[Jazzi]

  I own a roofing company, we are sometimes are asked how to accelerate the formation of a patina on a copper roof. There are all sorts of recommendations on how to do this. My favourite is coat the copper in mare's urine. I have not tried it but I thought sharing this recipe would be helpful!

roofus, somehow I feel you're just setting spkrs01 up for a major disappointment.

 

[Jazzi]

   
Is your player BACK?

spkrs01, no, but got a notice from UPS yesterday that it has been shipped.  Expected delivery date is Tuesday.  I'm looking forward to getting it, but the LPG has done a great job in the backup role. 
 
Thanks,

 

[DrSheep]

  My favourite is coat the copper in mare's urine.

Let's just hope that we don't have any bronies here, they may take this the wrong way...

 

[roofus]

  Let's just hope that we don't have any bronies here, they may take this the wrong way...

I am not sure if stallion or gelding urine works . . . . I am just reporting what a grizzled old tinsmith told me!
 
 
. . . . not sure about sheep either

 

[DrSheep]

 
. . . . not sure about sheep either

Incidentally my company is doing urine test today...

 

[bmichels]

  .... From the moment I began listening to those test tracks I was absolutely floored by the improvement in the sound signature.  As I continued to burn-in both units using either the JH Layla's, HE-1000’s or the Shure KSE1500's the sound signature continue to improve with regard to richness, authority and dynamics....

 
I am more and more tempted to get a RWAK380, but, since I now stream quite a lot to discover new artists/songs.... I promised myself NOT to invest in a new DAP that do not offer TIDAL or/and QOBUZ streaming.  Especially at this price point !
 
  So... I will wait for TIDAL being implemented in the A&K player and, if it still not done by Munich's High-End show in May, I will buy something like a ONKYO DP-X1 that has already implemented TIDAL and MQA.

 

[speedracer1]

Hi bmichaels

I understand your position and respect it completely. This weekend I was streaming over my iPhone 6splus using the kse1500 and then went to the rwak380 with the KSE and the actual source files and of course it was shocking as well. Of course it's not any real comparison but I had to have my daughter in for a listen and she was like wow I love tital without question but I wonder how it will really sound if you got it on the rwak380?

Maybe AK will have a FW release that will address it. Based on the product release cycle I don't believe AK will introduce a replacement for the Ak380 this year but you never know.

Tomorrow I'm giving the Cord Dave a listen with my HE1000 and if I end up with that Dac for home use I will be complete for home and portable use the foreseeable future. I really love the RWAK 380 and the amp. And wish you were around or I was on the other side of the world in the near future I would be glad for you to give this device a good listen
Sincerely
Your friend in audio
Speed

 

[warrior1975]

There is no time frame for Tidal yet, correct? Haven't they been promising since the inception of the AK240? That was the one major drawback for me when I owned the 240. Other than that, a wonderful player.

 

[AnakChan]

There is no time frame for Tidal yet, correct? Haven't they been promising since the inception of the AK240? That was the one major drawback for me when I owned the 240. Other than that, a wonderful player.

 
Did iRiver really promise? Or something that they'll look into?

 

[prismstorm]

   
No there were no short circuits on the unit I got back. 
There is quite a bit of cabling switched out in the RWAK380+RWAK380 AMP combo so the burn in time was recommended more for those modifications alongside the new capacitors that are installed in the units.
 
Have you pinged Vinnie about the sound you are hearing out of the RWAK380
 
Leave it running for a day with your preferred output and see how it sounds then, it's been a while since I had a fresh modded unit and at that point I had the Noble K10U but I do remember that the sound got better over time. 
 
I guess this is one of those points do you believe in burn in or not 

 

 
 

  Hi prismstorm,
 
I’m so sorry to hear that you are not satisfied with the sound of your modified RWAK unit.  Let me share my experience with you regarding the conversion and provide some direction.

  

When I first received my RWAK380 and RWAK amp from Vinnie he recommended that I rack up 100 hours of time to allow for the newly added electronics in both the DAC and amp to stabilize and mature.  Most of the new circuity Vinnie adds are capacitors and they must go thru 1000's of duty cycles of supply and recharging to operate efficiently and provide full output power.  The capacitors without question changed the stock AK sound signature for the better.  You can think of capacitors (in the digital world) similar to tubes (in the analog world) as they shape sound and if done correctly enhance it!  

 
Although I clearly followed Vinnie's recommendation regarding the 100 hours of break-in, I was honestly so darn excited when I got my unit back that I had to listen to a few test tracks the very first night to get an idea of what had changed.  From the moment I began listening to those test tracks I was absolutely floored by the improvement in the sound signature.  As I continued to burn-in both units using either the JH Layla's, HE-1000’s or the Shure KSE1500's the sound signature continue to improve with regard to richness, authority and dynamics.  At the end of the 100 hour break-in period the player became more, cohesive, more fluid and any harshness was replaced with warmth and a beautiful richer fuller sound.
 

Recently I decided to purchase a second brand new stock AK380 amp as I figured I would have one amp at my job for backup purposes and keep the RWAK amp with me as I traveled back and forth.  By doing so it put me in an unusual position to again compare side-by-side the RWAK amp against the stock amp and not simply rely on my music memory but direct A/B comparison. This just help re-enforce my comments above with respect to the new and improved sound signature and I returned the brand new stock amp yesterday even though it was great to have the difference between stock and modified was just too great.

 

Although I use the RWAK380 balanced and unbalanced amps I honestly prefer to use the external amp’s unbalanced 3.5 mm with the Shure KSE1500’s and use the balanced 2.5 mm external amp connection with the JH Layla’s as I love the warmth of the sound signature the external amp adds.

 

Both my amp and AK 380 units in stock form was cosmetically in perfect condition and in perfect working order.  When I received the units back from Vinnie they were received in perfect cosmetic and functional working order.  Thank goodness no shorts or any other problems.  The units sound and operate perfectly and I’ve upgraded FW from 1.11 originally to 1.23 without any problems or issue.

 

As recommended by our good friend Apina I would continue to break-in the units, don’t change the FW release as this is the sound signature your familiar use your Layla’s as they work beautifully with your set-up and as mentioned please contact Vinnie and describe what your hearing as I’m sure he will have recommendations and maybe able to explain what your experiencing.

 

And as always I’m here to help you in any way I can.

Sincerely,

Your friend in audio,

-Speed

 

I did contact Vinnie and he told me I should "run it in for at least 100 hours before critically evaluating it, as the sound opens up and fills in (including bass) once the caps break-in", so this is pretty much in line with what you guys said and did! 
 
Now I wouldn't go so far as to state that I do not believe in burn-in, but I will say that I have never experienced one first-hand. In the past I have ran pink noise and other tracks through my Laylas for 50+ hours to find that I couldn't detect any real differences, I thought well maybe BAs don't really burn in so I tried it with the ATH-IM70 which is dual DD and the difference was also not night and day. So there, the most correct thing to say is that I have yet to experience burn-in first-hand. 
 
What worries me is that from your reports there should be a clear difference that 'floors' the listener right at the very start of receiving the RWAK380. What prompted me to post my troubles / paranoia was that not only did I not discern any obvious improvements, I even felt that this might have (heaven forbid) even taken a step back from the stock sound 

. Things sound thinner and bass is not authoritative, I miss the warmth and extremely competent instruments separation (and the dynamism) from before. 
 
Vinnie said he has listened to my RWAK380 for the sound and to him it sounded like it should, so at least there's some comfort in that! Oh well, the only thing left for me to do is now to listen maybe for a month or two and hopefully some magic happens along the way, even before the 100 hour mark. Cheers! 

 

[spkrs01]

   
 
I did contact Vinnie and he told me I should "run it in for at least 100 hours before critically evaluating it, as the sound opens up and fills in (including bass) once the caps break-in", so this is pretty much in line with what you guys said and did! 
 
Now I wouldn't go so far as to state that I do not believe in burn-in, but I will say that I have never experienced one first-hand. In the past I have ran pink noise and other tracks through my Laylas for 50+ hours to find that I couldn't detect any real differences, I thought well maybe BAs don't really burn in so I tried it with the ATH-IM70 which is dual DD and the difference was also not night and day. So there, the most correct thing to say is that I have yet to experience burn-in first-hand. 
 
What worries me is that from your reports there should be a clear difference that 'floors' the listener right at the very start of receiving the RWAK380. What prompted me to post my troubles / paranoia was that not only did I not discern any obvious improvements, I even felt that this might have (heaven forbid) even taken a step back from the stock sound 

. Things sound thinner and bass is not authoritative, I miss the warmth and extremely competent instruments separation (and the dynamism) from before. 
 
Vinnie said he has listened to my RWAK380 for the sound and to him it sounded like it should, so at least there's some comfort in that! Oh well, the only thing left for me to do is now to listen maybe for a month or two and hopefully some magic happens along the way, even before the 100 hour mark. Cheers! 

 
May I ask, as to what method you used to ship your 380 to Vinnie? As EMS in Hong Kong does not accept shipping items with battery?
 
Many thanks!

 

[prismstorm]

   
May I ask, as to what method you used to ship your 380 to Vinnie? As EMS in Hong Kong does not accept shipping items with battery?
 
Many thanks!

For both times I used Fedex (i guess it was international priority?) and declared the 3400maH battery on the description (so they may arrange your DAP to be transported with special treatment). With the time difference between Holden and HK, my 380 reached Vinnie the next day after posting, it was ridiculously efficient. 

 

[spkrs01]

  For both times I used Fedex (i guess it was international priority?) and declared the 3400maH battery on the description (so they may arrange your DAP to be transported with special treatment). With the time difference between Holden and HK, my 380 reached Vinnie the next day after posting, it was ridiculously efficient. 

 
Thank you, thank you!!!
 
Funnily, Fedex was the courier I did not enquire from....

 

[bmichels]

There is no time frame for Tidal yet, correct? Haven't they been promising since the inception of the AK240? That was the one major drawback for me when I owned the 240. Other than that, a wonderful player.

   
Did iRiver really promise? Or something that they'll look into?
 

 
 
Well, for the AK240, the streaming was supposed to be with the implementation of QOBUZ. This picture was published 2 years ago.  
 

 
 
But then, the implementation of QOBUZ has never been optimised since you could only stream.... what you had already bought on QOBUZ !!!  
 
So, for the AK380, they promised TIDAL instead of QOBUZ  ....

 

[S Crowther]

Don't forget AK is a Korean company and I believe most of its sales are in Asia.
Qobuz is not available in Asia and Tidal is not much known here.