[Vinnie R.]

Quote:

The software thing is more related to their culture. They are only interested in developing hardware in Japan and almost ignored the software stuff under most circumstances
 
http://it.sohu.com/20130420/n373363456.shtml
 
That's why a fairly large number of consumer electronics companies in Japan are struggling as mentioned in the article above. They seemed to be contented with what's going on and I really don't see where will be any changes in the future.
 
Let's face it, the only game in town is either iOS or Android when it comes to multi-touch devices with relatively decent hardware spec. Even giants in Korea such as Samsung and LG have to go for Android instead of relying on their own programmers.
 
In addition, we really don't see that many non-Asian audiophile players except for Tera-Player / The Open Pandora on this particular forum these days. Acoustic Research M1 should be closer to a Chinese effort even though that's a subsidiary of VOXX International Corp.
 
Just not enough incentives for decent OS / firmware so basically Android and Rockbox are the ideal interfaces for now, at least from the perspective of manufacturers in Asia.

 
iRiver (Astell & Kern) is Korean, not Japanese.  What does the AK100 and its software have to do with Japan?  

 

[uelover]

Is that a racist remark? (Not referring to Vinnie)

 

[Gintaras]

The request may be fulfilled sooner than you think.

L-R: RWAK100, Tera Player, MS-AK100 (plus misc cables)



As this point, I'd actually like to ask if anyone is interested in sending over their Indonesian AK100 Stage 2 (or whatever Stage you wish) to me, for a 3 way comparison for the AK100', if not happy to keep it a 2 way comparison with the above AK100' (and with the MS-AK100 w.r.t. the Tera Player too).

P.S. Due to the number of AK100 mods coming out, I'm classifying the mods as AK100' (short for "AK100 prime") for myself.

wow, curious, love cables too, how much they?

 

[AnakChan]

Quote:

wow, curious, love cables too, how much they?

 
For now, "priceless" - literally. I don't think the maker has set any prices yet. Need to check. Except for the RWAK100 & Tera Player the rest (the cables, the MS-AK100) are loaners. The Kobiconn -> ViaBlue 3.5mm SE is a gift.

 

[Gintaras]

ok, thanks, will be curious if they appoint some price, i saw they have web so will browse.

and wait for your impressions.

 

[lee730]

Quote:

 
iRiver (Astell & Kern) is Korean, not Japanese.  What does the AK100 and its software have to do with Japan?  

I would think it would be in China where the UI is most often overlooked in place of hardware specs and mass production...

 

[Vinnie R.]

Quote:

I would think it would be in China where the UI is most often overlooked in place of hardware specs and mass production...

 
The thing is - I don't think it matters what country it is designed.  There are very bright people all over the world who can make a great UI I'm sure. 
 
What makes the difference is how much $$$ and time the company has to do the software design / UI.   Apple, Android, etc. have billions of dollars and huge design teams working together (most likely globally).  iRiver and other smaller companies do not have this.  And compared to the HUGE volume of what a large company like Apple sells, iRiver probably doesn't even sell a fraction of 1% of this.  So they probably can't leverage the lowest prices on all the various hardware parts either.  
 
So hopefully, iRiver will listen to the most popular requests for improvements (like Gapless, better battery metering, etc) and in time will continue to release free updates as they sell more units and have more $$$ to pay their engineers to make the product better and better.  

 

[Vinnie R.]

A little off topic - does anyone know what is the smallest stereo (dual gang) potentiometer available?  It needs to be a 1-turn rotary (an analog volume control) and very small, and ideally log taper.  Even my very small alps and bourns pots are not quite small enough and I'm wondering who makes even smaller ones of high quality?  

 

[CraftyClown]

The thing is - I don't think it matters what country it is designed.  There are very bright people all over the world who can make a great UI I'm sure. 

What makes the difference is how much $$$ and time the company has to do the software design / UI.   Apple, Android, etc. have billions of dollars and huge design teams working together (most likely globally).  iRiver and other smaller companies do not have this.  And compared to the HUGE volume of what a large company like Apple sells, iRiver probably doesn't even sell a fraction of 1% of this.  So they probably can't leverage the lowest prices on all the various hardware parts either.  

So hopefully, iRiver will listen to the most popular requests for improvements (like Gapless, better battery metering, etc) and in time will continue to release free updates as they sell more units and have more $$$ to pay their engineers to make the product better and better.  

Very sensible comments Vinnie

 

[Swimsonny]

Quote:

 
For now, "priceless" - literally. I don't think the maker has set any prices yet. Need to check. Except for the RWAK100 & Tera Player the rest (the cables, the MS-AK100) are loaners. The Kobiconn -> ViaBlue 3.5mm SE is a gift.

The interconnects seem to be 350 USD on there website and the headphone cable they do is a whopping 1200 USD, similar to the Tralucent Uber!
 
Do they sell that Kobiconn to Viablue, i could do with one of them as it will make my life easier, especially now that i am comparing balanced to single ended etc.

 

[lee730]

Quote:

 
The thing is - I don't think it matters what country it is designed.  There are very bright people all over the world who can make a great UI I'm sure. 
 
What makes the difference is how much $$$ and time the company has to do the software design / UI.   Apple, Android, etc. have billions of dollars and huge design teams working together (most likely globally).  iRiver and other smaller companies do not have this.  And compared to the HUGE volume of what a large company like Apple sells, iRiver probably doesn't even sell a fraction of 1% of this.  So they probably can't leverage the lowest prices on all the various hardware parts either.  
 
So hopefully, iRiver will listen to the most popular requests for improvements (like Gapless, better battery metering, etc) and in time will continue to release free updates as they sell more units and have more $$$ to pay their engineers to make the product better and better.  

That does make sense. My point being that most of the better sounding DAPs come from China and the UIs for the most part are always lacking in major ways. Hopefully the trend shifts towards decent UIs and excellent sound quality.

 

[ButtUglyJeff]

Quote:

The interconnects seem to be 350 USD on there website and the headphone cable they do is a whopping 1200 USD, similar to the Tralucent Uber!
 
Do they sell that Kobiconn to Viablue, i could do with one of them as it will make my life easier, especially now that i am comparing balanced to single ended etc.

 
 
You should probably order 2 of each, just to be on the safe side.....

 

[Vinnie R.]

All,
 
I received a few emails about the type of wire we use in the RWAK100 mod.  It's Cardas Golden Section Litz wire (copper).  It's my favorite
wire in these type of applications because its solid copper, enameled (so there is no dielectric of a standard jacket), and very pure (99.99+).  I've used it to
make custom short interconnects (under 3 feet) and compared it to a lot of different types of wire.  It offers a balanced sound, with no stridency in the top-end,
and is very transparent.  Way better than going through the circuit board traces and the connector that attaches the MB to the headphone board.  
 
Having said this, we only use about an inch of wire per channel.  That's right - a very small amount.  So even using the most exotic of wire should
not have a any noticeable difference in comparison.  What is much more important is:
 
- The quality of the solder connections
- Making sure the wire touches the output stage FET and headphone jack leg, and then is soldered on (instead of there being a noticeable amount of solder in series with the connections from a bad solder job)
- The routing of the wires inside
- Making sure the stock signal path is removed (so it is not in parallel with the new direct path to the headphone jack).
- Using the correct soldering iron temperature to not thermally strain the parts.
 
In other words, getting the job done right (the cleanest, most professional way) is the most important thing.  The 1 inch of silver vs copper, etc. makes no difference if the soldering is not top-notch.
 
And I stand behind my modification work for as long as you own your player.  And when the time comes and you need help getting a new battery in there, or helping with any other
non-modificaiton-related issue, you know I'll be there to help with that and offer you very prompt service.  This is how I've been doing it since 2005 when I developed the 4G iMod and then
the 5g/5.5g iMod (which has been copied, but rarely duplicated in quality from what I've seen in person and from those who needed service and asked me to help).  
 
I am very careful, do my homework, test, repeat, and offer all my customers very good communication and responsiveness.  To all my customers - I am very thankful for your support and confidence in my work, and all your feedback from your emails and posts here.
 
Cheers!
 
Vinnie

 

[Gintaras]

Vinnie, thanks for explaining and great implementation job you done, my RWAK gives me hours of joyfull musical sessions

 

[audionewbi]

For now, "priceless" - literally. I don't think the maker has set any prices yet. Need to check. Except for the RWAK100 & Tera Player the rest (the cables, the MS-AK100) are loaners. The Kobiconn -> ViaBlue 3.5mm SE is a gift.

They are 350 usd.