[catoval55]

good day to all, can someone please help me with my AK320; it "DOES NOT" play the factory default installed hi res music such as: rebecca pidgeon the raven & others. i have bought and loaded my hdtracks.com hi-res album 24bit/192kHz onto my AK320 and it also does not play. Astell & Kern if you are reading this can you please assist me in this matter. thanks. 

 

[DrSheep]

  good day to all, can someone please help me with my AK320; it "DOES NOT" play the factory default installed hi res music such as: rebecca pidgeon the raven & others. i have bought and loaded my hdtracks.com hi-res album 24bit/192kHz onto my AK320 and it also does not play. Astell & Kern if you are reading this can you please assist me in this matter. thanks. 

Not playing or no volume?  Did you see the time move at all?

 

[catoval55]

i stand corrected to Drsheep, my hi-res music is playing but no sound coming through to my headphones. thanks for your help & fast respond.

 

[DrSheep]

  i stand corrected to Drsheep, my hi-res music is playing but no sound coming through to my headphones. thanks for your help & fast respond.

Know how you feel as I did the same between the balanced/unbalanced output, and the top vs. bottom out from the DAP and the AMP.

 

[catoval55]

drsheep, my portable paired rig is my AK320 & chord hugo. i still have no sound when i play any hi-res music file as stated but my alac plays fine. the pairing is done via toslink. am i doing something wrong or do i have a faulty AK320? got my AK320 exactly one week now and i am VERY SATISFIED with the paired combo(AK320+Chord Hugo), but would love to solve this issue with my unit playing 24/196. i am also thinking on upgrading to the AK380. drsheep, do you have a copper AK380(saw your pics)? and if so have you owned the AK320 & AK380 and how does the copper compare against them? is it worth the upgrade from the AK320 to the AK380 or copper AK380? thanks for your reply in advance.

 

 

[DrSheep]

  drsheep, my portable paired rig is my AK320 & chord hugo. i still have no sound when i play any hi-res music file as stated but my alac plays fine. the pairing is done via toslink. am i doing something wrong or do i have a faulty AK320? got my AK320 exactly one week now and i am VERY SATISFIED with the paired combo(AK320+Chord Hugo), but not would love to solve this issue with my unit playing 24/196. i am also thinking on upgrading to the AK380. drsheep, do you have a copper AK380(saw your pics)? and if so have you owned the AK320 & AK380 and how does the copper compare against them? is it worth the upgrade from the AK320 to the AK380 or copper AK380? thanks for your reply in advance.

 

I am guessing here, but there is a possibility that somehow the hugo isn't decoding what is coming out of the AK320 (assuming your optical cable is fine.)  Do you have anything that can act as a TOSLINK input what shows the byte rate of the stream?  Also what are your settings from the AK320?  BTW I got my original AK380 as a bundle deal along with the dock and amp, but AK let me upgrade mine to Cu for only $300 so I did.  SQ wise so far I don't hear much difference with my Layla, which I know the majority of Head-Fi'er here will disagree.  So unless you really want the Cu as a collector item, a used AK380 will make much more sense.  I still think the AK320 is a good balance on price and function, so take your time before deciding whether to upgrade or not.  BTW, I know a guy over in the AK380 thread that will be selling his soon, so hop over or PM me.

 

[level3]

Quote:

  i stand corrected to Drsheep, my hi-res music is playing but no sound coming through to my headphones. thanks for your help & fast respond.

 
Do you hear music when playing 24/192 files... with headphones plugged-in directly to the AK320?

 

[DrSheep]

His Hugo is not detecting the 24/192 stream from TOSLINK (no light vs. the normal blue), so it is either the AK320 not encoding correctly, or somehow the Hugo not detecting it.

 

[level3]

  His Hugo is not detecting the 24/192 stream from TOSLINK (no light vs. the normal blue), so it is either the AK320 not encoding correctly, or somehow the Hugo not detecting it.

Interesting.
 
If he can hear playback of lower bit depth PCM with the Hugo + AK320 combo via Toslink, then the issue may also be the compatibility of the Toslink cable/connectors... with regard to the Hugo and/or the AK320.
 
Do you know if he was using the Toslink cable that came (as a freebie) with the Hugo? 

 

[DrSheep]

Yes his 16/44 playback is fine, and he is using some kind of thin to slink cable.

 

[level3]

If the issue is specifically 24/192 PCM file playback via Toslink to Hugo, please ask him to try/test using the 'freebie' mini-Toslink<---->Toslink cable that came with his Hugo. It should be in the box somewhere. 
 
It may not look like much but this cable from Chord should 'enable' 24/192 playback flawlessly.
 
If this works, the 'issue' is likely to be the other 'thin' cable.
 
If this does not work, then it is v.likely that the issue lies elsewhere.
 
3 things to bear in mind:
 
1. Insertion of the Toslink plug on the Hugo-side should be proper... with a soft audible click indicating optimal insertion.
2. The AK320 should be set to the 'Line Out' in its 'Settings' menu.
3. May sound silly... but the Optical Input (green) should be selected in the Hugo. And, the Sampling Rate Indicator only lights up (deep blue) after 24/192 file playback is initiated on the AK.
 
May be worth a shot to identify/eliminate one possible factor. Let's see how it goes.

 

[catoval55]

ok level3, i did exactly what you said in your last thread and here what is happening now. i have used the toslink cable from which came with the chord hugo and now the disc light window is lighted up in blue color.i also turn on line out as you suggested. the 24/192 is playing but fading in and out. the optical input light is selected to green as you said level3 and the sample rate indicator lights up deep blue now with the 24/192 file playback. the music is sometimes jumping around and skipping to the end of the song. i have found 1 weak link in my problem, the right angle adapter for the toslink cable that i am using going in directly to the chord toslink input. i now have another adapter on the other end of this toslink cable going into the ak320 input 3.5mm. seems like i really need a direct toslink quality cable NO adapter on it like say silver dragon toslink from moon-audio. thank you very much fellow head-fi'ers drsheep and level3 for your guidance & patience. problem is still fully not fixed though but i am getting results which counts on behalf of you 2(drsheep & level3).  i will order a brand new toslink from moon-audio today. will keep you posted on my result. a VERY BIG THANKS once again..  

 

 

[level3]

  the music is sometimes jumping around and skipping to the end of the song. i have found 1 weak link in my problem, the right angle adapter for the toslink cable that i am using going in directly to the chord toslink input. i now have another adapter on the other end of this toslink cable going into the ak320 input 3.5mm. 

 
You are welcome, catoval55.
 
2 last bits to clarify: 
 
1) Are you using the Toslink <-----> Toslink cable that came with your Hugo? 
 
If yes, please look in the Hugo box for another short optical cable that is *mini-Toslink* <------> Toslink (thin white cable with two plastic black plugs). 
You will find a 3.5mm plug (like a mini headphone jack) on one end of this cable. On the other end is a standard Toslink plug. 
The 3.5mm goes into the AK320 port. The Toslink goes into the Hugo = *No need for adaptors*. 
 

 
This cable should solve your issue with 24/192 playback. Perhaps you should make sure this works before considering an investment in an aftermarket Toslink cable.
 
2) If you like Moon Audio cables, the Silver Dragon Toslink is pretty good. There is also a more affordable option that works = google 'sysconcept.ca'. Whichever way you go, remember to specify that you want a *mini-Toslink to Toslink* cable.
 
HTH.

 

[DrSheep]

So it is indeed the cabling.  Good to know and hurry up and get a new cable! .

 

[catoval55]

GOT IT!! all is good now that i am using the original chord hugo toslink that came with it. NO ISSUES NOW.  lesson learnt, i have already thrown away that ebay cable and right angle adapter. level3 that white cable you are showing with 3.5mm and toslink on the other end is black in my case that came with my chord hugo & works as it should. no problems playing 24/192 now with my ak320 + chord hugo pairing. i REALLY LOVE what my ears are hearing now via this combo. some of my natively played 16/44 sounds just as good as 24/192 and in some recordings the 16/44 sounds better than the 24/192 all because of the recording engineering initial recorded settingon a particular file/song.
 
flaws that i don't like about my ak320:  
 
1. battery life is short
2. gapless play doesn't lap/mix ending song & incoming song(onkyo app player does a wonderful job)
3. charging via usb to your computer charges slow
4. unit gets hot after about 2 hours of play
5. UI  bit laggy to respond to commands
6. most important: PRICED TOO HIGH!!!

 
i can live with all of the flaws mentioned above based on the sound quality & total package(except price)