[DW999]

  How much do IRiver pay for the licensing to make a lightning compatible product? I would imagine A LOT!
 
From my old days in HIFI retail 10x the material cost = retail cost, was the understood rate, 
and that only allowed for a 30-40% margin at retail.
So factor in the Cost of Sale Labour and Overheads and you can guess what the manufacturers make.
HIFI Shops have a lower margin that almost every other high street industry, it's amazing that any of them survive.
 
Now we mainly buy from Web Sites, HIFI should be cheaper than ever!

My original estimate for the cost of the unit included the Apple components.  Apple does not charge money to join MFi program, but rather collects royalties per item sold.  The costs stands for less than 2% of the unit cost at the retail side.  So its not as much as you are thinking.
 
What retailers discount their products to has little effect on the per unit profits at the wholesale level.  Retailers can cut each others throats on pricing all they want, but iRiver still makes the same amount.  This is not to say that retailers discounting products has zero effect on a brand, but thats not what we are talking about here.
 
Wholesale prices will always remain constant, and it is the retailer that decides the final sale price of the unit based on what the market can take.  Thats my guess to why you can find these discounted to the 7K NTD level in Taiwan.
 
Purga,
 
I just tried my iPhone cable with the AK10; unfortunately it does not work.

 

[georgelai57]

can anyone tell me if IOS headphone remote cable functions work when used with this DAC ?   (microphone, volume, play/pause, etc.)

Nope it will not work. The only portable DAC/amp that will work for making/receiving phone calls is the ADL X1 using a special 3.5 mm jack to 3.5 mm interconnect wire they provide. However when you do that you will not be using the DAC portion of the X1. The 3.5 mm jack at both ends have a 3-ring or 4-post design as per your iPhone mic headphones.

 

[Spadge]

JmoonAK has confirmed via PM that the AK10 will work as a USB DAC on 64-bit Windows 8 and USB 3.0.

I think I'm going to get one of these.

 

[pilgrim-frw]

Hi everybody,
Can somebody confirm that this nice little thing will works together with heavy cans such as sen hd600?
Thanks

 

[DW999]

Hi everybody,
Can somebody confirm that this nice little thing will works together with heavy cans such as sen hd600?
Thanks

I don't know if this helps, but I tried the AK10 with HD800's the other day.
 
I thought it lacked the power to push the HD800.  Max volume is like listening to IEM's at 50% volume.

 

[Purga]

   
Purga,
 
I just tried my iPhone cable with the AK10; unfortunately it does not work.
 

 
Quote:

Nope it will not work. The only portable DAC/amp that will work for making/receiving phone calls is the ADL X1 using a special 3.5 mm jack to 3.5 mm interconnect wire they provide. However when you do that you will not be using the DAC portion of the X1. The 3.5 mm jack at both ends have a 3-ring or 4-post design as per your iPhone mic headphones.

 
thanks for the info! Is there any reason why this feature is not built in any portable DAC ?
 
What kind of sound quality boost can i expect to the built-in iPhone 5 DAC ? Is it much better? (and therefore worth the additional device, weight, 300$ cost and lack of remote control features?)

 

[pilgrim-frw]

Thanks for comment. Any another?

 

[Gurdipurdi]

What kind of sound quality boost can i expect to the built-in iPhone 5 DAC ? Is it much better? (and therefore worth the additional device, weight, 300$ cost and lack of remote control features?)

+1?

 

[audionewbi]

Wider soundstage, bass impact, much better midrange. I need to say that ak10 has a few bugs that i need to test to confirm it. Its high is just as good as apple so nothing to rave about.

 

[GoSUV]

   
thanks for the info! Is there any reason why this feature is not built in any portable DAC ?
 
What kind of sound quality boost can i expect to the built-in iPhone 5 DAC ? Is it much better? (and therefore worth the additional device, weight, 300$ cost and lack of remote control features?)

The AK10 does already come with basic remote control features, like play/pause, next track, previous track, and volume control. It also has a slide lock which locks out the buttons so you don't accidentally push them. The only "feature" missing compared to your iPhone inline remote would be the ability to place calls and a microphone. But this is a DAC for music playback, and it would defeat the purpose since the very definition of an external DAC is to offload the audio processing to an outboard device for superior quality. If you are going to add a mic mixer in that circuitry, you are going to overly complicate things and make the device unattractive in terms of weight, size and price.
 
Sound quality boost is of course subjective. Some people think it is crazy to spend another $20 for a better set of earbuds when the bundled (re: free) ones with their iPhone/iPod work just fine. Who am I to argue with them? The best way to decide if this DAC is for you is to try it out and listen for yourself. In general, it is not just about the ability to play "louder" with an external DAC/amp. Granted, the built-in iPhone/iPod volume range is loud enough with most earbuds to seriously damage one's hearing. But what an external DAC/amp provides is better control. You get better treble/bass extension, sweeter midrange, better layering, wider/deeper soundstage and more detail retrieval. You don't have to have an expensive set of earbuds to enjoy these advantages, but of course a decent pair will do the DAC/amp justice.

 

[BillsonChang007]

Basically, there is the FiiO E18 for Andriod and AK10 for iPhone... not bad haha

 

[NZtechfreak]

  Basically, there is the FiiO E18 for Andriod and AK10 for iPhone... not bad haha

 
??? There are dozens of USB DAC/amps that work with Android phones.

 

[BillsonChang007]

   
??? There are dozens of USB DAC/amps that work with Android phones.

talking about recent release hehe

 

[NZtechfreak]

  talking about recent release hehe

 
Fair enough

 

[audionewbi]

Bad news, camera kit does not work with ipod touch 5G and AK10. It detects the AK10 and than displays the message that it is using too much power and hence it cannot be use.