[kubig123]

Does the AK 70 support offline playback for Tidal? I am having trouble finding hi res versions of some of the music I listen to, where as Tidal has some of it available to stream (just started a free trial with them) and I would like to consider continuing to subscribe to the service if it would give me the option/ability to download some of the hi res music I am looking to listen to, to play in my car or while on bike rides etc without having to also use my phone as a hot spot, is this something this device can do?

No,
non of the AK players support office playback for Tidal, you have to use your phone as hotspot.
But let me ask you, do you really need hi-res music while you are biking or driving, considering the noise and the focus on the street I really doubt you can appreciate the details from hi-res files.

I personally think your phone is more adequate to play music in these situations.

 

[Lunatics]

No,
non of the AK players support office playback for Tidal, you have to use your phone as hotspot.
But let me ask you, do you really need hi-res music while you are biking or driving, considering the noise and the focus on the street I really doubt you can appreciate the details from hi-res files.

I personally think your phone is more adequate to play music in these situations.

Do I need it? No, probably not, but would I like it yes? I am simply trying to find an all in one digital audio player as a replacement for doing all audio related tasks for me. It's not so much about needing hi res music when on the go like that, as much as it is that I want to try and get all my music into hi res, or as high quality as possible. Some of the music I am having trouble finding on hi res websites and aside from buying all of the CDs and ripping them myself, I do not know how to obtain better quality recordings of the music I already have on my ipod for instance that may be mp3 rather than FLAC. Tidal seems to have higher quality versions of the music I listen to, and quite a selection so I was thinking if this was an option, I would simply re-download the bulk of music I want from Tidal and just use my one device offline and have better quality music on there for when I need or want it, as well as something that would simply just work at all times for me. I get that other people may be okay with carrying around multiple devices and external DACs and amps and what not but I am trying to avoid that and have a device dedicated to listening to music, and my phone dedicated to being a phone. If I absolutely need to stream something that I don't otherwise have access to, then yes I could use my phone but I don't want streaming music to be my primary form of listening to music due to data restrictions, and I don't consider putting music on my phone a viable solution due to the lack of microsd card slots in phones these days. My phone only has about 2-3 gigs free and for the most part, the stuff on my phone is things I need, or at least things I want access to such as pictures/video I have taken and other apps. I am not trying to really fill my phone up with music hence me looking for a solution that would do everything for me. Tidal not working offline is not a deal breaker, but if that is the case I need to find a way to obtain the music I am looking for.

 

[kubig123]

Do I need it? No, probably not, but would I like it yes? I am simply trying to find an all in one digital audio player as a replacement for doing all audio related tasks for me. It's not so much about needing hi res music when on the go like that, as much as it is that I want to try and get all my music into hi res, or as high quality as possible. Some of the music I am having trouble finding on hi res websites and aside from buying all of the CDs and ripping them myself, I do not know how to obtain better quality recordings of the music I already have on my ipod for instance that may be mp3 rather than FLAC. Tidal seems to have higher quality versions of the music I listen to, and quite a selection so I was thinking if this was an option, I would simply re-download the bulk of music I want from Tidal and just use my one device offline and have better quality music on there for when I need or want it, as well as something that would simply just work at all times for me. I get that other people may be okay with carrying around multiple devices and external DACs and amps and what not but I am trying to avoid that and have a device dedicated to listening to music, and my phone dedicated to being a phone. If I absolutely need to stream something that I don't otherwise have access to, then yes I could use my phone but I don't want streaming music to be my primary form of listening to music due to data restrictions, and I don't consider putting music on my phone a viable solution due to the lack of microsd card slots in phones these days. My phone only has about 2-3 gigs free and for the most part, the stuff on my phone is things I need, or at least things I want access to such as pictures/video I have taken and other apps. I am not trying to really fill my phone up with music hence me looking for a solution that would do everything for me. Tidal not working offline is not a deal breaker, but if that is the case I need to find a way to obtain the music I am looking for.

Understand,
if you absolutely need Tidal offline, than I would suggest the ibasso dx200 or the Cayin N5ii, both use android and you can store your tidal files. the Cayin is slightly warmer that the ibasso while the dx200 is neutral. if you like the sound signature of the AK 70, than I recommend the cayin.
There are several other players on the market, but these 2 are the ones I liked the most (based on the retail price).

 

[Lunatics]

Understand,
if you absolutely need Tidal offline, than I would suggest the ibasso dx200 or the Cayin N5ii, both use android and you can store your tidal files. the Cayin is slightly warmer that the ibasso while the dx200 is neutral. if you like the sound signature of the AK 70, than I recommend the cayin.
There are several other players on the market, but these 2 are the ones I liked the most (based on the retail price).

The big thing for me is I am looking for a device that will also function as a USB DAC for a PC so that when using my laptop on the go and traveling, I can also plug my DAP into it and get some better quality audio out of it. Again, I know that this will not compare to a standalone DAC however, compared to what would be built into say, my Thinkpad for instance, or even my gaming PC, I am sure that the DAP as a DAC would provide better audio quality, and (hopefully) drive my HD 6xx's better than the PC might if I was trying to bring those with me. I spend a decent amount of time on the road traveling from client to client working in IT for an MSP so I want to have a reliable device that will play all my music for me as good as possible (again I know I will be limited in the car) when traveling on the road for a few hours a day, then be able to take the device to my desk and potentially keep listening to my music there, or hook it up via USB to charge and use as a DAC for my work computer and continue streaming Tidal at work or something. When I leave work, there's a good amount of times I will go over friends houses to hang out and we may decide we want to play a game of CS or something so I would also love the functionality of plugging in my DAP as a DAC to get better audio from my PC when playing games like CS where audio can make a huge difference.

I appreciate the suggestions and I will look into the other devices as well. I found a decent deal on the AK70 MKII which is why I started thinking about it even though it was initially out of my price range. I first thought the X5 would be a good solution for me but seems to lack a lot of support and have a few issues with it that who knows if anything will ever be fixed or improved or not which turned me away from that, made me start thinking about this (due to the USB DAC functionality and better quality). I would like to try and buy something asap but I am trying to avoid jumping headfirst into something and investing a fairly decent amount of money into a device like this if it will not suit me or do everything I need it to and be stuck with it or lose money trying to sell it again. I really need something as the hard drive in my ipod classic has finally died/is dying on me so it continues to function in my car but I cannot add (or remove really) music from it. If I try adding music my PC stops being able to read the hard drive and locks up my entire PC until it gives me an error message that it failed after like 15-20 minutes. I have an ipod touch but it's only 16 gigs I believe and barely fits any music on it I feel like, so I'm at a point now where I really need to upgrade/replace my device so I can actually update my DAP with music I listen to and not my old high school playlists and small amount of things I added after the fact before it died. I've had trouble really finding DAPs that function as DACs so that's why I've been really looking at Fiio and now the AK because I know that they do what I am looking for. I would probably be looking into getting the Fiio Pro F9s as well as an IEM to carry around with me all the time in my backpack for better portable quality audio however that will be a little down the line.

TLDR: Looking for an all in one device to play all of my music files for me on the go in my car, biking/exercising, going away and traveling and most importantly also having the function of a USB DAC for a PC to provide better quality audio on my laptop when I need it. Tidal offline is not absolutely necessary or deal breaking, but it would be an extremely nice feature to have so I could essentially download my music collection from there and always have it as I am having trouble finding hi res versions of music I am looking for one any of the hi res websites so I was hoping Tidal may be an all in one replacement for this, otherwise I'll have to go buy all the CDs I am looking for and rip them myself, in which case Tidal would not be as important. If you have any other recommendations they would be greatly appreciated and looked into before I potentially commit to the mkii.

 

[uncle b]

Do I need it? No, probably not, but would I like it yes? I am simply trying to find an all in one digital audio player as a replacement for doing all audio related tasks for me. It's not so much about needing hi res music when on the go like that, as much as it is that I want to try and get all my music into hi res, or as high quality as possible. Some of the music I am having trouble finding on hi res websites and aside from buying all of the CDs and ripping them myself, I do not know how to obtain better quality recordings of the music I already have on my ipod for instance that may be mp3 rather than FLAC. Tidal seems to have higher quality versions of the music I listen to, and quite a selection so I was thinking if this was an option, I would simply re-download the bulk of music I want from Tidal and just use my one device offline and have better quality music on there for when I need or want it, as well as something that would simply just work at all times for me. I get that other people may be okay with carrying around multiple devices and external DACs and amps and what not but I am trying to avoid that and have a device dedicated to listening to music, and my phone dedicated to being a phone. If I absolutely need to stream something that I don't otherwise have access to, then yes I could use my phone but I don't want streaming music to be my primary form of listening to music due to data restrictions, and I don't consider putting music on my phone a viable solution due to the lack of microsd card slots in phones these days. My phone only has about 2-3 gigs free and for the most part, the stuff on my phone is things I need, or at least things I want access to such as pictures/video I have taken and other apps. I am not trying to really fill my phone up with music hence me looking for a solution that would do everything for me. Tidal not working offline is not a deal breaker, but if that is the case I need to find a way to obtain the music I am looking for.

As an owner of an AK70MKII, I am very pleased with it. I, too, have no interest in using my iPhone for music, too many distractions are possible when listening. The lack of TIDAL off-line listening on A&K has been frustrating to so many here, as well. Call me old or outdated, but I still buy CD’s, and have a huge library of discs encoded into Apple Lossless, for my dedicated listening. Wouldn’t have it any other way.

 

[Lunatics]

As I am getting more into audio I am coming to the realization that I think I need to actually go back and start buying CDs again, can't remember the last physical CD I bought. Think it was Avenged Sevenfold back in high school heh but it looks like I will need to start doing this again, especially for some of the more "random" bands I really like who have great sounding high quality music but nothing on these hi res sites. Bands like "Here Come The Mummies" and "Polyphia" I really thought there would be a bigger selection of lossless music for them but I guess I am wrong, maybe they are not big enough, I don't know /shrug.

 

[uncle b]

As I am getting more into audio I am coming to the realization that I think I need to actually go back and start buying CDs again, can't remember the last physical CD I bought. Think it was Avenged Sevenfold back in high school heh but it looks like I will need to start doing this again, especially for some of the more "random" bands I really like who have great sounding high quality music but nothing on these hi res sites. Bands like "Here Come The Mummies" and "Polyphia" I really thought there would be a bigger selection of lossless music for them but I guess I am wrong, maybe they are not big enough, I don't know /shrug.

CD’s have yet to let me down! Sure, they take up serious space in my humble 2 bedroom condo, but I love still having (some) artwork and (some) liner notes and something physical to actually hold and celebrate for my hard-earned and spent $.

 

[Lunatics]

How about a remote to control the DAP without having to physically touch it, if I have it locked in my glove box? Any way to use my phone to connect via bluetooth or something to have control over skipping/pausing songs etc, or is there some sort of cheaper generic bluetooth remote to control it? I see AK sells one that is $175 and I simply could never justify spending that kind of money on a little remote like that and looking for other options to control the audio if using it in my car without having to touch the device and scroll through things or hit small buttons etc on the screen.

 

[Nick Scott]

CD’s have yet to let me down! Sure, they take up serious space in my humble 2 bedroom condo, but I love still having (some) artwork and (some) liner notes and something physical to actually hold and celebrate for my hard-earned and spent $.

If you like the artwork, (readable) liner notes and something physical to hold then vinyl is the way. Sounds better, too

 

[uncle b]

If you like the artwork, (readable) liner notes and something physical to hold then vinyl is the way. Sounds better, too

I totally agree! I hitched my wagon to CD’s decades ago, and have resisted the temptation to go back to vinyl!

 

[uncle b]

How about a remote to control the DAP without having to physically touch it, if I have it locked in my glove box? Any way to use my phone to connect via bluetooth or something to have control over skipping/pausing songs etc, or is there some sort of cheaper generic bluetooth remote to control it? I see AK sells one that is $175 and I simply could never justify spending that kind of money on a little remote like that and looking for other options to control the audio if using it in my car without having to touch the device and scroll through things or hit small buttons etc on the screen.

The AK70MKII is a small DAP (body & screen), and I couldn’t imagine fumbling around with it in my car.

 

[Lunatics]

The AK70MKII is a small DAP (body & screen), and I couldn’t imagine fumbling around with it in my car.

Yeah that's why I want to try and find some sort of remote or way of controlling it without taking my eyes off the road, and without spending almost $200 on a silly little remote.

Out of curiosity, does anyone here know if Deezer is supported by any good DAPs? I believe AK does not have access to the app store since it is not officially "real android" correct? So in that case no AKs would be able to download and use Deezer or take advantage of the hifi playback if that even works on daps?

 

[UlisesC]

Yeah that's why I want to try and find some sort of remote or way of controlling it without taking my eyes off the road, and without spending almost $200 on a silly little remote.

Out of curiosity, does anyone here know if Deezer is supported by any good DAPs? I believe AK does not have access to the app store since it is not officially "real android" correct? So in that case no AKs would be able to download and use Deezer or take advantage of the hifi playback if that even works on daps?

I think FiiO RM1 is what you’re looking for. It even comes with a steering wheel clip.

 

[LondonGecko]

Does the AK 70 support offline playback for Tidal? I am having trouble finding hi res versions of some of the music I listen to, where as Tidal has some of it available to stream (just started a free trial with them) and I would like to consider continuing to subscribe to the service if it would give me the option/ability to download some of the hi res music I am looking to listen to, to play in my car or while on bike rides etc without having to also use my phone as a hot spot, is this something this device can do?

Not as far as I know. Somewhere in a thread there is someone from A&K who says it's a licencing thing.

 

[home44]

Just ordered one of these units - Really looking forward to getting it.
Got the Pioneer xdp-100r t the moment.

Hope the AK 70 MK2 is a big improvement.