[Beginningatdawn]

My lovely family knows how much of my audiophile collection has been getting sold lately to support school and they wanted to buy me an early graduation present(within a reasonable amount). Should I go for the AK120 or AK100ii? It will be paired with a JVC FX-1100

 

[Noah99]

PLEASE NOTE THAT I HAVE NOT LISTENED TO EITHER DEVICE AND THE FOLLOWING COMMENTS ARE MY CURRENT IMPRESSIONS FROM READING OTHER REVIEWS FROM HEAD-FI.ORG
 
Well it all depends on your priorities. If your priority is to have the best "warm" and amazing detail retrieval sounding portable player while not caring to much for extra features and UI responsiveness and build then I would go for the AK120.
 
But If you would like an all around great device with Blu-tooth capabilities, over-the-air updates, periodically updated, New & smooth responsive UI, etc- then I would choose the brand spanking new AK100 II.
 
I myself will most likely purchase the AK100 II. If and when I do, I will be sure to post my impressions.

 

[billybob_jcv]

I miss the old days when you had two choices for an A&K: Really Expensive; or Nose-Bleed Expensive. I don't understand why they have fragmented their product line so much by still selling previous models even after introducing new models.

 

[Noobmachine]

The old AK120 is more "analog" sounding, less detail, more smooth/richness to the sound, and it runs on a more primitive UI. The AK100ii has a more clean and neutral sound signature with greater dynamics and detail retrieval, and boasts a more advanced UI. I had the same decision to make a while back and I chose to go with the AK100ii, simply because the UI was a lot less cluttered and refined, and the ease of use was improved vastly. In terms of sound alone both are different but one isn't necessarily better than the other, just different tonality for different tastes.

If you're going to be using it with your JVC IEM, which is rather warm sounding the cleaner AK100ii may be a better bet for you, IMHO. Hope this helps!

EDIT: Just to clarify, both models have WiFi streaming and Bluetooth, it's only the AK100 that has the wireless updating.

 

[KG Jag]

You might want to check--and perhaps join the discussion in--the Portable Source Gear sub section of this forum.

 

[Beginningatdawn]

How does the DX90 stack up against the AK100ii in terms of sound quality and functionability?