When the Astell & Kern company is mentioned in the conversation, some are horrified, others are in indescribable delight. In the first case, all the fault is the price, which many still consider unreasonably high, in the second - the design, the quality of performance and sound, for which the players Astell & Kern almost no equal. Disputes about the price, let's leave it to others, because today in our editor's office is an incredible "catch" - Astell & Kern AK100 II and ... yes, AK320. Which we will unexpectedly test not with headphones for 100 thousand rubles, but with quite budgetary ones.
So, the older model - AK320, listened with bass . They are quite inexpensive (several thousand rubles), but the sound is excellent. In the box there are six pairs of silicone attachments, a clip, a hard case for carrying headphones.
The case DN-26M is made of aluminum, the cable is made qualitatively, it has a remote control with a playback control button and a microphone. Landing headphones deep, decent isolation - in general, all right.
AK100 second generation tested with headphones easier - . In a set with them there is a cover from leatherette, clip, a lot of attachments - and this at a price of a couple of thousand rubles.
Headphones look very cool, not for nothing they are called a replacement for expensive branded devices. They are made of chrome-plated metal, have a conical shape and a characteristic metallic pattern. By the way, here are some characteristics:
- Driver: dynamic, 6.8 mm
- Frequency range: 10-20,000 Hz
- Impedance: 16 Ohm
- Sensitivity: 95 dB
- Cable: 1.2 m
- Plug: angled, gold-plated
- Weight: 22 g
cause admiration at first sight - yet none of the manufacturers have ever managed to reach the same level of design. Someone might call unbalanced bars "bad taste", but everything, as they say, individually: most still find the appearance of the players Astell & Kern damn attractive. And although the design of the AK100 of the second generation and AK320 is different, something still reveals in them the signs of the family - at least the physical wheel of volume adjustment from the side.
The equipment for both players is royal rich - cables, cases, documentation - except that the headphones are not put in the kit, although then the price would have increased at least a half times. For AK320 a genuine leather cover from Conceria Walpier is available, AK 100 II has a fabric in a solid base. Is it worth it to wear such players in cases - it's up to you, but, in my opinion, they look much better without any accessories. Not for that, designers worked at night on the legendary appearance, then to wrap it in a blanket.
There are a lot of controls for AK320, and for AK100 of the second generation. Both have a touchscreen 3.31-inch AMOLED-display with a resolution of 800 x 480 pixels: not Full HD, of course, but for the player is enough. The assembly is equipped with mechanical buttons, through which the devices are switched on and off. On the side panels - the play and pause button, as well as two more buttons that are responsible for switching tracks.
One of the main chips of the players Astell & Kern - the volume control, it is a 150-step analog mechanical potentiometer. It perfectly complements the case of metal and does not violate ergonomics, the players are conveniently placed in the hand, although initially it is not even believed.
You can play music with the microSD memory card, and for the connection to the computer the microUSB connector is responsible. "Fill" tracks from the computer simply due to the MTP mode: in addition to it, you can choose, for example, DAC Input mode to use the player as an external DAC.
You can connect headphones with a balanced and unbalanced output - they can be used in the line-out mode. The unbalanced output supports the output of the SPDIF digital stream via the TosLink interface. Among the supported music formats are WAV, FLAC, WMA, MP3, OGG, APE (Normal, High, Fast), AAC, ALAC, AIFF, DFF, DSF. Of the supported wireless interfaces - Bluetooth version 4.0 and Wi-Fi 802.11 b / g / n, 2.4 GHz. With AK Connect for iOS and Android, you can access the AK320's music library.
In AK100 II, one Cirrus Logic CS4398 chip is responsible for the digital-to-analog conversion. AK320 boasts pair AKM AK4490 DACs (one by one per channel) and reproduces sound in 24 bit / 192 kHz format without any problems. In fact, you can talk about the sound characteristics of both players for a very long time, but all these names and indicators, as a rule, do not say anything to the majority, no matter how strange it may sound. Astell & Kern choose with eyes and ears; all the rest is superfluous. However, the fact that players can play sound in the studio format Mastering Quality Sound, which carries information in 6.5 times more CD, can not be noted. No wonder the producer calls his creations not players, but full-fledged portable studios.
The interface of both players is very similar - yet it's Android, albeit in a slightly unusual shell. The main screen is divided into three parts: the cover of the current track and the status line, the library, the AK Connect service. Everything is implemented conveniently and intuitively, so even someone who has never held a player of this manufacturer in his hands can get used literally in half an hour.
But all this was just a prehistory, and not the most necessary, when such devices get to the review. Sound, sound, sound! And here we will analyze each player separately.
Coupled with AK320 headphones DN-26M opened more than completely. This family gives a convincing, powerful, clear and transparent sound with an even tone bass. The scene is worked out on a solid five, also at the level of localization and focusing of the sound. Still, the couple AKM AK4490 does its thing.
How did DN-12 prove to be with AK100 II? Very, very cool. Even tone balance, deep bass, close to natural timbres of instruments. "Uninitiated" is unlikely to distinguish the sound from the player from the AK320, but the true audiophile will immediately feel the difference in the imaginary scene.
However, both players perfectly work out any genres - and rock, and jazz, and classics, and hip-hop sound luxurious.
There must be some sort of conclusion, but it's very difficult to make it. What can I say, this . These players are designed to satisfy the needs of the most demanding audiophiles in high-quality sound. Most of those who argue about the pricing policy of Astell & Kern, believe me, did not even hold the device of this company in hand, not to mention full-fledged testing. However, if the price still seems high to you, pay attention to the headphones from the review - this is an excellent budget option, which boasts a high level of sound.
The article is based on materials .
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