Astell&Kern AK70 MKII Portable High Resolution Audio Player, Noir Black
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Brand | Astell&Kern |
Model Name | ak70 |
Connectivity Technology | Bluetooth, Wi-Fi |
Memory Storage Capacity | 64 GB |
Color | Black |
Screen Size | 3.3 Inches |
Compatible Devices | Headphone |
Component Type | Memory, Display |
Supported Standards | MP3, AAC, ALAC, DFF, AIFF, DSF, APE, FLAC, WMA, WAV, OGG |
Item Weight | 0.15 Kilograms |
About this item
- Dual DAC separates the left and right audio channels from input to output
- Higher audio output with the same refined sound signature of Astell&Kern
- Compact size for easy carrying and one-handed operation
- Supported audio formats: WAV, FLAC, WMA, MP3, OGG, APE, AAC, ALAC, AIFF, DFF, DSF
- Bluetooth and WiFi enabled. Tidal integrated for online streaming.
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Product information
Product Dimensions | 0.63 x 2.44 x 3.82 inches |
---|---|
Item Weight | 5.3 ounces |
Manufacturer | IRIVER |
ASIN | B075TQ3GSR |
Item model number | AK 70 MkII |
Batteries | 1 Lithium Polymer batteries required. |
Customer Reviews |
3.4 out of 5 stars |
Is Discontinued By Manufacturer | No |
Date First Available | October 4, 2017 |
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Product Description
Back in black and ready to impress! The AK70 MKⅡ has a whole lot to offer with its advanced features:
Dual DAC separates the left and right audio channels from input to output
Higher audio output with the same refined sound signature of Astell&Kern
Compact size for easy carrying and one-handed operation
Dual DAC separates the left and right audio channels from input to output
The advantage of a dual DAC player has now become available to everyone. The AK70 MKII is the first model from A&K to be equipped with a dual DAC for under a thousand dollars. Its separated channel circuit design offers less noise and interference, yet adds more fidelity and audio output power, to create a bigger sound stage with clearer imaging when paired with your favorite cans or speakers.
Higher audio output with the same refined A&K sound signature
With a substantial power output of 4.0Vrms from the balanced output, the AK70 MKII can drive a wide range of heavy, hard-to-drive headphones without a problem thanks to A&K’s latest audio design technology.
While maintaining the natural and neutral tone and sound signature A&K is famous for, the newly designed audio circuit creates authentic sounds by exceeding previous Hi-Fi Audio specifications, including SNR, Crosstalk, and THD+N, over previous models.
The powerful AK70 MKⅡ’s sound quality is sure to please even the most discerning music aficionado.
Compact size for easy carrying and one-handed operation
AK70 MKⅡ delivers superb Hi-Fi audio quality in a pocket-sized portable, a must-have feature for listeners who want high quality sound any place and anytime. No need to compromise with lossy, compressed music anymore.
Customer reviews
Customer Reviews, including Product Star Ratings help customers to learn more about the product and decide whether it is the right product for them.
To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we don’t use a simple average. Instead, our system considers things like how recent a review is and if the reviewer bought the item on Amazon. It also analyzed reviews to verify trustworthiness.
Learn more how customers reviews work on AmazonCustomers say
Customers like the build quality of the mp3 player, mentioning it's well built and sturdy. They also appreciate the stable operating system and the interface. However, some customers have reported issues with the battery life and quality of this product. They say the battery is the worst than the first iPhone and that it starts to fade. Customers also differ on sound quality, performance, and value.
AI-generated from the text of customer reviews
Customers are satisfied with the build quality of the mp3 player. They mention that it is well built, has a quality finish, and is handy. Some customers also appreciate the stable operating system.
"Great product. Quality finish and handy. User interface is much better compared to my FIIO X5 Mk III." Read more
"...Regardless, the AK70 feels extremely well built and is a pleasure to hold on to while listening to music...." Read more
"The operating system is more stable than most mid-price Android-based dedicated music players, but that's about it for upsides, because ever since..." Read more
"...UI was better than I thought and it is well built, but the bad battery made it impractical." Read more
Customers are satisfied with the interface of the mp3 player. They mention that the user interface is much better compared to the FIIO X5 Mk III, and everything smooths out and becomes quick and easy.
"Great interface, amazing sound, beautiful design. The only bad thing is that the battery doesn't last too much." Read more
"Great product. Quality finish and handy. User interface is much better compared to my FIIO X5 Mk III." Read more
"...get over the first learning curve, everything smooths out and becomes quick and easy...." Read more
"Really liked the User Interface and the look and feel, but the battery life sucks for the price. This device would die before my phone." Read more
Customers are satisfied with the appearance of the mp3 player. They mention that it has a beautiful design, and appreciate the user interface and look and feel.
"Great interface, amazing sound, beautiful design. The only bad thing is that the battery doesn't last too much." Read more
"beautiful, small, lightweight player that is fast and does everything right...except for its Bluetooth performance: the player loses BT..." Read more
"Really liked the User Interface and the look and feel, but the battery life sucks for the price. This device would die before my phone." Read more
Customers are mixed about the sound quality of the mp3 player. Some mention that it sounds really good, is silky gorgeous to listen to, and has a true sonic wonder. However, others say that with the 3.5 Jack where you can only hear the right output, the volume sounds too low, and it wouldn't play through car audio system.
"Great interface, amazing sound, beautiful design. The only bad thing is that the battery doesn't last too much." Read more
"Awesome sound for the first 15 times it was used, now it simply will not turn on. Very disappointing!" Read more
"I liked everything about it except that it would not play through car audio system - so it can’t replace music on my phone." Read more
"...Either way, this well-built player is silky gorgeous to listen to and for all its wonders I am delighted with it...." Read more
Customers are mixed about the performance of the mp3 player. Some mention that it's fast and does everything right, while others say that it stopped working properly after 4 months, has a number of glitches, and the EQ doesn't work.
"...worked, and it sounded a lot better than the phone, and it drove my headphones very well (AKG Q701)...." Read more
"Awesome sound for the first 15 times it was used, now it simply will not turn on. Very disappointing!" Read more
"I loved this product, it is great for its intent, unfortually I had an issue with the 3.5 Jack where you can only hear the right output...." Read more
"...that Astell & Kern is a smaller company, there are a number of glitches in its performance from lack of product testing that just aren't excusable..." Read more
Customers are mixed about the value of the mp3 player. Some mention it's a good high-end option while staying out of the nearing -$1000 zone, while others say it'll be expensive and not worth it.
"...But this device, a generation older, was selling for an excellent price given its superior specs and dual-differential DAC architecture...." Read more
"...-Literally 2 choices for cases, all expensive and not very good.Positives:-The player is a good size...." Read more
"Great buy" Read more
"...IT IS THAT RIDICULOUS..... STAY AWAY FROM ASTELL & KERN PRODUCTS, EXPENSIVE CRAP IM RETURNING THIS CRAP, SOFTWARE IS A JOKE, PURCHASING A FiiO WITH..." Read more
Customers are dissatisfied with the battery of the mp3 player. They mention that it doesn't last too much, the battery life sucks for the price, and it starts to fade.
"...The only bad thing is that the battery doesn't last too much." Read more
"...was a huge pain and a barrier to portability, and the the battery started to fade. Plus, I wanted to try out some HD Audio tracks...." Read more
"...BATTERY IS WORST THAN THE FIRST IPHONE, IT IS THAT RIDICULOUS..... STAY AWAY FROM ASTELL & KERN PRODUCTS, EXPENSIVE CRAP IM RETURNING THIS CRAP,..." Read more
"...Battery was awful-- like 2 hours. UI was better than I thought and it is well built, but the bad battery made it impractical." Read more
Customers are dissatisfied with the quality of the mp3 player. They mention that it's not very good, expensive, and not worth it. Some say that the player has too many buggy issues to warrant the price tag.
"...Very disappointing!" Read more
"...-Literally 2 choices for cases, all expensive and not very good.Positives:-The player is a good size...." Read more
"TERRRIBLE PLAYER, NO BUG CORRECTION, NO UPDATES, NO MQA SUPPORT FOR A $500 DOLLAR DEVICE, NO TIDAL DOWNLOAD SUPPORT, IT JUST SUCKS IN EVERY TERM!..." Read more
"...Crap hardware from a crap company." Read more
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And then... WOW. What a true sonic wonder! I won't write up an audiophile review to convince you. If you're looking at this device you already know a little something about high-end audio and can find the same reviews online that I did. But, needless to say, after listening with high resolution audio tracks, I was not giving this thing back!
So, what are the drawbacks, then? There are some, and they are not necessarily going to be found in other units if you happen to be considering other options:
Volume: My AKGs have 62-ohm impedance and although it isn't astronomical, for all the output power the AK70 MkII may have, it doesn't drive them to deafening levels. (Who'd want to do that?) But for some listening and recordings I need to set the volume to rather near the top of its range. There isn't much headroom there. If you have higher-impedance or lower-efficiency headphones, you may find listening volume to be a challenge. This may be due to its delivering 2.0Vrms at the headphone jack, somewhat lower voltage than other players.
While this product focuses on hi-res audio, it is still a music player and should play music from whatever source the listener demands, but streaming options are very limited. It has Wifi and plays hi-end streaming service Tidal. Why not play Spotify and Pandora as well, like any other network music player? Sometimes I listen casually, while doing other things, and I don't need 120+ dB dynamic range and crystalline accuracy. Kind of an oversight for what is essentially an Android-based system. Surely lots of examples of Pandora and Spotify clients are available.
Finally, it provides a potentially fantastic Wifi feature with DLNA compatibility. While accepting a 256GB Micro SD card for storage, one is nevertheless unlikely to carry around their entire music collection-- especially if it is bulky hi-res audio. Many of us run DLNA services at home, whether a feature of our Internet router, a NAS device, or software running on a desktop computer. So DLNA gives access to everything while you're on the local network. However, I found the AK70 MkII DLNA compatibility is hit-or-miss. It works with A&K's own Windows-or-Mac server software. I had no luck with the "minidlna" linux service I've been running for years, though. I just switched to Plex Media Server and have better luck, but that's commercial, and it doesn't seem to work with my Marantz network AV equipment. So it causes kind of a problem for me
Either way, this well-built player is silky gorgeous to listen to and for all its wonders I am delighted with it. A good high-end option while staying out of the nearing -$1000 zone.
Negatives:
-The Bluetooth connection is iffy. It connects to everything, but in the car, it doesn't send the music data to the screen and artist, album and title all say "unknown" I can still control it from the steering wheel, but its a little frustrating having to pick up the player to see that info (and dangerous while driving). I have tried this in several cars. Occasionally, the bluetooth connection craps out and it sounds like a skipping CD. That's ok, I'll just connect it to the car with the AUX Cable! But then I think of what I paid for it. It shouldn't have this problem...
-On most devices, when I connect it via bluetooth, the volume sounds too low, I check the player, and it is set to 150 (max). I fiddle with the physical volume dial and suddenly the music returns to full blast, deafening me and anyone in the car or listening to my home stereo.
-The EQ doesn't work. You can mess with the levels to death and the sound doesn't change at all. (i saw another mention of this on another website)
-Every time I turn it on, the SD card has to re-mount and it has to index the data. This can take a while, and I can't immediately resume where I left off without waiting for it to scan. If I try to force it to and hit play, it jumps to a random song on that album.
-Volume knob is very very easy to turn, and it adjusts every time i pull it out of my pocket.
-Literally 2 choices for cases, all expensive and not very good.
Positives:
-The player is a good size.
-It sounds really good
-It doesn't slow down navigation as you pack on GB and GB of music, which has happened with some players.
-It has a nice weight to it
Overall, I will be returning this for a SONY player. I figure there will be better product testing behind a bigger company.
Reviewed in the United States on October 10, 2019
Top reviews from other countries
Ein kleines Manko wäre allerdings der SD Slot welcher laut Beschreibung bis Max. 256GB geht. Ich hatte zwar ohne Probleme meine 400GB Karte drinnen aber wenn es „nur“ 256GB sind dann doch bitte 2 Slots.
It's been a learning curve which began with an upgrade via a pair of Sennheiser Momentum 2 in ear phones, plugged into my phone they produced a pretty good sound, but highlighted/teased you into knowing that there was better clarity and sound staging to be had. Next step was (still believing that my phone played good music) an investment in a pair of Sennheiser IE80S in ear phones. The musicality, vibrancy, clarity and sound staging was a leap forward and I for a short moment was happy, but, again after a few days I felt they were under performing/not playing to their best ability.
So, after a little more reading (& Tequila) I took the plunge on an AK70 MK11. WOW!!! every other positive review is correct, it was like comparing night with day, I was over the moon, as close as you can get to having a 'good' hi-fi set up in your pocket. The only niggle was that WMP isn't as A&K friendly that it automatically adds album art to your rip to the player. So again, having a little too much time on my hands I looked at options and for the lazy type of person I am 'JRiver' media centre (other options are available) seemed to tick all the boxes. Trial version downloaded, I ripped a couple of CD's (FLAC) onto the AK70 which did show album art on the player. My mistake was to then listen to the tracks, I was blown away by how improved the sound was compared to the WMP earlier rip, I'm talking D&B, HardHouse, Jazz, Classical, Indie.... so much so that I've deleteted my WMP library & am now re-ripping every CD I own via JRiver.
It's an amazing DAP and worth every penny of the price, but to enjoy it don't just stop good headphones
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 6, 2018
It's been a learning curve which began with an upgrade via a pair of Sennheiser Momentum 2 in ear phones, plugged into my phone they produced a pretty good sound, but highlighted/teased you into knowing that there was better clarity and sound staging to be had. Next step was (still believing that my phone played good music) an investment in a pair of Sennheiser IE80S in ear phones. The musicality, vibrancy, clarity and sound staging was a leap forward and I for a short moment was happy, but, again after a few days I felt they were under performing/not playing to their best ability.
So, after a little more reading (& Tequila) I took the plunge on an AK70 MK11. WOW!!! every other positive review is correct, it was like comparing night with day, I was over the moon, as close as you can get to having a 'good' hi-fi set up in your pocket. The only niggle was that WMP isn't as A&K friendly that it automatically adds album art to your rip to the player. So again, having a little too much time on my hands I looked at options and for the lazy type of person I am 'JRiver' media centre (other options are available) seemed to tick all the boxes. Trial version downloaded, I ripped a couple of CD's (FLAC) onto the AK70 which did show album art on the player. My mistake was to then listen to the tracks, I was blown away by how improved the sound was compared to the WMP earlier rip, I'm talking D&B, HardHouse, Jazz, Classical, Indie.... so much so that I've deleteted my WMP library & am now re-ripping every CD I own via JRiver.
It's an amazing DAP and worth every penny of the price, but to enjoy it don't just stop good headphones