ianmedium said:

Terrible picture but the best I could do late at night with the lights down low. Horace Silver, AK120, FAD PF IX = musical bliss!

Spoiler: Warning%3A%20Spoiler!

 

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mimouille said:

I see NO problem with usability. What issues do you have. My only issue is that since I have somethimg5 like 140gb on it, it takes some time to charge whem I come back to my main folder or playlist. And I would defintely be VERY interested by a new define with even better sound and all the existing qualities in terms of build and ergonomics.

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radi9red said:

i got a loan set (AK120) and compared closely with AK100 , the Fiio X3 and my iphone5 - Same couple of tracks copied and i repeated the tests again with default settings -

Here's a short summary of the findings.


AK120 Observations : Sound is clean - background extremely clean and quiet , no distortions, no hiss... I'ts just done rightly , not too airy , nor too dark. Bass were well controlled and tight. Mids were sharp & clear, treble were tight. Sound overall has good slight warm and with tight impact. Sound stage : medium size - mids were centric (sound stage very similar to iphone 5 - unmodded)


Ak 100 Observations : Changing from AK120 -to Ak100 - immediately noticed that the sounds (mid/treble) sounds brighter - there's an additional sparkle on the Ak100 comparing to Ak120. Sounds oveerall were looser comparing to Ak120. After closer inspection - i realised that the Ak100 sounded thinner with lesser control - especially on the mids. Some of the tracks - the mids sounds a bit harsh - which i didn't observed that on the AK120. Sound stage : appears larger than Ak120 which is medium size - mids were not so centric


Fiio X3 : Observations : Immediately - you can get a feel of the 3D and wider soundstage. All sounds (bass/mid/treble) felt lighter. The background sound of X3 is airy and a little open sounding. Bass has similar depth , comparing to Ak120. Mids of x3 is slightly distant and softer due to the airy nature and wider soundstage. Overall x3 sounds lesser impact comparing to the Ak100,and ak120.


Iphone 5: Oberservants : extremely clean output similar to ak120 . no distortions, no hiss . clean quier background. Music has good bass impactful , tight mids - mids appear quite forward and impactful but not to the extend it became harsh. still within controlled. treble : very similar to Ak100. Brighter than ak120.



Summary : which would i prefer ?


Ak120 - would suits folks who like clean controlled sound - almost none distortions - extremely balanced - does nothing out of the norm - it will not excite you , it will not bore you too.

Ak100 - brighter signature version of the ak120 (mids/treble) all sounded brigher - more consumer style sounding - musical & fun, however sounded thinner across all frequencies

Fiio x3 - wide soundstage , airy . deep bass , excellent treble , above average mids - sound were thinner as it sounded more distant due to wider soundstage.

Iphone 5 - Just one word - musical and clean - very mid centric sounding - average soundstage. very close resemblence to ak100 - but better controlled.



Which is better for bucks ?

i wouldn't want to start a spam war by commenting on this - but each has it's pros and cons. Really depends on your earphones that you are using , any AMP or external DAC that you are going to use - or just listening it straight from the DAP. All the 4 of them are strong performers - trust me. I also had the 1st generation Sanclips.. honestly for DAP players that forummers has been raving about , the differences are mostly signature sounding and slight differences if you nitpick - more importantly , you can consider the weight , battery life , connectivity , storage options, price etc...

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vinnie r. said:

Wish list for the "next" AK120:
 
- Dual WM8741s, software controlled and with the option to run MPF (minimal phase filter) in the software menus.
- Line out (can use the same jack as the optical in, as there is not signal going in/out of the contacts of this jack) and HP out.
- 3-ohm OI is not bad, but not ideal if you are using low impedance IEMs (like 8 or 16 ohm).
- Native DSD playback, since this is possible with the WM8741s
- Drop the bluetooth if it saves any battery life (probably not much if the bluetooth is turned "off", but I haven't tested it).
- Keep the thickness the same, but if playtime can be increased by making it a little longer (e.g. length of iPhone), then consider it if it adds
a few hours, as the AK120 is still plenty small. 
- Ideally, allow for some more voltage swing on the output stage so it can go a little louder on headphones like LCD2/3, HE500, etc.  But ONLY
if the quality of the output stage is not compromised in any way.  High/low gain setting would be ideal as well, so one doesn't have to attenuate
so much with sensitive IEMs.
- A bigger screen is always a plus, but not nearly as important to me as the above items.
 
This would make for a bas ass DAP, IMHO!

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spkrs01 said:

Ian, very sweet...

 

The PF-IX does sound very nice out of the 120....................

Just received shipping notice from Vinnie for my RWA120S, so will receive it next Tuesday/Wednesday...................also 
Shikada-san is shipping my TU-06 which should also arrive Monday/Tuedsay.


Gonna be a fun week!!! 

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ianmedium said:

Oh thats wonderful. When does the 05 arrive?
I am so looking forward to your thoughts on these

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apaucalyptik said:

Hi,
 
Anyone knows some korean shops where i can buy a AK120 at the best price ? And what would be the best price by the way ?
 
Thanks.

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apaucalyptik said:

Anyone ?

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archeryc said:

So overall how's the SQ when AK120 pairs with the UM Miracle IEM? As the Miracle only have 16 ohm impedance. In this thread someone has mention it's better to choose those headphones / IEM with at least 25 ohm impedance....

So I really wanna know whether the Miracle can pair well with the AK120? Or should I go for the RWAK120 mod? As the headphone output will be <1 ohm which suits low impedance IEM better...

Anyone... Please let me know, such a pain when I'm thinking about this problem as I have just ordered the AK120. >.<

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saraguie said:

I used the AK120 stock with my Miracles for 5 hour session on Wednesday. Worked beautifully........bass was there and the clarity is amazing. 

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archeryc said:

So overall how's the SQ when AK120 pairs with the UM Miracle IEM? As the Miracle only have 16 ohm impedance. In this thread someone has mention it's better to choose those headphones / IEM with at least 25 ohm impedance....

So I really wanna know whether the Miracle can pair well with the AK120? Or should I go for the RWAK120 mod? As the headphone output will be <1 ohm which suits low impedance IEM better...

Anyone... Please let me know, such a pain when I'm thinking about this problem as I have just ordered the AK120. >.<

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saraguie said:

I used the AK120 stock with my Miracles for 5 hour session on Wednesday. Worked beautifully........bass was there and the clarity is amazing. 

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archeryc said:

Wow that's awesome! I was thinking to send my 120 to red wind audio and ask for the RWAK mod. Do you know the sound differences between the stock version and after mod? Thanks

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frankrondaniel said:

I got the RWAK120 mod recently - still developing my impressions.  But I think I can safely say that it's helped the pairing with my AKG K3003, which have a very low 8 ohm impedance.  Seems to have improved the bass significantly.  It seems to have a much fuller, weightier sound compared to the thinner sound than it had before.  Wish I still had an unmodded AK120 to compare with though - this is all from memory!

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saraguie said:

 
Have no clue.......and there are two diff mods, replacing the chips and then you need a separate amp.......or lower the impedance from 3-1. 

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