[SashimiWu]

That's good to hear. The missing second only occurred on the AK100II when I manually skipped to the next track, no problem when you let one track play to the end and the next track start automatically.

Having had an AK100II I have never had that happen to me. Happened a lot to my DX90 though.

 

[yaluen]

There have been multiple accounts both confirming and contradicting. I was running v1.12 firmware playing files off internal storage but these factors don't seem to play a part from other reports. The inconsistency unit to unit, with both AK100II and Jr, is disconcerting to say the least.

 

[hifistarter]

  There have been multiple accounts both confirming and contradicting. I was running v1.12 firmware playing files off internal storage but these factors don't seem to play a part from other reports. The inconsistency unit to unit, with both AK100II and Jr, is disconcerting to say the least.

I guess as stated earlier to each their own,  Perhaps a poll would show of the owners who is satisfied with their UI and who is not, yet to those that care about the SQ vs the UI, the UI may be a non issue once again as stated before.  I guess it would boil down to, who places more emphasis on the UI and its responsiveness or lack there of, and those that prefer the SQ and are not bothered by the UI.
 
Prime example I just upgraded from an HTC Vivid to an Samsung S6 and man do I find the S6 overwhelming as for now - I know I will learn it and appreciate its speed and capabilities.   But they are both still a phone!
 
Heck who can remember the Walkmans and having to FFWD or RWD, before the "Auto-Find" ( I can not recall the button on my Kenwood).  Not to mention the first CD players took a while to find the next song as well. 
 
If it really sounds great and is a mid level upgrade / entry then perhaps the UI is something I for one might be willing to deal with.

 

[craigp]

  I guess as stated earlier to each their own,  Perhaps a poll would show of the owners who is satisfied with their UI and who is not, yet to those that care about the SQ vs the UI, the UI may be a non issue once again as stated before.  I guess it would boil down to, who places more emphasis on the UI and its responsiveness or lack there of, and those that prefer the SQ and are not bothered by the UI.
 

 
A poll would be interesting - although I still wonder if mine is faulty vs my expectations being "high"
 
I'm not sure that I agree with your next point though that it should be a one thing (UI) or the other (SQ) that is important.  Would you be happy buying a brand new Ferrari where someone has replaced the steering wheel with a digital joystick?  By your argument the interface (wheel) isn't important as long as the engine still performs the same 

.
 
I am of course being slightly facetious (forgive me) but my point is that both a respectable UI and sound quality is a reasonable expectation at the asking price.

 

[hifistarter]

   
A poll would be interesting - although I still wonder if mine is faulty vs my expectations being "high"
 
I'm not sure that I agree with your next point though that it should be a one thing (UI) or the other (SQ) that is important.  Would you be happy buying a brand new Ferrari where someone has replaced the steering wheel with a digital joystick?  By your argument the interface (wheel) isn't important as long as the engine still performs the same 

.
 
I am of course being slightly facetious (forgive me) but my point is that both a respectable UI and sound quality is a reasonable expectation at the asking price.

I give you that, and at the price point you are right. 
 
But I think I did not convey well that perhaps for some they can live with the UI nuisance, if they get the SQ.  
 
I for one may dive off the deep end and spring for one, hoping that perhaps my lack of technical savy is overcome by the delivery of SQ that meets my expectations.  I would like to travel without bands, cables and adapters .  Leaving the Rockbox'd iPod and JDS Labs C5 at home. 
 
Either way, it's all gravy, and we are on the same page

 

[yaluen]

I find it surprising that iRiver, a publicly traded company with a market cap of ~USD$155M, can't seem to employ competent devs able to push polished firmware/OS to their devices.
 
In any case, everything else about their DAPs are top of the class to be sure, and I wouldn't be posting if I didn't find the Jr to be an attractive piece of gear.

 

[goodvibes]

   
Good to hear other opinions but to be clear waiting a few seconds before swiping make zero difference in my case.  Also it makes no difference how gently/slowly I touch the screen there is still an unacceptable delay when returning to the list of albums/artists.
 
You could be right that some people have different tolerances to lag - that's a completely fair point but by way of comparison I was using a contract-free smartphone the other day that cost £40 (around $60) where the interface was perfect - all of the time.  That has a LOT more technology going on under the hood and costs 10% of the cost of the A&K Jr (in the UK at least).  Therefore on balance I don't think it's unreasonable to expect the interface on the Jr to be able to cope with a "flick" more than about 1 in 5 times 

.
 
If my device isn't faulty then A&K should never have let this model out of the factory as it stands.

I never tried to flick as you did but to be fair, your's could well be a lemon if it doesn't behave like in the early vid a few pages back.

 

[Steven R. Rochli]

In regards to break-in: do you believe that need exists for the Jr.? We know with the ZX2, Sony specifically told everyone that the caps needed the break in time. And everyone who owns one agrees that the nature of the device changes substantially over the break-in period. Do you think something similar is needed for the Jr.? And if so, do you have a time frame that you suspect is sufficient for full break-in?

 
HUGE apologies for delay in replying, have massive workload to get the July issue of the Review Magazine online. YES as far as break-in is concerned imho. When I first got it, I kinda hated it as it reminded me of the Sony NWZ‑A17SLV (bright, reduced dynamic shading, etc). Have been playing in literally non-stop since getting it about 8 days ago both on and off USB power to get an idea of battery life with mixed media (MP3 / FLAC / DSD). Now reaching 200 hours am listening to it again via the Noble K-10, UE 18 Pro and Roxanne. There is a marked improvement in sound. Long story short, she needs to break in imho. Hope this help. Am writing the review this week so all the down 'n' dirty will be there.
 
 

 

 
 
Priceless! Well, that and the new CEO saying he can "finally" make calls on a watch during his presentation (which ive been doing for years now on multiple wearables). Just gotta love how Apple is so <cough>revolutionary</cough> with delivering <cough>truly extraordinary</cough> devices that <cough>re-define</cough> how you'll look at XYZ in a new way you never imagined, or felt, was possible.
 
PS: For the record I'm computer 'agnostic' and have Linux, Android, Apple, Windows, Tizen... Just hate empty hyperbole by CEOs and product reps. Yet we all need to break the glass ceiling and think outside the box while also being leaders creating a new frontier to push further into discovering new ways of applying emerging advanced product application than we ever imagined was possible.

 

 

[HiFiGuy528]

First and fore most, the AK JR is a music player.  Why are we trying to navigate through its menus and features like it was a smart phone?  Just choose an album and let the damn thing play MUSIC.  What I love about it is there are no distractions.  I can't check my Facebook or Twitter on it.  It forces me to relax and enjoy my favorite tunes.

 

[mosshorn]

I think what has so many people a little salty about the UI is that for this price range, competitors aren't laggy. I completely agree about it being all for the music, but it's 2015. You shouldn't have lag on menus. 
 
This being said, the Jr seems like a near perfect player to me. Companies need to shy away from making audiophile bricks, it's so 2010

 

[craigp]

  Why are we trying to navigate through its menus and features like it was a smart phone?

 
Never once have I tried to tweet something or check my mail with the Jr

. 
 
It's a capacitive touch screen system on a device that is capable of holding many (MANY) gigabytes of music files.  It also costs a lot of money.  
 
Plain and simple the interface should not suck. 

 

 

[AUDIOBREEDER]

I know there is ahuge price difference, but which is better A17 or this in terms of sound.
 
I'm guessing A17 wins in terms of UI?

 

[Steven R. Rochli]

Jr for sound and (for the moment) Sony 17 for UI, but a firmware update to the Jr could easily solve the lag. I can very easily replicate the lag, to nearly downright freezing(!), of the Jr in a specific file I created with quite a bit of mixed content within said folder. Saw first-hand AK improve the 380 with firmware between Munich and Newport, and that was just a few weeks apart. The Jr probably just needs firmware as perhaps there is a coding/leak problem somewhere.

 

[SashimiWu]

  I know there is ahuge price difference, but which is better A17 or this in terms of sound.
 
I'm guessing A17 wins in terms of UI?

 
I have only owned the A17 for a short amount of time so take this with a grain of salt.  To me, the A17 was a very bright sounding player.  The highs were very crisp and could be slightly sibilant with my K10's.  Bass was slightly boomier and also had slightly more impact.  I didn't really notice anything special about the mids.
 
I would say that the AK Jr sounds slightly more balanced (probably due to the smoother sound), and sounds very similar to the DX90 which I love.  Level of detail I would say is about the same on both players.  It still has that AK house sound where it sounds slightly warm and very smooth/relaxed.
 
Overall, I would probably still prefer the AK Jr soundwise.  I don't remember the A17 impressing me that much when I owned it which is why I sold it off preferring my DX90.  The A17 lacks power and it was kind of noticeable on my K10's which sounded kind of flat (not much depth to the music).  Still for the price, I think it is a decently good sounding player with good looks, size, and UI.

 

[XELLENCE]

I just found that China got black version of the Jr
 
http://www.loxpo.com/article-1565-1.html
 
Damn, these look sexy.