It has more output power but its battery life is pretty bad and it's another massive brick. The $829 iBasso DX100 is the iriver's strongest competitor. " I think it's going to be an interesting 2013 to see how these small high-resolution players battle each other. Be sure though to use proper glass-fiber and not cheap plastic optical cable." Its volume sets the output level of the Wolfson chip outside the signal path and the mini 24/192 Toslink output blows away the mini Toslink of the Macbook Pro.
#Swinsian review portable#
The AK100 also is a fine source for a portable headfi amp. There are layers and layers of detail and nuance unraveled. The built-in head amp drives all IEMs with ease and most full-sized 'phones to adequate levels. This is by far the most natural sounding DAP I've heard! It's smaller and lighter than an iPod and super quiet. "This also bypasses tiny circuit board traces and the header connecting main board to smaller headphone jack board. * "We bypass the 22Ω resistors in the output stage and hard-wire Cardas copper litz solid core wire from the output FETs directly to the pins of the headphone jack for the shortest cleanest path. So I use the player's headphone output with the volume turned up all the way, then send the signal to my RxMkIII amp via a right-angle mini-to-mini link. The stock output is good but won't get loud enough for some of my 'phones. Incidentally Vinnie at Red Wine Audio is doing a mod* for this player to improve its headphone output stage. But I bet we'll be seeing a lot more released in the near future. The only real present prohibition is the shortage and expense of 24-bit music. IMO the AK100 really shines on such material. Basically it's all of the ease of working with an iPod in a smaller package and at 24 bits. "The iriver lets me know what resolution and type of file is playing and easily sorts files by resolution.
#Swinsian review plus#
I use 2 x 64GB microSD cards plus the internal 32GB for 160GB of 24-bit action. I have all of my album art loaded to my AK100.
Plus it's a less bulky setup with one less interconnect and one less battery to worry about. I've found 24-bit files off the iriver to best all 16/44 files from an iPod/Solo combo. Now I use the iriver with the RxIII or our new International DAC/amp. "With the AK100 my giant triple-decker portable brick of iPod, Algorhythm Solo and ALO Audio MkIII headphone amp is significantly reduced. To edit meta data for FLAC files I like Swinsian which is also an excellent high-res player. Moreover the GUI of the player was intuitive and satisfying. The benefits of 24 over 16 bits were apparent and quite enjoyable. When the guys at iriver popped into my shop a few months ago and let me kick the tires out of the AK100, I was able to load up my 24-bit FLAC files along with similar 16-bit material. Because I've had no access to a FLAC player that didn't come with an assortment of disagreeable complications, I didn't really use those files for personal audio. I also have a collection of 24-bit FLAC files. I have a large collection of 16/44 Apple lossless files. I think it's somewhat of a transformative portable hifi product. And the iriver I thoroughly love for several reasons. On the other hand we don't carry products we don't thoroughly love. Having bought from him many upscale headphones and replacement harnesses over the years, Ken has become a trusted fount of knowledge in this sector: "I've used the AK100 for over a month now. Ken Ball of ALO Audio is a Portland/Oregon-based retailer and manufacturer of headfi kit. This review page is supported in part by the sponsors whose ad banners are displayed below
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