Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Audio / Video
  3. News

Astell & Kern launches a trio of new products for playing and recording hi-res audio

By

Astell & Kern AK300, AK Recorder
Image used with permission by copyright holder
As a luxury brand, Astell & Kern products aren’t generally those bought with little thought, and depending on your budget, the price alone may put much of what the firm offers outside the realm of possibility. Still, the company knows what it’s doing — in our review of the Astell & Kern Jr last year, we called it the “portable hi-res player to beat.”

The company debuted two new high-resolution audio players at CES this year — the AK320 and AK380 — but prices started at $1,800 and headed upward from there. At $900, the AK300, which Astell & Kern launched today at the High End show in Munich, Germany, still isn’t cheap, but the price is more in line with other hi-res players on the market. This little brother to the AK320 and AK380 packs in a single DAC and is less extravagant, but the company didn’t skimped where it counts.

Recommended Videos

The AK300 sports a AK4490 DAC, capable of playing back high-resolution audio up to 32-bit/384KHz (down-converted to 24bit/192khz) PCM format, or 5.6MHz DSD, which is converted to PCM for playback. The player features 64GB of built-in storage with up to 200GB of additional storage available thanks to the built-in MicroSD slot. Like its big siblings, the AK300 features Wi-Fi connectivity, the ability to act as a USB DAC, and support for AK Connect.

Please enable Javascript to view this content

Another product unveiled by Astell & Kern this week is the AK Recorder, a module for the AK300, AK320, and AK380 that, as the name implies, adds recording capabilities to the players. The company calls this a “pro-grade” audio recorder, and it has features to match with a mic input featuring 48V phantom power for condensers and other mics that require power, as well as a line-in for sources like turntables. Recordings can be anywhere from CD-quality 16-bit/44.1kHz up to hi-res 32-bit/384kHz, supporting DSD64 and DSD128 formats.

Related

The AK Recorder offers the ability to tune mic and pre-amp gain, as well as a number of features like a built-in digital limiter, peak hold, low-cut filters, prerecording, and remote control via Wi-Fi. The AK Recorder sells for $800, with an optional stereo recording kit also available, but sold separately.

Finally, the company is also launching something only the most hardcore audiophiles will truly be excited for: Astell & Kern Graphene Cables, the world’s first audio cable to use the material. The company says that due to the cable’s conductivity — two-thirds better than copper — and its low rate of oxidation, graphene provides the “best possible signal pathway” for audio.

Astell & Kern doesn’t yet have a concrete release date for any of the new products, but says that the AK300 or AK Recorder will be available soon. For more information, see the company’s website.

Editors’ Recommendations

Topics
Kris Wouk
Kris Wouk
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Kris Wouk is a tech writer, gadget reviewer, blogger, and whatever it's called when someone makes videos for the web. In his…
Spotify could launch its HiFi lossless audio tier any day now
Spotify app and earbud.

In February, Spotify announced its ambitions to join the increasingly popular lossless audio space with a new subscription tier called Spotify HiFi. At the time, the streaming music company was silent regarding pricing or the potential timing for the new tier's debut, but a recently spotted video suggests it could happen imminently.

Late last week, Reddit user Nickx000x posted a video to the Spotify subreddit that appears to show an introductory animation for Spotify HiFi. The video -- spotted first by WhatHiFi? -- looks like it's designed to take Spotify mobile app users through the quick process of understanding what Spotify HiFi is, how it works, and how to know if they're actually getting the higher-quality lossless audio stream on their device.

Read more
Sonos dips its toes into hi-res audio streaming with Qobuz
girl holding up sonos roam

For years, Sonos steadfastly refused to support hi-res music formats on its massively popular line of wireless speakers. Today, that finally changes: All Sonos users who are currently running the S2 version of the company's software will be able to stream hi-res music from Qobuz, with a valid subscription. Qobuz debuted its streaming music service in the U.S. in 2019.

With a Qobuz subscription, which starts at $15 per month, those who own one or more compatible Sonos products will be able to play hi-res streams at 48kHz/24-bit quality, marking the first time that Sonos speakers have been able to play better-than-CD-quality music. At the moment, the S2 software will support 48kHz/24-bit streams from Qobuz or 48kHz/24-bit music files from people's personal audio collection.

Read more
The LG OLED T hits the U.S. and can be yours — for $60,000
The LG Signature OLED T, with its contrast screen not quite halfway unfurled.

It was a wow moment when we all saw the transparent LG Signature OLED T in a suite at CES 2024, and then the following day as it was rolled on to the stage during LG's press conference. Now you can wake up to that wonder every morning, as the OLED T is now available from select retailers including Best Buy, Video & Audio Center, and LG.com -- for a cool $60,000.

Sure, at that price it isn't something most of us will ever have in our home, but that doesn't take away from how stunning and technologically innovative the OLED T is. In transparent mode, the 77-inch TV can be an Always-On-Display -- a feature LG calls T-Objet -- and act as a transparent digital canvas to show artwork or photos. The effect makes it look as though what's on screen is floating in air.

Read more