[M-13]

Knowing AK they're probably working on JR II by now...

 

[hamidr]

I messaged Alex with Astell and Kern and encouraged him for another update. Was there a list of needed updates? He said he was going to try and push harder for this.

Have you mentioned all the issues we are facing?
How to contact this guy?

 

[rbalcom]

Thanks everyone.... I wish there was a way to try all these out. I live in Mass... No Frys or BH. Best Buy sucks--San Disk players...

 
You might order them from Amazon. Amazon's return policy is, "You may return most new, unopened items sold and fulfilled by Amazon within 30 days of delivery for a full refund." If you return it because you don't like it you will have to pay shipping, but it can be opened and tried out. Just make sure to keep the box and everything that came with it so it can all be returned together. B&H also has very good customer service, but Amazon is effortless. Here are links to the AK100 II and Jr. on Amazon:
 
http://www.amazon.com/Astell-Kern-Aluminium-Portable-Fidelity/dp/B00L3NASWI/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1453749902&sr=8-1&keywords=astell%26kern+ak100+ii
 
http://www.amazon.com/Astell-Kern-Hi-Res-Music-Player/dp/B00XNME0GC/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1453750589&sr=8-3&keywords=astell%26kern+ak+jr
 
Which is best for you depends on what is important to you. The Jr. has less features and its UI has not had as much time as the AK100 line to become refined. Actually, the AK100 II firmware is the same as on the AK240. In my opinion, with my old ears, the sound quality is similar in all my AK DAPs. As such, features tend to be more important to me in picking between the AK DAPs. If a small form factor and light weight matter a lot, the Jr. is what to pick. If balanced output, Wifi, and a refined interface are more important, go with the AK100 II. Only my opinion based on my experience using both of them and the AK240. YMMV
 
Good luck.

 

[Vartanarsen]

Amazon is a great idea for trying..thanks for that idea...
I think I,lol try the ak100ii first

 

[Leba]

  I messaged Alex with Astell and Kern and encouraged him for another update. Was there a list of needed updates? He said he was going to try and push harder for this.

 
Good to know. I have personally experienced problems with (1) and (2), and (3) has been mentioned number of times in this thread:

1. Better gapless playback (It's not working all that well with some formats - ALAC, AAC and MP3 to name a few. With FLAC it is ok but still not great).
2. The problem that occurs when switching from low res to high res songs.
3. Better USB DAC function.

 

[hamidr]

   
Good to know. I have personally experienced problems with (1) and (2), and (3) has been mentioned number of times in this thread:

1. Better gapless playback (It's not working all that well with some formats - ALAC, AAC and MP3 to name a few. With FLAC it is ok but still not great).
2. The problem that occurs when switching from low res to high res songs.
3. Better USB DAC function.

I've experienced ALL mentioned above + I would add: 4.long pause crash issue while playing high res files...
(2) and (4) are the most painful ones..

 

[howdy]

Have you mentioned all the issues we are facing?
How to contact this guy?

He is on my Facebook. I told him to check out this thread with some of the issues we are all experiencing. 

 

[Vodkamelon]

Only problem (1) I experience, but it doesn't bother me at all.

 

[Deftone]

is the 64GB sd card a definite max capacity then? or has someone got a 128gb working.
 
also i cant seem to find any reviews, if someone could point me to a few links it would be much apreciated.

 

[clee290]

  is the 64GB sd card a definite max capacity then? or has someone got a 128gb working.
 
also i cant seem to find any reviews, if someone could point me to a few links it would be much apreciated.

I've used my 128GB card in mine. I believe someone has used a 200GB card as well.

 

[Deftone]

thanks for the quick reply 

 
128gb + 64 will do just nicely

 

[DrSheep]

 
I've used my 128GB card in mine. I believe someone has used a 200GB card as well.

Yes, just use the 200 Gb card from Sandisk.

 

[swannie007]

I think with the number of times people have complained about the crappy UI on this thread and also to A&K as well as iRiver with no response, I think the likelihood of them providing a firmware update any time soon is pretty remote. I hope I am wrong but their record so far on this issue is pretty dismal! I feel like they don't give a rats about us once they have our money. I will NEVER buy another A&K product again based on my experience with this product. It sounds great, looks great and is a great physical size but their after sales service for this product is non-existent. Some of their agents are great but A&K and iRiver themselves suck at service. The fact that they charge a premium for their product and don't provide after sales service is pretty piss poor. I would also never recommend their products to anyone until they improve their service. 
There, now I feel better about having a $500 device in my cupboard gathering dust because it is such a pain in the keester to use with it's crappy UI! Just my 2c worth. 

 

[Deftone]

does the lag happen across all firmware versions?
 
some report its smooth and other report unusable.

 

[M-13]

I don't think the lag can be solved with a firmware upgrade.
 
I think the hardware is the problem.
 
At least the music never pauses or stutters like it does on the AK100ii/AK120ii.
 
The music continues to play just fine on the JR, but the UI can get slower when playing DSD or something CPU intensive like scrolling fast, etc, etc.
 
I'm used to the lag. It's fine for me personally, but I can see how some might not be happy with it.
 
There is always the AK100ii for them or the Cowon Plenue M, which has lightning fast UI
 
Hopefully AK will use a better CPU with more RAM for the JR II