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  1. Thanks for all the info- I'm new to this site, and there's a wealth of information here.
  2. Thanks for the post roccoriley What does the "Red Wine upgrade" entail? I assume this is separate from the AK120 firmware update available from iriver. Does this upgrade mean that your AK120 now plays DSD direct to analog, or is there still an intermediate PCM conversion? Other than owning SACD's, I'm new to the DSD world so I don't know what a DSF file is. My desire to have a player that does a direct DSD to analog conversion probably doesn't matter in terms of detectable sound quality differences, I assume, but I like to eliminate as many conversion processes as necessary. The AK120 is, as far as I know, the first portable player to offer such a high level of fidelity, but I'd like to see more in a piece of hardware that retails for $1299. Some competition will benefit us all. I have an OPPO BDP-105 which contains 32-bit DAC's and does DSD to analog directly, and costs $1199. Granted, I'm not carrying the OPPO strapped to my back! There are companies that sell DSD downloads, but if the AK100/120 does a PCM conversion it seems like a wasted purchase. Thanks for your time and input, -Mike
  3. Here's clarification as to how the Astell & Kern AK120 handles DSD, direct from my inquiry to iriver: Dear iriver customer, Thank you for contacting iriver customer support. The DSD files are converted into PCM during the playback process. We do not have any information on your inquiry regarding our future A&K products. Please contact us back later for updated news. If you have any questions or concerns please email us back at any time. Thanks & Regards, iriver Inc. CS & Tech Support 949-336-4540/1 shop.iriverinc.com I first learned of the AK120 through reading an article in the October 2013 issue of "The Absolute Sound." In weighing the decision to spend $699 for the AK100 vs. $1299 for the AK120, the author of the piece states "The decision, then, to spring for the AK120 boils down to two important features- more memory and DSD support..." No where in the piece is the DSD-PCM conversion mentioned, which I consider to be of crucial importance when deciding if I should spend nearly twice as much on the AK120. It's also not mentioned in the product details on the Astell & Kern website. To summarize, iriver simply isn't giving the whole picture on their website when it comes to playing DSD files. My hope is that future iterations of the Astell & Kern product line will include a DAC that does a direct conversion of DSD to analog.
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