Astell & Kern has just announced their new portable DAP, the SA700. A throwback to past AK designs, the new DAP marries current technologies with a time-honored appearance.
Astell & Kern Announces New SA700 DAP
Unmistakably retro in appearance, the SA700 celebrates more than seven years of market presence for Astell & Kern. However, this new player features the latest internals for an impressive user experience.
Two AKM AK4492ECB DAC chips handle sound quality, while a quad-core CPU handles processing. Enabled with WiFi and Bluetooth connectivity, the SA700 will offer streaming capability.
The SA700 will feature sample rates up to 32-bit, 384 kHz for PCM audio, in addition to DSD 256.
Compared to other AK players, the SA700 offers competition with the already-establised SE100. In addition to lower harmonic distortion, the SA700 matches the older player in terms of sample rates. Still, the SE100 would offer a bigger screen, an 8-core processor, and a Sabre DAC for those who prefer that sound.
Other than specs, Astell & Kern hasn’t been releasing much info about this new player, but stay tuned for future updates and the MajorHiFi review in the coming weeks.
Estimated to be released in mid-December, the Astell & Kern SA700 will be available from select dealers for $1299.
Audio46
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General Specifications
Body Color – Onyx Black / Stainless Steel
Body Material – Stainless Steel
Display – 4.1inch (720 x 1,280) Touch display
Supported Audio Formats – WAV, FLAC, WMA, MP3, OGG, APE, AAC, ALAC, AIFF, DFF, DSF
Sample rate – PCM : 8kHz ~ 384kHz (8/16/24/32bits per Sample) / DSD Native: DSD64(1bit 2.8MHz), Stereo / DSD128(1bit 5.6MHz), Stereo / DSD256(1bit 11.2MHz), Stereo
Output Level – Unbalanced 2.0Vrms / Balanced 4.0Vrms (Condition No Load)
DAC – AKM AK4492ECB x2 (Dual DAC)
Decoding – Support up to 32bit / 384kHz Bit-to-Bit Playback
Input – USB Type-C input (for PC & MAC)
Outputs – Unbalanced Out (3.5mm) / Balanced Out (2.5mm, only 4-pole supported)
Wi-Fi – 802.11 b/g/n (2.4GHz)
Bluetooth – V4.2 (A2DP, AVRCP, aptXTM HD)
Dimensions – 2.32 ”(59.1 mm) [W] x 4.56 ”(115.9 mm) [H] x 0.64 ”(16.5 mm) [D]
Weight – 10.68 oz (303 g)
Feature Enhancements – Firmware upgrades supported (OTA)
Audio Performance
Frequency Response – ±0.12dB (Condition: 20Hz~20kHz) Unbalanced / ±0.12dB (Condition: 20Hz~20kHz) Balanced ±1.48dB (Condition: 20Hz~70kHz) Unbalanced / ±1.48dB (Condition: 20Hz~70kHz) Balanced
Signal to Noise Ratio – 120dB @ 1kHz, Unbalanced / 123dB @ 1kHz, Balanced
Crosstalk – -134dB @ 1kHz, Unbalanced / -138dB @ 1kHz, Balanced
THD+N – 0.0006% @ 1kHz, Unbalanced / 0.0006% @ 1kHz, Balanced
IMD SMPTE – 0.0003% 800Hz 10kHz(4:1) Unbalanced / 0.0004% 800Hz 10kHz(4:1) Balanced
Output Impedance – Unbalanced Out 3.5mm (1.8ohm) / Balanced out 2.5mm (1.9ohm)
Clock source
Reference Clock Jitter – 70ps(Typ)
Battery
Capacity – 3,150mAh 3.7V Li-Polymer Battery
Continuous Playback Time – Up to 8.5 hours (Standard – MUSIC: FLAC, 16-bit/44.1kHz, Unbalanced, Volume 80, EQ OFF, LCD OFF)
Charge Time – About 4.5 hours (Standard – 5V/2A Charging)
Memory
Built-in Memory – 128GB [NAND]
External Memory – microSD (Max. 512GB) x1
OS
Supported OS – Windows 7,8,10 (32/64bit), MAC OS X 10.7 and up
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