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  • Astell&Kern to unveil the A&Ultima SP4000 digital audio player

    Astell&Kern (A&K) have announced that it will be debut its new flagship digital audio player, the A&Ultima SP4000, at High End Munich in Germany on May 15. The iRiver subsidiary also announced it will release two new in-ear monitors (IEM) in Q3 2025.

    In a press release published on Thursday, A&K said the A&Ultima SP4000 will be the first digital audio player in the lineup to have full Android support. This means users will be able to download any app from Google Play Store, including Spotify, Soundcloud Pandora, and experience lossless playback while streaming their favorite music.

    Under the hood, the SP4000 has a new Octa audio circuit architecture that pairs the AK4191 processor with only one AK4499EX analog DAC instead of two in order to reduce noise when delivering digital signals; carries a new LDO regulator that reduces noise by up to 97% compared to its predecessors, including the A&Ultima SP3000 and SP3000M; and employs A&K’s second-gen digital audio remaster (DAR) technology to deliver more natural and refined sound to the user. And, for the first time ever, the SP4000 has a 99.9% pure copper Shield Can that is precision-engineered to block out various types of noise and electromagnetic interference, leaving the audio quality intact.

    Renders of the A&ultima SP4000.
    Astell&Kern

    As for the new IEMs, A&K collaborated with 64 Audio to develop the 10-driver Universal Fit In-Ear Monitor. This headset houses an advanced isobaric cone-to-magnet driver configuration that helps deliver high sound fidelity. Then there’s its in-house IEM, Luna, which has a full range single transducer unipolar micro planar magnetic driver that delivers a frequency response of 20Hz to 30KHz.

    High End Munich attendees will be able to demo the SP4000 and the new IEMs from May 15 through May 18. Pricing information for the devices has not been disclosed, but A&K will share it closer to the release date.

  • Astell&Kern’s latest audiophile portable comes with its own dock

    Astell&Kern (A&K) has announced its latest portable digital audio player (DAP) and it not only boasts a huge number of audiophile-friendly features, but it also ships with a home charging dock that doubles as a two-channel analog source for hi-fi systems. The A&K PS10 will officially debut at CanJam Singapore, 5 – 6 April 2025 and be available at authorized Astell&Kern dealers worldwide in May 2025 for $2,500.

    The PS10 is a departure for A&K’s portables. The company has seemingly ditched the highly angular chassis designs of its previous players, in favor of a far more conventional, smartphone-like appearance. Fans of A&K’s portables will note another major change on the PS10: the absence of a rotary knob for volume control, something every A&K player has featured, going back to its debut product — the AK100 — from 2012, with the exception of the budget-friendly, Activo-branded, P1.

    Astell&Kern PS10 DAP with cradle.
    Astell&Kern

    The company describes this move as “presenting a novel take on Astell&Kern’s iconic volume wheel design.” Novel, in this case, apparently means buttons: you control the PS10’s volume via a pair of plus and minus buttons on the side of the device. A&K says it’s designed to deliver a more intuitive and distinctive experience of ‘optimal sound.’ It should still feel like a very premium device in the hand, as it’s made from stainless steel and glass.

    Whether you like the new design or not, it’s hard to argue with what the PS10 has under the hood. It reads like a recipe for audiophile-level hi-fi, including:

    • World’s first use of new AKM AK4498EX DAC chips in a DAP
    • Impedance-adaptive dual amplifiers with “Smart Gain”: The PS10 measures the impedance of the headphone/earbud connected and automatically switches between the normal and high gain amps
    • Quad-DAC design with dual AK4191EQ chips dedicated to handling all-digital pathways
    • Separate signal paths for balanced and unbalanced headphone outputs
    • 256GB of internal memory with support for microSD cards up to 2TB
    • Dual-band 2.4/5Ghz a/b/g/n/ac Wi-Fi
    • USB digital audio output
    • USB-C for data transfer and charging
    • External DAC modes: Via Bluetooth or a direct USB connection to a Mac or Windows-based PC

    As we’ve become accustomed to with A&K’s players, the PS10 can decode a wide range of audio formats, with support for PCM at up to 32-bit/768kHz and native processing of DSD up to DSD512.

    Astell&Kern PS10 DAP with cradle.
    Astell&Kern

    It pack a variety of hi-res audio Bluetooth codecs, including aptX HD, LHDC, and LDAC, and these can be used bi-directionally with broadcast out for wireless headphones, and in receive mode when you want to stream in Bluetooth from a external source.

    The rechargeable battery gives a claimed 15 hours of continuous playback and charging time is rated at 3.5 hours when taking advantage of the PS10’s Power Delivery 3.0 support.

    Then there’s the docking cradle mentioned in the intro. It angles the PS10 for easy reading and navigation, and packs both XLR balanced outputs and a USB-C port that supports USB DAC/USB Digital Output capabilities. The XLR jacks can be volume controlled from the PS10 itself (for use with a set of external speakers), or they can be set to a fixed output level for component use. Speaking of component use, the PS10 is Roon Ready certified, for those who like to control their music through that platform.