A new standard for listening to music was proposed while developing the AK100.
We recognized that certain aspects of the AK100 needed improvement during research and development for a successor.
While considering how to improve the AK100, we realized that there was a difference between measured audio specifications and what we felt sounded good.
After much deliberation, our development efforts were focused on making the AK100 2^nd Generation "feel" right to our senses rather than mechanically boosting technical specs.
The original AK100 was developed according to audio specification standards, but development of the next-generation AK100 was developed to the "New Standard" of how the music sounds.

We present "A New Standard in Listening to Music" with the AK100 2^nd Generation.

lthough the dramatic depth in sound quality delivered by the Balanced Out was proven in our flagship model, we wondered if the same benefit could be gained by implementing the Balanced Out with a Single DAC. The newly designed demo board delivered the ear-pleasing sound quality we needed. The value of a Balanced Out with a Single DAC is confirmed with every musical note.

The AK100 2^nd Generation provides a rich, warm sound experience through the re-tuned A-amp designed specifically for the CS4398 Single DAC.

he unbalanced method is the most commonly used basic method which consists of "left and right signals + ground line”.
This setup includes a ground line which blocks out external noises from the outside.
However, since the ground line cannot block out all of the external noises completely, external noises can be mixed into the signals that are transmitted, which then result in changes to the sound.
The longer the signals travel, the more external noises that will be mixed into the sound which is why it is used within a short distance of 1 to 2 meters.

Unlike the unbalanced method, the balanced method has an additional cold signal to compliment the hot signal which reduces the external noises.

The AK100 2^nd Generation also functions as an external DAC (sound card) when connected to a PC or Mac via USB.
The AK100 2^nd Generation's sound quality is available for stored music on any PC or Mac as it serves as a built-in sound card.

- The AK100 2^nd Generation supports up to UAC 1.0 (USB Audio Class 1.0) Output (24 bit, 96 kHz) via USB DAC, and EQ settings are not applied.

General Specifications

Model

AK100Ⅱ

Body Color

Smoky Blue

Body Material

Aluminum

Display

3.31inch WVGA (480 x 800) AMOLED Touchscreen

Supported Audio Formats

WAV, FLAC, WMA, MP3, OGG, APE(Normal, High, Fast), AAC, ALAC, AIFF, DFF, DSF

Sample rate

FLAC, WAV, ALAC, AIFF : 8kHz ~ 192kHz (8/16/24bits per Sample)
/ DSD : DSD64 (1bit 2.8MHz), Stereo / DSD128 (1bit 5.6MHz), Stereo

Output Level

Unbalance 2.0Vrms / Balance 1.7Vrms (Condition No Load)

DAC

Cirrus Logic CS4398 x1 (Single DAC)

Decoding

Support up to 24bit/192kHz Bit to Bit Decoding

Input

USB Micro-B input (for charging & data transfer (PC & MAC)) / Connection Mode : MTP (Media Device)

Output

PHONES (3.5mm) / Optical Out (3.5mm) / Balanced Out (2.5mm, only 4-pole supported)

Wi-Fi

802.11 b/g/n (2.4GHz)

Bluetooth

V4.0 (A2DP, AVRCP)

Dimensions

2.16 ”(55 mm) [W] x 4.37 ”(111 mm) [H] x 0.58 ”(14.9 mm) [D]

Weight

5.99 oz (170 g)

Feature Enhancements

Firmware upgrades supported (OTA)

Audio Performance

Frequency Response

±0.025dB (Condition: 20Hz~20kHz) Unbalance & Balance
/ ±0.6dB (Condition: 10Hz~70kHz) Unbalance & Balance

Signal to Noise Ratio

115dB @ 1kHz, Unbalance / 115dB @ 1kHz, Balance

Crosstalk

127dB @ 1kHz, Unbalance / 130dB @ 1kHz, Balance

THD+N

0.0009% @ 1kHz, Unbalance / 0.0008% @ 1kHz, Balance

IMD SMPTE

0.0004% 800Hz 10kHz(4:1) Unbalance / 0.0003% 800Hz 10kHz(4:1) Balance

Output Impedance

Balanced out 2.5mm (1ohm) / PHONES 3.5mm (2ohm)

Clock source

Clock Jitter

50ps (Typ)

Battery

Capacity

3,150mAh 3.7V Li-Polymer Battery

Memory

Built-in Memory

64GB [NAND]

External Memory

microSD (Max 256GB) x1

Supported OS

Windows XP, Windows 7,8,10 (32/64bit), MAC OS X 10.7 and up