Astell & Kern AK10 portable DAC and amp
Mar 7, 2014 at 9:12 PM Post #272 of 359
400
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Mar 8, 2014 at 1:58 AM Post #274 of 359
I find the last two photos very interesting.
 
Does anyone have AK10 with FW1.10 and flacplayer app? ( iphone 5 or touch5G).
 
We do the tests again to see whether AK10 has unlocked 24/96 playback natively.
 
Although the above two photos seems fairly conclusive for the tiny DAC/amp.
 
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also:
 
   
Either it is because of the hardware (*USB receiver) limitation or the fact that anything beyond 24/96 needs USB Audio Class 2 driver that is not found on iDevice or most Android. Looking at the spec, I'll say the former is more likely. I'll be interested as long as iriver isn't following the trend of AK120 pricing. Well, that could be a long shot.
 

http://www.head-fi.org/t/685406/iriver-ak10-for-iphones#post_9881702
 
Mar 8, 2014 at 3:44 AM Post #275 of 359
I have updated AK10 to 1.10 and got the Flac Playet app on my iPhone 5s, I can confirm that the AK10 indeed output audio at 24/96 (tested by feeding the AK10's headphone out into PC's HD Audio line-in & record using Adobe Audition)
 
Mar 12, 2014 at 10:40 AM Post #279 of 359
I would love to hear if anyone could compare the sound and performance of the AK10 (or Beyerdynamic A200p) with the sound of a Cypher Labs Algorythm Solo original+amp when playing from iPhone. 
 
Would it be an upgrade to make a simpler setup with iPhone + AK10 and replace the CLAS+AMP or should I just keep what I have?
 
Mar 16, 2014 at 7:32 AM Post #282 of 359
How exactly is this firmware update supposed to be accomplished on a mac? I can't find a way to make it work...
 
Instructions on the A & K website are as follows:
 
1. Download the attached firmware tool.
Okay, I did that...
 
2. Decompress the file and check AK10 1.10 firmware and firmware tool are in same folder.
Done and done...
 
3. Double click window and then POP-up window is shown as below.
Okay. But why are you capitalizing "pop"? Are things about to get screwy?
 
4. Drag & Drop the app icon to the application folder for installation.
Simple enough. But again, your weird capitalizations in the instructions give me a bad feeling this is about to go all wrong.
 
(then there's a nifty little diagram of the standard mac file to app folders window)
 
5. Power off the AK10 (Slide the power key to the left for 3 sec.) and check LED off.
Okay. Done.
 
6. Connect the AK10 to PC by USB cable with the RW & FF keys pressed together.
Okay. Why is this in red? And the continued pigeon English is making my bad feeling a full on premonition of failure.
 
7. Then, LED color gets purple. (Blue + Red lights)
Ah jeez. That's not really a sentence, is it? Nevertheless, the LED is now purple.
 
8. Execute the application downloaded and press start button.
And here we go. Execute the application? What the hell does that mean? You already had me open it, all I should be able to do is press start. Except I can't, because it's grayed-out and un-clickable. It does give me the option to click a button titled "choose", so I do that and it opens my files. But anything pertinent to the AK10 firmware update is grayed-out and un-clickable. So there's really nothing I can do. And here's the total fail.
 
9. Upgrade is done once "Bootload successful!!" message is shown.
Once the "Bootload successful!!" message is shown. There should be a the in there. Since you've adopted a pseudo upper-crust British moniker to evoke feelings of luxury and sophistication, the least you could do is hire somebody who actually speaks English to write this thing. And maybe somebody else who actually knows how to write a firmware program that works, while you're at it.
 
10. To check the upgraded version-
Yeah, I'm gonna stop you right there, because I've read about all the bad English I can take, and nothing works. Boring. I'm bored. And my AK10 isn't updated. You kind of suck, Astell & Kern.
 
Mar 16, 2014 at 7:50 AM Post #283 of 359
For step 8, where it says choose, go to the files you downloaded. If I recall correctly, there's one innocuous looking small file (I can't recall the file extension but it isn't a common type). Click on that and now you can continue. It took me two tries because the first time my AK10 hung and I couldn't even power off the AK10.
 
Mar 16, 2014 at 8:41 AM Post #284 of 359
As I'm having troubles with my Beyerdynamic A200 variant of the AK10 (it works when connected to my Mac but does not when I try with an iPhone or iPad -- and I tried several different ones each): Did someone try to apply that A&K firmware update to the A200? Or did someone have problems connecting their AK10 to an iDevice and can suggest a solution?
 
Mar 17, 2014 at 7:45 AM Post #285 of 359
 
Just some eye candy. The AK10 with iPhone 5S and UM Miracle. 
 
Overall I like the AK10 - it's really small and light.
 
My only gripe is the volume wheel, which looks great but doesn't work well. My fingers don't 'stick' to the wheel. I've put a small dot of blue tack on it so I can get some grip while adjusting the volume. I'm sure A&K could have simply made it from a different material.

 

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