[crabdog]

The angled screen is really throwing me off. It seems they are sacrificing usability/ergonomics for over the top designs.

It will likely sit in the correct orientation when it's in your hand. Also, even if that's not the case - things like that make a statement and you won't forget about it in a hurry. A&K surely owes much of their previous success and popularity not just for excellent hardware but also to their unique design philosophy.

 

[svk7]

I would buy one in a heartbeat and get integrated into this ecosystem if A&K would just implement iTunes synchronization support or develop a very good third-party app solution that allows seamless syncing (constant updating) with iTunes.

I found the current Android interface to be extremely clunky, cumbersome, and spent months trying to sync my 15,000 song, 140GB collection – even having to return my unit for repair because I’m pretty sure all of that music transferring I was doing bricked the device.

The way things stand right now, unless you have fewer than 2,000 high-resolution songs that you listen to or use TIDAL, those be the only two instances where I would recommend purchasing a dedicated DAP such as this. I’m sure there are many out there’s like me who are constantly adding new music to my iTunes library, and this ecosystem is very helpless when it comes to helping one organize and keep their music collection updated.

Until a better solution is come up with (and don’t tell me to use Android File Transfer, SyncMate, or Dapper as all of those solutions failed miserably) I (and I’m sure many others) will continue using an iPhone to mojo/cozoy/etc combination…

 

[lesc]

I'm quite interested in using the new SE100 model as my primary digital audio player for my home stereo system. (Of course, it could/would do double-duty as a portable player as well.) A question regarding the storage: Do the built-in and microSD storages act as one? Or do I have to partition my audio files separately? (My storage requirements require both.) Also, upon startup, do these players need to read (or worse, create) the index each and every time? A reasonable bootup time is important to me.

I have no doubt the sound quality will be up to par. I now ony wish the functionalities will be so...

 

[JasonNYC]

I would buy one in a heartbeat and get integrated into this ecosystem if A&K would just implement iTunes synchronization support or develop a very good third-party app solution that allows seamless syncing (constant updating) with iTunes.

I found the current Android interface to be extremely clunky, cumbersome, and spent months trying to sync my 15,000 song, 140GB collection – even having to return my unit for repair because I’m pretty sure all of that music transferring I was doing bricked the device.

The way things stand right now, unless you have fewer than 2,000 high-resolution songs that you listen to or use TIDAL, those be the only two instances where I would recommend purchasing a dedicated DAP such as this. I’m sure there are many out there’s like me who are constantly adding new music to my iTunes library, and this ecosystem is very helpless when it comes to helping one organize and keep their music collection updated.

Until a better solution is come up with (and don’t tell me to use Android File Transfer, SyncMate, or Dapper as all of those solutions failed miserably) I (and I’m sure many others) will continue using an iPhone to mojo/cozoy/etc combination…

We are looking into better options for Mac-based users. Unfortunately Apple also doesn't help in this situation by making themselves compatible with competing products. iTunes is a closed system to Apple and will not support non-Apple devices and Apple OS purposely does not include native support in the OS for Android products since they compete with iPhones.

 

[rschoi75]

I seriously hope that's not the final design of the SP15.
The novelty of that crooked screen has already worn off, and I've only seen it a picture of it online.

 

[chef8489]

I would buy one in a heartbeat and get integrated into this ecosystem if A&K would just implement iTunes synchronization support or develop a very good third-party app solution that allows seamless syncing (constant updating) with iTunes.

I found the current Android interface to be extremely clunky, cumbersome, and spent months trying to sync my 15,000 song, 140GB collection – even having to return my unit for repair because I’m pretty sure all of that music transferring I was doing bricked the device.

The way things stand right now, unless you have fewer than 2,000 high-resolution songs that you listen to or use TIDAL, those be the only two instances where I would recommend purchasing a dedicated DAP such as this. I’m sure there are many out there’s like me who are constantly adding new music to my iTunes library, and this ecosystem is very helpless when it comes to helping one organize and keep their music collection updated.

Until a better solution is come up with (and don’t tell me to use Android File Transfer, SyncMate, or Dapper as all of those solutions failed miserably) I (and I’m sure many others) will continue using an iPhone to mojo/cozoy/etc combination…

Until you want to learn to use something other than itunes you are stuck. Thats how apple wants it.

 

[gerelmx1986]

WOW SR15 A&Norma $699 just maxing out at DSD 2.8224 MHz and 24/192? jeez, even the $699 Sony walkman NW-ZX300 outperforms the Norma on this 32/384 PCM & 11.28 MHz DSD (DSD 256).. The angled screen hope it is just a faux-pas on the image rendering…

 

[hfflt]

Highly doubt.

 

[svk7]

Until you want to learn to use something other than itunes you are stuck. Thats how apple wants it.

Although I acknowledge the sentiment and am frustrated by Apple's locked down ecosystem to an extent, I have “learned“ how to use a bunch of different programs and applications — iTunes, VOX, VLC, Windows Media Player, Foobar, MPlayer, Winamp, and a few others I can't think of off the top of my head — and none of them were as easy, intuitive, or easy as iTunes as far as making playlists, keeping track of things such as dates added, play count, ratings (which may be the most important in my book since a lot of my smart playlists revolve around ratings or a combination of rating with genre/date added/play count). Also, none of them worked particularly will with Mac and/or with the AK120ii.

Working with both Mac and Windows 6-10 hours a day for the last 15 years of my life, I'm a firm believer that Mac OS >>> Windows 7/10. If companies wish to be as profitable as possible, they should look into options for users of all platforms and operating systems (which @JasonNYC kindly pointed out they're working on).

Native Instrument's Traktor found a way to make their software work very seamlessly with iTunes (the only thing that doesn't sync well across are ratings), so I know programs can be made to read from and utilize iTunes data. It's just figuring out how and determining if it's worth your while to do so for both sales and customer satisfaction.

 

[Sound Eq]

Sabre , I hope its implemented well and not analytical and cold sounding

 

[piksnz]

Any sound impressions for futura or comparison with the sp1000.

 

[svk7]

Until you want to learn to use something other than itunes you are stuck. Thats how apple wants it.

Also, since I use iTunes Match, 14,318/17,016 songs (>84%) of my iTunes Library has been matched to Apple's "official" version, can be re-downloaded at any time to maintain the highest quality possible (with no bits lost from studio –> my computer (which could be due to time/errors on hard drive, due to too many transfers/misreads, etc.). In my humble ears' opinion, Chesky Records' and Ed Sheeran's albums in FLAC/DSD sound identical out (of my MBP –> Chord Mojo –> JH 13v2, JH Roxannes, CA Vegas, LCD-2's, and 64 Audio U12) to Apple's 256 kbps m4a files that I may re-download at my convenience, at any time, across any device. The ability to download >14,000 of my songs straight from the source (Apple's iTunes database) can't be said from a song ripped off a CD 1-10 years ago, God knows how many transfers between devices and hard drives, etc.

As for the other 2,700-some songs, those are all uploaded and maintained on Apple's servers as well and would be the same as if you were to upload your music to Google Drive or something and have it capture it then and in that moment. And even then, Google's servers and hard drives aren't perfect either; degradation over time could happen there.

Therefore, it works best for me. And if AK can't accommodate, it's a shame and I continue using my 256 GB iPhone 7 –> Mojo/Rei –> etc.

 

[upsguys88]

I honestly can't see a reason to upgrade my AK120 TItan other than the extra streaming capabilities and faster UI. Its tiny form factor, Dual-DACs, 2-SD card slots and clear slightly warm sound is perfect. I'm still waiting to find a DAP worth replacing that little tank.

 

[chef8489]

Also, since I use iTunes Match, 14,318/17,016 songs (>84%) of my iTunes Library has been matched to Apple's "official" version, can be re-downloaded at any time to maintain the highest quality possible (with no bits lost from studio –> my computer (which could be due to time/errors on hard drive, due to too many transfers/misreads, etc.). In my humble ears' opinion, Chesky Records' and Ed Sheeran's albums in FLAC/DSD sound identical out (of my MBP –> Chord Mojo –> JH 13v2, JH Roxannes, CA Vegas, LCD-2's, and 64 Audio U12) to Apple's 256 kbps m4a files that I may re-download at my convenience, at any time, across any device. The ability to download >14,000 of my songs straight from the source (Apple's iTunes database) can't be said from a song ripped off a CD 1-10 years ago, God knows how many transfers between devices and hard drives, etc.

As for the other 2,700-some songs, those are all uploaded and maintained on Apple's servers as well and would be the same as if you were to upload your music to Google Drive or something and have it capture it then and in that moment. And even then, Google's servers and hard drives aren't perfect either; degradation over time could happen there.

Therefore, it works best for me. And if AK can't accommodate, it's a shame and I continue using my 256 GB iPhone 7 –> Mojo/Rei –> etc.

You should check out jriver media player. I ditched itunes a couple years ago. All my music is stored on hard drived and itunes kept screwing it up every update. Finally i ditched my ipod classic and itunes all together and now i never have problems with having to fix my library. Transfering music to my daps are much eazier as it is click and drag. Music is in flac vs alac now. Playlists are still easy and i can access my pc from outside my house as a media server if i want.

 

[svk7]

What can I say, to each their own. Never had a problem with iTunes myself. Simple things like iTunes for simple minds like me!