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Astell & Kern has announced A&Future SE100 and A&norma SR15 portable audio players. Both models are positioned on very different price ranges. SE100 is the high-end product which is made of aluminum. It measures 75.8 (L) x 132.7 (A) x 15.3 (P) mm and weighs 241 grams. On the front, there is a 5.0-inch LCD touchscreen display with HD (720 x 1280 pixels) resolution. Inside we find a DAC (digital-analog converter) ESS Sabre ES9038Pro, capable of supporting sampling frequencies up to 384kHz / 32-bit.
Various types of files are compatible, including those in high resolution. Specifically, you can play WAV, FLAC, WMA, MP3, OGG, APE, AAC, ALAC, AIFF, DFF, DSF, PCM and DSD256 (11.2MHz). The connectivity is very wide. First of all, we have various wireless options: SE100 can be connected to other devices via Wi-Fi 802.11 b / g / n (2.4GHz) and Bluetooth 4.1 (A2DP, AVRCP, and aptX HD). You can also connect sources via the USB 3.0 Type-C port (for example a PC, in order to use SP1000 as DAC) which also allows quick charging. The processor is an octa-core, as on the top of the SP1000 range.
The battery has a capacity of 3700mAh with about 11 hours of playback time in FLAC 44kHz / 16-bit with volume level up to 75 and LCD off and can be charged in two hours. It packs 128GB of built-in NAND storage and a microSD slot (up to 400GB) are available to store tracks. To complete the equipment is the outputs, three in all: we find a balanced output, a headphone output, and an optical digital output.
A&Future SE100 price is $1,699.
Astell & Kern A&norma SR15 is also made of aluminum. The body measures 57.5 x 99.7 x 16.1 mm with a weight of 154 grams. Inside the body, we find a double DAC CS43198 made by Cirrus Logic. Sample rates up to 192kHz / 24-bit, playback of DSD64 files (natively played) and DSD128 (with conversion to PCM) are supported. The equipment includes streaming in Wi-Fi (802.11 b / g / n). All operations are managed by a processor quad-core.
The display is a 3.3-inches with a resolution of 480 x 800 pixels. The same types of files for SE100 mentioned are supported. The connectivity includes Bluetooth 4.1 (same characteristics as SE100), headphone outputs, balanced and a door USB Micro-B For storage of songs there are 64GB of NAND storage and a microSD slot (supports cards up to 400GB). Complete the equipment with 3,150mAh battery.
A&norma SR15 is priced at $699.
