[Rei87]

  Ever since cleaning my copper a few months back, the play/pause FF/RW buttons on the side were a little stiff so I thought I'd see if I could clean them. Here's a few inside pix of the AK380Cu partially disassembled. I didn't take out every board as the goal was merely to remove enough to access the buttons :-
 
 

 

 

 

 
For the modders, I have to say it'll be interesting to see what they mod as so much is SMD. That'll be heck of a task to be unsoldering and soldering on better component SMDs.

Well, give me a few months till the end of the year, and I may have pics to show on what can be modded lol when I do go meet a musashi tech mod. For starters, the clock can be replaced, change all the internal wiring (see that lil' ribbon wire on the bottom?) , change some of the sockets used, replace all the solders and so one. 

 

[heyfi]

Hey guys! Any ak380 + amp + utopia impressions?

 

[xxx1313]

Has anyone experience a difference in SQ with the New Firmware? Or is it just for the AK recorder? Just curious I'm updating mines right now.
Mike

 
 
To me there is a sound difference (personal impression with AK380 Cu + Cu amp and HE-1000 / HD800S). The sound difference is not as big as the one resulting from the upgrade from 1.24 to 1.25, but it is there. Firmware 1.30 is less V-shaped, more neutral than 1.25. Less bass emphasis, tighter bass without loss of punch, less recessed mids (especially more upper mids), slightly "sharper" sounding lower treble. Seemingly faster transients, also slightly better dynamics. Sounds a little bit more transparent over the whole frequency spectrum. Sound stage seems essentially unchanged. I am not sure if I like it more than 1.25, but trying to be objective, it is a bit "better".
 
Cheers,

Bernie

 

[justin07]

I've never much bothered with gapless, but the subject came up the other day. A friend, well, colleague had an album they listened to a lot and asked if I could rip it to the 380 (they don't have any portable music gear) so he could listen to it. With a view to buying something portable. The album is an old one 'Diamond Dogs', although it says on the CD '24 bit digitally remastered'. I ripped it with the AK ripper and he listened to it. Then asked: 'can this thing play gapless?'. So I switched gapless on and he seemed pretty happy with the result. Afterwards (as I now have the album on my player ofc) I listened with gapless on as I remembered the discussion here. Not sure my definition of 'gapless' is the correct one - that tracks which don't just fade out play into the next track with no 'gap' or silence between them - is the way I see it. Anyway, so far as the Bowie album is concerned on my 380, all tracks had gaps with gapless switched off, even the last two (which pretty much segue together). But with gapless on, all tracks which DON'T fade out before the next track, played perfectly with no gaps between them. These were:
tracks 1 into 2, 3 to 4, 4 to 5, 5 to 6, and 10 to 11. Tracks 2 to 3, 6 to 7, 7 to 8, 8 to 9 and 9 to 10 all faded out and had silence between them. So I found gapless, on this album and on my player (and using my definition of the term) seemed to work perfectly. And now (as this is an album I've never listened to before) I find I'm hooked on that last track! - 'Chant...'

Personally, I can say that the gapless songs from CDs that I ripped personally, using exact audio copy, played properly - no gaps in between songs.. But some albums downloaded from the Internet, had gaps in between them, though they are supposed to be gapless... Could it be that ripping software played a part? Also, could it be that high resolution music, e.g., DSD, has issues when ripped, or that the AK processor is not powerful enough for gapless? I know a lot of it is speculation.. Try the software I mention with your gapless CD and do a rip.. See if that works

 

[TaylorDawe]

Personally, I can say that the gapless songs from CDs that I ripped personally, using exact audio copy, played properly - no gaps in between songs.. But some albums downloaded from the Internet, had gaps in between them, though they are supposed to be gapless... Could it be that ripping software played a part? Also, could it be that high resolution music, e.g., DSD, has issues when ripped, or that the AK processor is not powerful enough for gapless? I know a lot of it is speculation.. Try the software I mention with your gapless CD and do a rip.. See if that works

I used to use EAC to rip, but since getting the AK ripper I just use that as it is so easy and doesn't tie up the computer (in that I can just put the 380 and ripper out the way somewhere and go and check occasionally while getting on with other things.)

 

[timeslip]

   
 
Well, to be honest I am not completely sure. In all versions of the firmware for the AK380 up until the last one, when you switch Pro EQ on and off, you can hear a momentary click in the sound to the headphones that "something" is changing. But this changed with the last firmware and no momentary changes or audio changes are heard when you switch Pro EQ on or off....another poster determined that Pro EQ was permanently enabled unless you chose a new EQ profile and just made it flat

After the upgrade, I have noticed the sound being quite a bit more muddy sounding.  Upon searching, it does remind me of the Pro EQ sound.  I am using my JH Roxy II FMJ with it.

 

[justin07]

I used to use EAC to rip, but since getting the AK ripper I just use that as it is so easy and doesn't tie up the computer (in that I can just put the 380 and ripper out the way somewhere and go and check occasionally while getting on with other things.)

U using the AK ripper? How is the sound like compared to software like EAC?.. Same? Different? Also, are U able to rip gapless songs and playback gapless?
If so, then there is another avenue of gapless ripping and playback.

 

[TaylorDawe]

U using the AK ripper? How is the sound like compared to software like EAC?.. Same? Different? Also, are U able to rip gapless songs and playback gapless?
If so, then there is another avenue of gapless ripping and playback.

I don't have any tracks ripped with EAC now (all are ripped with the AK ripper as I ripped everything again to test it) so can't compare. But everything sounds perfectly fine to me. Gapless playback seems the same as it's always been although, as I say, I haven't used it much. Personally, and if you have a sizable CD collection, I think the ripper is a great investment.

 

[jonstatt]

 
After the upgrade, I have noticed the sound being quite a bit more muddy sounding.  Upon searching, it does remind me of the Pro EQ sound.  I am using my JH Roxy II FMJ with it.

I did some testing with 1.30. There is a click again between Pro EQ On and Off, and it sounds fractionally louder with Pro EQ off. So I believe it is working correctly again. Unfortunately I don't have the hardware needed to prove it with measurements though.

 

[muzic4life]

I did some testing with 1.30. There is a click again between Pro EQ On and Off, and it sounds fractionally louder with Pro EQ off. So I believe it is working correctly again. Unfortunately I don't have the hardware needed to prove it with measurements though.

I just tried mine. I did not hear any click sound at all. I created another EQ by my self. I changed the EQ to one another (including without Eq) i still did not hear any click sound.

The pro EQ and no EQ..i think the volume loudness is just the same (if any difference, perhaps without EQ just a very slightly louder -barely noticeable)..but i did notice the sound color, between no-EQ vs proEQ, is a little different. the pro EQ is a little smoother/warmer (just a tad).

If i change to my own made EQ, the volume is noticeable smaller, like 6-7 step smaller.

 

[jonstatt]

I just tried mine. I did not hear any click sound at all. I created another EQ by my self. I changed the EQ to one another (including without Eq) i still did not hear any click sound.

The pro EQ and no EQ..i think the volume loudness is just the same (if any difference, perhaps without EQ just a very slightly louder -barely noticeable)..but i did notice the sound color, between no-EQ vs proEQ, is a little different. the pro EQ is a little smoother/warmer (just a tad).

If i change to my own made EQ, the volume is noticeable smaller, like 6-7 step smaller.

I should have been clearer. To hear the click you need to be playing a very quiet or silent part of a music track. I do think it used to be much more obvious but I don't want to go back to an older firmware just to prove that The volume difference is very slight and at least we agree that if anything it is louder with Pro EQ off. I find the difference with Pro EQ on or off to be very slight anyway, but if anything what you describe as smoother/warmer, I would articulate as slightly congested. Does anyone prefer Pro EQ?

 

[etteoh]

Hey guys, need a bit of help here. Didn't know a new firmware was out today 1.31 for our AK380s. Problem was my cousin updated and now he's experiencing some radio frequency sweeps. It was immediately apparent after the update. I was lucky to have read the message he sent me otherwise I would have updated and may have run into the same problem. 
 
Any chance I could help my cousin get hold of an older firmware so he can downgrade and then try the update again? I don't know why AK is not making older firmware available for people to go back to. It would have been extremely helpful for those facing issues like my cousin's.
 
Any help at all would be appreciated! Thank you guys!
 
Best regards,
E.T.

 

[jonstatt]

  Hey guys, need a bit of help here. Didn't know a new firmware was out today 1.31 for our AK380s. Problem was my cousin updated and now he's experiencing some radio frequency sweeps. It was immediately apparent after the update. I was lucky to have read the message he sent me otherwise I would have updated and may have run into the same problem. 
 
Any chance I could help my cousin get hold of an older firmware so he can downgrade and then try the update again? I don't know why AK is not making older firmware available for people to go back to. It would have been extremely helpful for those facing issues like my cousin's.
 
Any help at all would be appreciated! Thank you guys!
 
Best regards,
E.T.

 
Interesting but I am confused! You can't hear radio frequencies, so I am not quite sure what you mean. There is some audible interference when WiFi or Bluetooth is enabled?

 

[etteoh]

Sorry, my bad. It's more like white noise that you hear from radio when tracking different stations. Anyone experience this before with previous updates?

 

[sonickarma]

Hey guys, need a bit of help here. Didn't know a new firmware was out today 1.31 for our AK380s. Problem was my cousin updated and now he's experiencing some radio frequency sweeps. It was immediately apparent after the update. I was lucky to have read the message he sent me otherwise I would have updated and may have run into the same problem. 

Any chance I could help my cousin get hold of an older firmware so he can downgrade and then try the update again? I don't know why AK is not making older firmware available for people to go back to. It would have been extremely helpful for those facing issues like my cousin's.

Any help at all would be appreciated! Thank you guys!

Best regards,
E.T.

E.T phoning home frequency issues

(sorry couldnt resist)