Astell&Kern’s New Portable Music Player

Astell & Kern’s flagship product, The A&ultima SP3000.

The SP3000 is crafted from 904L stainless steel – a lustrous metal you generally see used in high-end manufacturers like Swiss watches. Brands like: Rolex, Omega, and Ball, to name a few. It’s the world’s first use of Stainless Steel 904L for DAP body material

The A&ultima SP3000 comes with a new user interface via its 5.46-inch HD touchscreen and apparently has bragging rights. According to Astell & Kern, it is the world’s first (DAP) digital audio player with independent Dual Audio Circuitry. The result is a complete separation of balanced and unbalanced output which allows for the purest possible sonic reproduction and works as a hub for your main hi-fi system.

You can also expect an attractive metal cap. It’s also the first to use the new flagship AK4499EX DAC chip from Asahi Kasei in its HEXA – Audio Structure. The SP3000’s HEXA DAC structure comprises four AK4499EX chips (Dual DACx2) and a pair of AK4191EQ DAC chips.

These, alongside the independent dual audio circuit, are paired with TERATON ALPHA’s sound solution. The result is decoding up to 32bit/768kHz bit-to-bit playback and the promise of an “incredibly authentic sound”. Furthermore, you shouldn’t need to keep altering the volume between tracks either, as ReplayGain technology keeps your listening at the volume level of your choice.

Thanks to the Qualcomm Snapdragon 6125 Octa-Core processor, you get Bluetooth 5 and high-resolution aptX-HD and LDAC wireless streaming. Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac (2.4/5GHz) is also onboard. For wired connections, the SP3000 has a 3.5mm unbalanced out (0.7ohm), Optical Out (3.5mm), as well as a 2.5mm 4-pole (1.7ohm), and 4.4mm 5-pole balanced output (1.6ohm). There’s also a USB C port for charging or connecting to a PC or Mac.

The 139.4mm x 82.4mm x 18.3mm (HxWxD) player weighs a reassuringly solid 493g. It is topped off by a wonderfully tactile watch-style crown control, making it a much more refined and friendlier way to find your favorite tracks, whether stored on the 256GB built-in memory, 1TB micro SD card or via streaming services.

According to Astell & Kern, you can expect around 10 hours of playtime from the 5,050mAh 3.8V Li-Po battery after 3.5hours of QC3.0 charging.

To top it off, French Leather House ALRAN provides a handcrafted premium leather case.

Price Of The Astell & Kern A&ultima SP3000

It retails at £3,799 and comes in black or silver.