Astell&Kern A&Ultima SP1000M High Resolution Audio Player, Onyx Black

The Astell and Kern SP1000m is a serious upgrade for any music enthusiast or audiophile. Despite its high price tag, this unit is built to last and comes with a plethora of features that will surely earn its worth over a lifetime. Music listening is unparalleled on the SP1000mThe box is nice, hefty and about as good as it gets for a tech item box. Inside, you get the SP1000m, the manuals, a leather case and screen protectors. The added case and protectors are a huge bonus - that means you won’t have to buy any accessories right away and you’ll have protection in the box. For its size it is a necessity. The SP1000m is a bit hefty and much like an earlier generation iPod size. The click wheel on the side for the volume is great, certainly better than fumbling around with a touch controls or up and down buttons. Considering some headphones will have quite a bit of range differences in volume, it’s a nice addition. The beautiful blue carbon fiber and glass back is really special. When it is out it is really neat to look at it in the light, but I keep mine in the leather case at all times. The case is a beautiful genuine leather piece that fits snugly on the SP1000m. The protectors were easy to install and considering they won’t take on the use a phone might, they should last me a good amount of time.The software is Android. It is a very basic setup without any animation or frills. If you’re familiar with android, it’s very easy to navigate and use. There is a drop down menu and an accessible settings menu. The one caveat here is that there is a floating back button icon that you can move around on the screen which will occasionally get in the way. It’s definitely not the best integration of the feature, but seems like it was a choice to save screen space and to avoid a physical button. Sometimes the UI will run a little slow. That’s okay, I’m not playing games or taking videos with this. The benefit of having a stand-alone player is that this just plays music, there are no distractions. For streaming services like tidal and Apple Music, you will need to download android file transfer and download the applet .apk files from the internet for the services and then port them to the device. While this seems like a hassle, it’s a great way to extend the capabilities of the device without having to load them on the unit and take up unnecessary storage. The instructions explain this well and it’s easy to learn if you’ve never done it before.The storage is perfectly capable, but I’d suggest that you spend $30 and grab an SD card. I upgraded to have 512 gb total on the SP1000m which is perfect for a HUGE library and if you’re like me, you might have this much music in your library too. You can use the unit to directly rip cds to it. I haven’t done it but if you have the right cd drive you can directly upload music straight onto the device. I’ve been enjoying uploading every single one of my cds and loading them onto the unit. While a lot of us have streaming, it’s nice to know that the music is yours to keep and that you’ll have it forever. And now you can keep it all in one unit that you can listen to with headphones or wire straight into your receiver.Battery life is great, it rarely needs much charging since it isn’t performing too many tasks at once. You can easily charge once weekly using this unit daily for a few hours at a time. It is USB-C which is great, no more micro-usb to deal with. On top you have a balanced and unbalanced port and a power button. There are up and down and pause buttons on the side opposite the volume wheel (they can be disabled if you want).Moving on to the most important part of the SP1000m - the sound. This unit really performs best with high quality headphones. You can get great cans for a few hundred or a few thousand and you will hear the difference no matter what. I use my custom Ultimate Ear UX7 in ear phones on the go and a pair of Focal Stellia’s at home. The quality of sound is remarkable and breathtaking. The unit drives plenty of power to the cans and you don’t need as much volume adjustment as you might with a phone or iPod. Combined with great headphones, the SP1000m has incredible audible qualities. You’ll hear parts of your favorite music like you have never heard before. Movement in the studio, crystal clear hi-hats, fingers sliding along guitar strings and feet tapping. Lows hit hard and bass has the perfect oomph without being overbearing. A lot of this will depends on your cans, but make no mistake - the difference is massive. If you are the kind of person to appreciate this aspect of listening, you will be rewarded by its stellar quality. The unit can handle almost every known audio file type. The infamous MQA tracks are a source of disagreement, but I personally notice and hear the difference in these tracks. At the very least, Tidal master quality tracks are remarkably different. Whether or not some of this is a placebo effect makes no difference, I hear it and maybe you will too.There are some other great features. You can stream or cast from the device, you can also use the SP1000m as a network library and play music from any other speakers with it. The A&K app is perfect for playing my library through my Apple TV.It isn’t cheap, but it is an amazing device if you’re are a discerning listener and want a powerful device to handle every aspect of storing and playing your music. It will last you a lifetime and finally, you can truly have your whole library in your pocket - forever.

sound quality is really the top of the line, but i have end up got the HiBy R6 with bit less sound quality but got more control of interface and almost supported all my hi-res sound audio formats which some of them SP1000M still doesn't support and way cheaper on price tag and also able to download lots of Android apps. but if you don't care all that but just wanted a tip top sounding quality. i think SP1000M is the best of the choice. and almost forgot that i love the design and build quality.

People generally expect perfection from AK's flagships, the SP1000 and this SP1000m. It's logical to think so because how expensive these music players are. But keep in mind that how good music sounds not only depends on this music player, but also the earphones and the audio source. The eight-core processor in these flagships really shine at analyzing heavy DSD files, but would not outperform a phone by too much when analyzing an MP3 file. As a music player, the SP1000m is already the finest in the world considering its sound quality, build quality, and weight.

I have tried a number of DAPs. Pioneer and Onkyo DAPs, and the Fiio X7 Mark ii. The SP1000M is much, much more expensive. I am using Mr. Speakers Ether Closed back headphones. The SP1000M sound is the best; smooth, centered, v good sound stage, and easy to listen to. However, the usability of the device is poor for such an incredibly expensive device. First of all, the touch screen does not seem well calibrated. Pretty frequently I have to tap the same icon multiple times in order for the DAP to react. Compared to an iPhone, this is really annoying and interferes with music enjoyment. Second, and in my opinion worse, is that apps like Tidal and Spotify do not have full functionality unless you first download some extra program (APKPure) on to which you have to download the apps again. First you need to put this software on your computer (and it did not even download/install correctly on my new Dell Windows 10 machine). Apparently, only after you install Tidal (or SPotify?) via that APK app can you then download songs on to the device. Naturally, when using the device for traveling you don't want to be required to be on high speed Wifi in order to access your playlists. Given that android phones, iphones, and the Pioneer/Onkyo/Fiio DAPs all allow one to download desired music from Tidal/Spotify, it is very surprising that A&K's top-end DAPs do not enable this. It is a pretty big flaw that makes the DAP unpleasant to use.

This could be the most accurate, transparent and pocketable DAP made as of 2021. There may be more accurate DAPs but they are not pocketable.

Entgegen der Vorrezension ist es ein Top-Player! Das die Beschreibung hinsichtlich der Speichergröße nicht korrekt ist, kann man dem Player nicht anlasten. Ein Blick auf die A&K Seite, und schon hat man alle technischen Daten. Auch einschlägige Audio-Magazine helfen hier gerne weiter.Ich betreibe den AK1000M nur mit HiRes Aufnahmen, bzw CD-Qualität. Alles in flac. Auch einige dsf-files finden sich auf der 512 GB Karten von Samsung, die ohne ein Problem sofort erkannt wurde.Als Kopfhörer verwende ich einen Hifiman EditionV2 im Haus, unterwegs einen Campfire Andromeda. Beide Hörer werden per Balanced Kabel verbunden. Der Hifiman erreicht sehr gute Abhörlautstärke bei etwa "85", der Andromeda bereits bei "30", von möglichen 150 Lautstärkeschritten.Die verwendeten DAC von AK sprechen - wie immer bei AK - eher die Fans von Ortung und analytischem Klang an. Sie sind präzise und sind auch so verbaut das sie kein eigenes Klangfeld erzeugen, sprich neutral. Da sind die ESS Chips eben "wärmer" abgestimmt. Aber eben auch nicht so genau in der Wiedergabe. Und A&K kann die AK Chips verbauen wie kein zweiter Hersteller - zumindest im mobilen Bereich.Das Zusammenspiel mit dem Andromeda wurde schon mehrfach gelobt und es macht in der Tat süchtig. Der Hifiman wird nur ab und an genutzt, da "ausgewachsene" Geräte zu Hause verfügbar sind. Doch es ist schon bemerkenswert, wie sich der Kleine schlägt.Hinzu kommt, dass nun alle Streamingdienste auch offline betrieben werden können. Ich nutze Tidal. Klappt wunderbar.Wie geschrieben, ich habe nun gut 460GB auf der Karte plus einige GB auf dem internen Speicher von Tidal. Bei mir muckt oder ruckelt der Player bisher (habe ihn ist gut 2 Wochen im regelmäßigen Gebrauch) kein bisschen.Akkulaufzeit scheint bei ca. 9 Stunden zu liegen. Aber ich habe auch viel angespielt und gesucht. Da ist der Bildschirm immer an. Und der ist bekanntlich immer ein Stromfresser...Ich kann den Stell & Kern SP1000M ohne Einschränkung empfehlen. Gerade wenn man hochwertige Kopfhörer betreiben möchte. Klare Empfehlung für In-Ear dann der Campfire Andromeda (mit dem man ja eh nichts falsch machen kann ;-) )

Excellent top quality & sound. Brilliant with Deezer streaming.

There's a lot that can be said about Astell & Kern products. Whether it's the Premium presentation set of their hires players, the high quality build of each product, highly responsive operating systems and the costly price with which such products demand.Astell & Kern's Sp1000m for better or worse does not deviate from this path. For its price, why is this a jack of all trades and not a master of all? Is it still worth it's price? Well...Master Sound?For a device this expensive there is no way the sound can disappoint? Right? True. This device paired with some sennheiser hd660s on balance output has some of the best audio, I have ever witnessed on a hires audio player. It's very musical and the instruments have great clarity. Sounds can be tweaked slightly to prevent everything from sounding too "bright."The whole experience especially when paired with over ear, open back headphones can feel like partaking in a live performance of your favourite band and artist since you can hear whats around you.The TradeWhile the sound quality on this device is some of the best, I have ever heard. It's not THE best, I have heard better sound quality from non other than their rivals Cowon. Namely the plenue d2 which I have reviewed and the plenue r2 whose sound quality is truly transcendent which I shall follow up with a review in the future.Against the KannIt's got noticeably more detail in the audio department than the KANN but it's also more fatiguing to listen to especially when in the car and listening on line output. Ive concluded It's to do with the brightness of the audio and musicality of the device.Against the Sony Zx300The sp1000m crushes it sound wise, no contest. On Balance or not balanced outputs. It's also not hindered by volume limits like in the EU version of the Sony device, which can be removed thoughMaster Features/ User experience?This is where the device shines and where paying a premium for such a device makes sense. The user experience cannot be overlooked, iriver knows this and it makes the whole experience of listening to your favourite tunes a seamless thing, you're not left frustrated with how the device organises your folders. It even supports CUE sheets which is a rarity as I havent seen it in any other hires player not even with their very own kannIt even supports YouTube, so you can watch your favourite music videos which is a very Overlooked feature. The whole experience is very quick and snappy. How iriver implement the software experience is applauseworthy. Browsing through hundreds and hundreds of gigabytes of music never feels laggy. Spotify and tidal are also supported.The screen quality is decent for a audio device of this price. The album art looks very good.The trade?It's boot time is not as quick as the cowon plenue r2. Battery time could also be better for this price. Its not terrible by any means. Also iriver the company that owns astell and kern could learn a thing or two from Sony in having fun with playlists. Sony's sensme feature which analyses your audio files and organizes them into mood playlist is something Iriver should look into. The device also doesn't support lrc files which is a slight let down. These files are used for lyrics which sync and move with the song as it plays on.To ConcludeOverall its a very capable device that won't leave you disappointed. It does a lot of things right but it's hard to recommend to the average consumer as to take full advantage of it and its features requires significant investment not just to equipment but to audio files. 16bit, 24bit flacs and DSD files can be very expensive. But if you're reading this, you've probably already made your mind.

Over the years I have known DAP'S that go from the regular to the good. Good were the AK300 with its dark and velvety signature, the Cowon P1 with its intensely analog flavor, the AK100 II with that sound, full of nuances, so hard to forget etc ... However the SP1000M is a clear step forward.Clarity, precision and a touch of warmth, make the tracks heard almost as if it were the first time. The voices are now perceived each in its place. The textures are dense. The wide scene.All instruments are clearly identified. The details are now in sight. Music is enjoyed based on seeing it as is.The change, with respect to the previous repros (and others), is like looking at a foggy landscape ... and then in the sunlight: Everything shines with your own voice.It also has the virtue of making the best of any Iem's!It pairs very well with high quality headphones but that have an analog touch. With the IN Ears SD5 they form a perfect match...... Although, really, it sounds good to almost anyone!In the hand it feels solid like a block of granite. The battery life is very good. Storage capacity too (the 400 Gb microsd handles it easily).Bring a very good case.What I like least is the interface: I prefer the presentation type AK300 or AK100 II to this one, which they have taken on the same line as SR15. For my liking, it is not a change for the better. The lyrics and the covers are presented with greater clarity and solvency in the first two.Conclusion: a player who plays in a very high league. Sonically I imagine very difficult to beat.I see the price right: Whoever purchases this SP1000M can forget about wanting to make changes. And that, over time, is a saving!

Der Klang dieses Digital Audio Players ist sehr gut (getestet mit meinem Focal Utopia Kopfhörer und meinem Focal Sphere In Ear).Trotzdem ergibt sich für mich ein gemischtes Bild:- die Benutzeroberfläche erscheint im Vergleich zu meinen Apple Devices altbacken und umständlich (z.B. Equalizer zu fummelig zu bedienen, Scrollen ruckelt)- die Akkulaufzeit ist ein Witz (bei meinem Test hielt er nur eine Stunde)- die Lautstärke ist zu gering für große Kopfhörer (normales Musik hören erfordert eine Einstellung von 130)- das Gehäuse ist recht dick und wirkt dadurch nicht gerade elegant- der Drehregler für die Lautstärke ist zu groß und verstellt sich oft auch unbeabsichtigtPositiv:+ Klangqualität+ Übertragen von Musik einfach per Drag and Drop möglich (via AFT)+ Installation weiterer Apps möglich (z.B. Sporify)