Astell & Kern is a South Korean consumer electronics company founded in October 2013,[1] and is wholly owned by Dreamus. The company manufactures media players, CD players, headphones, and home cinema products. It was launched as a premium successor to iriver products.
 | |
| Company type | Subsidiary |
|---|---|
| Industry | Consumer electronics |
| Founded | October 2013[1] |
Number of locations | 28[2] (2016) |
Area served | Worldwide |
| Owner | Iriver |
| Website | www |
History
editRoots and founding
editIn January 2013, iriver debuted the AK100 media player at CES 2013, to polarizing reception from critics at release.[3][4][5] In July, a pair of in-ear monitors dubbed the AKR01 were released to complement the media players.[6] In August, the AK100's successor, the AK120, was released with minor design enhancements but notoriously the addition of two Wolfson WM8740 DAC chipsets,[7] and was released to better reception. In October, Astell & Kern was founded by iRiver to develop the in-brand products.[1] A limited edition called the AK120 Titan was released shortly in December.[1][8]
Growth, icons and debuts
editOn 9 January 2014, the company debuted the AK240 for CES 2014, with it debuting Wi-FI connectivity, and an operating system based upon Android instead of Linux directly. Following the acquisition of Wolfson by Cirrus Logic, the company replaced the Wolfson DAC duo with Logic 4398 chipsets. At CES, the AKR02, the successor to the AKR01, debuted in February; Astell & Kern also revealed Home cinema products, such as a valve amplifier and cylindrical speaker, as well.[9] In May, collaborating with Jerry Harvey Audio,[1] the company released the AKR03 monitors, successing the AKR02, as well as the AK120II[10] and AK100II players, the second-generation of the AK120 and AK100 players respectively.[11] In honor of the 75th anniversary of Blue Note Records, the AK240 announced a "Blue Note Special Limited Edition" on 17 October.[12][13]
In January 2015, the "AK T5p" headphones, which were co-produced with Beyerdynamic, were released. In February, the company debuted the stainless steel model of the AK240, the AK240SS,[14] and the AK500N, a Network Audio System which can store 1TB of files in a solid-state drive, can stream lossless from PCs and NAS devices, and is noiseless when plugged in.[15] In April, the AK Jr. was released. Unlike other models, Jr. is an entry-level and much smaller media player than other models.[16]
Expansion and product debuts
editIn August, the all-in-one system AK T1 was released, along with the Super Junior x AK Jr collaboration and the Beyerdynamic-produced AK T8iE monitors.[17] In November, Hyundai Card collaborated with Astell & Kern to create the AK100II x HCC model, as well as the AK320's debut and Beyerdynamic-produced AK T1p. In 2015, Astell & Kern collaborated with Japanese voice actress Kana Hanazawa to create the limited AK100II Kana Hanazawa edition, which would include a special song titled "Tadoritsuku Basho" (A Place to Reach) pre-installed in the player.[18]
On 21 January 2016, the company released a Copper Edition of the AK380.[19] In February, the company released four sets of monitors co-produced with Jerry Harvey Audio: Layla II, Roxanne II, Angie II, and Rosie. In July, the company developed a new media player: the AK70.[17]
Products
editMastering Quality Sound (MQS)
editAstell & Kern markets 24-bit audio with a 44.1 kHz to 192 kHz sampling rate under the name Mastering Quality Sound (MQS). Music sold with this tag comes in both the lossless formats: WAV, AIFF, FLAC, ALAC, APE as well as lossy formats: MP3, AAC, WMA and OGG.[20]
Hardware
edit| Year | Model | Type | Spec | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Capacity | Input | Battery | |||
| 2013 | AK100 | Media player | microSD | micro USB | 16 hours |
| AKR01 | In-ear monitors | — | Phone jack | — | |
| AK120 | Media player | 64GB
64GB microSD |
microUSB
2x microSD |
16 hours | |
| AK120 Titan | 128GB
64GB microSD |
14 hours | |||
| AK10 | USB DAC/AMP | — | micro USB | 11 hours | |
| 2014 | AK240 | Media player | 256GB
128GB microSD |
microUSB | 10 hours |
| AKR02 | In-ear monitors | — | Phone jack | — | |
| AKR03 | |||||
| AK100II | Media player | 64GB
128GB microSD |
microUSB | — | |
| AK120II | 128GB Internal and microSD | — | |||
| AK240 Blue Note Special Limited Edition | 256GB
128GB microSD |
— | |||
| 2015 | AK T5p | Headphones | — | Phone jack | — |
| AK240SS | Media player | 256GB
128GB microSD |
microUSB | — | |
| AK500N | Network Audio System | 1TB | AES/EBU | 7 hours | |
| AK Jr | Media player | 64GB Internal and microSD | microUSB | 6–8 hours | |
| AK380 | 256GB
128GB microSD |
10 hours | |||
| AK T1 | Sound system | — | Auxiliary | — | |
| Super Junior x AK Jr. | Media player | 64GB Internal and microSD | microUSB | 6–8 hours | |
| AK T8iE | In-ear monitors | — | Phone jack | — | |
| Layla | — | ||||
| Angie | |||||
| AK100II x HCC | Media player | 64GB
128GB microSD |
microUSB | — | |
| AK320 | 128GB Internal and microSD | — | |||
| AK T1p | Headphones | — | Phone jack | — | |
| 2016 | AK70 | Media player | |||
| AK300 | |||||
| AK380 Copper | 256GB
128GB microSD |
microUSB | 10 hours | ||
| AK T8iE MkII | In-ear monitors | ||||
| Angie II | — | Phone jack | — | ||
| Layla II | |||||
| Michelle | |||||
| Rosie | |||||
| Roxanne II | |||||
| 2017 | KANN | Media player | 64GB Internal and SD+microSD | USB-C | 15 hours |
| AK70 MKII | 64GB
Internal 256GB microSD |
micro-USB
microSD |
— | ||
| A&ultima SP1000 (SS/CU/BK) | 256GB
Internal 256GB MicroSD |
USB-C
microSD |
12
hours | ||
| Michelle Limited | In-ear monitors | ||||
| AK CD-Ripper MKII | CD ripper | ||||
| 2018 | A&norma SR15 | Media player | 64GB Internal
400GB microSD |
USB-C | — |
| A&futura SE100 | |||||
| A&ultima SP1000M | 128GB
Internal 400GB microSD |
10 hours | |||
| Billie Jean | In-ear monitors | ||||
| Diana | |||||
| AK T5p 2nd Generation | Headphones | ||||
| 2019 | A&ultima SP1000M Gold | Media player | |||
| A&ultima SP2000 | |||||
| KANN Cube | |||||
| SA700 | |||||
| SP1000 AMP | Amplifier | ||||
| AK T9iE | In-ear monitors | ||||
| Layla Aion | |||||
| 2020 | A&futura SE200 | Media player | 256GB Internal
1TB microSD |
USB-C | 10 hours (AK4499EQ)
14 hours (ES9068AS) |
| A&norma SR25 | 64GB Internal
1TB microSD |
USB-C | 21 hours | ||
| KANN Alpha | 64GB Internal
1TB microSD |
USB-C | 14.5 hours | ||
| 2021 | A&ultima SP2000T | Media player | 256GB Internal
1TB microSD |
USB-C | About 9 hours (Standard : FLAC, 16bit/44.1 kHz, Unbalance,
Volume 50, LCD Off, LED On, OP AMP Mode) |
| A&futura SE180 | 256GB Internal
1TB microSD |
USB-C | About 10.5 hours (SEM 1: ES9038PRO x 1)
About 10.5 hours (SEM 2: AK4497EQ x 2) About 13 hours (SEM 3: ES9038Q2M x 4) About 14 hours (SEM 4: AK4493SEQ x 2) (FLAC, 16bit, 44.1 kHz, Vol.50, LCD Off) | ||
| A&norma SR25 MKII | 64GB Internal
1TB microSD |
USB-C | Up to 20 hours (based on MUSIC: FLAC, 16bit, 44.1 kHz, Unbalance, Volume 50, EQ Off, LCD Off) | ||
| AK Solaris X | In-ear monitors | ||||
| AK ZERO 1 | |||||
| 2022 | A&ultima SP3000 | Media player | 256GB Internal
1TB microSD |
USB-C | About 10 hours (Standard: FLAC, 16-bit/44.1 kHz, Vol. 80, LCD off) |
References
edit- ^ a b c d e "Mileston of Iriver – 2013~2009". Iriver. Retrieved 29 August 2016.
- ^ "Global Network". Astell & Kern. Iriver. Retrieved 29 August 2016.
- ^ Lendino, Jamie (18 December 2012). "Iriver Astell & Kern AK100 Review & Rating". PC Magazine. Retrieved 29 August 2016.
- ^ Waniata, Ryan (10 January 2013). "What does a $700 iPod' sound like? Our first listen with iriver's Astell & Kern AK100". Digital Trends. Retrieved 29 August 2016.
- ^ Waniata, Ryan (27 January 2013). "iRiver Astell and Kern AK100 Review". Digital Trends. Retrieved 29 August 2016.
- ^ Cericola, Rachel (31 July 2016). "Astell&Kern Starts Shipping AKR01 In-Ear Headphones". Electronic House. Retrieved 29 August 2016.
- ^ Stone, Steven (8 August 2013). "Astell & Kern AK120 Portable Music Player Reviewed". Hometheaterreview.com. Retrieved 29 August 2016.
- ^ "Advanced MP3 Players Astell & Kern AK120 Titan – The Ultimate Portable Hi-Fi Audio System with MQS and expandable memory up to 256GB". Advanced MP3 Players. Retrieved 29 August 2016.
- ^ Waniata, Ryan (9 January 2014). "Astell&Kern debuts the all new AK240 hi-res portable audio player". Digital Times. Retrieved 29 August 2016.
- ^ "Astell&Kern AK120II and AK240: Reference Daps". Headfonia. 7 October 2014. Retrieved 29 August 2016.
- ^ "Astell & Kern AKR03 Headphones – Specs & Detail". SpecOut.[permanent dead link]
- ^ "Bluenote". Astell&Kern. Retrieved 29 August 2016.
- ^ "Astell&Kern Celebrates Blue Note with Limited Edition Box Set & Branded Player". Blue Note Records. 17 October 2014. Retrieved 29 August 2016.
- ^ Hull, Scot (8 May 2015). "AXPONA 2015: Astell Kern goes Solid Steel". Part Time Audiophile. Retrieved 29 August 2016.
- ^ Darko, John H. (25 February 2015). "(Not) a revie of the Astell&Kern AK500N". digitalaudioreview.net. Retrieved 29 August 2016.
- ^ Pendlebury, Ty (29 July 2015). "Astell & Kern AK Jr review". CNet. Retrieved 29 August 2016.
- ^ a b Wouk, Kris (22 July 2016). "Astell & Kern Debuts AK70 High-Res Player, T8IE 2 In-Ears". Digital Trends. Retrieved 29 August 2016.
- ^ "Astell&Kern AK100II KANA HANAZAWAエディション 追加販売決定のお知らせ". iRiver Japan. Retrieved October 1, 2017.
- ^ Langridge, Max (21 January 2016). "Astell & Kern AK380 Copper edition brings sonic benefits". What Hi-Fi?. Retrieved 29 August 2016.
- ^ "What is MQS?". Astell & Kern. 13 September 2016. Retrieved 18 May 2017.