Got the AK 120, but I have a problem...
Sep 29, 2013 at 4:46 AM Post #31 of 60
Well, I don't expect AK120 to be able to drive your HD650, because it is simply not designed to do that. I think AK120 has only optical out and no line out, so I don't recommend using it with portable amps to drive headphones like HD650. Maybe you can use it as a USB dac.
 
Sep 29, 2013 at 10:08 AM Post #32 of 60
I've tried my hd650 straight out ak120 and worked but agree couldn't go to loud even with volume right up. Also tried it plugging into my jds labs c5 amp and ak120 and much better volume. Looking at rsa intruder now.......
 
Sep 29, 2013 at 10:48 AM Post #33 of 60
I think Centrance M8 LX is the correct answer especially if you have bal cable for HD650....
 
Sep 29, 2013 at 11:00 AM Post #34 of 60
Sep 29, 2013 at 12:01 PM Post #35 of 60
x838nwy said:
So in conclusion, the 120 cannot be used as a conventional DAC (as in without going through a variable gain stage)? Is there a way to get a fixed line-level out?
Click to expand...

 
max gain effectively removes any gain control effects. The headphone out is as quiet and clean as a line out but some phones need more juice. Line outs are simply fixed gain op amps without as much impedance consideration. If the main amp is of that quality. it will work equally well. Turning the gain all the way up eliminates any digital or volume pot effects. I don't think Red Wine swap out the amp stage on the dac mod for their line out.
 
Oct 18, 2013 at 11:10 AM Post #36 of 60
Ah, this is what got me in a twist in the other AK120 thread... first off, Moon Audio make custom optical cables of various lengths, Fiio also have a short optical cable for use with their products that you can buy (jack to jack).
 
Heard that the AK120's headphone out doubles as a line out, this muddled my brain when looking for a portable amp to match with the device as it already is a DAC and an expencive one at that so using the optical out to another DAC would mean purchasing a higher quality converter than what the AK offers or otherwise risk undoing a $1000 purchase. This means using the DAC in the AK120 and simply boosting its signal with a good amp and not a DAC/Amp as the AK120 would have output its signal to analogue already, is only one DAC/amp I can think of that takes an optical in and seems worthy of the match up and thats the Hifi-M8, which isn't portable by any means... it'd basically be a waste of money not using the AK's internals IMO.
 
(Sorry, just had to repeat that to myself there)
 
Am thinking of pairing the device with a MIII B+ for its power, would be able to use it at home with full sized phones... but as the international is size matched for the AK100 I'm wondering whether it'll pair well or even sound good... as though ALO are saying that its not suitable sonically whereas their other devices are or something. Subversive messaging going on here methinks :-/
 
Oct 18, 2013 at 11:43 AM Post #38 of 60
goldlion973 said:
  Ah, this is what got me in a twist in the other AK120 thread... first off, Moon Audio make custom optical cables of various lengths, Fiio also have a short optical cable for use with their products that you can buy (jack to jack).
 
Heard that the AK120's headphone out doubles as a line out, this muddled my brain when looking for a portable amp to match with the device as it already is a DAC and an expencive one at that so using the optical out to another DAC would mean purchasing a higher quality converter than what the AK offers or otherwise risk undoing a $1000 purchase. This means using the DAC in the AK120 and simply boosting its signal with a good amp and not a DAC/Amp as the AK120 would have output its signal to analogue already, is only one DAC/amp I can think of that takes an optical in and seems worthy of the match up and thats the Hifi-M8, which isn't portable by any means... it'd basically be a waste of money not using the AK's internals IMO.
 
(Sorry, just had to repeat that to myself there)
 
Am thinking of pairing the device with a MIII B+ for its power, would be able to use it at home with full sized phones... but as the international is size matched for the AK100 I'm wondering whether it'll pair well or even sound good... as though ALO are saying that its not suitable sonically whereas their other devices are or something. Subversive messaging going on here methinks :-/
Click to expand...

 
Thought MIII B+ having hiss issue?
 
Oct 18, 2013 at 5:16 PM Post #39 of 60
With IEM's I've heard... would have to read more into that if its still a problem, what headphones etc... the Intruder only works with a low level audio output as a DAC, consider that to be a serious over sight that they're probably going to fix with a new model before long, not really looking for a DAC so the 71b would be more of a contender.
 
Am sizing up the Hifi-M8 at the moment, value wise it offers more even if it is a bit bulky :-/
 
Oct 19, 2013 at 6:20 PM Post #41 of 60
I just received my Ak 120 and will be using my Sennheiser 600 with it

Now inclining toward the Sr71b portable amp. Probably using it single ended at the beginning


Anyone tried this combo

Thanks for your help
 
Oct 19, 2013 at 10:41 PM Post #44 of 60
Thought it was headphonia that claimed it betters the RSA but its not, probably a good idea to save webpages as I go along next time, Zotero is a brilliant app if anyone is into research....in their International review Mike compares the international to the rest of the ALO line and gives the MIII a good review next to it.... of course the MIII doesn't double as a DAC and neither does the 71B which may or may not make them better dedicated devices, noise is an issue on the MIII, the Intruder has a lame DAC in comparison.... also, I feel a bias in some of headphonias reviews at times in the same way people on here are slanted toward the sites sponsors as they're heavily active on the forum, the Hifi-Man range does not get rave reviews on other forums such as anythingbutiod.com where users even go so far as to accuse them of fraud comparing sonic graphs etc .lol.
 
The International Amp is sized to match the AK100 so it might actually be a bit small for the AK120, which is worse than a device being larger than the DAP IMO, at least I'd prefer the amp to be bigger than the DAP, especially a small and expencive one like the 120.
 
http://www.headfonia.com/alo-international/
 
Quite a few other reviews about.
 
Oct 20, 2013 at 11:40 AM Post #45 of 60
Sorry... it was the RX that was reviewed as being more powerful than the 71b, able to pair with the HE600: http://www.headfonia.com/the-power-pack-alo-rx-mk3-b/ If you read the comments section in the review on the centrance M8 are below.
 
All in all it'd come down to what you intend to use with the device. Wouldn't mark more powerful as being better sounding but IMO it says something for the diversity of a device as well as its value.
 
Lord Victor Halgaard
Just curious, any idea how much power this has compared to the ALO Rx Mk3b? For example how well would it drive something like the HE-6 comparably?
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  1. http://www.headfonia.com Mike
    That’s a good question and I should be able to compare it if I have the two side by side.
    However from the review of the Mk3B I know that the Rx can drive a HE6 better than the M8 can drive the K1000. And from experience the K1000 is easier to drive than the HE-6
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     

 
 
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