[frankrondaniel]

Quote:

 
So it's an AK120 problem. CD's I rip are perfectly gapless, whereas 96/24 does have a tiny gap between tracks indeed. I'll chalk it up to being a 120 bug, since in Foobar2K the 96/24 tracks ARE gapless.

Yes - the tracks that are problematic on the AK120 are gapless for me in JRiver as well. One thing I did notice is that if I have the screen on during the transition between tracks is that I get true gapless - no tiny gap!

 

[musicday]

iRiver Astell and Kern AK120 and Inear Stage Driver SD3 impressions:
http://www.head-fi.org/t/668727/review-inear-stage-diver-3-an-experience/120

 

[nashton]

On playlists...
 
So, I love the AK120. However, I really miss playlists. I have seen posts about Jriver Media Center, but that's a Windows app and I have a Mac.
 
I have loads of playlists in iTunes. I can export them to M3U and then convert them to PLS (which is what the AK supports I gather) ... but is there a better way? And will that even work?
 
Any Mac and AK120 users that have any input I'd be very glad to receive it.
 

 

[Gintaras]

applies to AK100 too, no cue, no mp3 lists, but JMoon says Iriver is hard working on this.

i have 99% of my music in Flac with cue lists so this is pain in the rear

 

[TheGrumpyOldMan]

Quote:

<snip>I have loads of playlists in iTunes. I can export them to M3U and then convert them to PLS (which is what the AK supports I gather) ... but is there a better way? And will that even work?
 
Any Mac and AK120 users that have any input I'd be very glad to receive it.

Actually, the AK1x0 .pls files are not really PLS files either, they just use that extension but are actually plain text files with a list of absolute paths to each track, without any metadata as per spec. You can make one on your AK120, and open it in TextEdit to check for yourself.
 
Additionally, rather than having a single unified storage location, the AK1x0 can have up to 3 different ones (giving us the much-appreciated extra capacity, at the expense of more complexity requiring a custom solution)

 

[lee730]

Quote:

Quote:
Actually, the AK1x0 .pls files are not really PLS files either, they just use that extension but are actually plain text files with a list of absolute paths to each track, without any metadata as per spec. You can make one on your AK120, and open it in TextEdit to check for yourself.
 
Additionally, rather than having a single unified storage location, the AK1x0 can have up to 3 different ones (giving us the much-appreciated extra capacity, at the expense of more complexity requiring a custom solution)

Well Grumpy that extra complexity is really not necessary. Ibasso was able to do it from both the internal and external SD card without you having to have all the playlists on the internal memory and would combine them all. But pretty much the current means to get playlists working will be a no go for most users as this will take them too much work for such a simple concept.

 

[Edwood]

Visited iRiver's office this weekend.  Thanks to Jimmy and Owen for having us over.
 

More detailed specs than is listed online.  USB-DAC function worked great with my Windows 8 Pro Tablet (not RT).  No drivers needed, was just recognized.
 

Size comparison, Left to right, AK100 -> AK120 -> HM-901.  Kind of reminds me of an AT&T commercial.  More bars in more places.
 

iRiver's demo Set up.  They had some top end full sized headphones there.  Most notably, the Sennheiser HD800 and Audeze LCD-2 (Rev 2)
 
 
I brought my JH-13 (1st gen).  The HM-901 definitely sounded better, but only clearly better sounding if I used much higher end headphones, like the LCD-2 or the HD800.  Also, the HM-901 has a more powerful and better Amp section, so that could be contributing to the better sounds quality as well.  But my 1st Gen JH Audio JH-13's are not high end enough for the AK120 and HM-901.  My preferred headphones are the HE-6, which the HM-901 can barely power, and the AK120 can't manage at all. 
 
The sound quality difference between the AK100 and the HM-801 in the previous generation was a larger gap.  But with the new generation of the AK120 vs. the HM-901, the gap is much smaller. 
 
Overall, I really loved the all-in-one functionality of the AK120.  The addition of Asynchronous USB DAC functionality is a real bonus.  No need for extra dongles, docking station, etc.   If I traveled all the time, the AK120 would be my #1 rig.  But for occasional travel and mostly at the office and at the home use at a computer / workstation / cubicle office set up, the HM-901 still wins in my book, especially when used with Full Sized Headphones.  For high end custom IEM use, the AK120 seems to be the best choice.  For High end full sized headphones, the HM-901 is clearly better.
But is User Interface is another issue, where iRiver and the AK120 are the clear leader.  The HM-901's user interface is much much slower and more cumbersome to navigate.
 
But the biggest minus against the AK120 is the price.  At $1300, costing almost twice as much as the AK100 is quite ridiculous.  If it were the same price as the AK100 or marginally more at sub $800 USD, I'd buy one in a second.  But at $1300, that gives me major pause.

 

[kkcc]

Visited iRiver's office this weekend.  Thanks to Jimmy and Owen for having us over.



More detailed specs than is listed online.  USB-DAC function worked great with my Windows 8 Pro Tablet (not RT).  No drivers needed, was just recognized.



Size comparison, Left to right, AK100 -> AK120 -> HM-901.  Kind of reminds me of an AT&T commercial.  More bars in more places.




iRiver's demo Set up.  They had some top end full sized headphones there.  Most notably, the Sennheiser HD800 and Audeze LCD-2 (Rev 2)


I brought my JH-13 (1st gen).  The HM-901 definitely sounded better, but only clearly better sounding if I used much higher end headphones, like the LCD-2 or the HD800.  Also, the HM-901 has a more powerful and better Amp section, so that could be contributing to the better sounds quality as well.  But my 1st Gen JH Audio JH-13's are not high end enough for the AK120 and HM-901.  My preferred headphones are the HE-6, which the HM-901 can barely power, and the AK120 can't manage at all. 

The sound quality difference between the AK100 and the HM-801 in the previous generation was a larger gap.  But with the new generation of the AK120 vs. the HM-901, the gap is much smaller. 

Overall, I really loved the all-in-one functionality of the AK120.  The addition of Asynchronous USB DAC functionality is a real bonus.  No need for extra dongles, docking station, etc.   If I traveled all the time, the AK120 would be my #1 rig.  But for occasional travel and mostly at the office and at the home use at a computer / workstation / cubicle office set up, the HM-901 still wins in my book, especially when used with Full Sized Headphones.  For high end custom IEM use, the AK120 seems to be the best choice.  For High end full sized headphones, the HM-901 is clearly better.
But is User Interface is another issue, where iRiver and the AK120 are the clear leader.  The HM-901's user interface is much much slower and more cumbersome to navigate.

But the biggest minus against the AK120 is the price.  At $1300, costing almost twice as much as the AK100 is quite ridiculous.  If it were the same price as the AK100 or marginally more at sub $800 USD, I'd buy one in a second.  But at $1300, that gives me major pause.

Interesting comparison with the 901.Which amp board does the 901 carried and did you demo in single ended or balanced mode if it is equipped with the much better balanced amp board?

I'm guessing it is with the standard board as I also find the gap between AK120 and 901 is not as big as the Ak100 vs 801 and the difference is more apparent with headphones and IEM that scale well with amping.

 

[nanashisan]

Quote:

 
 
It is a bit more than just stutters, it is total dropouts, but they only occur after screen goes dark, and stop when you turn it back on or change the volume.

 
Quote:

 
I had that for the first time just today. I was playing Thriller in 176/24, paused it, and when I wanted to resume without turning on the screen again, it did stutter big time for around 10 seconds before returning to normal. In that time frame the player was stuck completely, meaning no turning the screen on, no volume change, no pause, etc, nothing would react.

I have the same problem but only with downloaded itune songs. I haven't had any problems with HDtracks flac or ripped files. Anybody notice that the play minutes are messed up when this happens?

 

[mrbig]

Quote:

 
I have the same problem but only with downloaded itune songs. I haven't had any problems with HDtracks flac or ripped files. Anybody notice that the play minutes are messed up when this happens?

What firmware version are you all on?

 

[nanashisan]

Still on 1.0

 

[lee730]

Lucky you .
 

 

[silentmoon]

I'm a dilemma between selling my AK100 and buying a new AK120. Can anyone here explain for me what is the main purpose of Dual Mono DAC. I've been searching around the internet , finding information about Dual Mono DAC and Dual Mono Amplifier but there's absolutely no offical document concerned about my questions. 

 

[Edwood]

Quote:

Interesting comparison with the 901.Which amp board does the 901 carried and did you demo in single ended or balanced mode if it is equipped with the much better balanced amp board?

I'm guessing it is with the standard board as I also find the gap between AK120 and 901 is not as big as the Ak100 vs 801 and the difference is more apparent with headphones and IEM that scale well with amping.

The Amp board in the HM-901 was the stock Balanced OPA627AU based one.  But it was used single ended mode to keep comparison "fair".   Plus, they did not have balanced cables for the full sized headphones there.  Even if they did, I didn't have an adapter.

 

[lee730]

Quote:

I'm a dilemma between selling my AK100 and buying a new AK120. Can anyone here explain for me what is the main purpose of Dual Mono DAC. I've been searching around the internet , finding information about Dual Mono DAC and Dual Mono Amplifier but there's absolutely no offical document concerned about my questions. 

 
Supposedly it improves upon the detailing, separation and sound staging between the left and right channels. Basically 1 chip it dedicated to 1 channel from what I remember (I could be wrong though). Personally it was a very nice improvement over the RWA AK100 (which is supposedly better than the AK100). I intend on keeping my unit. I'm very satisfied with it. Now in regards to the pricing well I don't agree on this area (it's simply overpriced) but that still doesn't take away from it being a great DAP and an all in one solution IMO. Now for full size headphones I'd think the DX100 and Hifiman 901 would be better suited. But for IEMs you are hard pressed to beat the AK120 as a single all in one solution. Also keep in mind they significantly reduced the impedance on the AK120 so it works well (for the most part) with sensitive IEMs.