Astell&Kern unveils MKII SR25 portable music player

Another week, another Astell & Kern product launch. After unveiling a pair of high functioning in-earphones, the Due south Korean business firm has unleashed MKII of its entry level A&norma SR25 portable music thespian.

The cliff notes meet the A&norma SR25 MKII benefit from improvements to sound, the addition of a four.4mm balanced jack, new wireless features and tweaked design.

The A&norma SR25 MKII continues Astell & Kern'southward eclectic sense of design with its athwart, disproportionate look, but comes with a more defined and tactile volume cycle and comes in a darker hue of silver. Protection is provided by a case available in a choice of iii finishes (Denim Blue, Orange and Black) that guards against external shocks and scratches, too as offering "excellent grip".

Another form of protection is provided with the SR25 MKII'southward internal silverish plated shielding, to eliminate electromagnetic interference when the player is operation. By doing so, this should reduce whatsoever performance sapping outcome on the sound.

And the sound quality has been improved, with Astell & Kern claiming it presents more detail its predecessor, "the natural high-resolution sonics deliver clearly defined upper and lower ranges", along with a deeper, more rounded sound.

The the balanced four.4mm headphone jack joins the 2.5mm (balanced) and three.5mm (unbalanced) outputs, allowing users to connect a wider range and variety of headphones. With the four.4mm counterbalanced output, the benefits of plugging in through this socket is "improved dynamic range and bass response", a wider soundstage, clearer imaging and more subtle details captured from the source audio.

There's no modify in the range of music formats the SR25 MKII supports with LDAC and aptX-Hd, and native playback for resolutions equally loftier every bit DSD256 and 32-fleck/384KHz PCM.

Another new feature appears in the form of Replay Gain, which "automatically and uniformly" adjusts volume playback from sound sources up to 24-bit/192 kHz, then the volume remains consequent regardless of the source.

Also new to this player is the File Drop characteristic (first introduced with the A&futura SE180 player) for easier wireless file transfers; and the BT Sink function that connects the SR25 MKII to an external device via Bluetooth, to allow for playback on the Astell&Kern.

Priced at £699 / $749 / €799, the Astell&Kern A&norma SR25 MKII goes on sale early November from the A&Thou website and local independent dealers. the protective case costs £59 / $60 / €69.