Astell&Kern A&futura SE200 | Digital Audio Player
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Our Take
If you’re looking for a 100% pure music player, the Astell&Kern A&Futura SE200 may very well be the second best DAP in the world right now, and it's an incredible value. With improvements over its predecessors in interface, design, features, and sound quality, the SE200 is truly Astell&Kern’s next step in the evolution of digital audio players. Our highest recommendation. |
From Astell&Kern
The SE200 is the second model from the Astell&Kern A&futura premium line of Digital Audio Players.
After the first model SE100, we were once again thinking about the nature of the word premium and asked ourselves, "What is the value of premium in Hi-Fi and how can we express it with a product?" We decided to "Let's make One device that nobody can duplicate" We wanted to try something no one else has tried before, including Astell&Kern. The result is the SE200.
- Equipped with the world's first Multi DAC (1x AK4499EQ + 2x ES9068AS)
- Independent AMP structure designed to compliment each DAC's characteristics and DAC Filters to create your own sound
- Audio performance to feel premium Hi-Fi sound presented by Astell&Kern
- Upgrades that add a Premium value experience
World's First Multi-DAC DAP
The A&futura SE200 is the world's first Multi DAC player. Since the release of the Dual DAC AK120 player in 2013, we have not seen any products feature more than Dual DACs in the last seven years. This prompted us to ask the question, "Why hasn't there been more than two DACs in a player?" So, we set out to become the first manufacturer to use more than two DACs and the result is the SE200.
The SE200 features the latest audiophile DACs from ESS, the ES9068AS in a Dual DAC configuration. We then added a single AK4499EQ, AKM's flagship DAC that is used in our flagship SP2000. Combining the three DACs, we have produced the world's first multi-DAC DAP.
This pairing exhibits the philosophy of the A&futura line to pursue fundamentally different sound than found in typical DAPs. To properly implement multiple DACs, we needed to spend twice the amount of time on development and double the amount of time in properly tuning the player.
Astell&Kern is not content to keeping things the same all the time. We are constantly working to improve on what we have already achieved to bring the most accurately reproduced and best sound to our products.
Independent AMP Sections Designed to Match DAC Characteristics
The SE200 was not designed with one AMP circuit, but multiple, different AMP designs to optimize the different characteristics of the AKM and ESS DACs that are used in the player. By separating the signals for each channel of Balanced and Unbalanced, we designed independent circuits that do not interfere with each other to provide the best sound possible.
Your own sound style
The SE200 goes beyond selecting the best DAC for type of music you are listening to. You can now further customize your sound by choosing from a variety of DAC filters provided by the DAC manufacturer. With the SE200, you can now choose your own preferred sound profile.
A premium player line evolved
Every time we create a new Astell&Kern product, we push ourselves to create an even better version than before. The SE200 builds upon the specs that made the SE100 a popular premium product, while offering new features not found in previous players.
| Model | SE200 | SE100 |
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| CPU | Octa-Core | |
| DAC | AKM AK4499EQ x1 (Single DAC) ESS ES9068AS x2 (Dual DAC) |
ESS ES9038PRO x1 (Single DAC) |
| Display | 5inch (720 x 1,280) Touchscreen | |
| Decoding / Sample rate | Support up to 32bit 384kHz Bit to Bit Decoding / Native DSD256 | |
| Output Level | Unbalanced AKM 3.0Vrms / ESS 2.0Vrms Balanced AKM 6.0Vrms / ESS 4.0Vrms (Condition No Load) |
Unbalanced 2.0Vrms Balanced 4.1Vrms (Condition No Load) |
| Audio Output | 2.5mm x2 / 3.5mm x2 | 2.5mm x1 / 3.5mm x1 |
| Memory | 256GB | 128GB |
| Network | Wi-Fi (2.4GHz) / Bluetooth (A2DP, AVRCP, aptXTM HD) | |
| Battery | AKM: 10 hours of continuous play ESS: 14 hours of continuous play |
11 hours of continuous play |
| USB Interface | Type-C 3.0 | |
| Charging | 9V/1.67A Fast charging | |
| Material | Aluminum | |
Specs
- Model: SE200
- Body Color: Moon Silver
- Body Material: Aluminum
- Display: 5.0inch (720 x 1,280) Touch display
- Supported Audio Formats: WAV, FLAC, WMA, MP3, OGG, APE, AAC, ALAC, AIFF, DFF, DSF, MQA
- MQA playback: Services(Tidal Masters), Local files, External USB, MQA-CD(ripped)
- Sample rate: PCM : 8kHz ~ 384kHz (8/16/24/32bits per Sample) / DSD Native: DSD64(1bit 2.8MHz), Stereo/ DSD128(1bit 5.6MHz), Stereo / DSD256(1bit 11.2MHz), Stereo
- Output Level: Unbalanced: AKM 3.0Vrms / ESS 2.0Vrms (Condition No Load)
- Balanced: AKM 6.0Vrms / ESS 4.0Vrms (Condition No Load)
- CPU: Octa-Core
- DAC: Multi DAC: AKM AK4499EQ x1 (Single DAC) / ESS ES9068AS x2 (Dual DAC)
- Decoding: Support up to 32bit / 384kHz Bit-to-Bit Playback
- Input: USB Type-C input (for PC & MAC)
- Outputs: Unbalanced Out (3.5mm) x2 / Balanced Out (2.5mm, only 4-pole supported) x2
- Wi-Fi: 802.11 b/g/n (2.4GHz)
- Bluetooth: V4.2 (A2DP, AVRCP, aptXTM HD)
- Dimensions: 3.02 ”(76.9 mm) [W] x 5.20 ”(132.2 mm) [H] x 0.62 ”(15.8 mm) [D]
- Weight: 9.66 oz (274 g)
- Feature Enhancements: Firmware upgrades supported (OTA)