A truly spectacular portable digital audio player thanks to the incorporation of a mighty plethora of technological innovations that put it light years ahead of its direct competitors.
The first of these refinements comes in the form of substantially improved processing capabilities thanks to the use of an Octa architecture audio circuitry (consisting of 4 AK4191 digital processors and 4 AK4499EX D/A converters) which, in essence, allows for the implementation of a true "Quad DAC" configuration, something that until now had been considered impossible for technical reasons.
The A&ultima SP4000 also supports the so-called "High Driving Mode", which means that twice as many operational amplifiers are used as in its predecessor, in order to provide a natural and stable output.
Another brilliant engineering solution in Astell&Kern's new flagship portable digital audio player is the Enhanced Signal Aligment (ESA) technology, which decreases group delay by aligning the different waveforms to arrive with greater uniformity, minimising frequency distortion and dramatically enhancing the clarity and purity of the sound.
The A&ultima SP4000 also features a state-of-the-art LDO ("Low Dropout") regulator in the power supply to reduce noise to the point of irrelevance.
The sophistication of this ultra-modern product is also attested to by the presence of HDI ("High Density Interconnect") printed circuit boards, commonly used in smartphones and smart electronic devices, which facilitate extremely precise design of complex systems in compact spaces, lowering signal losses and contributing to a more exquisite and detailed sound.
Features:
- Absolute reference Hi-Res portable audio player.
- Body made of 904L stainless steel.
- Audio section with Octa architecture ("Quad-True DAC").
- Equipped with 4 AKM AK4499EX reference D/A conversion chips.
- Equipped with 4 AKM AK4191EQ multibit delta-sigma modulators.
- Separate signal paths for analogue and digital signals.
- Separate signal paths for balanced and unbalanced signals.
- Digital filter with 256th order oversampling.
- Supports PCM up to 32-bit/768 kHz and DSD up to DSD512.
- Enhanced TERATON ALPHA technology exclusive to Astell&Kern.
- Printed circuit boards with HDI ("High Density Interconnect") technology.
- Hi-Res" aptX-HD and LDAC wireless connectivity via Bluetooth 5.0.
- Balanced (1) and unbalanced (1) headphone outputs.
- 256 GB internal memory (additional 1.5 TB via microSD card).
- System management via Qualcomm Snapdragon 8-core CPU.
- 6-inch (152.4 mm) touchscreen with 2K resolution.
- Frequency response of 20-70,000 Hz, +/-0.06 dB (balanced mode).
- Crosstalk of -145 dB at 1 kHz (balanced mode).
- 131 dB signal-to-noise ratio at 1 kHz (balanced mode).
- 10 hours battery life (FLAC 16-bit/44'1 kHz).
- Dimensions: 85 x 149.8 x 19.5 mm (W x H x D).
- Weight: 615 g.
