the ipod touches because there are no real audiophile mods for it.  If you want audiophile quality sound right now from an apple product, you would have to go with one of the mods of older ipods without touchscreens.  Most people would not find the ipod touches to meet their audiophile needs.

I guess for idevices such as ipod, you can make it sounds like audiophile player by using extrenal DAC like CLAS or Fostex H1-P1 but this is a huge investment!

Quote:

Originally Posted by cyberalpha11 

I guess for idevices such as ipod, you can make it sounds like audiophile player by using extrenal DAC like CLAS or Fostex H1-P1 but this is a huge investment!

True but you also have to factor in all that bulk, added necessity of charging multiple devices and of course that added premium to the cost. When you can get smaller units with better if not similar results in sound quality, and even for cheaper prices at that. :). But in the end it comes down to the sacrifices we all make for sound quality or convenience over sound quality.. Some prefer to stay in the walled garden that is apple and that is ok :).

Quote:

Originally Posted by lee730 

True but you also have to factor in all that bulk, added necessity of charging multiple devices and of course that added premium to the cost. When you can get smaller units with better if not similar results in sound quality, and even for cheaper prices at that. :). But in the end it comes down to the sacrifices we all make for sound quality or convenience over sound quality.. Some prefer to stay in the walled garden that is apple and that is ok :)

A beautiful garden it is where all the lights and sprinklers work as they should :)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sarge 

A beautiful garden it is where all the lights and sprinklers work as they should :)

Yep it gets you to from point a to point b reliably. Except those sprinklers may leave water spots. lol

Quote:

Originally Posted by pitch_black 


Yes I indeed, I used an unmodified AK100 (something else is almost not possible in Europe) with a Sennheiser IE800 (even more hard to get than the AK100) and I'm 99 % satisfied. Why only 99% you may ask? The IE 800 has strong microphonics in the upper part of the cable and the are no fit Comply Foam available, I don't like the vacuum of the silicon. Aside of that everything is fine

It's nice to see you like IE800 pairing with AK100. Yup, microphonic problem is quite annoying.

Hoping more head-fiers here, will share with us his experience of pairing AK100 with different iems.

You may be joking, but if not, can you tell me who or what Astell & Kern are? So far I was under the impression it was simply a vaguely European sounding name that Iriver made up in order to sound prestigious.

Quote:

Originally Posted by lee730 

Yep it gets you to from point a to point b reliably. Except those sprinklers may leave water spots. lol

there is a good reason why I haven't change from itunes to the so called audiphile programs. Itunes so far sync with at least 3 of my device , and organize my files reliably. It is also extremely easy and addictive to use

Quote:

Originally Posted by Retrias 

there is a good reason why I haven't change from itunes to the so called audiphile programs. Itunes so far sync with at least 3 of my device , and organize my files reliably. It is also extremely easy and addictive to use

We both agree to disagree. itunes was a nightmare for me on several occasions. Even causing me to lose all my contacts on my phone early on (there was an error in the back up and it didn't create the back up when it said it did). I also had other issues earlier on with it hiding music files and even renaming/creating files without me knowing lol. Media Monkey serves me well and even works with Apple :).

Quote:

Originally Posted by thisismyname 

I would like to know if any of you own a (non-modded) AK100 and satisfy with pairing with some iems?

So far i have tried: hifiman 262, hifiman he400, grado gr10, grado sr60, koss porta pro.  The sound profile was not changed when paired with the ak100.  They sounded the same but clearer and more detailed.  The only one that has been problematic is the grado gr10.  For some reason, it has been difficult to get consistently good sound from them.  So far, my favorite pairings are the hifiman headphones.