[GrandNagus50]

Direct download from apple for android apk.

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

Unfortunately, you will need another android device for the link to work as the SR15 has no browser. It do not believe the link will work from a PC or Mac (page loads but no download link).

Thanks. I actually finally got the download to work! And I got the app loaded onto the DAP. Now, the final hurdle is the tiny, cramped keyboard on the A & K. I will need a fine-point stylus (or a sharp stick).
DG

 

[GrandNagus50]

I have a question for owners of the A & K SR15. I am sorting feverishly through reviews of moderately high-level IEM's ($1200-$2000). I can afford to buy ONE new IEM, not three, which is what I will end up with if I remain indecisive .

I have a new A & K SR15. My other main source is my iPhone XS with Dragonfly Red DAC amp. I like the A&K, but I confess that for certain kinds of music (e.g., rock) I like LOUD--not hearing destroying loud, but fairly loud, as that is how this music is played, yes? The A &K's output is marginal in this regard with some quality IEM's (depends mostly on impedance, I guess).

Actually, my question has to do with the 2.5mm balanced output option, which I currently cannot use. If I am using IEM's of low impedance, is there a real advantage to utilizing "balanced output?" I know some people are skeptical. I ask because certain IEM options (e.g., Campfire Audio Solaris 2020) seem to offer only a 3.5mm terminated cable. Others come with two cables or at least offer a 2.5mm terminated balanced cable with can be outfitted with a converter to 3.5mm for source that don't have a 2.5mm.

Should I be seeking an IEM that is equipped for the balanced output option, or is the difference in this context so small that I should not use it in decision-making?

Oh, and I have read that the Campfire Solaris 2020 is prone to background hiss. Is this a consideration with the A&K SR15?

Thanks for any opinions and responses.

Doug Greenberg, Berkeley, CA

 

[Simple Man]

I have a question for owners of the A & K SR15. I am sorting feverishly through reviews of moderately high-level IEM's ($1200-$2000). I can afford to buy ONE new IEM, not three, which is what I will end up with if I remain indecisive .

I have a new A & K SR15. My other main source is my iPhone XS with Dragonfly Red DAC amp. I like the A&K, but I confess that for certain kinds of music (e.g., rock) I like LOUD--not hearing destroying loud, but fairly loud, as that is how this music is played, yes? The A &K's output is marginal in this regard with some quality IEM's (depends mostly on impedance, I guess).

Actually, my question has to do with the 2.5mm balanced output option, which I currently cannot use. If I am using IEM's of low impedance, is there a real advantage to utilizing "balanced output?" I know some people are skeptical. I ask because certain IEM options (e.g., Campfire Audio Solaris 2020) seem to offer only a 3.5mm terminated cable. Others come with two cables or at least offer a 2.5mm terminated balanced cable with can be outfitted with a converter to 3.5mm for source that don't have a 2.5mm.

Should I be seeking an IEM that is equipped for the balanced output option, or is the difference in this context so small that I should not use it in decision-making?

Oh, and I have read that the Campfire Solaris 2020 is prone to background hiss. Is this a consideration with the A&K SR15?

Thanks for any opinions and responses.

Doug Greenberg, Berkeley, CA

Hi Doug,
I was very happy with my M11 with all kind of lowerend iems. When I used my Beyerdynamic t5p.2 I was a big step.
But, when I was in my favorite Head-shop I had a chance to try the sr15 in combi with all kinds of headsets and iems.
Listening with the Campfire Andromeda I desided to buy the sr15 and save money for the andro or solaris 2020.
These were very, very good in detail, sound balance and soundstage was wiiide!
can this combo play loud, like loud. O yes, without any problems.
And about hiss, I never noticed it and if it was there I would have left it in the shop.
good luck!

 

[Promenadeplatz]

I have a question for owners of the A & K SR15. I am sorting feverishly through reviews of moderately high-level IEM's ($1200-$2000). I can afford to buy ONE new IEM, not three, which is what I will end up with if I remain indecisive .

I have a new A & K SR15. My other main source is my iPhone XS with Dragonfly Red DAC amp. I like the A&K, but I confess that for certain kinds of music (e.g., rock) I like LOUD--not hearing destroying loud, but fairly loud, as that is how this music is played, yes? The A &K's output is marginal in this regard with some quality IEM's (depends mostly on impedance, I guess).

Actually, my question has to do with the 2.5mm balanced output option, which I currently cannot use. If I am using IEM's of low impedance, is there a real advantage to utilizing "balanced output?" I know some people are skeptical. I ask because certain IEM options (e.g., Campfire Audio Solaris 2020) seem to offer only a 3.5mm terminated cable. Others come with two cables or at least offer a 2.5mm terminated balanced cable with can be outfitted with a converter to 3.5mm for source that don't have a 2.5mm.

Should I be seeking an IEM that is equipped for the balanced output option, or is the difference in this context so small that I should not use it in decision-making?

Oh, and I have read that the Campfire Solaris 2020 is prone to background hiss. Is this a consideration with the A&K SR15?

Thanks for any opinions and responses.

Doug Greenberg, Berkeley, CA

We simply don't know whether the 2,5" output is just "bridged" from the 3,5" (in that case the delivered voltage will be identically) or it is a purely balanced say doubled circuitry (in that case the delivered voltage is twice the 3,5"). I severally doubt it is pure balanced and when I listen with my adapter A/B the one vs the other I can not recognize any difference not in loudness, not in SQ.

 

[JasonNYC]

Hi JAson

I have tried everything I can think of including a completely ne card formatted only in the player and then loaded up bit by bit. but no joy Same problem. Once I get past 50,000 tracks it all gets flakey.

And I have heard back from A&K via their European service operation in Germany:

We got a feedback from Headquarter regarding the limitation of numbers for AK devices: the limit is 10.000 files !!!!

Ak devices are proofed for max. 10.000 files to play without any issues.

Now I am quite annoyed - one of the reasons I bought the player was the capacity for a 1TB card and the implied capacity for music files - I am using c50% of the card. There was nothing published about a track limit of 10,000. I simply would not have bought it if there had been. What's the point of a 1TB card capacity if the working capacity of the player is only 10,000 files? Very very irritating.

Sorry for the delay in getting back to you. I spoke to our dev team last night and they confirmed there is no limit to the amount of files that can be stored or played back on any AK player. The only limit is the amount of storage space you have available in internal memory and an external microSD card. Our UK/EU team will follow up with our EU repair center to see why they told you there was a 10,000 file limit.

They suggested that you could possibly have an incompatible file format on your microSD card, which would explain why the player seems "flakey" at times. If the player encounters an invalid file format, it keep trying to index that file in the background over and over, which may cause issues.

 

[punknotyet]

They suggested that you could possibly have an incompatible file format on your microSD card, which would explain why the player seems "flakey" at times. If the player encounters an invalid file format, it keep trying to index that file in the background over and over, which may cause issues.

Is there some utility for PC (iriver's or 3rd party), that scans selected directory in search of such incompatible files?
Or is there a way to collect information (some kind of traces?) from program, that is running on SR15, when such issue occurs, and send it to programmers for investigation?

 

[Promenadeplatz]

I experienced similar probs (with different DAP mfr) when storing classical music tracks with real extra large names (often more than 50 characters!!) and had to trim them all to way less than 50 characters, then it worked. It's just an idea!

 

[Braggy]

Hi guys, can anybody help? I’ve just got a replacement SR 15 through, the old one got so hot it was difficult to pick up if not In a case. Initial experience is the new one doesn’t get anywhere near as hot.
However I cannot get Spotify to load, the apk file shows as present on the computer but nothing on the device. I’ve been able to load other services and was able to load Spotify on the device I returned - anybody experienced anything similar? Thanks

 

[rlw6534]

Hi guys, can anybody help? I’ve just got a replacement SR 15 through, the old one got so hot it was difficult to pick up if not In a case. Initial experience is the new one doesn’t get anywhere near as hot.
However I cannot get Spotify to load, the apk file shows as present on the computer but nothing on the device. I’ve been able to load other services and was able to load Spotify on the device I returned - anybody experienced anything similar? Thanks

Try this one (direct from Spotify):

http://download.spotify.com/android/SpotifyAndroid.apk

 

[alesieur]

Hi guys, can anybody help? I’ve just got a replacement SR 15 through, the old one got so hot it was difficult to pick up if not In a case. Initial experience is the new one doesn’t get anywhere near as hot.
However I cannot get Spotify to load, the apk file shows as present on the computer but nothing on the device. I’ve been able to load other services and was able to load Spotify on the device I returned - anybody experienced anything similar? Thanks

See https://www.head-fi.org/threads/ast...essions-reviews.885313/page-156#post-15633693
Note the part where you have to use a VPN from the US. That's what I had to do

Try this one (direct from Spotify):

http://download.spotify.com/android/SpotifyAndroid.apk

I doubt this has the right architecture for the SR15 off the bat.

 

[alesieur]

We simply don't know whether the 2,5" output is just "bridged" from the 3,5" (in that case the delivered voltage will be identically) or it is a purely balanced say doubled circuitry (in that case the delivered voltage is twice the 3,5"). I severally doubt it is pure balanced and when I listen with my adapter A/B the one vs the other I can not recognize any difference not in loudness, not in SQ.

I mean we kinda know.
The manual states that the balanced output on its own is... well... unbalanced.
You have to combine both the 3.5 and the 2.5 using their proprietary cable (last I checked I could only find listings at $900 a pop) to really be unbalanced.

 

[rlw6534]

See https://www.head-fi.org/threads/ast...essions-reviews.885313/page-156#post-15633693
Note the part where you have to use a VPN from the US. That's what I had to do


I doubt this has the right architecture for the SR15 off the bat.

I checked. It is the correct architecture (armeabi-v7a). This is easier than my previous method with VPN. Also, it is an apk, rather than xapk.

 

[Braggy]

Try this one (direct from Spotify):

http://download.spotify.com/android/SpotifyAndroid.apk

That worked perfectly, thanks so much!

 

[rlw6534]

That worked perfectly, thanks so much!

Great! I have been trying to find direct links as much as possible - not particularly trusting of the apk download sites out there....

 

[JasonNYC]

Try this one (direct from Spotify):

http://download.spotify.com/android/SpotifyAndroid.apk

Confirmed this works for SR15, SR25, SE200 and SP1000M. Thanks @rlw6534 This is a great option for those in US/Canada that cannot access Spotify because it is blocked for those countries on APKPure.