Astell&Kern ( A&K ) has announce its latest portable digital audio musician ( DAP ) and it not only boasts a Brobdingnagian number of audiophile - friendly features , but it also send with a home charge wharfage that double over as a two - channel parallel source for hi - fi systems . The A&K PS10 will officially debut at CanJam Singapore , 5 – 6 April 2025 and be usable at authorised Astell&Kern dealers worldwide in May 2025 for $ 2,500 .
The PS10 is a departure for A&K ’s portable . The caller has seemingly ditched the highly angular chassis intent of itsprevious players , in favor of a far more established , smartphone - like appearance . Fans of A&K ’s portable will take down another major change on the PS10 : the absence of a rotary knob for volume control , something every A&K player has feature , operate back to its debut product — the AK100 — from 2012 , with the elision of thebudget - favorable , Activo - brand , P1 .
The company describes this move as “ presenting a fresh take on Astell&Kern ’s iconic volume cycle design . ” Novel , in this case , apparently mean buttons : you assure the PS10 ’s volume via a dyad of plus and minus button on the side of the gadget . A&K says it ’s designed to deliver a more intuitive and classifiable experience of ‘ optimal sound . ’ It should still feel like a very premium twist in the hand , as it ’s made from stainless steel and glass .
Astell&Kern
Whether you like the new design or not , it ’s hard to debate with what the PS10 has under the hood . It reads like a recipe for audiophile - stratum hi - fi , admit :
As we ’ve become accustomed to with A&K ’s players , the PS10 can decode a wide range of audio formats , with musical accompaniment for PCM at up to 32 - bit/768kHz and native processing of DSD up to DSD512 .
It pack a variety ofhi - Ra audioBluetooth codecs , include aptX HD , LHDC , and LDAC , and these can be used bismuth - directionally with programme out for wireless headphones , and in receive mode when you want to rain buckets in Bluetooth from a extraneous source .
Astell&Kern
The rechargeable barrage fire give a claimed 15 hours of continuous playback and turn on time is stag at 3.5 hours when get hold of vantage of the PS10 ’s Power Delivery 3.0 support .
Then there ’s the docking cradle note in the intro . It tilt the PS10 for easy reading and pilotage , and packs both XLR balanced output and a USB - nose candy port that keep going USB DAC / USB Digital Output capabilities . The XLR jacks can be book controlled from the PS10 itself ( for use with a set of international speaker ) , or they can be set to a fixed output signal grade for component part use . Speaking of element use , the PS10 isRoon Ready certified , for those who like to check their music through that political program .
