Astell & Kern launches A&futura SE200 Multi DAC Hi-res Audio Player

Astell & Kern A&Futura SE200 is the world’s first Multi DAC hi-res audio player using two sets of DAC chips from the world’s two largest DAC brands, AKM and ESS. The AK SE200 is the second-generation model of the high-end A&Futura series that is only inferior to the Flagship A&Ultima series.

Astell & Kern A&futura SE200 Multi DAC

The interesting thing about this DAC audio player is the Multi DAC design that combines ESS with two Dual DAC ES9068AS and AKM chips with an AK4499EQ chip. The ES9068AS chip series is Saber’s latest DAC chip of the Low-Power DAC line capable of decoding MQA and even today the ESS Saber website does not have specific specifications of this chip line. The AK4499EQ DAC chip is quite familiar to A K fans when it is on the SP2000 flagship model, but SP2000 uses two AK4499EQ chips and the SE200 has only one.

On the high res player, there will be 4 different headphone output ports, 2 single-ended 3.5mm, and 2 balanced 2.5mm ports. One pair of 3.5 and 2.5 for DAC ESS chip and the other for AKM DAC chip, the interesting point is that you can use all 4 headphone ports at the same time. The DAC AKM and DAC ESS headphone ports, in addition to having different sound quality, also have different power levels as Unbalanced AKM 3.0Vrms; Balanced AKM 6.0Vrms compared to Unbalanced ESS 2.0Vrms; Balanced ESS 4.0Vrms.

In terms of other specifications, the Astell & Kern SE200 uses an 8 Core CPU chip, 256GB internal storage along with a memory card slot up to 1TB. The A&futura SE200 SE200 will support decoding quality 32bit/384kHz and DSD256 as well as MQA.

Hi-res Audio Player

Wireless connectivity includes WiFi 2.4GHz and Bluetooth 4.2 with aptX codec. The AK SE200 also has the ability to support streaming music applications on the Open AI platform. There is also a new point that the AK SE200 will use a new interface called Blue AI that is more convenient for users than before. Up to 10 hours of battery life with USB-C charging cum data port.

The appearance of Astell & Kern SE200 still carries the company’s characteristic flair. The SE200 frame is still made of monolithic aluminum material with gentle delicate lines. One of the interesting things is that the LED light cluster shows which DAC is working as well as the volume and bit-rate.

Price and availability

Astell & Kern A&futura SE200 Multi DAC hi-res audio player has been priced at $1,799 and it can be pre-ordered through the Bhphotovideo.com online store in Moon Silver color only

About Ankeet Solanki

Thanks for reading! If my article helped you, I would be happy if you visit Techtoyreviews again and follow it on Social media. This article contains partner "affiliate" links. Clicking on it will take you to the provider and if you make a purchase, Techtoyreviews will receive a small amount of support.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *