Do you think that iRiver/AK might have changed or tweaked the software digital filters in-between firmware versions? I grabbed an RWAK120-B last fall (2014) that had 1.40 pre-loaded on it, and it provided a very "liquidy" sound that, while hyper-detailed and nuanced, sounded slightly smeared/indistinct at the same time. I installed 1.42 about a month ago and felt that the sound became a little more lively, but it might have just been placebo as any difference between the two seemed insignificant as I listened to it more.
Anyway, I just got around to loading 1.32 earlier today (downgraded from 1.42), and the first thing that I noticed when listening to the same track was the gain/volume being less "hot", with more room to adjust the travel on my amp's volume pot. Overall, 1.32 seems to produce a more detailed and less weighty/liquidy sound, with faster transitions and improved dynamics.
Could it be possible that maybe AK configured 1.32 using a minimum phase software filter, which they changed (to a linear filter, or some other software adjustment) in newer firmware versions? Just curious if this might be the reason for the differences in sound from 1.32 to 1.4/1.42, or if there might be some other underlying reason for it.
Thanks.
