Iriver Announces the Launch of the Astell&Kern AK120Professional High-End Portable MQS Player
Munich, Germany – May 9, 2013 –II Hwan Park, CEO and President of iriver, has announced the launch of the second model from the Astell&Kern line of MQS portable players, the AK120 today at High End 2013 in Munich, Germany. Astell&Kern was first launched in 2012 as the high-end brand of iriver and as the first MQS (Mastering Quality Sound) portable player. The newest player, the AK120 was developed to target professional users and audiophiles who demand the very best sound available.
The AK120 consists of two (2) DACs (Digital to Analog Converters) that output audio signals independently to each channel, making the AK120 a true dual mono (dual monaural) setup like those found in expensive hi-fi equipment. The dual Wolfson WM8740 DAC chips found in the AK120 dedicates each DAC chip to a completely separate left and right channel. In result, the AK120 provides far superior depth, clarity, and spaciousness to the audio. By providing a much clearer sound with lower distortion, the AK120 truly replicates how the original music was recorded.
Enjoy high-resolution music from genres such as classical, opera, and live music with the Gapless playback feature and professional preset EQ (equalizer) settings of the AK120. With 64GB of built-in memory and the two MicroSD card slots each supporting 64GB cards in each slot, storage is expandable up to 192GB.
The overall design of the AK120 retains the look and feel of the previously released AK100 MQS player, including the brushed black metal and similarly styled volume knob. The body size of the AK120 is slightly larger when compared to the AK100.
The AK120 is bundled with the finest handmade Italian-designed leather case and has a retail price of $1300.
For more information, please visit the official Astell&Kern Site – www.astellnkern.com.
Astell&Kern AK120 Product Specifications
| MODEL | AK120 | |
| Display |
2.4inch QVGA [320X240] IPS Touchscreen |
|
| Supported Audio Formats |
WAV, FLAC, WMA, MP3, OGG, APE (Normal, High, Fast), AAC, ALAC, AIFF (DSD to be supported in the future) |
|
| Sample rate |
FLAC, WAV, ALAC, AIFF: 8kHz ~ 192kHz (8/16/24bits per Sample) FLAC, WAV, ALAC, AIFF: 8kHz ~ 48kHz (8/16bits per Sample) |
|
| Output Level |
L: 1.5Vrms + R: 1.5Vrms (Condition No Load) |
|
| Audio Performance |
Frequency Response |
±0.02dB (Condition: 20Hz~20kHz) / ±0.2dB (Condition: 10Hz~70kHz) |
|
Signal to Noise Ratio |
113dB (1kHz 0dB, 24bit 48kHz, No Load) |
|
|
Crosstalk |
-128dB (1kHz 0dB, 24bit 48kHz, No Load) |
|
|
THD+Noise |
0.0008% Typ (1kHz 0dB, 24bit 48kHz, No Load) |
|
|
Clock JITTER |
50ps (Typ) |
|
| IMD SMPTE |
0.0005% (24bit 48kHz, No Load) 800Hz 10kHz (4:1) |
|
| Memory | Internal Memory |
64GB [NAND] |
| External Memory |
Micro SD (Max. 64GB) x 2 |
|
| DAC |
Wolfson WM8740 x 2 |
|
| Decoding |
Supports up to 24bit/192kHz Bit-to-Bit Decoding |
|
| Bluetooth |
3.0 (A2DP, HFP, HID) |
|
| Charging Interface |
Micro USB Type-B |
|
| Interface |
USB 2.0, OPTICAL IN/OUT, Headphone Out |
|
| Battery | Capacity/Type |
2,350mAh Li-Polymer Battery |
| Continuous Playback Time |
Up to 14 hours (Condition: Format type FLAC, 16bit, 44kHz, Volume 37, EQ Off, LCD Off) |
|
| Charging Time |
About 6.5 hours |
|
| Size |
2.33” [W] x 3.5” [H] x 0.6” [D] (in) |
|
| Weight |
6.1oz |
|
| Feature Enhancements |
Firmware upgrades supported |
|
| Supported OS |
Windows XP/Vista/7/8, MAC OS X 10.6.5 and up |
|
Astell&Kern AK120, 100 Comparison Specifications
|
MODEL |
AK120 |
AK100 |
|
| Display |
2.4inch QVGA [320X240] IPS Touchscreen |
||
| Supported Audio Formats |
WAV, FLAC, WMA, MP3, OGG, APE (Normal, High, Fast), AAC, ALAC, AIFF (DSD to be supported in the future) |
WAV, FLAC, WMA, MP3, OGG, APE (Normal, High, Fast), AAC, ALAC, AIFF |
|
| Sample rate |
FLAC, WAV, ALAC, AIFF: 8kHz ~ 192kHz (8/16/24bits per Sample) FLAC, WAV, ALAC, AIFF: 8kHz ~ 48kHz (8/16bits per Sample) |
||
| Output Level |
L: 1.5Vrms + R: 1.5Vrms (Condition No Load) |
||
| Audio Performance |
Frequency Response |
±0.02dB (Condition: 20Hz~20kHz) / ±0.2dB (Condition: 10Hz~70kHz) |
±0.02dB (Condition: 20Hz~20kHz) / ±0.2dB (Condition: 10Hz~20kHz) |
|
Signal to Noise Ratio |
113dB (1kHz 0dB, 24bit 48kHz, No Load) |
110dB (1kHz 0dB, 24bit 48kHz, No Load) |
|
|
Crosstalk |
-128dB (1kHz 0dB, 24bit 48kHz, No Load) |
-120dB (1kHz 0dB, 24bit 48kHz, No Load) |
|
|
THD+Noise |
0.0008% Typ (1kHz 0dB, 24bit 48kHz, No Load) |
0.0009% (1kHz 0dB, 24bit 48kHz, No Load) |
|
|
Clock JITTER |
50ps (typ) |
90ps |
|
| IMD SMPTE |
0.0005% (24bit 48kHz, No Load) 800Hz 10kHz (4:1) |
0.003% (24bit 48kHz, No Load) |
|
| Memory | Internal Memory |
64GB [NAND] |
32GB [NAND] |
| External Memory |
Micro SD (Max. 64GB) x 2 |
Micro SD (Max. 32GB) x 2 |
|
| DAC |
Wolfson WM8740 x 2 |
Wolfson WM8740 x 1 |
|
| Decoding |
Supports up to 24bit/192kHz Bit-to-Bit Decoding |
||
| Bluetooth |
3.0 (A2DP, HFP, HID) |
3.0 (A2DP, HFP) |
|
| Charging Interface |
Micro USB Type-B |
||
| Interface |
USB 2.0, OPTICAL IN/OUT, Headphone Out |
||
| Battery | Volume |
2,350mAh Li-Polymer Battery |
2,000mAh Li-Polymer Battery |
| Continuous
Playback Time |
Up to 14hours (Condition: Format type FLAC, 16bit, 44kHz, Volume 37, EQ Off, LCD Off) |
Upto 16 hours (Condition: Format type FLAC, 16bit, 44kHz, Volume 37, EQ Off, LCD Off) |
|
| Charging Time |
About 6.5 hours |
About 5 hours |
|
| Dimensions |
2.3” [W] x 3.5” [H] x 0.6” [D] (in) |
2.33” [W] x 2.8” [H] x 0.6” [D] (in) |
|
| Weight |
6.1oz |
4.3oz |
|
| Feature Enhancements |
Firmware upgrades supported |
||
| Supported OS |
Windows XP/Vista/7/8, Mac OSX 10.6.5+ |
Windows 2000/XP/Vista/7/8 |
|
“audiophiles who demand the very best sound available”
” In result, the AK120 provides far superior depth, clarity, and spaciousness to the audio. By providing a much clearer sound with lower distortion, the AK120 truly replicates how the original music was recorded.”
Damn! What am I supposed to do with my AK100, give it away at a fire sale price on e-bay? How can I live with it knowing that there’s a much better one out there? I’ve got to go out and get the AK120, right now, today, this very minute. Wait a second. What if next week they come out with an even better AK140, then what? Maybe I’d better just wait and see. Can it get better than it already is? Hmmm, that’s what I thought about the AK100 too.
These releases are a bit ridiculous.
The new one is dual mono, if that helps. Two DACs, one per channel. Does that make a difference? Who knows. Maybe.