[sinsiang]

Quote:

 
If you don't mind me saying so, I think the example you provided above is rather inapplicable. I don't mean to insult your DIY skills in particular, however if a DIYer were to use components of the wrong value altogther is building a poor product and doesn't know what he/she's doing.

The assumption is that a commercial business do actually know what they're doing and are using the right parts (or at least the right values at the very least, but maybe not the best quality components from a cost perspective).

My belief is up to a certain point of a product design, it can be deemed as "right" and "wrong" design. But beyond that point, is a matter of design style preferences, management of manufacturing costs (parts & labour), etc. And in commercial products I think the differences we hear in the SQ are more due to the latter preferences - and that's where the resulting variance can be deemed "minor" depending on the listener's ears.

Using components of the wrong values is like a DIYer putting square vs round tires on a car and saying that it makes the most difference to the performance of a car. The car manufacturers hopefully wouldn't consider putting square tires on all their cars in the first place.

Sean you are right here, manufacturers (most anyway) use the appropriate values. But sometimes for cost reasons they might use a mediocre part but still with the correct values.
 
Quote:

 
Aren't those resistors or are resistors the same thing?

 
No capacitors and resistors are not the same thing. But both if them influence the sound. Take for example the diymod, the appropriate capacitor value should be calculated by :
f=1/(2*pi*r*c)
where f is the -3db roll off frequency you want to achieve, r is the load (headphone + any inline series resistor) and c is the capacitor value.
using the correct value of c is important as a low value will have no (less) bass. Too high a value while it might sound good, there are distortions associated with capacitors(another formula) and also because the capacitor is not charged appropriately all the time, the chemical process in them will deteriorate faster and thus the cap will fail.

 

[kkcc]

It is very likely that RWAK120-S  ($1890) will be the best source available in the market. How much does one need to provision for amp, earphone/headphones and cables to sort of reach a very short but highly satisfying "end game" state?

With dx50 and its hopeful/wishful acceptable sound, I m intrigued to get this 120S mod. Having said that, dual 8741 doesn't necessarily make it the best portable source.

FWIW I picked a single 9018 model over dual 8741 from audio-gd as I find better resolution/wider sound stage from their 9018 model. I m interested to see how the dual 8741 120S compare to the dual 9018 901 that is just about half of the 120S price.

 

[eke2k6]

Just curious,
 
How would the 6th Gen ipod classic's LO + Tralucent T1 compare to the AK120's HPO in real world situations?

 

[CosmicHolyGhost]

Quote:

With dx50 and its hopeful/wishful acceptable sound, I m intrigued to get this 120S mod. Having said that, dual 8741 doesn't necessarily make it the best portable source.

FWIW I picked a single 9018 model over dual 8741 from audio-gd as I find better resolution/wider sound stage from their 9018 model. I m interested to see how the dual 8741 120S compare to the dual 9018 901 that is just about half of the 120S price.

now you have got my attention on hifiman 901 dap..... oh my wallet......

 

[ApaucalyptiK]

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.

 

[Airhifi]

Hi,

I want to thank all members here who provide great information of AK120. It makes me change a decision from buying CLAS solo DB plus RSA intruder amp and FitEar togo334 to be AK120 plus FitEar togo334 instead. It is a very excellent portable sound system. It gives me short cut, not to go thru the route of DAC plus Amp stacks.

 

[akhyar]

Can't go wrong with just AK120 + TG!334. I also changed the stock cable but went for the cheaper BTG StarLight cable.
I'll still try the RSA Intruder with 120 and 334 just for the fun of it

 

[bmichels]

Quote:

Can't go wrong with just AK120 + TG!334. I also changed the stock cable but went for the cheaper BTG StarLight cable.
I'll still try the RSA Intruder with 120 and 334 just for the fun of it

And what about the 1plus2 ? Isn't it a better choice than TG!334 in some aspects (sound stage...) ?

 

[ace8888]

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.

Check your inbox!

 

[akhyar]

And what about the 1plus2 ? Isn't it a better choice than TG!334 in some aspects (sound stage...) ?

When we are compating TOTL uiem or ciem, it all boils down to the sound signature that we prefer.
I've tried 1p2, AKG3003, Senn IE800, ASG-2, etc before finally settled on TG!334.
1p2 will give huge soundstage, awesome bass, etc but 334 wows me due to the intimacy in the mids. Mind you, I was a Shure Se535 user for 2 years, so my sound preference is already skewed . In the end, trust your ears

 

[radi9red]

Nice observations. Just curious, what headphones/earphones were you using?

was using seinheisser ie800 and grado gr10- tracks were.flac some 16, some 24bit

 

[goodvibes]

Quote:

I'll drop you a PM. Maybe I can make you a believer .

Try the software ianmedium is using. Daniel Weiss has a clue. Great guy as well. You may want to try and convert the other way as well and see how it differs. The problem with these conversion is they do represent some interpolation even if the result looks well matched.
 
 Lots of these preferences have to do with what a particular playback dac prefers. Why these 'absolutes' are often simply system related as opposed absolutes. Here's an interesting discussion and apparently Daniel agrees that word length is more important to timing than sample rate as I've found in testing. http://www.whatsbestforum.com/showthread.php?3534-Weiss-Saracon I'd rather hear 24/48 than 16/anything. I also still prefer a ladder DAC to a delta-sigma in general though I've clearly heard both sound VG and not so good. Very few ladders left due to cost and not including inboard advanced tech but a massaged 1704 is still special, at least for me. In a portable, delta-sigma with required noise shaping (what DSD does as well) is the only sensible option.

 

[Gintaras]

If you don't mind me saying so, I think the example you provided above is rather inapplicable. I don't mean to insult your DIY skills in particular, however if a DIYer were to use components of the wrong value altogther is building a poor product and doesn't know what he/she's doing.


The assumption is that a commercial business do actually know what they're doing and are using the right parts (or at least the right values at the very least, but maybe not the best quality components from a cost perspective).


My belief is up to a certain point of a product design, it can be deemed as "right" and "wrong" design. But beyond that point, is a matter of design style preferences, management of manufacturing costs (parts & labour), etc. And in commercial products I think the differences we hear in the SQ are more due to the latter preferences - and that's where the resulting variance can be deemed "minor" depending on the listener's ears.


Using components of the wrong values is like a DIYer putting square vs round tires on a car and saying that it makes the most difference to the performance of a car. The car manufacturers hopefully wouldn't consider putting square tires on all their cars in the first place.

Good comment

 

[HiFiGuy528]

I bought a Sony F-Series Walkman to compare with to the AK120. I've been interested in seeing how Andriod works and this Sony is said to have great sound at only $300 for 32gb. Let me save you time and money, the Andriod UI is a real turn-off. The Walkman in sound can't even come close to my iPod Touch let alone the AK120. The OS and UI are the real deal breakers here. What I like about the AK120 is how simple it is to use. It doesn't try to do more than to play music and reproduce great sound. It plays every music files I own. I'm enjoying it for sure!

 

[Achmedisdead]

Quote:

I bought a Sony F-Series Walkman to compare with the AK120. I've been interested in seeing how Andriod works and the Sony is said to have great sound at only $300. Let me save the time and money, the Andriod UI is a real turn-off. The Walkman in sound can't even come close to my iPod Touch let alone the AK120. The OS and UI are to real deal breakers here. What I like about the AK120 is how simple it is to use. It doesn't try to do more than to play music. Sound great and plays every music files I own. I'm enjoying it for sure!

 
The highlighted phrase above is sure to draw some response from Sony owners.