[lee730]

Quote:

Well, not just that, but also the drop factor....I'm assuming you have a case of some sort for it?

Yeah I do have a case for it but wouldn't want to drop it regardless. Either its in my hands (very firm grip on that rig lol) or its strapped to my belt/pants (or in my pocket if empty). If just using the DX100 it fits very easily in my pocket (I keep that pocket clear though). Generally speaking though I don't take the T1 amp out in public unless I'm with family. Otherwise I'm much more apt to just use the DX100 or Studio V is I am concerned with portability. the DX100/T1 sound amazing in my car. You wouldn't think its stock from the sound quality from it.

 

[tds101]

I haven't been able to find out a lot of info on the UI of the AK100, from what I've read about the iBasso, I think I'd rather use that device since I'm already using Android on my phone.

Is there any info on the AK100 UI?  It may be that the RWAK100 does turn out to be the best choice.

There's a few videos that give a thorough tour of the UI on YouTube, and they're linked in this thread.

 

[nelamvr6]

Quote:

There's a few videos that give a thorough tour of the UI on YouTube, and they're linked in this thread.

 
 
Found them, thanks!

 

[uelover]

Most of the attacks on iRiver revolves around:
 
1) The high output impedance
2) iRiver's business ethics
 
We could get past (1) with Vinnie's help. Yes, we pay to fix things and in return, we could get arguably close to our porta-phile's dream of having something with excellent SQ, small size, good UI, good storage space, and decent battery life. Same thing with iPod back then. Many spent a considerable amount of money to get the iMod because we do cherish the iPod UI and storage space. We pay to tweak things to our needs (at least it is tweakable).
 
For (2), I am not sure how many of us actually buy gears just because we are led by their marketing. I would believe that iRiver is not a small family business whereby the engineer could speak to the public regarding his mind and change the product design easily or even recommend a recall to the company. There will be politics and bureaucracy involved. The marketing and sales team are those in charged and they can easily say the wrong thing due to their lack of technical knowledge. We see these kind of thing in many other companies as well.
 
The RWA100K at USD895 is not a small sum of money to stomach. It is also USD66 more than the iBasso DX100. However, I think that is a product that will fulfill almost all our criteria (except for the lack of support for ALAC/AIFF at the moment as well as gapless). Other than that, I really can't think of anything to get bitter about other than its high price.
 
Yes, we can boycott iRiver to 'punish' it for the 'moral sin' and technical messed up the company (or a few in the company) has committed. But by doing so, aren't we just getting bitter over the fact that the AK100 has marginally missed out on being the perfect player that we all wanted? We are however unknowingly depriving ourselves to get such a wonderful DAP for the sake of our pride and the call for justice.
 
However, think again, like what AnakChan has proposed as a hypothetical thought experiment - imagine the AK100 was released at USD899 with <1 ohm output impedance, what would be the outcome? Gone will be the bitterness and angers directed at iRiver. Perhaps, even many would be comfortable with the asking price since it strikes many of the criteria we all look for in our dream DAP.
 
At the sub $1k mark, I really can't think of anything that is better than the RWA100K for all that it could achieve (the DX100, C4, CLAS+Amp, HP-P1, HM801, and etc all has their own shortcomings).

 

[goodvibes]

I agree with all that except for one caveat.
 
 imagine the AK100 was released at USD899 with <1 ohm output impedance and without a warranty, .............

 

[doublea71]

^ This. 

 

[Achmedisdead]

 

[uelover]

Quote:

and without a warranty, .............

 

 

[lee730]

Quote:

 
You forgot to add "fail" at the end of epic .

 

[Achmedisdead]

Quote:

 
You forgot to add "fail" at the end of epic .

Well, Santa hasn't come yet, so I am trying to stay on the "nice" list instead of the "naughty" list. 

 

[lee730]

Quote:

Well, Santa hasn't come yet, so I am trying to stay on the "nice" list instead of the "naughty" list. 

Yeah you don't want santa taking a sh## down your chimney this year (dried lump of dirty-coal).

 

[McCol]

I'm a little confused about this high impedance thing.
 
I use IEM's, either PFE 232, Senn IE8 or Minerva MI-3 customs.  How will this affect these phones?

 

[lee730]

Quote:

I'm a little confused about this high impedance thing.
 
I use IEM's, either PFE 232, Senn IE8 or Minerva MI-3 customs.  How will this affect these phones?

You can get bloated bass, rolled off bass, bloated treble or recessed treble. This results from the AK100s high output impedance impacting the original frequency response of sensitive IEMs. More so balance armature but sensitive dynamics IEMs will suffer as well. The outcomes are random. You are rolling the dice hoping you will like the flavor it adds. But in the end it is doing something that the manufacturer of said "sensitive gear" never tuned the IEMs to do.

 

[ChrisSC]

@UE Lover:
I'm absolutely the type of guy to deprive myself of some benefit for the principle of what I believe to be right.  I don't believe iRiver should be rewarded for blatantly and unapologetically lying to its customers.  All this did is open up this niche market for some other company to step in and do it right, and when that happens, I'll happily buy from that company.
 
Also, I don't believe for one minute that its SQ can keep up with the DX100's, so there's no way I'd pay more for it.  Mike from Headfonia wrote it "has such a cold static feel to the sound. Un-analog. Lacks fluidity. Lacks warmth, among other things. Moderate dynamic range. Relatively flat sound stage with disappointing layering."
While I don't always agree with him, I tend to take negative reviews seriously, and these and similar impressions pepper his article.  
 
I'm over this device.  I don't think we're asking too much for iRiver to do the right thing, especially when they've already been caught, and there's no way I'm going to spend extra money to accommodate their flawed product, which probably doesn't sound all that great anyway.
 
There are too many shady companies in this industry.  Why are we encouraging them?
 
/rant off.

 

[shotgunshane]

It's not random. If impedance graphs are available for your IEMs, you can easily predict what it will do. There should be impedance graphs available for the 232 and ie8. Probably none for the Minerva though.