So ... an interesting "discovery" with the AK120 that, I hope, also works with the 300 series ... (I say "discovery" - I don't see any references to it when I search here or the internet at large):
I'm able to use my AK120 as an external USB DAC with my iPhone 6S.
I've tried this before ... using the CCK. That gives you a, not-untypical, "This device requires too much power" message. Getting around that, historically, has just required a simple 2-port passive hub (I have one that's about a 3/4" cube). That works with, say, the RSA Intruder's DAC, but not with the AK120.
Just out of interest, I had tried plugging in my Lavricables CCK-less cable (Lightning to micro USB) - which I use to drive my Mojo from the iPhone with. That causes the AK120 to briefly display it's USB options (DAC, storage, charge), but they vanish before you can select anything.
Purely by chance I happened to be trying out the Apple Smart Battery Case, ahead of a long flight I'm taking, and plugged the Lavricable into the lightning port on the case. That threw up a "Not a certified cable ... may not work correctly" message. However, if I then plug that into the AK120 DAC, the USB DAC option pops right up, it becomes selectable in the iPhone audio output choices (as "iRiver USB DAC"), and I can play music/stream from TIDAL through the AK120.
Retesting this without the case installed doesn't work. Put the case on, it works every time.
If that works for the 300 series, then that gives me a portable, high-capacity player, a transport that'll work with my Mojo AND the ability to use the AK unit's DAC and AMP with my phone for TIDAL streaming.
Now, I wouldn't go counting on this being a long-term stable solution - it's possible the cable could get invalidated in a future iOS upgrade, and I don't have current access to a 300 series player to test it with that unit, but it's an exciting (for me) possibility!
If anyone is able to test this with other AK players, I'd find that extremely interesting.
(I wouldn't normally make two posts like this, but I also made this comment in the AK380 thread ... where I expect it will rapidly get lost.)
I'm able to use my AK120 as an external USB DAC with my iPhone 6S.
I've tried this before ... using the CCK. That gives you a, not-untypical, "This device requires too much power" message. Getting around that, historically, has just required a simple 2-port passive hub (I have one that's about a 3/4" cube). That works with, say, the RSA Intruder's DAC, but not with the AK120.
Just out of interest, I had tried plugging in my Lavricables CCK-less cable (Lightning to micro USB) - which I use to drive my Mojo from the iPhone with. That causes the AK120 to briefly display it's USB options (DAC, storage, charge), but they vanish before you can select anything.
Purely by chance I happened to be trying out the Apple Smart Battery Case, ahead of a long flight I'm taking, and plugged the Lavricable into the lightning port on the case. That threw up a "Not a certified cable ... may not work correctly" message. However, if I then plug that into the AK120 DAC, the USB DAC option pops right up, it becomes selectable in the iPhone audio output choices (as "iRiver USB DAC"), and I can play music/stream from TIDAL through the AK120.
Retesting this without the case installed doesn't work. Put the case on, it works every time.
If that works for the 300 series, then that gives me a portable, high-capacity player, a transport that'll work with my Mojo AND the ability to use the AK unit's DAC and AMP with my phone for TIDAL streaming.
Now, I wouldn't go counting on this being a long-term stable solution - it's possible the cable could get invalidated in a future iOS upgrade, and I don't have current access to a 300 series player to test it with that unit, but it's an exciting (for me) possibility!
If anyone is able to test this with other AK players, I'd find that extremely interesting.
(I wouldn't normally make two posts like this, but I also made this comment in the AK380 thread ... where I expect it will rapidly get lost.)
