[d m41n man]

New firmware is supposed to be released Tuesday morning, 3/31 in Korea, which is late night here in the US tonight (3/30). I have not heard of any delay.

I was told XAPK support for the SR15 did not make it into this firmware, but will be included in the next firmware update scheduled for mid-April. I will share if there is a delay in release.

Thanks for the heads up @JasonNYC ! I hope this fixes most of the ongoing problems and extends the battery life/lessen consumption.

 

[Maxx Headroom]

Installed v1.41 this morning and no problems so far. Official description reads:

- Volume safety feature added
: Volume safety feature can be turned on/off in the Settings Menu
: Alert when volume level reaches safety limit
(Function enabled as the default setting)
- Operational stability improvements

Can't say whether this release fixes any issues since my SR15 has been luckily issue-free for 419 days now.

 

[nekromantik]

Installed v1.41 this morning and no problems so far. Official description reads:

- Volume safety feature added
: Volume safety feature can be turned on/off in the Settings Menu
: Alert when volume level reaches safety limit
(Function enabled as the default setting)
- Operational stability improvements

Can't say whether this release fixes any issues since my SR15 has been luckily issue-free for 419 days now.

Still no support for Neutron player

 

[pilgrimbilly]

Still no support for Neutron player

But since you've said in previous posts that the SR15 is a waste of money, you want to sell it, and you don't think you'll buy another A&K product, you don't care about Neutron support.

Right?

 

[nekromantik]

But since you've said in previous posts that the SR15 is a waste of money, you want to sell it, and you don't think you'll buy another A&K product, you don't care about Neutron support.

Right?

I cant sell it as I will make a loss.
No one wants to pay 500 for it. In its perfect condition with case and box.

 

[gavamb]

3.33 installed and appears to have righted the whole ‘cannot turn the bloody thing on’ wrong, so that’s nice. Thanks Jason!

 

[rlw6534]

New firmware is supposed to be released Tuesday morning, 3/31 in Korea, which is late night here in the US tonight (3/30). I have not heard of any delay.

I was told XAPK support for the SR15 did not make it into this firmware, but will be included in the next firmware update scheduled for mid-April. I will share if there is a delay in release.

I was able to install the APKPure XAPK Installer and use it to install the latest Tidal XAPK (2.23) successfully this morning. Seems to be working OK. I do wish the installer did not take up one of the 4 slots, however.

https://apkpure.com/xapk-installer/com.apkpure.installer

https://apkpure.com/tidal-music-hif...e30cfa268a212b9a6073082?from=variants/version

 

[Double C]

I was able to install the APKPure XAPK Installer and use it to install the latest Tidal XAPK (2.23) successfully this morning. Seems to be working OK. I do wish the installer did not take up one of the 4 slots, however.

https://apkpure.com/xapk-installer/com.apkpure.installer

https://apkpure.com/tidal-music-hifi-songs-playlists-videos/com.aspiro.tidal/download/985-XAPK-20fefbc69e30cfa268a212b9a6073082?from=variants/version

Great Find!! I can confirm this works as well!

 

[powersfineart]

The xapk-installer worked for Tidal but I couldn't get it to work for Apple music.

 

[rlw6534]

I haven't tried the xapk version of Apple music because you can it download directly from Apple in normal apk format.

With xapk support you have to be sure and get the armeabi-v7a version. Arm64-v8a packages will not work on the SR-15.

https://www.apple.com/lae/apple-music/android-download/

Edit: I should have mentioned that the link above has to be opened on an android device (AFAIK). It doesn't seem to work on my MacBook using Safari (the download button is missing).

 

[powersfineart]

I haven't tried the xapk version of Apple music because you can it download directly from Apple in normal apk format.

With xapk support you have to be sure and get the armeabi-v7a version. Arm64-v8a packages will not work on the SR-15.

https://www.apple.com/lae/apple-music/android-download/

Edit: I should have mentioned that the link above has to be opened on an android device (AFAIK). It doesn't seem to work on my MacBook using Safari (the download button is missing).

Thank you for the tip! I found a non-xapk 3.2.0 version that installed fine. I mainly use Qobuz anyway but some of the Apple radio stuff is fun. I wasn’t able to download the Apple music apk from the link you gave though. I am on an Arch Linux machine currently and it seems their site wants you to have iTunes installed......or so it seemed. Mission accomplished anyway.

 

[montys1]

What’s the latest Tidal APK version people have got to work? I’m running 2.19, I tried the new 2.21 and 2.22 from APK Mirror and not working. I’ve never got APK Pure files to work.

I notice some people have got the APK Pure 2.23 version to work using the APK Pure installer, as I say I have never got anything to work from this site. Just downloaded every 2.23 version and the APK Pure installer into Android File Transfer and couldn't see any of them. Out of interest I had downloaded and installed the new firmware onto my SR15 prior to this and went to APK Mirror and tried 2.23 Tidal on there one more time and boom! It worked. I'm now rocking 2.23 Tidal from APK Mirror. Happy days.

 

[antoniospain]

Unfortunately, users cannot access the developer options on the SR15. I did read online that your earphones do have a companion app that you can change the volume on the headphones themselves for devices that do not have volume control. You should be able to connect to both the SR15 and the smartphone app via Bluetooth, play back via the SR15 and control the volume from the app on your smartphone.

Are there any news about this issue. I'm very very happy with my SR15, but when I use it when training which Air Pos Pro d¡from Apple the volume is also very very low.

 

[MrManson85]

Good morning

I would like to share some thoughts on the SR15, since they may help someone that was undecided like me.

I will not comment on the WiFi, apps and other amenities since I don’t use them.

My player until yesterday was the Pioneer XDP30. Great player, double SD card Sabre ES9018C2M DACs and a pair of ES9601 amplifiers chips, Bluetooth, balanced output, good battery. It substituted a Fiio X1 II that never satisfied me.

I was quite happy with the Pioneer especially because it always worked flawlessly. Very fast in scanning the library, perfect gapless, good Bluetooth connection. However, you know, we always want to know if there is something more in terms of sound. Therefore, after evaluating some used AK70 MKII I decided to wait for the right opportunity to get the SR15.

I got it on Amazon warehouse for 400 £ and just after using it a bit yesterday, I couldn’t be happier.

Yes, it looks and feels premium, much more premium than the Pioneer. That is not the point of the comparison, but you know it’s a cool feeling. Screen resolution, materials, buttons, jack ports, everything is better.

General system speed is the same if not a bit worse, but the SR15 UI has Apple's buttery smooth feeling. The pioneer is quicker in turning on and scanning the library (much quicker in scanning the library). Anyway, by throwing my 128gb Sandisk straight from the Pioneer to the SR15 everything was recognized without problems.

Comparing the functionalities. I finally found something that I was looking for from ages in a DAP: the ability to add songs to the queue. It was a function that I had 10 years ago on my Creative Zen Sleek, and I never understood why it was absent on the X1, the Pioneer and many other players. Another super nice addition is the search function and the ability to play by genre. For some mysterious reasons in the Pioneer you cannot play all the songs of a given genre, it forces you to select an artist after the genre selection. Continuing, I heard about people complaining about the SR15 EQ. I found it spectacular, even superior to the Pioneer, with a wonderful fine-tune control across all the frequencies. I honestly do not use it much, but it is nice to have it. Something missing compared to the XDP is the possibility of quickly adjusting the bass level, but again I never used this function. Another thing present in the SR15 is the L/R channel adjustment, absent in the Pioneer. Finally, the Pioneer was becoming sometimes really warm only with the Bluetooth on. The SR15 is generally always warmer, especially when scanning the library, but nothing too extreme.

Coming to the sound, I started using the B&W P9, did a lot of A/B and I could hear a difference. It is subtle but it is there. In general, the sound is more engaging. The bass is more present but in a good way, punchier and more controlled. The busy metal tracks I'm used to listening to are now clearer in the midrange frequencies. To explain it in a different way, it is the same feeling I experienced when adding a good headphone amplifier to full-sized cans. Coming to the soundstage, I would say it is equal comparing the two DAPs, maybe slightly narrower in the SR15. However, instrument separation is better. I wish there was even more soundstage, instrument separation and air when moving from the XDP30, but it was not the case. Maybe with the SE100, who knows…

Anyway, it sounds better. It is difficult to explain since is the general feeling I had. Everything sounds more moving. The violins, the voice of the singer… Maybe it is due to increased micro details, I don’t know.

With the balanced output (tested with the Sure 846), these differences are even more evident. There was a drumroll in a track that I never noticed before, that simply put a big smile on my face. I know you can understand the feeling. Listening again to the same track with the XDP30, I was now able to notice this drumroll, but it was far more submerged by the other instruments.

Finally, I was also shocked to hear similar differences with the Bluetooth. I don’t know how and if this is possible since I always thought that in that case, the DAC used is the one in the headphone. But again, A/B, the difference was there. The BT range is equal if not slightly better than the XDP30 that is already fairly good.

Concluding, if you don’t have/want to invest 400 or more in a DAP and you find the XDP30 for 200 £ (like I did in the past) just grab it. It sounds good and it is a nice, fast and reliable player. However, since we want always something more, if you can, invest in the SR15. It’s a nice step up in terms of sounds and features, especially for 400 £.

Tonight I’ll try the line out with the A20, but I’m sure I’ll not be disappointed

 

[Blamelouis]

Good morning

I would like to share some thoughts on the SR15, since they may help someone that was undecided like me.

I will not comment on the WiFi, apps and other amenities since I don’t use them.

My player until yesterday was the Pioneer XDP30. Great player, double SD card Sabre ES9018C2M DACs and a pair of ES9601 amplifiers chips, Bluetooth, balanced output, good battery. It substituted a Fiio X1 II that never satisfied me.

I was quite happy with the Pioneer especially because it always worked flawlessly. Very fast in scanning the library, perfect gapless, good Bluetooth connection. However, you know, we always want to know if there is something more in terms of sound. Therefore, after evaluating some used AK70 MKII I decided to wait for the right opportunity to get the SR15.

I got it on Amazon warehouse for 400 £ and just after using it a bit yesterday, I couldn’t be happier.

Yes, it looks and feels premium, much more premium than the Pioneer. That is not the point of the comparison, but you know it’s a cool feeling. Screen resolution, materials, buttons, jack ports, everything is better.

General system speed is the same if not a bit worse, but the SR15 UI has Apple's buttery smooth feeling. The pioneer is quicker in turning on and scanning the library (much quicker in scanning the library). Anyway, by throwing my 128gb Sandisk straight from the Pioneer to the SR15 everything was recognized without problems.

Comparing the functionalities. I finally found something that I was looking for from ages in a DAP: the ability to add songs to the queue. It was a function that I had 10 years ago on my Creative Zen Sleek, and I never understood why it was absent on the X1, the Pioneer and many other players. Another super nice addition is the search function and the ability to play by genre. For some mysterious reasons in the Pioneer you cannot play all the songs of a given genre, it forces you to select an artist after the genre selection. Continuing, I heard about people complaining about the SR15 EQ. I found it spectacular, even superior to the Pioneer, with a wonderful fine-tune control across all the frequencies. I honestly do not use it much, but it is nice to have it. Something missing compared to the XDP is the possibility of quickly adjusting the bass level, but again I never used this function. Another thing present in the SR15 is the L/R channel adjustment, absent in the Pioneer. Finally, the Pioneer was becoming sometimes really warm only with the Bluetooth on. The SR15 is generally always warmer, especially when scanning the library, but nothing too extreme.

Coming to the sound, I started using the B&W P9, did a lot of A/B and I could hear a difference. It is subtle but it is there. In general, the sound is more engaging. The bass is more present but in a good way, punchier and more controlled. The busy metal tracks I'm used to listening to are now clearer in the midrange frequencies. To explain it in a different way, it is the same feeling I experienced when adding a good headphone amplifier to full-sized cans. Coming to the soundstage, I would say it is equal comparing the two DAPs, maybe slightly narrower in the SR15. However, instrument separation is better. I wish there was even more soundstage, instrument separation and air when moving from the XDP30, but it was not the case. Maybe with the SE100, who knows…

Anyway, it sounds better. It is difficult to explain since is the general feeling I had. Everything sounds more moving. The violins, the voice of the singer… Maybe it is due to increased micro details, I don’t know.

With the balanced output (tested with the Sure 846), these differences are even more evident. There was a drumroll in a track that I never noticed before, that simply put a big smile on my face. I know you can understand the feeling. Listening again to the same track with the XDP30, I was now able to notice this drumroll, but it was far more submerged by the other instruments.

Finally, I was also shocked to hear similar differences with the Bluetooth. I don’t know how and if this is possible since I always thought that in that case, the DAC used is the one in the headphone. But again, A/B, the difference was there. The BT range is equal if not slightly better than the XDP30 that is already fairly good.

Concluding, if you don’t have/want to invest 400 or more in a DAP and you find the XDP30 for 200 £ (like I did in the past) just grab it. It sounds good and it is a nice, fast and reliable player. However, since we want always something more, if you can, invest in the SR15. It’s a nice step up in terms of sounds and features, especially for 400 £.

Tonight I’ll try the line out with the A20, but I’m sure I’ll not be disappointed

I came the same route to the Sr15 via the pioneer xdp 30r and it is a very underrated machine loved it and Pioneer could really do some damage in this field if they invested more in this line.