Astell&Kern AK240 HD-audio player Review
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I have no financial interest or other interests in any of the items / events I write about.
Astell & Kern AK240 HD-audio player Review
The iPod is
the ubiquitous portable player of any budget, and has the lower end market
pretty much sealed up.
But what if
you are a discerning audiophile that wants to have go at something that plays
your lossless music with the same resolution and definition you are accustomed
to at home?
For those in
this position, there are many options that will cost many times the price of
that iPod, and will need better cans or IEMs than those commonly associated
with the iPod, but here we have one of the more premium ones in the form of the
Astell & Kern AK240 HD-audio player.
First the
technical blurb:
It offers
DSD playback, a micro SD slot, 256 Gb of hard disk space, and a balanced output
as well as the usual 3.5mm headphone out. The DAC uses a Cirrus Logic CS4398 chip.
It retails for
around 2000 Euros or under $3300…
For that you
are probably expecting some serious fidelity, and it’s quite a device, with a
hewn from a single piece of metal heft, and it looks a little like a pocket
camera when you first pick it up.
It supports FLAC, WAV, ALAC, AIFF, MP3, OGG, APE, AAC, DFF, and DSF music
formats. There’s a touchscreen for naviation as well as play, volume up and
down buttons and a wheel if you don’t like the touchscreen.
I used it
with some basic cans like the Sennheiser HD 414, UE Superfi and later tried it
with the Beyerdynamic DT 880 and others.
It performs
well with the less demanding cans and IEMs but it had some difficulty driving
the DT 880, and you won’t be using this combination on the road anyway.
The
impression was that of a very neutral sound, with an even tone, and no emphasis
of any part of the frequencies, and will go well with warm to neutral systems.
You get plenty of details and personally I am fond of open cans rather than
IEMs, and it’s pretty nice with the expanded soudstage and details. IEMs will
do nicely on the move though, and you get some very decent bass extension.
I also
compared it to the headphone stage of my Marantz PM 11 and NA 11, and there was
little to choose between them, with the two Marantz systems more capable of
driving tough to drive cans, and a slightly warmer sound.
The
interface is simple, but it does not work with the iTunes / Apple environment,
so beware if you are coming from an iTunes setup.
So will you
part with more than three grand to get this? It depends a lot on who you are
and how demanding you are of your portable music listening experience.
Most of the
average Joe consumer won’t understand the need for such high fidelity, but the
discerning listening with higher demands will enjoy this and find that the
money was well spent.
The noise
level is very low, and you can get a decent run from the internal batteries (about
10 hours) and you really eke every ounce of music out of that recording,
allowing you the luxury to take your collection of music on the road.
But the main
caveat is the word luxury I guess… it’s as expensive as 10 iPod Classics, and
does it sound ten times better? Well, not really, but that’s life in the world
of diminishing returns in high end music.
If the price
doesn’t deter you, this is one very solid piece of equipment, the Rolls Royce of portable players...
Other
reviews:
I have no financial interest or other interests in any of the items / events I write about.
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