In mid-June, the new Hi-Fi player Astell & Kern AK300 enters the American market of premium audio equipment. It is the youngest model in the 300th series of portable turntables of the famous Korean brand.
Novelty supports audio with up to 24-bit 192 kHz encoding, DSD studio format supported with transcoding to PCM.
The main differences of the younger model are the use of one DAC instead of two and a smaller memory capacity 64 GB , which allowed to make the player more affordable.
The AK300 provides studio-quality audio playback and is equipped with a high-precision femtoclock and a parametric 20-band equalizer. The player supports USB DAC when connected to a PC or Mac – the output of AK300 we get audio signal with the characteristics of 24 bits 96 kHz, which will provide excellent sound in headphones, speakers or car speaker system.
AK300 supports wireless networking that connects computer, network player, mobile devices and other Astell&Kern players. This configuration allows you to search for audio files on external drives and play music from there, using a Hi-Fi-player. In addition, the AK300 is compatible with additional devices such as an amplifier, cradle, CD ripper, and recorder.
Amplifier
Recorder
Cradle
CD player
Specifications:
| cabinet material | aluminum |
| Display | 4″ WVGA 480 x 800 touchscreen |
| Supported formats | WAV, FLAC, WMA, MP3, OGG, APE(Normal, High, Fast , AAC, ALAC, AIFF, DFF, DSF |
| Supported operating systems | Windows XP, Windows 7, 8, 10 32/64bit , MAC OS X 10.7 and up |
| PCM sampling rate | 8 – 192 kHz 8/16/24 bits per sample / DSD : DSD64, Stereo DSD128, Stereo |
| Output level no load | 1.98 Vrms unbalanced output 1.98 Vrms balanced output |
| DAC | AKM AK4490 |
| Decoding | 24 bit 192 kHz |
| Frequency Response | ± 0.075 dB 20 Hz – 20 kHz , unbalanced and balanced output Unbalanced: ± 0.56 dB 10 Hz – 70 kHz Balance: ± 0,55 dB 10 Hz – 70 kHz |
| Signal to noise ratio | Unbalanced: 116 dB/kHz Balance: 116 dB/kHz |
| Crosstalk | Unbalanced: 130 dB/kHz Balanced: 130 dB/kHz |
| CGI + H | Unbalanced: 0,0008% @ 1 kHz Balance: 0.0007% @ 1 kHz |
| IMD SMPTE | Unbalanced: 0,0007% 800Hz 10kHz 4:1 Balanced: 0.0006% 800Hz 10kHz 4:1 |
| Output impedance | Balance output 2.5mm: 1 Ohm Headphone 3.5 mm: 2 Ohms |
| Input | Micro-USB Type B for charging and data transfer – PC and Mac / Connection mode: MTP Media Device |
| Outputs | on headphones 3.5mm , optical 3,5mm , balanced 2.5mm, 4-pin only |
| Network | Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n 2.4 GHz Bluetooth version 4.0 A2DP, AVRCP, aptX |
| Firmware upgrade capability via OTA | + |
| Power | 3100mAh Lithium Polymer Battery 3.7V |
| Dimensions | 75.15 x 112.4 x 15.45 mm |
| Weight | 205 g |
What are the key differences between the Astell&Kern AK300 and its predecessor models AK320 and AK380?
What are the notable differences between the Astell&Kern AK300 and its predecessors, the AK320 and AK380?
How does the new model Astell&Kern AK300 compare to its legendary brothers, AK320 and AK380? Is it worth the investment considering the performance and features?
What are the specific features and improvements that set the Astell&Kern AK300 apart from its predecessors, the AK320 and AK380?