[obbiie]

 
Alright, I think I figured out this playlist stuff.
 
Since I believe you're on a Mac, I'll first explain what you have to do on a Mac.
 
1) Open TextEdit
2) Format > Make Plain Text
3) Add songs via their path
     Example: /mnt/SD0/Music/Lana Del Rey/Born to Die/Blue Jeans.flac
4) File > Save...
5) Set Plain Text Encoding to Unicode (UTF-8)
     The other encoding options may work, but I tried UTF-8 and it worked
6) Name your playlist and include the .pls extension
     Example: Playlist.pls
7) When asked whether to use .txt extension or .pls extension, press Use .pls
8) Now drop the playlist file into your Jr's Playlist folder and it should work
 
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
And for Windows.
 
1) Open Notepad
2) Add your songs
3) File > Save As...
4) Set Encoding to ANSI
     Setting the encoding to UTF-8 on Windows didn't work for some reason
5) Name your playlist with .pls extension
     Example: Playlist.pls
6) Now drop the playlist file into your Jr's Playlist folder and it should work
 
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
And the absolute easiest way (to me), regardless of OS.
 
1) Create playlist on AK Jr
2) Add a song
     Not necessary, but can help you remember how the file paths are
3) Connect AK Jr to your computer and navigate to the Playlists folder 
4a) On Mac, right-click on playlist file, Open With > TextEdit
4b) On Windows, right-click on playlist file, Edit Open with > Notepad
5) Add your songs
6) File > Save...
7) Disconnect your Jr and your playlist should be updated
 
To me, this is the easiest method. The others aren't difficult, but with this one, you don't have to remember as much (format, encoding, using the right extension, etc.).

Thanks for the instructions, can't get this to fully work for me though.
 
I follow all the steps and I then have a .pls file on my AK Jr internal memory, in the playlist folder. I can open the playlist file on the Jr but every track is 'greyed out' and I can't select any to play. I have checked the file path against the file path in a playlist made of the device and it is exactly the same.
 
I then tried another way, I opened the Playlist created on the AK Jr using Text Edit and just added two tracks to the bottom of the list. The added tracks are on the SD card, as are 3 of the tracks on the playlist as created on the device (with some other tracks from the internal storage) When I save this edited file and open it on the AK Jr then the added tracks are greyed out AND the other tracks in the playlist for the SD card are now greyed out BUT the tracks from the internal memory are fine. 
 
Weird.

 

[swannie007]

Does anyone else think this UI is slow!!!! I almost fall asleep waiting for it to respond to a command. Also very buggy and often does not respond but locks up for a while and then seems to unlock itself and carry out the commands that were entered when it was locked up. Is this normal or do I have a faulty unit? At this price, this is a shameful UI. I love the sound and look of this device but hate the UI.
I look forward to any input from fellow owners. Cheers. 

 

[hifistarter]

I am curious, are you running the latest firmware 1.02?  I only ask as I am considering the Jr. myself.

 

[swannie007]

  I am curious, are you running the latest firmware 1.02?  I only ask as I am considering the Jr. myself.

Yes I am. Updated as soon as I got the unit. Hopefully future firmware will address this.

 

[DrSheep]

For pls you need to use path structure for the AK Jr./Linux and not windows. Get a couple of songs from the internal and SD card to the pls, then use those as reference for the other songs when editing.

 

[swannie007]

For pls you need to use path structure for the AK Jr./Linux and not windows. Get a couple of songs from the internal and SD card to the pls, then use those as reference for the other songs when editing.

Forgive my ignorance but I have absolutely NO IDEA what you are talking about! I am not a computer geek and my other DAP's do not have this problem.(FiiO X1 and Shanling M3). I am using a Mac and am only using the onboard memory at this stage. Also, I can't find the user manual anywhere on my unit and am unable to use all of its functions as I do not know how to use them.
Any help in this regard would be very much appreciated. Cheers.

 

[jincuteguy]

So you guys said this AK Jr. doesn't have Wifi right? What about their AK100II and AK120II?

 

[fiascogarcia]

  So you guys said this AK Jr. doesn't have Wifi right? What about their AK100II and AK120II?

Not for subscription music streaming.

 

[jincuteguy]

 
Not for subscription music streaming.

But do they have Wifi or not?

 

[kerrys30]

looking at specs on http://www.astellnkern.com/.    jr no wifi.  120II and 100II both list wifi.

 

[obbiie]

  Forgive my ignorance but I have absolutely NO IDEA what you are talking about! I am not a computer geek and my other DAP's do not have this problem.(FiiO X1 and Shanling M3). I am using a Mac and am only using the onboard memory at this stage. Also, I can't find the user manual anywhere on my unit and am unable to use all of its functions as I do not know how to use them.
Any help in this regard would be very much appreciated. Cheers.

Yeah, this is driving me crazy.
 
I've done as suggested above.
 
The file path matches exactly to the file path in a playlist created on the AK Jr. 
 
If I add tracks to an existing playlist (created on the AK Jr.) or create a new list in the exact same format (and file type) then those tracks just appear 'greyed out' and not selectable in the playlist view on the AK Jr.

 

[swannie007]

I am seriously considering sending my unit back for a refund! I am getting pretty pissed of with this crappy UI. At this price point it is unforgivable!!
The sound is great but I don't think I can live with this crappy firmware much longer. It's a shame as I love the look and size etc.
I have reloaded the updated firmware again just in case I screwed it up the first time but...no cigar! I also don't have any user manual on my unit and can't find one on-line anywhere so I don't use a lot of the functions as I don't know how to. Oh well, I'll give it a few days and see if I can find a solution, if not, it goes back and I will be out of pocket about US$70.00 for the shipping and that pisses me off! I thought A&K were supposed to be top products but I guess I may be wrong. My Shanling M3 is functionally a much better unit and has a UI that works very well and it very quick to respond to inputs. Looks like it may be a DX 90 or an X5ii or the upcoming X7 for me, at least these units have UI's that work out of the box(excluding X7 of course as it isn't released yet). Got that off my chest and feel much better! Cheers from Oz.   

 

[Jpbas1]

Hi Swannie007,
 
I am sorry to hear about your troubles with the Jr.  I'll try to extract the PDF version of my manual from the Jr. to my desktop and e-mail it to you.  Just IM me later your e-mail address.
 
If you lived closer I'd try to help out with the rest....
 
-John

 

[swannie007]

  Hi Swannie007,
 
I am sorry to hear about your troubles with the Jr.  I'll try to extract the PDF version of my manual from the Jr. to my desktop and e-mail it to you.  Just IM me later your e-mail address.
 
If you lived closer I'd try to help out with the rest....
 
-John

Hey  John,
Thanks for your kind offer. I will e-mail you my personal e-mail address. Cheers.

 

[philk34]

 
I am seriously considering sending my unit back for a refund! I am getting pretty pissed of with this crappy UI. At this price point it is unforgivable!!
The sound is great but I don't think I can live with this crappy firmware much longer

I have seen a post stating that phone manufacturers wanted to get SDcard off their products the way Apple do. Not to make more money on memory but because faulty SDcards where a very common performance issue. Performance issues that people attribute to the device, not the card.
Keeping this in mind, is your Jr as laggy if you take the card off? I Don't know if it can help but it could be a lead.