Currently unavailable.
We don't know when or if this item will be back in stock.
Select delivery location

Astell&Kern AK70 MKII Portable High Resolution Audio Player, Noir Black

3.4 3.4 out of 5 stars 56 ratings

Currently unavailable.
We don't know when or if this item will be back in stock.
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.
Add a debit or credit card to save time when you check out
Convenient and secure with 2 clicks. Add your card

Looking for specific info?

Product information

Feedback

Astell&Kern AK70 MKII Portable High Resolution Audio Player, Noir Black

Astell&Kern AK70 MKII Portable High Resolution Audio Player, Noir Black


Found a lower price? Let us know. Although we can't match every price reported, we'll use your feedback to ensure that our prices remain competitive.

Where did you see a lower price?

Fields with an asterisk * are required

/
/
/
/
Please sign in to provide feedback.

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

3.4 out of 5 stars
3.4 out of 5
56 global ratings

Customers 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

4 customers mention4 positive0 negative

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

4 customers mention4 positive0 negative

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

3 customers mention3 positive0 negative

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

13 customers mention9 positive4 negative

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

10 customers mention5 positive5 negative

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

4 customers mention2 positive2 negative

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

5 customers mention0 positive5 negative

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

5 customers mention0 positive5 negative

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

Surprised by how much I use and with so many other products
4 Stars
Surprised by how much I use and with so many other products
Before this, I was mainly using mobile phones on the go or loaded SD cards and CDs in the car. Since I purchased it, I have not listened to music off my phone again. The sound is smooth, detailed and even when I ripped some of my CDs in to uncompressed FLAC, it was like listening to a completely different album. The separation and clarity between L/R channels and the size increase of the soundstage were the most noticeable differences for me when compared to something like an iPhone X. Everyone I have let listen to the unit, with my headphones or theirs, has been blown away by how much high quality sound comes out of such a small package.As I bought it, I was a little worried I was only going to use this for critical listening on my days off from work and then eventually turn in to a dust collector. Since I got it, I have found myself using it on days off, using the line out to my home stereo and car stereo. I even connect it to my PC in DAC mode so my PC sees it as a sound card and sends all the audio to the AK70 (really amazing for gaming). More recently I discovered that when I connect my Nintendo Switch and the AK70 through the USB ports, I can also activate DAC mode and process the switch’s audio through this unit.A couple of things to know before hand: when I first got it, I found it almost frustrating to get used to how to properly catalog albums so that they are named properly, show the album artwork and don’t combine with another album that might have a couple of key overlapping pieces of information (i.e. “various artists” for artist name and “best of” for album name). Once you get over the first learning curve, everything smooths out and becomes quick and easy. Some people have complained about the user interface lagging and I don’t exactly agree, there is a touch of delay here and there but if you have ever used an android phone, it feels exactly like that (it runs android in the background). The last item of concern for some is that the body is a machined piece of aluminum and has some fairly sharp edges. I picked up the leather case and it is much more comfy in the hand. Regardless, the AK70 feels extremely well built and is a pleasure to hold on to while listening to music.I would highly recommend picking up a huge memory card (I choose the 200gb since it was half the price of the 256gb). I would also recommend a TIDAL HiFi subscription since you can stream CD quality to this unit over WiFi on the go and when you use it as a sound card on a home PC, you can listen to the MASTER quality content through the TIDAL PC app (proper HiFi content).As a whole, I am extremely happy I purchased this product. On the minor items I mentioned, I feel you can tell it is more of an entry level item (on A&K standards) but it only pulls me more in to the HiFi genre and already has me dreaming of buying one of A&K’s higher end units.
Thank you for your feedback
Sorry, there was an error
Sorry we couldn't load the review

Top reviews from the United States

Reviewed in the United States on January 27, 2018
Great interface, amazing sound, beautiful design. The only bad thing is that the battery doesn't last too much.
6 people found this helpful
Report
Reviewed in the United States on June 6, 2019
Awesome sound for the first 15 times it was used, now it simply will not turn on. Very disappointing!
Reviewed in the United States on December 16, 2018
I had a Fiio Alpen E7 DAC and headphone amp I'd drive via usb from my Samsung S7, and it worked, and it sounded a lot better than the phone, and it drove my headphones very well (AKG Q701). But hanging by an OTG USB cord 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. I did a lot of device research before buying this; Onkyo, A&K, Fiio, Sony, etc. But this device, a generation older, was selling for an excellent price given its superior specs and dual-differential DAC architecture. So I bought it, figuring if it doesn't dazzle me, then for all that money it could go back.

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.
4 people found this helpful
Report
Reviewed in the United States on February 15, 2018
I liked everything about it except that it would not play through car audio system - so it can’t replace music on my phone.
7 people found this helpful
Report
Reviewed in the United States on May 3, 2018
Great product. Quality finish and handy. User interface is much better compared to my FIIO X5 Mk III.
4 people found this helpful
Report
Reviewed in the United States on December 20, 2017
I wanted to like this music player, but being 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 for such an expensive device.

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.
20 people found this helpful
Report
Reviewed in the United States on March 27, 2018
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. Contacted Customer Service and did'nt get concrate response about the issue, instead I was asked to contact them through E-mail where they took several days to give me a final responce, for the price there should be a better quility to the DAC output jack, overall great product unfortunetlly there isnt a great support on customer service . I will return the device and switch to Sony.
3 people found this helpful
Report
Reviewed in the United States on October 10, 2019
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! EVERY SINGLE ASTELL & KERN PLAYER IS COMPLETELY FORGOTEN AFTER A YEAR OR SO, NO UPDATES, NO SUPPORT. BATTERY IS WORST THAN THE FIRST IPHONE, IT IS THAT RIDICULOUS..... STAY AWAY FROM ASTELL & KERN PRODUCTS, EXPENSIVE CRAP IM RETURNING THIS CRAP, SOFTWARE IS A JOKE, PURCHASING A FiiO WITH MORE CAPABILITIES AND BETTER PRICE
Customer image
1.0 out of 5 stars WORST BRAND EVER, EXPENSIVE, NOT WORTH IT.
Reviewed in the United States on October 10, 2019
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! EVERY SINGLE ASTELL & KERN PLAYER IS COMPLETELY FORGOTEN AFTER A YEAR OR SO, NO UPDATES, NO SUPPORT. BATTERY IS WORST THAN THE FIRST IPHONE, IT IS THAT RIDICULOUS..... STAY AWAY FROM ASTELL & KERN PRODUCTS, EXPENSIVE CRAP IM RETURNING THIS CRAP, SOFTWARE IS A JOKE, PURCHASING A FiiO WITH MORE CAPABILITIES AND BETTER PRICE
Images in this review
Customer image
Customer image
2 people found this helpful
Report

Top reviews from other countries

Translate all reviews to English
Monitsch
5.0 out of 5 stars Tolles Teil
Reviewed in Germany on May 19, 2019
Was für ein Teil. Es macht schon Spaß ihn auszupacken. Absolute perfekte Verarbeitung. Schnelles OS und ein toller Klang. Dazu gibt es sowohl 2,5mm als auch 3,5mm Eingänge? Natürlich ist das Design Geschmacksache aber mir gefällt es.

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.
josep maria cura
4.0 out of 5 stars muy buen producto, con algun pero.....
Reviewed in Spain on June 25, 2018
Suena francamente bien, sobretodo si lo escuchas con auriculares de alta gama, es sencillo de manejar y tiene la solera de la marca Astell & Kern , el único problema que encontre fue que no se retenian las tarjetas de memoria, aunque al final si que meti una , es curioso que el ordenador Mac book pro que tengo, no me reconoció el aparato, aunque si otro que tengo hp con windows 7, al final pude añadir canciones al AK 70 II desde el ordenador HP con windows 7, en fin ahora ya tengo el aparato con mas de 20000 canciones, que se escuhan estupendamente.
One person found this helpful
Report
J L.
5.0 out of 5 stars It's only as good as you allow it to be!.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 6, 2018
I took the plunge on an AK70 MK11 after a lot of review & Forum reading, spurred on by a desire to listen to portable music at it's best. It did require a couple of shots of Tequila before I was carefree enough to pledge this kind of silly money for an mp3 player when I already had (what I thought was) a good player on my phone (HtC10 + Neutron player loaded with FLAC recordings via WMP).

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
Customer image
J L.
5.0 out of 5 stars It's only as good as you allow it to be!.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 6, 2018
I took the plunge on an AK70 MK11 after a lot of review & Forum reading, spurred on by a desire to listen to portable music at it's best. It did require a couple of shots of Tequila before I was carefree enough to pledge this kind of silly money for an mp3 player when I already had (what I thought was) a good player on my phone (HtC10 + Neutron player loaded with FLAC recordings via WMP).

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
Images in this review
Customer image
Customer image
19 people found this helpful
Report
PIERRE-YVES CAPELLE
5.0 out of 5 stars Impressionnant
Reviewed in France on January 25, 2018
C'est le premier DAP dont je fais l'acquisition. Superbe qualité de fabrication. Tous les registres sonores sont respectés et équilibrés. Branché à mon Sennheiser Momentum ou à mon Grado 325i, les écoutes sont époustouflantes !
3 people found this helpful
Report
Trampas
3.0 out of 5 stars No tan bueno como dicen
Reviewed in Spain on June 11, 2018
No es tan bueno como publicitan. El sonido es claro, bien matizado y definido, pero a veces le falta algo de fuerza, se queda algo corto. Lo peor de todo es la conexión wifi, que no es de doble banda, y en streaming (Tidal) sufre frecuentes cortes y saltos que arruinan la escucha. Es además demasiado pequeño, lo que hace que su pantalla a veces sea poco útil. Es un buen aparato, pero con graves carencias y sobre todo, muy caro para lo que ofrece
5 people found this helpful
Report