Astell&Kern SP3000: The company’s new flagship based on AKM4499EX

A&K’s A&ultima line of high-end audio players has set the standard for how these devices can sound. Using the latest innovations in design, this series has become a true calling card for audiophiles. Now A&K is looking to the future again with the announcement of the SP3000 , its latest flagship portable player that represents everything that has been achieved and developed over the last 10+ years in the field of digital music processing. With the SP3000, A&K hopes to once again redefine the standards for flagship audio players. Here’s what you can expect from the Astell & Kern SP3000.

The A&ultima SP3000 from Astell&Kern features an independent dual audio circuit, AK4499EX DACs and an octa-core Snapdragon 6125 processor, housed in a luxurious Swiss watch-grade 904L stainless steel case.

The A&ultima SP3000 is a new portable music player from Astell&Kern that promises to be the intersection of luxury and innovation. It has all the latest technology and can play all digital audio codecs, including MQA and Native DSD 512, and is Roon Ready.

However, adding even more luxury is the device’s case, which is crafted from 904L stainless steel, a shiny metal commonly used for the cases of high-end Swiss watches such as Rolex, Omega, Ball and others. We’ve already tested the model in practice, and it’s as good as you’d expect! In addition to being able to show off to friends who collect watches, steel was chosen because it is incredibly durable and resistant to corrosion.

The A&ultima SP3000 features a new user interface with a 5.46-inch HD touchscreen and apparently boasts of being the world’s first digital audio player with an independent Dual Audio Circuitry. The result is complete separation of balanced and unbalanced outputs, which is said to allow for the purest possible sound reproduction and work as a head unit for your fixed hi-fi system.

The main feature of the SP3000 is that it is the first to use Asahi Kasei’s new flagship AK4499EX DAC chip in its HEXA audio structure. HEXA structure consists of four AK4499EX chips and two AK4191EQ chips, it is the first player with completely separated digital and analog parts. These, along with an independent dual audio circuit, work in tandem with the TERATON ALPHA audio solution. The result is decoding up to 32-bit/768kHz with bit-for-bit playback and the promise of “incredibly authentic sound.”

Powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 6125 Octa-Core processor, you get Bluetooth 5 and aptX-HD high-definition wireless streaming and LDAC. Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac (2.4/5 GHz) is also available on board. For wired connections, the SP3000 has 3.5mm unbalanced output (0.7 ohms), optical output (3.5mm), as well as 2.5mm 4-pin (1.7 ohms) and 4.4mm 5-pin balanced output (1.6 ohms). There is also a USB C port for charging or connecting to a PC or Mac.

Not that the Astell&Kern A&ultima SP3000 needs protection, but an extra level of luxury is provided by the premium leather case made by ALRAN, a hand-tanned leather company in Tarn, France, since 1903.

Characteristics of Astell&Kern SP3000:

• Case Color: Black or Silver
• Body Material: 904L Stainless Steel
• Display: Full HD 5.46 inch 1080 x 1920 touch display
• Supported audio formats: WAV, FLAC, WMA, MP3, OGG, APE, AAC, ALAC, AIFF, DFF, DSF, MQA
• Sampling Rate: PCM: 8KHz ~ 768KHz (8/16/24/32bit) / DSD Native: DSD64 (1-bit, 2.8MHz), stereo / DSD128 (1-bit, 5.6MHz), stereo / DSD256 (1-bit, 11.2MHz), stereo / DSD512 (1-bit, 22.4MHz)
• Output Level: Unbalanced 3.3 Vrms / Balanced 6.3 Vrms
• DAC: AKM AK4191 x2 (dual modulator) &AK4499EX x4 (dual + dual DAC)
• Decoding: Support up to 32bit/768kHz bit-to-bit playback
• Input: USB Type-C (for charging, PC and MAC)
• Outputs: Unbalanced output (3.5mm) / Optical output (3.5mm) / Balanced outputs 2.5mm + 4.4mm
• Wi-Fi: 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac (2.4/5 GHz)
• Bluetooth: V5.0 (A2DP, AVRCP, Qualcomm® aptX™ HD, LDAC)
• Dimensions: 82.4mm [W] x 139.4mm [H] x18.3mm [D]
• Weight: 493 g