Astell&Kern is still cranking out portable players at a blistering rate. It doesn’t feel too long ago that we were talking about its SP3000T and now there’s the SP3000M arriving on the scene.
And the SP3000M has designs on being the “finest portable audio player available today”, in the words of Astell&Kern.
How does it aim to achieve this? Firstly through use of its unbalanced and balanced independual dual audio circuit design, which Astell&Kern claims removes the “usual limitation” in audio performance and gives listeners “clean, pure delicacy of sound with no lag or delay”.
There’s a Snapdragon 6125 Octa-core processor onboard (which also features on the brand’s other premium portable players), with a redesigned user interface for easier and smoother navigation, as well as 8GB of DDR4 RAM offering users a faster system response.
The A&ultima SP3000M is designed to produce audio playback as close to the original sound as possible, with its Teraton Alpha tech reducing noise in the signal path and offering more efficient power management.
With four AK4499EX DACs and two separate AK4191EQ chips that handle digital signals, the SP3000M makes use of a shield to prevent noise and electromagnetic interfence from causing issues with audio; with the use of highly conductive, high-purity silver on that shield able to physically separate digital and analogue signals for a crystal clear sound with whatever file you’re listening to.
The screen is a 4.1-inch, 720p effort with battery life up to 10 hours. There’s also support for Wi-Fi and Bluetooth streaming (up to aptX HD, LDAC, and LDHC).
All this technology doesn’t come cheap by the way. The A&ultima SP3000M is available from retailers such as Amazon and Selfridges from £2299. In Europe and the US, you can get it for €2599 / $2300.
