[JeremyLaurenson]

   
That's a good suggestion - my understanding that sound energy directly into the ear canal, that bypasses the pinna is bad.  If in doubt, consult an audiologist.

Universal fits with the general consumer headphone-mania going on now, I am sure will contribute because these people will listen "loud" regardless of whether they have "earbuds", over-ears, a boombox on their shoulder or just a bass-ed out car stereo with "MDF or plywood that is 1/2" thick or thicker" to stop the rattle...
 
That said, just about every single custom IEM ever made includes a first-stop at an audiologist, and I have never heard of anyone getting any kind of warning along these lines. What I have heard is people being told that because of the sound isolation, you can now run your "headphones" at lower volume, which actually helps - not hurts.
 
On the flipped, you're never supposed to put anything bigger than your elbow in your ear - these things included.... a rule everyone follows, right?
 

 

[flymetothemoon]

  Hi, all
 
Thought I would post a picture or two of a "mod" I did to a Moon Audio Silver Dragon balanced cable for the AK. I bought the standard cable from Drew, but because of the tiny plug, there was quite a bit of nice from the contacts moving in the small socket, as well as a fair deal of angst on my part that there was an awful lot of torque on that small plug.
 
After a few tries, I figured out the best way to get a nice setup was to use 1" diameter heat shrink tube (which comes in a pretty thick variety only, it seems) and use a small piece of wood to fit perfectly between the Silver Dragon 2.5mm plug and a spare 3.5mm plug) Initially I had spaced the plugs (while connected to the AK) and poured hogtie between them, but the heat needed to shrink the shrink using re-melted the hogtie and all kinds of badness ensued.
 
The short version is that I now have a rock solid connector, ridiculous strain relief and a not-too-bad looking solution - and yes, balanced makes a big difference:
 
 

 
 
 

Great DIY design.

 

[warrior1975]

Great DIY design.

Agreed!!

 

[Barra]

HELP!!!
 
Anyone driving their AK100 II with a balanced cable that also has a 3.5mm cable that they can A/B with the same headphone or CIEM? I am curious if there is an audible difference to justify the cost of the balanced 2.5mm cable with the lower powered 100 II. I cannot get the sound of the AK120 II balanced to LCD-XC pairing out of my head, but I never tried it with a standard cable to see if there was a difference.
 
Got to do an extended listen at CANJAM but mainly focused on my existing cable/CIEM and A/Bing the 100 II vs. 120 II. Now that I think back, I believe that they had everything I needed to A/B the balanced vs. non too using Crystal cables.
 
Now I am kicking myself as I ended up ordering the AK100 II and would like to try balanced with my NT6pro, LCD2, and my HD700 to see if it would be worth it with any or all of them. I am not patient enough to wait until next year. Doouuwww!!!!

 

[SDBiotek]

  HELP!!!
 
Anyone driving their AK100 II with a balanced cable that also has a 3.5mm cable that they can A/B with the same headphone or CIEM? I am curious if there is an audible difference to justify the cost of the balanced 2.5mm cable with the lower powered 100 II. I cannot get the sound of the AK120 II balanced to LCD-XC pairing out of my head, but I never tried it with a standard cable to see if there was a difference.
 
Got to do an extended listen at CANJAM but mainly focused on my existing cable/CIEM and A/Bing the 100 II vs. 120 II. Now that I think back, I believe that they had everything I needed to A/B the balanced vs. non too using Crystal cables.
 
Now I am kicking myself as I ended up ordering the AK100 II and would like to try balanced with my NT6pro, LCD2, and my HD700 to see if it would be worth it with any or all of them. I am not patient enough to wait until next year. Doouuwww!!!!

I think there is a sonic benefit, but for me it depends a lot on what I am listening too. I tend to notice the change in sound with small jazz ensemble recordings or others that already have a sense of the original recording space. Some people say there is a huge improvement with going balanced, for others, it's not worth getting a second cable (which can often be more bulky than the single-ended cables). With my Noble K10 ciems, I'd say that overall there seems to be a bit better separation between instruments, more bass impact, when I use them balanced out of the AK100 II, compared to single-ended. Some of that difference may be due to simply using different cabling (silver and copper braid, instead of silver-plated OCC copper for the stock single-ended cable), and also possible due to me not necessarily volume-matching.

 

[Barra]

 

  HELP!!!
 
Anyone driving their AK100 II with a balanced cable that also has a 3.5mm cable that they can A/B with the same headphone or CIEM? I am curious if there is an audible difference to justify the cost of the balanced 2.5mm cable with the lower powered 100 II. I cannot get the sound of the AK120 II balanced to LCD-XC pairing out of my head, but I never tried it with a standard cable to see if there was a difference.
 
Got to do an extended listen at CANJAM but mainly focused on my existing cable/CIEM and A/Bing the 100 II vs. 120 II. Now that I think back, I believe that they had everything I needed to A/B the balanced vs. non too using Crystal cables.
 
Now I am kicking myself as I ended up ordering the AK100 II and would like to try balanced with my NT6pro, LCD2, and my HD700 to see if it would be worth it with any or all of them. I am not patient enough to wait until next year. Doouuwww!!!!

I think there is a sonic benefit, but for me it depends a lot on what I am listening too. I tend to notice the change in sound with small jazz ensemble recordings or others that already have a sense of the original recording space. Some people say there is a huge improvement with going balanced, for others, it's not worth getting a second cable (which can often be more bulky than the single-ended cables). With my Noble K10 ciems, I'd say that overall there seems to be a bit better separation between instruments, more bass impact, when I use them balanced out of the AK100 II, compared to single-ended. Some of that difference may be due to simply using different cabling (silver and copper braid, instead of silver-plated OCC copper for the stock single-ended cable), and also possible due to me not necessarily volume-matching.

At CANJAM, I was able to compare copper in occ vs. non as well as 24 gauge vs. a larger 21 gauge and was surprised to have heard a difference. I also heard a difference between OCC copper and OCC silver which is not so surprising. So comparing a custom to a stock cable could account for some of these differences. 
 
I am pretty sure that i will give it a try, but I have to chose which HP to support. I will probably use the CIEM the most, but my LCD2 needs it the most. I guess this is the downside to headfi, how difficult it is to hear these things for direct comparison to know if it is worth the money. Decisions, decisions. Any other advice would be greatly appreciated. 

 

[96rubberduckys]

Anyone know if Dignis plans to release AK100II / AK120II cases at all? They've already got Cowon and Calyx, maybe they don't even plan on doing them?

 

[Amalz]

Guys
 
What is the name of cable to connect the AK100II into ifi DSD and Chord Hugo or any Portable amp?

 

[warrior1975]

interconnect?

 

[Amalz]

interconnect?

What is the best interconnect custom cable?

 

[warrior1975]

That's very debatable... I don't have too much experience with them to say for certain, some argue they don't matter... some swear they do.

 

[Amalz]

That's very debatable... I don't have too much experience with them to say for certain, some argue they don't matter... some swear they do.

But i see ppl used 3.5 to 3.5 to connect the DAP into Portable amp, Why you side me interconnect?

 

[akhyar]

But i see ppl used 3.5 to 3.5 to connect the DAP into Portable amp, Why you side me interconnect?

I believed interconnect is just generic term, can be used for RCA to RCA, XLR to XLR, or any other termination including 3.5mm to 3.5mm

 

[Amalz]

I believed interconnect is just generic term, can be used for RCA to RCA, XLR to XLR, or any other termination including 3.5mm to 3.5mm

Oh that's great, But what is the best cable of those is?

 

[warrior1975]

Whichever fits. for ak you have 3.5 single end and 2.5 balanced.