[ianmedium]

Its pre order with all of it at the moment but it is not long to wait as it will be shipped from the 4th March if I read it all correctly so if you order now it should be shipped on Tuesday next week. However, if you miss this window then who knows when the next batch will be in. It seems to be selling like hot cakes!

 

[sathyam]

I just ordered one from Moon Audio. I need to request JH Audio to add a balanced cable for my Roxannes.

 

[my-2000]

I just ordered one from Moon Audio. I need to request JH Audio to add a balanced cable for my Roxannes.

aka AKR03?

 

[my-2000]

Do you mean that if you create carefully a play list, then songs will be played in random order ? ! 

As TheLastDevil said, songs' order in playlists can be changed easily. What I meant is, the songs in playlists can disappear altogether, as in the whole playlist becomes empty. Randomly. I have already experienced that a few times in the past week.

 

[tarainfo]

I own an AK120 and I often use it to play DSD files thru my Denon receiver via the optical out
The manual of the AK240 seems to say it will not play DSD files thru the optical port
This would really be a major block for me because I have a lot of DSD files and outputting to my speakers via the receiver is very important
Has anyone tested this ?
Thanks in advance

 

[jwbrent]

  I own an AK120 and I often use it to play DSD files thru my Denon receiver via the optical out
The manual of the AK240 seems to say it will not play DSD files thru the optical port
This would really be a major block for me because I have a lot of DSD files and outputting to my speakers via the receiver is very important
Has anyone tested this ?
Thanks in advance

As I'm sure you're aware, the DSD playback capability on the AK120 is due to PCM conversion thus providing the ability for the optical output to work in your setup. The AK240 plays DSDs natively, so unless A&K provides an update where one has the option to convert DSD files to PCM on the fly, I would question whether the optical out on the AK240 could ever be made to pass DSD.
 
The DACs on the AK240 (Cirrus Logic CS4398s) may be superior to the one(s) in your Denon, so perhaps running analog out will get you the functionality you desire without compromising the sound—it may actually sound better this way given the native playback of your DSD files.

 

[Bluebear]

 
Quote:

  I own an AK120 and I often use it to play DSD files thru my Denon receiver via the optical out
The manual of the AK240 seems to say it will not play DSD files thru the optical port
This would really be a major block for me because I have a lot of DSD files and outputting to my speakers via the receiver is very important
Has anyone tested this ?
Thanks in advance

 
As I'm sure you're aware, the DSD playback capability on the AK120 is due to PCM conversion thus providing the ability for the optical output to work in your setup. The AK240 plays DSDs natively, so unless A&K provides an update where one has the option to convert DSD files to PCM on the fly, I would question whether the optical out on the AK240 could ever be made to pass DSD.
 
The DACs on the AK240 (Cirrus Logic CS4398s) may be superior to the one(s) in your Denon, so perhaps running analog out will get you the functionality you desire without compromising the sound—it may actually sound better this way given the native playback of your DSD files.

 
If I remember correctly on the Hugo thread, people were talking about how to do DSD out from DAP sources as pure transports over various connection to the Hugo. They were debating over the exact bandwidth an optical out connection can handle with some saying it maxes out at 192/24, while some others saying they experienced less than that probably due to inferior quality optical cables used. So it seems that it is impossible to do pure DSD over optical without resorting to tricks. Someone over at the Hugo thread then suggested it works if you packet the DSD data and embed it into flac format on the PC using software, i.e. DoP? Then it will stream over optical properly. I'm not sure if this is accurate. You may want to dig through the Hugo thread to find the necessary information and try it out yourself.

 

[jwbrent]

Bluebear, you're right, there is a method called DoP (DSD over PCM) but I thought it was limited to USB. Probably wrong about that. I'm still catching up to all the latest technology and how it works with high resolution files.  

 

[Bluebear]

  Bluebear, you're right, there is a method called DoP (DSD over PCM) but I thought it was limited to USB. Probably wrong about that. I'm still catching up to all the latest technology and how it works with high resolution files.  

 
Yes, it is currently meant to be used for transporting the audio signal over standard USB 2.0 because the USB Audio specification 2.0 defines multiple formats for audio of which standard PCM is only one and no specific format was defined for DSD. However, the official DoP documentation also mentions that "while this method is mainly targeted for USB links it is general enough to be applied to other PCM based links such as Firewire, AES/EBU, S/PDIF etc". Thus, I believe it will also work for optical out since optical out supports standard PCM.

 

[Fafner]

Is someone having issues trying to run the MQS Media Server? I get an error (translated it's pretty much like this: impossible to find the procedure's access point AppCacheLookup in the c:\Windows\System32\urlmon.dll dynamic link library) and it doesn't start.

 

[Decreate]

  Is someone having issues trying to run the MQS Media Server? I get an error (translated it's pretty much like this: impossible to find the procedure's access point AppCacheLookup in the c:\Windows\System32\urlmon.dll dynamic link library) and it doesn't start.

I have pretty much the same error and I've just sent an email to iriver...

 

[Rumpelstiltskin]

If you guys are searching for the AK240 I hear that Teds Headfood will have them next week.

 

[jwbrent]

   
Yes, it is currently meant to be used for transporting the audio signal over standard USB 2.0 because the USB Audio specification 2.0 defines multiple formats for audio of which standard PCM is only one and no specific format was defined for DSD. However, the official DoP documentation also mentions that "while this method is mainly targeted for USB links it is general enough to be applied to other PCM based links such as Firewire, AES/EBU, S/PDIF etc". Thus, I believe it will also work for optical out since optical out supports standard PCM.

 
Thank you for the edification. Well, then, perhaps there is hope after all without reverting to DSD conversion ...

 

[jwbrent]

  If you guys are searching for the AK240 I hear that Teds Headfood will have them next week.

 
Yes, Ted is getting me and a friend one next week. I bought my AK100 and AK120 from him ... good guy to do business with.

 

[jwbrent]

By the way, I've never had first hand experience with 2.5mm connectors. I wonder whether they are more prone to damage given their smaller diameter. I'm thinking of having my ESW9As modified to take advantage of the balanced output of the 240, but since I do a lot of hiking and typically carry my 120 in my back pocket, I'm concerned I may inadvertently bend the connector.
 
Any thoughts on this would be greatly appreciated ...