The Astell&Kern SE200 is equipped with the world’s first multi-DAC design, providing, say the brand, “a unique music listening experience”.

Astell&Kern, a manufacturer of portable high-resolution audio players and accessories, has unveiled the second model of the premium A&futura line, the SE200.

The Astell&Kern SE200 is equipped with the world’s first multi-DAC design

Astell&Kern SE200

The new SE200 is the world’s first digital audio player to be equipped with DACs from two different manufacturers, ESS and AKM, in one device. The SE200 was not designed with one AMP circuit, but separate AMP designs to optimize the different characteristics of the AKM and ESS DACs that are used in the player. The user can select one of the two DACs to customize the sound characteristics of the track you are listening to and easily switch sound output back and forth between the two DACs. The listener can also further customize the sound by choosing from a variety of DAC filters provided by the DAC manufacturer.

Aluminium & Ceramic

The design of the A&futura SE200 maintains a similar design identity to the previous generation SE100, combining bold curves with a trapezoidal shape.  After experimenting with different materials for the rear of the SE200, Astell&Kern created a new ceramic rear cover, instead of the glass found on the previous generation A&futura SE100. The ceramic back material not only improves wireless network performance, but produces a more premium feel to the player.  A&K says “The aluminium body on the S200 provides maximum sound quality, while suppressing noise as much as possible. The use of laser ground extension technology gives you the best sound possible, without interference or distortion.”

Featuring an aluminium body and ceramic back

Tidal Masters

The SE200 supports native 32bit/384kHz and DSD256 playback and features LED lighting around the volume wheel which displays different colours of light, including red, green, blue, and purple to reflect music playback information including volume range, bit-rate of the track currently playing and the current DAC that is being used for playback of music.  With MQA support and a full decoder built-in, the SE200 can unfold MQA encoded tracks all the way to the original resolution of the file. MQA playback is supported both via downloaded MQA audio files and through the Tidal app, allowing users to stream high resolution audio via Tidal Masters.

Octa-Core CPU

With the addition of an Octa-Core CPU, the A&futura SE200 not only boots faster, but is able to process digital audio playback without lag or compromise in sound.

Other features include a 5.0-inch HD touchscreen, 256GB of internal memory with support for microSD cards up to 1TB, Wi-Fi, DLNA networking, USB digital audio output, aptX HD, USB-C for data transfer and fast-charge support, and the ability to use the SE200 as a USB DAC for your Mac or Windows-based PC.

Streaming services

Astell&Kern’s latest user interface and support for Open App service is also included in the SE200, which adds Android APK support, allowing users to install additional music streaming services to their player by simply copying and installing the corresponding APK file for the music service they wish to add.  Services supported include Apple Music, Amazon Music, Spotify, Tidal, SoundCloud, Qobuz, SiriusXM, Tune-In, myTuner, Bandcamp and Deezer (supported streaming services varies by country).  Offline content for supported apps can be stored in either internal or external player memory.

A&futura SE200 Specs

Model SE200

Body Material Aluminum

Weight 274g

Display 5.0-inch 720 x 1280 HD touchscreen

Output Level Balanced 6V, Unbalanced 3V

CPU Octa-core

DAC Multi-DAC – AKM AK4499 x1, ESS ES9068AS x2 (Dual-DAC)

Playback Time Approximately 14 hours

Internal Memory 256GB

Price And Availability

The new player will be available for purchase in July 2020 for $1,799 in the USA and  £1799 in the UK.

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