[cjfreitag]

Any Mac users having luck finding alternatives to the Android File Transfer? On the AK240 forum SyncMate is recommended as an option, but it doesn't seem to work with my AK120ii.
 
The AFT works fine for me for transfer, but if I want to make any changes in folders/files once they are on the AK I can't do it. For the SD card I can just take it out and put it in a reader so I have direct access to the files.

 

[warrior1975]

If you want to make changes, maybe use a Windows Emulator? I also partitioned my hd using boot camp, dual booting OSX and Windows. Comes in very handy at times.

 

[mike7898]

My Saturday Night, Just the 2 of us!

 

[dpastern]

If you want to make changes, maybe use a Windows Emulator? I also partitioned my hd using boot camp, dual booting OSX and Windows. Comes in very handy at times.

 
but this lack of native mac support is pretty terrible imho, at least in this day and age.  OS X has never been so popular, and many, many people are migrating from Winblows to OS X.  It's about time manufacturers kept up don't you think, instead of expect Apple users to bend over backwards to make things work at their end...

 

[MacedonianHero]

   
but this lack of native mac support is pretty terrible imho, at least in this day and age.  OS X has never been so popular, and many, many people are migrating from Winblows to OS X.  It's about time manufacturers kept up don't you think, instead of expect Apple users to bend over backwards to make things work at their end...

I'll reviewing for Headphone.Guru the AK100 II and my prime computer is my iMac and while I'd love to have native support (and still hoping for a firmware update to allow this), with the MQS Streaming server, you can still have all the music off your OSX based computer via streaming and none of the hassle of plugging it in with a USB cable.
 
So far, I am VERY impressed with this unit...from my IEMs right up to my full sized LCD-X headphones. More to come with the review...

 

[Blue Mica]

  IMO the new ak units are not bass light.
I demo'd the ak100ii for about 2.5 hours with my ref 1, and one thing i certainly remember is that I was literally blown away by the bass impact.
In comparison to the way the lower end sounded on the original ak100, I was quite stunned.
I have had a similar experience with my ak240.
 
I can't comment on how the ak units behaves with other phones, but IMO with the ref 1 there is incredible bass impact.
It's not entirely like having a portable subwoofer, but I feel like it's the closest I can get. (I'm referring to the ref 1 + ak240 combo here, though i think using the ak100ii instead of the ak240 will still give you like 90-95% of the experience).
 
 
Just as a side note, I recently started using my ak240 balanced with the ref 1, and i feel like the bass quantity has decreased a tiny bit whereas the quality (texture, rumble, cleanliness) has increased a tiny bit
I'm a fan of the trade off personally, though it's quite minor anyways.

 
Just clicked buy it now on ebay for AK100II. Ouch! Hard to resist with $100 coupon. The dark metal looks very nice. Curious to see how it compares with DX90 (the loser of the shootout will be sold mercilessly on ebay).

 

[dpastern]

  I'll reviewing for Headphone.Guru the AK100 II and my prime computer is my iMac and while I'd love to have native support (and still hoping for a firmware update to allow this), with the MQS Streaming server, you can still have all the music off your OSX based computer via streaming and none of the hassle of plugging it in with a USB cable.
 
So far, I am VERY impressed with this unit...from my IEMs right up to my full sized LCD-X headphones. More to come with the review...

 
Have you used the AK100 II as a USB DAC on a Mac?  The manual says Windows only, but the website says Windows/OS X.  So, which is it?
 
MQS server - if you look at AK's website, they only have it listed for the AK240.  I haven't checked out my AK 120 II fully yet, but someone said that there's a copy of the MQS software on the unit itself, and others have said you can use the AK24) MQS on the website without issue.  Both are probably true (I say probably cos I haven't tested it myself personally yet).  
 
It would be nice for the AK unit to support OS X's finder natively, rather than have to use Android transfer software.  AK doesn't clearly state this on the unit's dedicated page (they might mention it in a FAQ, but my point is that it's deeply hidden away from the ordinary person, browsing their site).  It should be clearly stated on the product page.  
 
As an aside, I had a bunch of pre sales questions, that due to the lack of contact details on AK's page (it seems that they don't want to talk to their customers), I directed at the Aussie distributor - that was last Sunday...no reply at all.  
 
They give a stingy 1 year warranty in Australia (I've heard longer warranty periods in other countries, but not confirmed), which is completely unacceptable given the price and implied pedigree of the brand.  If the unit fails in the first 3 years, I'll certainly be challenging that warranty (which I can do under Australian consumer laws I might add).  
 
The unit is great sounding, but AK/iRiver's support leaves a hella lot to be desired.
 
Just my honest 2c worth.  I guess as consumers we're being brainwashed into expecting crap support or product misinformation as the norm.  Well, those who accept that sort of treatment from manufacturers, not this lad.

 

[MacedonianHero]

   
Have you used the AK100 II as a USB DAC on a Mac?  The manual says Windows only, but the website says Windows/OS X.  So, which is it?
 
MQS server - if you look at AK's website, they only have it listed for the AK240.  I haven't checked out my AK 120 II fully yet, but someone said that there's a copy of the MQS software on the unit itself, and others have said you can use the AK24) MQS on the website without issue.  Both are probably true (I say probably cos I haven't tested it myself personally yet).  
 
It would be nice for the AK unit to support OS X's finder natively, rather than have to use Android transfer software.  AK doesn't clearly state this on the unit's dedicated page (they might mention it in a FAQ, but my point is that it's deeply hidden away from the ordinary person, browsing their site).  It should be clearly stated on the product page.  
 
As an aside, I had a bunch of pre sales questions, that due to the lack of contact details on AK's page (it seems that they don't want to talk to their customers), I directed at the Aussie distributor - that was last Sunday...no reply at all.  
 
They give a stingy 1 year warranty in Australia (I've heard longer warranty periods in other countries, but not confirmed), which is completely unacceptable given the price and implied pedigree of the brand.  If the unit fails in the first 3 years, I'll certainly be challenging that warranty (which I can do under Australian consumer laws I might add).  
 
The unit is great sounding, but AK/iRiver's support leaves a hella lot to be desired.
 
Just my honest 2c worth.  I guess as consumers we're being brainwashed into expecting crap support or product misinformation as the norm.  Well, those who accept that sort of treatment from manufacturers, not this lad.

The MQS Server software is loaded in the unit and has worked flawlessly with my iMac and the AK100 II. With regards to the warranty, it seems very much in line with most products. My iMAC cost a lot more and Apple still only gives a 1 year warranty. On an aside, I've worked in electronics manufacturing for about 17 years now (I'm a professional engineer) and most failures happen early. They're called "infant mortality failures"...and basically if it doesn't go south in the first few weeks, it should last you a long, long time. 

 

[Levanter]

Germany offers a 2 year warranty for their AK products. Considering the price it should really be at least that...

 

[pekingduck]

Blame Google for not supporting USB mass storage mode on Android and choosing that crappy MTP (Media Transfer Protocol) from Microsoft... 

 

 

[dpastern]

  The MQS Server software is loaded in the unit and has worked flawlessly with my iMac and the AK100 II. With regards to the warranty, it seems very much in line with most products. My iMAC cost a lot more and Apple still only gives a 1 year warranty. On an aside, I've worked in electronics manufacturing for about 17 years now (I'm a professional engineer) and most failures happen early. They're called "infant mortality failures"...and basically if it doesn't go south in the first few weeks, it should last you a long, long time. 

 
Thanks for confirming that MQS is loaded on the unit.  The User Guide doesn't state this, and it should.  I agree about infant mortality failures, but I still think 1 year is not sufficient for a product like this.
 

Germany offers a 2 year warranty for their AK products. Considering the price it should really be at least that...

 
that's better, but I still don't think 2 years is sufficient.  In Australia, phone companies MUST provide a warranty for the period of phone contract (usually 2, sometimes 3 years) under recent consumer laws, even though the manufacturer's contracts are just one years.  
 

  Blame Google for not supporting USB mass storage mode on Android and choosing that crappy MTP (Media Transfer Protocol) from Microsoft... 

 

 
big companies seem to dislike using open formats and open protocols sadly...

 

[JeremyLaurenson]

I am having a strange problem where my playlists used to be fine, these are M3U playlists.... Now the AK 100 seems to not recognize songs, and it keeps getting worse. So in a playlist with 300 songs, I now only see a hundred. I know the playlists are right, because they were working an hour ago

At one point it was claiming too many unrecognizable format songs, but the individual songs play just fine

Any way to reset the Ak and it fix?

 

[dpastern]

I am having a strange problem where my playlists used to be fine, these are M3U playlists.... Now the AK 100 seems to not recognize songs, and it keeps getting worse. So in a playlist with 300 songs, I now only see a hundred. I know the playlists are right, because they were working an hour ago

At one point it was claiming too many unrecognizable format songs, but the individual songs play just fine

Any way to reset the Ak and it fix?

 
Well that's not good.  I don't have an answer, but hopefully it's something simple.  
 
On a side note, are the playlists on the AK units in xml format, and therefore readable on a computer?  

 

[JeremyLaurenson]

Any Mac users having luck finding alternatives to the Android File Transfer? On the AK240 forum SyncMate is recommended as an option, but it doesn't seem to work with my AK120ii.

The AFT works fine for me for transfer, but if I want to make any changes in folders/files once they are on the AK I can't do it. For the SD card I can just take it out and put it in a reader so I have direct access to the files.

I use sync mate mostly successfully on an AK100II...
I wrote an app specifically for this. Www.map-pin.com
Check out dapper.
I use it with my 100II

 

[JeremyLaurenson]

Well that's not good.  I don't have an answer, but hopefully it's something simple.  

On a side note, are the playlists on the AK units in xml format, and therefore readable on a computer?  

I moved everything to the card and reset to factory.. Works fine now :-/