Astell&Kern A&ultima SP3000 Digital Audio Player

Luxury meets innovation in the A&ultima SP3000 Quad-DAC Digital Audio Player, by Astell&Kern.

Astell&Kern have set the standard for perfect sound using the latest innovative technology with the A&ultima series. The A&ultima SP3000 is the newest flagship product that is the essence of everything learned and engineered over the last 10+ years of digital music processing.

A&ultima SP3000 is the world's first DAP with independent Dual Audio Circuitry and the latest DAC with HEXA-Audio Circuitry structure, as well as uses all audio technologies and the best materials that lets you feel the overwhelming impact of sound and music.

Experience perfection firsthand with the true next-generation flagship, A&ultima SP3000, the pinnacle of audio players.

To achieve the goal of the A&ultima series (which is to provide the best value that no one can imitate while using the most innovative and uncompromising design and craftsmanship), the SP3000 uses 904L stainless steel material that has never been attempted before in a portable audio player. Using this material has expanded its value from just a digital device to the realm of a luxury good.

904L stainless steel is harder and more difficult to process than general stainless steel requiring significantly more time and effort. However, due to its excellent durability and corrosion resistance, it has a characteristic that does not lose its beauty and is why it is used in expensive luxury watches where perfection in all materials and parts must be pursued with an irreplaceable and wonderful lustre.

Experience the uncompromising beauty and luxury of the SP3000 produced by Astell&Kern's experienced craftsmanship.

TERATON ALPHA, engineered through endless research, is Astell&Kern's unique technology that has been designed to produce audio playback that is close to the original sound through effective power noise removal, efficient power management and unwavering amplification, and a fully converted audio output interface.

The HEXA-Audio Circuitry structure and independent dual audio circuit, implemented for the first time in the SP3000, are paired together with TERATON ALPHA's sound solution to create the purest original sound.

Most digital players process digital and analog signals together inside the DAC. However, the SP3000’s advanced HEXA-Audio Circuitry structure reduces the noise of the digital signal input through the AK4191EQ, a separate digital delta-sigma modulator, and the AK4499EX DAC is then designed to process the analog signals separately.

By applying this unique design, digital and analog signal processing that is physically separated has been achieved for the first time in a digital audio player, and the overwhelming SNR (Signal-to-Noise Ratio) is maximized, making it possible to experience an incredible level of sound that has never been experienced before.

A shield can is applied to prevent various noise and electromagnetic interference from affecting the audio block.

The SP3000 takes it a step further to achieve excellent audio performance and perfect shielding by applying highly conductive, high-purity silver on the existing shield can, and physically separating digital and analog signals.

Almost all other DAPs use an internal DAC for both unbalanced and balanced outputs. Since the signal from the DAC is divided into unbalanced and balanced then delivered to the AMP, an Audio Switch is essential. However, when using a switch, there is a limit to the range that can receive the signal sent by the DAC, so most DAPs reduce the signal size first and then when the signal is transmitted back to the amplifier, it is necessary to restore the original signal size. This causes a limitation in improving the audio performance.

To overcome the limitations, our engineers designed a HEXA-Audio Circuitry structure using two AK4191EQs and four AK4499EXs, creating an innovative unbalanced and balanced independent dual audio circuit design. In result, the SP3000 achieves a SNR of 130dB, the best of any DAP available. You can feel the clean, pure delicacy of sound with the SP3000 that you cannot not experience in any other DAP.

A&ultima SP3000 is equipped with a Snapdragon 6125 Octa-core processor, so you can enjoy the overwhelming sound, faster system response and a redesigned new generation user interface that moves comfortably and smoothly.

Featuring a high-performance CPU and improved 8GB of DDR4 memory, which is twice the amount commonly used, the more powerful system is stable with fast and fluid movement.

Features

• World's first use of luxury timepiece-grade 904L Stainless Steel for DAP body material.
• World's first DAP with complete separation of digital and analog signal processing.
• Latest Flagship DAC chip AKM4499EX from Asahi Kasei.
• Stunning Audio Performance with Independent Dual Audio Circuitry.
• Equipped with High-Performance Qualcomm Snapdragon 6125 Octa-Core CPU.
• New Experience in the Graphic User Interface.
• Support for aptX HD and LDAC.

Specifications

• Model: SP3000
• Body Colour: Black, Silver, Copper
• Body Material: Stainless Steel 904L / Copper
• Display: Full HD 5.46-inch 1080 x 1920 Touch display
• Supported Audio Formats: WAV, FLAC, WMA, MP3, OGG, APE, AAC, ALAC, AIFF, DFF, DSF, MQA
• Sample Rate: PCM 8 kHz - 768 kHz (8/16/24/32-bits per Sample), DSD Native DSD64 (1-bit, 2.8 MHz), Stereo / DSD128 (1-bit, 5.6 MHz), Stereo / DSD256 (1-bit, 11.2 MHz), Stereo / DSD512 (1-bit, 22.4 MHz), Stereo
• Output Level: Unbalanced 3.3 Vrms / Balanced 6.3 Vrms (Condition No Load)
• CPU: Octa-Core
• DAC: AKM AK4191 x2 (Dual Modulator) &AK4499EX x4 (Dual + Dual DAC)
• Decoding: Support up to 32-bit / 768 kHz Bit-to-Bit Playback
• Input: USB Type-C input (for charging, PC + MAC)
• Outputs: Unbalanced Out (3.5 mm) / Optical Out (3.5 mm) / Balanced Out (2.5 mm, only 4-pole supported / 4.4 mm, only 5-pole supported)
• Wi-Fi: 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac (2.4/5 GHz)
• Bluetooth: V5.0 (A2DP, AVRCP, Qualcomm® aptX™ HD, LDAC)
• Dimensions WxHxD: 82.4 x 139.4 x 18.3 mm
• Weight: About 493 g (Copper about 505 g)
• Feature Enhancements: Firmware upgrade supported (OTA: Over-The-Air)
• Frequency Response: Condition 20 Hz - 20 kHz ±0.017 dB Unbalanced / ±0.021 dB Balanced, Condition 20 Hz - 70 kHz ±0.022 dB Unbalanced / ±0.031 dB Balanced
• Signal to Noise Ratio: 126 dB @ 1 kHz, Unbalanced / 130 dB @ 1 kHz, Balanced
• Crosstalk: -136 dB @ 1 kHz, Unbalanced / -145 dB @ 1 kHz, Balanced
• THD+N: 0.0006% @ 1 kHz, Unbalanced / 0.0004% @ 1 kHz, Balanced
• IMD SMPTE: 0.0007%, 800 Hz 10 kHz (4:1) Unbalanced / Balanced
• Output Impedance: 3.5 mm (0.7 ohm), 2.5 mm (1.7 ohm), 4.4 mm (1.6 ohm)
• Clock Jitter: 25 ps (Typ)
• Reference Clock Jitter: 200 Femto Seconds
• Capacity: 5,050 mAh 3.8 V Li-Polymer Battery
• Playback Time: About 10 hours (Standard: FLAC, 16-bit/44.1 kHz, Vol. 80, LCD off)
• Charge Time: About 3.5 hours (QC 3.0 Charging)
• Built-In Memory: 256 GB [NAND]
• External Memory: microSD (Max. 1 TB) x 1
• Supported OS: Windows 10, 11 (32/64 bit), MAC OS X 10.7 and up

Included

• 1 x A&ultima SP3000 Player
• 1 x Leather Case, Green
• 1 x USB Type-C Cable
• 1 x Quick Start Guide
• 1 x Warranty Card
• 2 x microSD card slot cover
• 6 x Protective Film (Front x 2, Back x 2, Top x 2)
• 1 x Suede Cloth
• 1 x Postcard

More Information

• SP3000 Quad-DAC Digital Audio Player, by Astell&Kern