Finally! A new flagship DAP from iRiver! AK100

[Haonan]

wat happens?

Frequency response will get screwed badly with balanced armature based designs, and dynamic drivers could face some roll off.

Seems to be true story. I haven't looked thru the discussion threads on HF much but according to korean site Goldenears.net, they do exhibit a pretty high output source impedance rating, which wouldn't bode well with multi-armature based IEMs, mainly those that utilises cross-overs in them.

Some current market IEMs for example like the UE Triple.fi10's or Sony XBA-4 are some of the very fine examples that suffers from major phase shifts/non-linear curves with noticeable bass roll-offs when using a source with high output impedance, it's been mentioned alrdy on HF can go search it up if you wanna find out more abt how such things can affect BA iems, blog sites like Markus Kraus and Sonove have also documented abt these issues before if you know how to read graphs.

 

[racoiaw]

Seems to be true story. I haven't looked thru the discussion threads on HF much but according to korean site Goldenears.net, they do exhibit a pretty high output source impedance rating, which wouldn't bode well with multi-armature based IEMs, mainly those that utilises cross-overs in them.

Some current market IEMs for example like the UE Triple.fi10's or Sony XBA-4 are some of the very fine examples that suffers from major phase shifts/non-linear curves with noticeable bass roll-offs when using a source with high output impedance, it's been mentioned alrdy on HF can go search it up if you wanna find out more abt how such things can affect BA iems, blog sites like Markus Kraus and Sonove have also documented abt these issues before if you know how to read graphs.

wah now i know.

 

[Haonan]

wah now i know.

The above was my initial reaction when I came to know that they had high output impedance, at 22 ohms. For such a marketed Hi-Fi portable dap, somemore this coming from iRiver who used to produce many quality players in the past so it's kinda hard to imagine they would actually screw up such an aspect w/o knowing abt the requirements and importance of a low output impedance.

Well now the truth is out, and like what they usually say sometimes the truth hurts. I think their R&D dept ppl still living in the past, where they were thinking since not much ppl using BA iems back when iRiver was still popular, so they thought even now most ppl would be using dynamic stuffs with their players which doesn't suffer from FR phase shifts tat much compared to BA iems. Well they are wrong, as far as I'm aware almost the general crowd out there who are serious into audio, have at least owned 1 pair of BA iems before, agree with me boh?

 

[TeamStereo]

I agree on that too... so this player not so good in the end? Unless using dynamic drivers/headphones =(

 

[rickysio]

The above was my initial reaction when I came to know that they had high output impedance, at 22 ohms. For such a marketed Hi-Fi portable dap, somemore this coming from iRiver who used to produce many quality players in the past so it's kinda hard to imagine they would actually screw up such an aspect w/o knowing abt the requirements and importance of a low output impedance.

Well now the truth is out, and like what they usually say sometimes the truth hurts. I think their R&D dept ppl still living in the past, where they were thinking since not much ppl using BA iems back when iRiver was still popular, so they thought even now most ppl would be using dynamic stuffs with their players which doesn't suffer from FR phase shifts tat much compared to BA iems. Well they are wrong, as far as I'm aware almost the general crowd out there who are serious into audio, have at least owned 1 pair of BA iems before, agree with me boh?

Even if you have low impedance, if you don't pull off the design part - like how Cowon did (bass roll off anyone?) - impedance is but one part of the story.

 

[kaltzbalger]

I find it quite stupid. High end portable DAP (size similar to Rocoo), means most people who want to use it will pair it with high end IEMs, which 80+% are sensitive BA-based. 22 ohm...are you kidding me? No one is gonna bring bulky, power hungry headphones around to be their 'portable' rig.

Why are DAP makers screwing up simple design requirements?? Hisound with no sd slot. Then iriver with 22 ohm impedance. Can't they learn from their and each other's past mistakes?

I sincerely hope Fiio will nail it with X3.

 

[rickysio]

My opinion is that they all need to be schooled by SanDisk.

Look at the Sansa Clip+. You have good, at worst usable UI, microSDHC slot (supports 64gb (reformatted) cards), 1 Ohm output impedance, sun-proof screen, small size...

 

[Cryok95]

I find it quite stupid. High end portable DAP (size similar to Rocoo), means most people who want to use it will pair it with high end IEMs, which 80+% are sensitive BA-based. 22 ohm...are you kidding me? No one is gonna bring bulky, power hungry headphones around to be their 'portable' rig.

Why are DAP makers screwing up simple design requirements?? Hisound with no sd slot. Then iriver with 22 ohm impedance. Can't they learn from their and each other's past mistakes?

I sincerely hope Fiio will nail it with X3.

No SD slot? Haha, look at the iBasso DX100 or the Colourfly C4, both uses microSD slots.

I can't understand why is an SD slot a requirement? MicroSD is basically the same thing, just smaller. SD is eventually going to be phased out.

 

[kaltzbalger]

No SD slot? Haha, look at the iBasso DX100 or the Colourfly C4, both uses microSD slots.

I can't understand why is an SD slot a requirement? MicroSD is basically the same thing, just smaller. SD is eventually going to be phased out.

By SD slot I mean ALL external storage. I was't specific enough, was I? My bad

No ext storage, but can play relatively high res music. Doesn't make sense for me (8gb internal only).

 

[Haonan]

Even if you have low impedance, if you don't pull off the design part - like how Cowon did (bass roll off anyone?) - impedance is but one part of the story.

Hello bro wah you long time no drop by liao ah, still rem last time with our casual chat regarding the JVC HA-FXT90's via pms. Yup you are right, I can't say I am disagreeing with u here as the circuit design of a portable source player matters as well apart frm just implementing low output impedance onto the hp out, but what I'm just trying to explain and clarify to the public with my previous post, was actually trying to educate those who aren't aware, that actually using a dap or amp source with high output impedance rating, can be pretty detrimental especially with multi-armature based IEMs. (though it's true that low-impedance rated dynamic IEMs will suffer from noticeable bass roll-offs as well, not only limited to BA stuff)

I won't write another long-winded post regarding this, as there are already lotsa online resources elaborating abt this, also been discussed on Head-fi and other well-known audio forums like ABI/Hydrogenaudio. But if anyone's int to research further into this topic, you may try out NwAvGuy's blog entry for starters.

Cheers bro.

 

[rickysio]

Some charts probably explains things better. (Yep, haven't dropped by in quite some time.)

The A845's output impedance is fairly high IIRC, more than the AK100.

 

[kazzzam]

the iriver ak-100 dap

* Flash News * The director of Iriver will be in Singapore to do a presentation about the much-awaited IRiver AK-100 DAP, and officially launch the product in Southeast Asia, starting with Singapore ! Check it out ...

Parkroyal Hotel on Kitchener Rd
1 or 2 pm Sapphire Room 2 (final time to be announced)
Nov 3, 2012

 

[kazzzam]

I bought it....

offer price $780 !

there goes my AWS....

Announcement : Singapore HiFi Show 2012

 

[d4rkm4st3r]

how the sound alamakazam?

write a short review!!

i just got a sr71b, should have waited awhile more..

 

[kazzzam]

good loh.. lol

is pocket friendly! my criteria!

is hi-res !

the ultimate reason I bought ak100....the blardy android is ****** up... upgrade samsung S3 to ICS... music player got lag and will stutter audio... **** up android... bless with superior cpu... SO what!! still lag ... knnccb lol


iriver sales guy say

there will be a higher end and lower end model in 6 months time
iriver will be selling korean Hi-res music!
64gb microsd is possible , firmware soon... thats 64gb x 2 + internal 2Xgb

 

[Cryok95]

Lol don't put it on the balcony. Later drop, and down down down it goes

What's the sound sig like?

 

[bobby29]

Saw this player just now at the show. Didn't get to try it. How's the sound sig?

 

[TeamStereo]

How's the sound sig and what's the damage? =)

 

[kazzzam]

From my ie80

Not as dry Cowon
More detail than sansa clip
Dark background
Pretty narrow soundstage


Better to work as a transport with amps

$780 @ show , $870 normal price


Pros
Up to 140gb storage
Pocket friendly
Well built aluminum case
Bit to bit hi-rez player
Iriver a well established company, new firmware are promised to give users a better experience


Cons
Not ergonomic designed, buttons seems off place
Not the smoothest user interface
Screen is large enough, but maybe larger to vview another 2 lines of song would be good

 

[TeamStereo]

How is the battery life so far? =) quite interested since my DX100 now lying at home =x