[Dillan]

  mmm......let's just agree to disagree and move on. Whether you believe the cu is better than the rest or not is immaterial. Some will say it is, Some will say it isn't. It is a zero sum game since none of us here knows how many cu units iRiver has sold since launch. Did it outsell comparable DAPs in the market? Did it outsell the previous AK flagship? Did it sell all 500 units of the cu? In other words, how did the market vote with their wallet?
 
I do agree with @louisarmstrong that the 380 cu is the best of the best of the best, in terms of SQ in the (unmodified/stock) DAP market. The only real competitor is the AK 380. If you look at the DAP market and setting aside the price tags, there isn't any finer. Not the Sonys. Not the iBasso. Not the Cayins. Not the Fiios. Not the  Luxury and Precision. Of the DAPs, I've auditioned or owned, the only non-AK DAP that comes close in terms of SQ would be the super-ugly Lotoo Paw Gold and the qualitative difference is not even close. If given a free gift from Santa Claus, I bet you that 9 out of 10 headfier would choose the cu.
 
A large part of the dislike for  the  AK players is due the huge price tag. I can understand that and I do agree that iRiver is dangerously close to pricing itself out of the market, specially if its competitors step up their game in the luxury DAP segment.
 
I am not trying to persuade anyone here to get the cu. I don't care if iRiver sells 10 or 10,000. That's not my problem. I am just being honest as a headfier would really fancies high-end DAPs.

Sounds good to me, can't agree on everything!
 
As a technology professional/entrepreneur I definitely tend to look mostly (if not completely) at the technical specs and side of things. I was reluctant to even order the AK380, because from a technical standpoint you can get better specs (for a lot cheaper) from stacking a few portable devices and about equal specs even with other single unit DAPs. I understand there are arguments for both sides, but personally I didn't want to get a device that I had to polish or worry about diminishing in appearance over time when the manufacturer said the internals were the same.
 
Black for me!
 
As a side note: I will be doing a thorough review after a few weeks of usage to either convince or discourage people. I have owned and used many of the current top DAPs so from my perspective it may be valuable to a potential buyer on the subject of if it's actually worth paying thousands more than the current top of the line DAPs. Also will be potentially doing a comparison to the Red Wine upgrades as well, but still need to do my research on warranties and read others reviews first.
 
Either way.. I can't wait to see what the new flagship will bring next year and hopefully a lot better specs than what we get now, as well as a little bit more sane pricing (or at least the same).

 

[raypin]

mmm......I looked for my AK 380 cu box and read the warranty for the first time since getting the unit.( lol!) . For non-EU countries: contact dealer where it was bought or contact  webmaster@iriver.com . The warranty is limited and there's a bunch of restrictions. That's it.......for a 4 thousand dollar product. Can't they afford to get a damn phone line? Or even a really cheap voice-over-internet service????? Hey, iRiver. Get a damn Viber or a Skype account. My non-techie grandma has better communications line than you guys.

 

[Dillan]

  mmm......I looked for my AK 380 cu box and read the warranty for the first time since getting the unit.( lol!) . For non-EU countries: contact dealer where it was bought or contact  webmaster@iriver.com . The warranty is limited and there's a bunch of restrictions. That's it.......for a 4 thousand dollar product. Can't they afford to get a damn phone line?

I have heard a lot of negative things about iRiver support. Almost makes me not care about potentially voiding it with a red wine mod.

 

[Rei87]

  Sounds good to me, can't agree on everything!
 
As a technology professional/entrepreneur I definitely tend to look mostly (if not completely) at the technical specs and side of things. I was reluctant to even order the AK380, because from a technical standpoint you can get better specs (for a lot cheaper) from stacking a few portable devices and about equal specs even with other single unit DAPs. I understand there are arguments for both sides, but personally I didn't want to get a device that I had to polish or worry about diminishing in appearance over time when the manufacturer said the internals were the same.
 
Black for me!
 
As a side note: I will be doing a thorough review after a few weeks of usage to either convince or discourage people. I have owned and used many of the current top DAPs so from my perspective it may be valuable to a potential buyer on the subject of if it's actually worth paying thousands more than the current top of the line DAPs. Also will be potentially doing a comparison to the Red Wine upgrades as well, but still need to do my research on warranties and read others reviews first.
 
Either way.. I can't wait to see what the new flagship will bring next year and hopefully a lot better specs than what we get now, as well as a little bit more sane pricing (or at least the same).

 
 
Haha....i thought so when I bought my Black initially, since I hated the thought of having to constantly my player to remove the platina that the CU will develop over time. But I still can't forget how the Cu sounds, and hence I made the plunge to sell my black and pull the trigger for the 380 CU

Strangely enough, all the 380 variations sounds different......so i really have no idea what else could be the cause other than the housing.....AK's stance is that they all sound the same; the consumers all however, those who have heard all three, dont agree lol.....

 

[Dillan]

   
 
Haha....i thought so when I bought my Black initially, since I hated the thought of having to constantly my player to remove the platina that the CU will develop over time. But I still can't forget how the Cu sounds, and hence I made the plunge to sell my black and pull the trigger for the 380 CU

Strangely enough, all the 380 variations sounds different......so i really have no idea what else could be the cause other than the housing.....AK's stance is that they all sound the same; the consumers all however, those who have heard all three, dont agree lol.....

What if you took two 380cu's side by side playing the same track? Wonder if they would sound the same too. Maybe its just iRiver in general not being consistent with their product assembly or maybe even poor quality control. Sounds crazy to me, I just don't want to worry about polishing or material diminishing. Either way I will drop it and agree to disagree! I have to trust AK when they release statements that the sound is the same.

 

[corius]

 
I have to trust AK when they release statements that the sound is the same.

 
So why do A&K say on their website...
 
"
In addition, copper is the second most electrically conductive metal after silver. With superior electrical conductivity and shielding performance than typical metals, the AK380 Copper is able to deliver a different sound signature than the existing duralumin-based AK380."

 

[Dillan]

   
So why do A&K say on their website...
 
"
In addition, copper is the second most electrically conductive metal after silver. With superior electrical conductivity and shielding performance than typical metals, the AK380 Copper is able to deliver a different sound signature than the existing duralumin-based AK380."

Its marketing hype, the same hype that led us to buy $4000 music players.
 
Just because you give it a conductive shell won't mean the internal components will conduct better.. Same thing when you read how USB cables can "widen the soundstage and increase the bass".
Literally doesn't even make any sense. I'm sorry I am just really practical and technical minded when it comes to that stuff. Our opinions can differ, but I won't change my mind unless the internal components that produce the sound were different. Unless EMI is an issue, it wont matter.

 

[jonstatt]

Its marketing hype, the same hype that led us to buy $4000 music players.

Just because you give it a conductive shell won't mean the internal components will conduct better.. Same thing when you read how USB cables can "widen the soundstage and increase the bass".
Literally doesn't even make any sense. I'm sorry I am just really practical and technical minded when it comes to that stuff. Our opinions can differ, but I won't change my mind unless the internal components that produce the sound were different. Unless EMI is an issue, it wont matter.

But there is analogue circuitry in the AK380. What about the headphone amplifier part?

 

[speedracer1]

 
Its marketing hype, the same hype that led us to buy $4000 music players.
 
Just because you give it a conductive shell won't mean the internal components will conduct better.. Same thing when you read how USB cables can "widen the soundstage and increase the bass".
Literally doesn't even make any sense. I'm sorry I am just really practical and technical minded when it comes to that stuff. Our opinions can differ, but I won't change my mind unless the internal components that produce the sound were different. Unless EMI is an issue, it wont matter.

Hi Dillan,
 
I respect that your technically minded.  I am technically trained and make a very good living at it as many of us on this thread do!  That said, I would like to think we (all of us) are multi-faceted beings and although we may have invested in a technical education or focus we can't discount that things that are not measured are not plausible.   The argument you mention (above) with respect to the cable-wire for example distill down to quality of the material, type of material used, characteristics associated with the material, construction, shielding and grounding considerations . Yes 1's and 0's travel through the cable but the other factors mentioned (above) can and do effect the overall sound you hear.  Some sound characteristics are clearly measurable and many are not (at least not yet).  The human ear itself is not that complicated, however the human brain which processes all the information is very complex and especially not well understood with regard to many areas including audio.  If you are searching for some of these answers or just curious, I recommend you spend time on the Dave thread.  Rob Watts is a pioneer in the audio field and sheds light on many questions and raises many others. The science of sound and how it may or may not apply to what we hear and how we perceive sound.  
 
I have the RWAK 380 player and a modified RWAK external amp.  I have not personally had the 380 Cu to conduct A/B listening testing between the two.  Based on people (on this forum I respect) I believe they sound somewhat different!  Better is a subject comment... but for me traveling two + hours to and from work each day the AK 380Cu and amp module are simply not practical as they weight too much.  It becomes transportable not portable for my requirements.
 
Sincerely,
Speed...      

 

[Dillan]

  Hi Dillan,
 
I respect that your technically minded.  I am technically trained and make a very good living at it as many of us on this thread do!  That said, I would like to think we (all of us) are multi-faceted beings and although we may have invested in a technical education or focus we can't discount that things that are not measured are not plausible.   The argument you mention (above) with respect to the cable-wire for example distill down to quality of the material, type of material used, characteristics associated with the material, construction, shielding and grounding considerations . Yes 1's and 0's travel through the cable but the other factors mentioned (above) can and do effect the overall sound you hear.  Some sound characteristics are clearly measurable and many are not (at least not yet).  The human ear itself is not that complicated, however the human brain which processes all the information is very complex and especially not well understood with regard to many areas including audio.  If you are searching for some of these answers or just curious, I recommend you spend time on the Dave thread.  Rob Watts is a pioneer in the audio field and sheds light on many questions and raises many others. The science of sound and how it may or may not apply to what we hear and how we perceive sound.  
 
I have the RWAK 380 player and a modified RWAK external amp.  I have not personally had the 380 Cu to conduct A/B listening testing between the two.  Based on people (on this forum I respect) I believe they sound somewhat different!  Better is a subject comment... but for me traveling two + hours to and from work each day the AK 380Cu and amp module are simply not practical as they weight too much.  It becomes transportable not portable for my requirements.
 
Sincerely,
Speed...      

Thank you for your reply. I definitely respect your opinion among many others in this thread. As a fellow technology professional I do let my career and expertise affect my opinions, but in the end I let my ear do the final judging. Although I only truly feel confident once that is done through double blind A-B testing, which I feel fairly confident nobody here has done thoroughly. For me, cables are only worth the upgrade when they are silver (which is more conductive than copper) and/or have better shielding from things like electromagnetic interference. Otherwise when you're talking digital information, unless data gets lost from start to finish.. the transfer is not going to matter (at least thats what computer science tells us). I haven't heard the copper unit, its obviously possible that it sounds different than the non copper versions and that difference could be up to the user whether its "better" or not. But I always like to keep a keen eye on things not backed up by science or technology. Especially from a company like iRiver.
 
Here is some reading information if you guys haven't checked it out: http://www.head-fi.org/t/486598/testing-audiophile-claims-and-myths
 
Again just my 2 cents and I welcome and respect others opinions.

 

[Sound Eq]

  Try contacting them on their Facebook page.  Only thing that worked for me.

i contaced them through their facebook page and they sent an email to the israeli distributor immediately
 
I hope the israeli distributor will cooperate 

 

[onlychild]

My repost from the DHC Thread:​
 
 
Portable end game reached, at least for the next few months  ; )
 
 
DHC Molecule Elite 22 with custom 3-D printed Splitter
DHC Silver Mini Complement4 
RWAK380cu + RWcuAmp
ALO CDM running Mullards
Hifiman Edition X
Fully Balanced
 
 
Was planning to sell the CDM cause I was losing details and space compared to straight out of the RWAK380cu Amp when using my 8-wire Plus Sound Copper IC, but the DHC mini Silver Complement4 fixed that.  Incredibly neutral IC. I think the Plus Sound Copper cable was too much warmth with the ALO CDM.  
 
 

 
 

 

[Dillan]

Beautiful setup, congrats!!

 

[bmichels]

Wondeful !  I am happy for you.
 
 -Did you considered the WooAudio WA8 before buying the CDM ?  I tried the WA8 with my HE-X and really liked it a lot (but only when using it's own internal DAC).
- Is the AKAmp really necessary when you connect the AK380 to the CDM ?  Isn't this "tri" amplification overkill ? 

- Also does the CDM really bring that much to the AK380+AKAmp ? 

 

[Dillan]

Wondeful !  I am happy for you.

 -Did you considered the WooAudio WA8 before buying the CDM ?  I tried the WA8 with my HE-X and really liked it a lot (but only when using it's own internal DAC).
- Is the AKAmp really necessary when you connect the AK380 to the CDM ?  Isn't this "tri" amplification overkill ? 
- Also does the CDM really bring that much to the AK380+AKAmp ? 

I was kinda wondering about the amp as well. Wouldn't going straight from the player to the CDM be ideal?