Guest from the future: audio player Astell & Kern Ultima SP1000

If you had a portable player in the early 2000s, you know the devices of the company iRiver firsthand: its players broke into the market when nobody talked about the iPod, but the manufacturer managed to make it so that music fans were happy to buy for impressive money 128-megabyte model, which operates from a "finger" battery. Nevertheless, iRiver players for the majority were available, which can not be said about the devices of its premium brand Astell & Kern.

Astell & Kern devices for a long time cause in connoisseurs of sound both admiration and bewilderment. One is close to the manufacturer's uncompromising approach to portable audio, others can not understand what caused such a high price (player for 250 thousand rubles - how is this possible?). However, the players of Astell & Kern also do not position themselves as a "technology for everyone": first of all they are valued for their uniqueness and superiority over any analogues, and those who pay attention to these qualities, as a rule, can afford to spend a high-quality sound .

But today not about this, because we have in the editorial office was the real flagship Astell & Kern - portable audio player Ultima SP1000 . And you know, you can be skeptical about Hi-End audio devices, considering them a waste of money, but this player is one of those devices that justify the existence of this segment as a whole.

Characteristics

DAC: 2 AKM AK4497EQ
Sampling Frequency: 384 kHz
Outputs: balanced, unbalanced
Signal to noise ratio: unbalanced - 120 dB (1 kHz), balanced - 122 dB (1 kHz)
THD + noise: unbalanced - 0.0005 (1kHz), balanced - 0.0008 (1kHz)
Playable formats: MP3, AIFF, AAC, WAV, WMA, OGG, DSD, ALAC, FLAC, APE, DSF
Output voltage level (without load): unbalanced - 2.3 V rms, balanced - 3.9 V rms
Recommended impedance of headphones: up to 40 Ohm
Built-in Memory: 256 GB
Screen: 5 inches 720 x 1280
Wireless interfaces: WI-FI, Bluetooth
Dimensions (W x D x H): 75.8 x 132 x 16.2 mm
Weight: 387.9 g

Equipment

This is the case when you want to talk about the player box, because under the stylish black cardboard "wrapper" is a wooden case with the Astell & Kern logo. And it can be used to store the player - they listened and removed, so that, for example, small children did not take it for a smartphone.

In addition, the kit included a USB charging cable, documentation, several protective films on the screen and a cover. The latter is made of genuine leather and looks very cool, so much so that the cover does not interrupt its appearance with the beauty of the player itself.

Everything is done qualitatively, access to the main elements is not difficult, and if the player suddenly falls, the cover protects against mechanical damage (but it is better to avoid it).

What to say, the bundle is really flagship, but it's enough to look at the box, after all the most important thing is inside.

Design and ergonomics

The Ultima SP1000 is equipped with a 5-inch screen with a resolution of 720 x 1280 pixels, which boldly challenges the statement that the portable player can not have a high-quality picture. The display occupies the entire front panel, and you really want to look at it.

By tradition, on the right is a multifunctional wheel, which is already familiar to us from other audio players from Astell & Kern. This is simultaneously a tool for adjusting the volume, and a button for controlling the device, since it allows, for example, to turn it on.

The playback control buttons are moved to the side panel - they are small in size, but without any problems they allow you to use the player "to the touch."

The body of the player is made of steel and is highly resistant to wear (for lovers of gold shades, the Ultima SP1000 is also available in the copper version). The lines of the case are rough, sharp, aggressive - but it's on them that the players of Astell & Kern can be distinguished from all the others even from a great distance. Some compare this player to a gold ingot - thoroughbred, elegant and "as if not of this world" (in a good way), and one can not but agree with this assessment. Although more appropriate, perhaps, an analogy with a precious stone with a careful jewelry cut.

The player is comfortable to hold in hand, despite the rather unusual geometric shape, the controls are intuitive and in many ways similar to those in Android smartphones, only all functions are focused on sound. Very convenient was the integration with the phone, through which the device can notify the user about calls and messages via Bluetooth.

According to the experience of using past Astell & Kern players like AK320 and AK380, it should be noted that the buttons, connectors and that functional wheel have very good endurance. The manufacturer understands that if you buy an audio player for such money, then you are not going to change it in 2-3 years, and this reliability to some extent justifies the price.

Sound and Features

Two AKAM AK4497EQ DACs answer sound for Ultima SP1000 - they produce a sound of such a high resolution that even the ears of the pumped audiofilov are not good enough for it (the very moment when the player's capabilities go beyond the limits of human hearing). "Ceiling" resolution records - 32 bit / 384 kHz, the player supports DSD with a sampling frequency of up to 11.2 MHz - for those who professionally work with music, this is important.

In its flagship, Astell & Kern has used a fairly powerful amplifier, so the player can easily cope with headphones with a resistance of 35 ohms or more, while the volume margin remains impressive, and the amplifier does not distort playback, as often happens in budget devices. The 25-ohm Fostex TH-900, with which we tested the device, opened completely from the other side. And, of course, there was support for the codec aptX HD, which is capable of providing Hi-Res sound transmission via Bluetooth. The codec reduces the signal-to-noise ratio and distortion, so that you begin to look completely different in wireless sound.

Coupled with Fostex TH-900 were listened to several tracks.

David Bowie - Suffragette City. Surprisingly, even a track from 1972 with the imprint of recording technology of that time sounds incredibly rich with this pair. If with most other players this composition shows friable high frequencies and not the strongest bass, then the Ultima SP1000 interestingly makes the sound balanced - both the vocal and the middle frequencies, minimizing the loss on the HF.

Pink - Whatever you Want. Modern pop music sounds as if you are not sitting in an armchair in front of a computer, but you are at a concert, and in the dance zone. The imaginary scene is worked on a solid five, and the slightly underlined low frequencies add their "chip", so necessary to the compositions, most of which is the bass.

Queen - Bohemian Rhapsody. If about the first two in the editorial board, some controversy arose, then the legendary Queen left no one indifferent. Pure vocal is complemented by crystal clear medium and high frequencies, and small insertions of LF are waiting with a special impatience.

In general, the player not only looks, but also sounds aggressive. And aggression is expressed not in the flow, but in that it does not leave any compromise to the rest of the devices - they say, there is such a sound, but do not look for another one. Therefore, the first two days are full of emotions - you just have to wait until the charging time is over.

The 8-core processor is responsible for the speed, and its capabilities, it must be said, are enough for the player to instantly process the tasks. The performance is really impressive, and even if you completely fill the player with music on 256 GB of internal memory, it will not suffer. Moreover, you can still insert a microSD memory card up to 256 GB. The battery capacity of 3400 mAh player is fully charged in two hours, and it lasts for 12 hours of continuous listening. The indicator is impressive - transatlantic flight with Ultima SP1000 can survive, there will still be enough reserve for the transfer to the hotel.