[miprasetya]

I've not heard the 120ii but I recently bought the 120 Titan and listened to it solidly for a week I enjoyed it very much then I listened to my 100 ii and it is a lot better, cleaner,clearer better separation and the bass hits lower and harder,I think the Titan works better with an amp and has incredible storage and build,the 100 ii has a better ui and,sounds better ,I paid less for both than what the 120 ii comes in at,so very happy.

I had own AK120 almost 2 years, from what I remembered in term of sound the differences between AK120 and Titan  has more power quit a bit....but when compares AK120 vs AK100 II definately  I prefer AK100 II the main reason is the sounds is thicker and also the sound depth is away better...you may noticed when you listen classical orchestra....the AK100 II has very good layering and the soundstage is more open...regardless the bass sounds I agree the Titan hit harder on the lower....but AK100 II has more complete texture in it.

 

[cattlethief]

I said the 100 ii hits lower and harder on the bass,to my ears the 100 ii is a step up on sq from the Titan which is warmer and more coloured,although I enjoy listening to both because they are different.The 100ii is also more powerful.

 

[jamato8]

I have played briefly with the 901 and a few others:




All I am going to say is the the 901 is, by far, the ugliest, clunkiest, nasty looking thing ever. my wife almost made me take it out back and shoot it.

UI, wifi and Bluetooth killed a lot of Daps and justified several hundred dollars in favor of the AKs for me.

I have a .44 magnum with bear load, would that do it? I use a Air Lite PD by Smith and Weston. Kicks like a hyper mule but nice to carry. But we are talking about SQ here, not looks. And I remember with the new AK series came out and I saw many ugly comments. But again, it is about SQ and with it all boiling down to that, the .44 magnum hurts my ears, the 901 doesn't. lol 
 
I enjoy them all, depends upon my mood. I still listen to my iRiver H120/140 from time to time. 

 

[MadGTI]

The only reason I choose 120II over 100II is the Dual DAC. over single DAC. It increase power for better use on the balanced output.
It also has the same specification (SQ) of AK240 except the carbon fibre body back, more internal storage and DSD native playback which I don't use. Now balanced output is the audiophile trend as more and more DAP and amp used balanced output. If you don't use balanced output with on an upgraded balanced cable on 120II, you have overpaid for this nice feature (better 3D soundstage, clarity of the bass and treble).

 

[Dopaminer]

Alright, possibly dumb question, probably covered previously (but I can`t find the answer) : 
 
Why does the EQ on my 120ii in optical-out mode ?   

 

[Carlsan]

  The only reason I choose 120II over 100II is the Dual DAC. over single DAC. It increase power for better use on the balanced output.
It also has the same specification (SQ) of AK240 except the carbon fibre body back, more internal storage and DSD native playback which I don't use. Now balanced output is the audiophile trend as more and more DAP and amp used balanced output. If you don't use balanced output with on an upgraded balanced cable on 120II, you have overpaid for this nice feature (better 3D soundstage, clarity of the bass and treble).

 
Balanced is the way to go with the 120II, excellent sound.

 

[dpastern]

  The only reason I choose 120II over 100II is the Dual DAC. over single DAC. It increase power for better use on the balanced output.
It also has the same specification (SQ) of AK240 except the carbon fibre body back, more internal storage and DSD native playback which I don't use. Now balanced output is the audiophile trend as more and more DAP and amp used balanced output. If you don't use balanced output with on an upgraded balanced cable on 120II, you have overpaid for this nice feature (better 3D soundstage, clarity of the bass and treble).

 
I wonder how much better balanced mode really is...
 

  Alright, possibly dumb question, probably covered previously (but I can`t find the answer) : 
 
Why does the EQ on my 120ii in optical-out mode ?   

 
I don't believe EQ operates in optical out mode.
 

   
Balanced is the way to go with the 120II, excellent sound.

 
See above - I really wonder how much better it is.  I've just lashed out on a pair of Sennheiser HD600 headphones to use with my AK 120 II when travelling to work etc.  Since the stock cable is 3M long, I'm getting a 1.2M cable made up for me and I've asked the cabling guy to terminate the cable into a 2.5mm 4 pole stereo adaptor.  I presume that that will allow the HD600 to operate in balanced mode, and that I can then use the 2.5mm input?  Correct?
 
Dave

 

[Dopaminer]

   
 
I don't believe EQ operates in optical out mode.
 
 
 

 
It definitely does.  

 

[dpastern]

   
It definitely does.  

 
It doesn't state it in the User Guide (which is admittedly terrible and very vague and has wrong information in it).  But, I was thinking of DSD playback in optical mode, so my bad.  I haven't used it in that fashion (yet) as I'm too lazy to unplug one of the sets from my preamp to test    there's just never enough inputs on preamps these days... (I have a tuner, SACD player, video input for blu ray, phono amp, tape deck etc!)

 

[RUMAY408]

   
I wonder how much better balanced mode really is...
 
 
I don't believe EQ operates in optical out mode.
 
 
See above - I really wonder how much better it is.  I've just lashed out on a pair of Sennheiser HD600 headphones to use with my AK 120 II when travelling to work etc.  Since the stock cable is 3M long, I'm getting a 1.2M cable made up for me and I've asked the cabling guy to terminate the cable into a 2.5mm 4 pole stereo adaptor.  I presume that that will allow the HD600 to operate in balanced mode, and that I can then use the 2.5mm input?  Correct?
 
Dave

I'm assuming your HP cable will need to be balanced as well

 

[Dopaminer]

   
It doesn't state it in the User Guide (which is admittedly terrible and very vague and has wrong information in it).  But, I was thinking of DSD playback in optical mode, so my bad.  I haven't used it in that fashion (yet) as I'm too lazy to unplug one of the sets from my preamp to test    there's just never enough inputs on preamps these days... (I have a tuner, SACD player, video input for blu ray, phono amp, tape deck etc!)

 
 
I`m playing FLAC files, from my 120ii using optical to my TEAC UD301 dac.  The AK`s volume control is inactive, but the EQ toggles off and on and clearly impacts the sound coming out of my speakers.  I`m having deja vu on this, like it was discussed already but I can`t seem to find the posts.  Maybe it was in the DX50/90 threads.   Anyway I find it interesting that the AK is modifying the sound sig of the digital data coming out of the optical port . . . . 

 

[dpastern]

 
I'm assuming your HP cable will need to be balanced as well

 
mmm.  what's the difference between standard and balanced HP cabling?  I know jack about electronics and cabling and don't really wanna get into the super tech of it all.  Just a basic howto on the differences.  So, if the cable is unbalanced,but terminated as balanced to a 4 pole 2.5mm adaptor, it won't really be balanced, correct?

 

[dpastern]

   
 
I`m playing FLAC files, from my 120ii using optical to my TEAC UD301 dac.  The AK`s volume control is inactive, but the EQ toggles off and on and clearly impacts the sound coming out of my speakers.  I`m having deja vu on this, like it was discussed already but I can`t seem to find the posts.  Maybe it was in the DX50/90 threads.   Anyway I find it interesting that the AK is modifying the sound sig of the digital data coming out of the optical port . . . . 

 
That's handy to know, thanks.  I was thinking of just plugging in the AK unit via a 3.5mm ==> 2 RCA Y cable to a RCA input on my preamp.  That should work as far as I understand, correct me if I'm wrong.

 

[RUMAY408]

   
mmm.  what's the difference between standard and balanced HP cabling?  I know jack about electronics and cabling and don't really wanna get into the super tech of it all.  Just a basic howto on the differences.  So, if the cable is unbalanced,but terminated as balanced to a 4 pole 2.5mm adaptor, it won't really be balanced, correct?

It won't work unless everything is balanced including every plug along the way, this is something I have had to unfortunately learn the hard way, I'm using the AK 100ll balanced to the balanced amp ALO MK3B+ and plenty of interconnects along the way, when you get it right you will know.  
I am currently using the HD650 in my office so portable is the only way to go.
 
A balanced cable and on the HD600 will sound great!

 

[dpastern]

 
It won't work unless everything is balanced including every plug along the way, this is something I have had to unfortunately learn the hard way, I'm using the AK 100ll balanced to the balanced amp ALO MK3B+ and plenty of interconnects along the way, when you get it right you will know.  
I am currently using the HD650 in my office so portable is the only way to go.
 
A balanced cable and on the HD600 will sound great!

 
So, if I ask the cabling guy to terminate it in a 4 pole 2.5mm stereo plug as I want a balanced cable, he should know what to do, right?  Or should I specifically mention the cable (that attaches to the headphones) needs to be also balanced?  Will an unbalanced cable that terminates in a 4 pole 2.5mm stereo plug that's plugged into the AK units balanced input damage it?