The New iRiver/Astell & Kern AK100: A High-End DAP
Oct 10, 2012 at 2:59 PM Post #121 of 9,165
Quote:
Carrying two Clip+ or Clip Zip players will give you two card slots, around 24-32 hours of battery life, and cost you less than $100. Consider that two 2GB Clip+ players and a 32GB microSDHC card to put in each of them will cost you under $100 total.

Well, most of us care more about sound quality.  I had all the Sansa Clip versions too, but I much prefer the sound of my Sony Walkman.  
 
I'm super excited about the new iRiver player.  Time to put my IHP-140 on ebay I guess.
 
Oct 10, 2012 at 6:25 PM Post #122 of 9,165
Quote:
Carrying two Clip+ or Clip Zip players will give you two card slots, around 24-32 hours of battery life, and cost you less than $100. Consider that two 2GB Clip+ players and a 32GB microSDHC card to put in each of them will cost you under $100 total.

.... there are always a premium alternative in any products and they all have buyers for them.
 
Oct 10, 2012 at 6:29 PM Post #123 of 9,165
Even thought the Clip measures flat doesn't mean its comparable to higher-tier DAPs. That's just a joke if I ever heard it. Not pointing this comment at you though but people who generally make those assumptions are generally envious and have tin ears :wink:.
 
 
Oct 10, 2012 at 6:31 PM Post #124 of 9,165
I'm pretty concerned by the output impedance specification of the AK100.
It's often advised to have a less than 2 ohms output impedance, and the AK100 states an outstanding 22ohms output impedance !
 
Is/could it be an error? I can't believe such a terrible design choice was made to this high end DAP ?
Will it be a problem for low impedance headphones and multi-BA IEMs ?
 
 
Any advices from technical gurus will help.
 

 
Oct 10, 2012 at 6:33 PM Post #125 of 9,165
Hmm if that's the case then this may have made my decision that much easier. I'm more so looking for a one unit solution and would rather not have to carry around an extra amp if possible.
 
 
Oct 10, 2012 at 6:45 PM Post #126 of 9,165
Quote:
.... there are always a premium alternative in any products and they all have buyers for them.


Just look at the Altmann Tera Player... Some people have bought them. If the sound is THAT good, I would buy one if I had the money.
 
Oct 10, 2012 at 7:44 PM Post #128 of 9,165
Quote:
Hmm if that's the case then this may have made my decision that much easier. I'm more so looking for a one unit solution and would rather not have to carry around an extra amp if possible.
 


people said that in the dx100 thread... look at them now, they all use a portable amp with it xD
 
-o-
 
BTW, is 22ohm output impedance good? or bad? i dont really look at those things as long as it sounds good =)
 
Oct 10, 2012 at 8:00 PM Post #129 of 9,165
22 is very bad for sensitive IEMs :wink:. Yea we may all use a portable amp at times but not when on the go usually :). That is what makes the DX100 really good. It doesn't really need the amp but it still can benefit from it. I'm more so leaning towards the Hifiman 901 at this time unless ibasso can finally redeem it's self and stop making excuses (fix the damn UI!)...
rolleyes.gif

 
 
Oct 10, 2012 at 9:53 PM Post #131 of 9,165
isnt that the same chip as my galaxy s3?.so then will gs3 on voodoo be just as good as this?



Wow, the size is smaller than I expected. Very interested.



Yeah, I was also surprised. It looks small compared to the iriver h120. 


indeed, 22ohm is really crap, like seriously bad and inexcusable, but OMG its tiny! earlier photos made it look a bit monolithic. given I will not be using the dac or amp section, i'm still tempted, that comparison pic to the iHP has me thinking about it again. I think i'll wait for the price to go down a notch, or buy one used, but its definitely still on the radar. where can I find out if they have killed the remote feature? I wonder if it can somehow be controlled over wifi with a phone...
 
Oct 11, 2012 at 12:13 AM Post #132 of 9,165
With regards to the battery life, the japanese pages are quoting the following :
 
FLAC/192kHz/24bit : 12Hrs
FLAC/96kHz/24bit : 15hrs
FLAC/44.1kHz/16bit : 16hrs
MP3/128kbps : 20hrs
 
Looks like they tested quite thoroughly. Maybe you actually get as much as they say.
 
Oct 11, 2012 at 3:22 AM Post #133 of 9,165
Quote:
22 is very bad for sensitive IEMs :wink:. Yea we may all use a portable amp at times but not when on the go usually :). That is what makes the DX100 really good. It doesn't really need the amp but it still can benefit from it. I'm more so leaning towards the Hifiman 901 at this time unless ibasso can finally redeem it's self and stop making excuses (fix the damn UI!)...
rolleyes.gif

 

If you read carefully the review about the guys said that iRiver AK sound very clean with sensitive IEM, and knowing nealry all iRiver products i belive they took their time to come up with an original design and preminum sound, and yes it does work with anything from 16-300 ohm.
 

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