[audionewbi]

Thanks for the information, how do you test for the improvement, is the same track, the same volume, the same IEM? I am very curious to know how do you guys measure such improvement? Are the condition kept the same? 

Just to add to my own experience and believes, I was very skeptical about wire composition for such a short interconnect wire, we are talking about a few inches here. Well I changed my mind very quickly after building a few of them myself and found different sonic properties depending on the wire material. I have tried pure silver with 1% gold content, pure litz type copper wire and a mix between the two with copper as the ground. The mix ended up being the best combo in terms of bass and brightness (wide spectrum). I am not skeptical anymore. As Vinnie mentionned above, clean soldering techniques, moving marginal components out of the way and best parts will contributube to a better implementation.

 

[Birdoffice]

I think what he meant is 'have you experiment with other cables?'.

I am highly skeptic on how a cable of such a short length can make a huge significant difference. 

I would said every single inch count since it can change the sound signature. Each cable had different sound singature based on my ear when I use it.
- Single solid wire give more impact.
- Muti strand wire have more surface better for high freq.
- Pure copper had warm sound.
- Pure silver had high freq response.
We used silver copper multi strand wire with cryo because we like this sound signature. No good or bad depend on what you like.

I also agree with other on the techniques count.eg soldering material and small technique such as wax after soldering using merlin anti oxidation

 

[musicheaven]

Thanks for the information, how do you test for the improvement, is the same track, the same volume, the same IEM? I am very curious to know how do you guys measure such improvement? Are the condition kept the same? 

It's not at all scientific but all about audition. You gotta trust your ears. In order to compare one needs to keep pretty much everything constant or if you prefer unchanged. I use my iems (somehow I find that if there is anything bad they are pretty good picking up on it), I have se535 with a good amount of burning. I switch the cable for the same music for the exact same passage so this way I get a reference. I use different music styles so as to cover the whole spectrum and genres as much as possible. I was shocked to see how obvious it was once you switch, I went with a large dose of cynicism. I have to tell you that the cheap wires do sound like their worth, I wish it was different but it really isn't, the material and construction of the wires really seem to make a huge difference.

 

[madFloyd]

Quote:

It's not at all scientific but all about audition. You gotta trust your ears. In order to compare one needs to keep pretty much everything constant or if you prefer unchanged. I use my iems (somehow I find that if there is anything bad they are pretty good picking up on it), I have se535 with a good amount of burning. I switch the cable for the same music for the exact same passage so this way I get a reference. I use different music styles so as to cover the whole spectrum and genres as much as possible. I was shocked to see how obvious it was once you switch, I went with a large dose of cynicism. I have to tell you that the cheap wires do sound like their worth, I wish it was different but it really isn't, the material and construction of the wires really seem to make a huge difference.

How can you switch the cable on se535?  I have these and if there's an improvement by switching cables, I'd love to know more!

 

[milarepa]

I have just pulled the trigger on a MS-AK100. Can't wait to try the 334s with it. Hopefully there will be smiles and less lugging in the future.

 

[Saraguie]

Quote:

I have just pulled the trigger on a MS-AK100. Can't wait to try the 334s with it. Hopefully there will be smiles and less lugging in the future.

 

 

 

[woodblack]

I've tried the ms-ak100 with MH335 during an audio show and the female vocals were crazily intoxicating it spoiled my enjoyment of the vocal rendition of some speakers in the show such as B&W Nautilus, Focal Grand Utopias, and TAD Reference 1s (which is the closest in signature). I think the smiling is almost a guarantee.   

 

[milarepa]

I've tried the ms-ak100 with MH335 during an audio show and the female vocals were crazily intoxicating it spoiled my enjoyment of the vocal rendition of some speakers in the show such as B&W Nautilus, Focal Grand Utopias, and TAD Reference 1s (which is the closest in signature). I think the smiling is almost a guarantee.   

Wow, that is saying something! I will be scaring the postman running towards him for a couple of days now....

 

[Jason36]

I've just took the plunge and bought a stock AK100 and two 64Gb Sandisk Micro SDXC cards to go with it. Interesting to see how it sounds on it's own...but will also potentially amp it with my new Rx Mk3-B as well (I've heard this significantly improves the sound, and the type of IEM's / Headphones you can use with it).
 
I do have a question though with regards to file types this will accept......I have 50Gb of Hi Res (24/96 and 14/192) music to load onto it.....but the rest of my music is currently Apple Lossless. Am I right in thinking that I saw somewhere the AK100 now accepts and plays Apple Lossless files?
 
I hope this is right as I dont fancy having to convert or re-rip all my Lossless files.
 
Also just as an aside what IEM's are people finding work well with the AK100 as just a DAP?
 
Cheers 
Jason

 

[audionewbi]

1-Ever since firmware update 1.3x it plays apple lossless albeit it must be DRM free.
2-I have found that CK100PRO pairs well with all kind of music and with music which are not bass heavy F111 works fine. My general finding is that the bass quantity reduces alot on most of my IEM.
I also had a positive experience with ES10.

 

[Saraguie]

Quote:

I've tried the ms-ak100 with MH335 during an audio show and the female vocals were crazily intoxicating it spoiled my enjoyment of the vocal rendition of some speakers in the show such as B&W Nautilus, Focal Grand Utopias, and TAD Reference 1s (which is the closest in signature). I think the smiling is almost a guarantee.   

 

Quote:

Wow, that is saying something! I will be scaring the postman running towards him for a couple of days now....

If you get arrested for assault my brother, let us know, we can send you MP3 downloads to your prison cell. Oh, wait a minute, you won't be able to take that ms-ak100 to jail with you......sorry  I guess you can send to me for safe keeping......i'll even burn in for you! 

 

[milarepa]

I've tried the ms-ak100 with MH335 during an audio show and the female vocals were crazily intoxicating it spoiled my enjoyment of the vocal rendition of some speakers in the show such as B

Wow, that is saying something! I will be scaring the postman running towards him for a couple of days now....

If you get arrested for assault my brother, let us know, we can send you MP3 downloads to your prison cell. Oh, wait a minute, you won't be able to take that ms-ak100 to jail with you......sorry  I guess you can send to me for safe keeping......i'll even burn in for you! 

LOL, I won't let them get to me easy!! Ever saw Scarface?


What does DRM free mean? Is that the copy protection on itunes store material?

 

[kenman345]

Quote:

LOL, I won't let them get to me easy!! Ever saw Scarface?

What does DRM free mean? Is that the copy protection on itunes store material?

Say hello to my little friend.....
 
 
DRM stands for Digital Rights Management. So DRM Free means it doesn't have that....

 

[lee730]

Quote:

Say hello to my little friend.....
 
 
DRM stands for Digital Rights Management. So DRM Free means it doesn't have that....

Or in layman's terms DRM Free means it doesn't have copy protection.

 

[milarepa]

Thanks for enlightening a fool fellas! I appreciate it. Seems my collection will have little problems regarding this issue...