Astell&Kern SR35 Review | Flagship Quality Sound on a Budget
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- Опубліковано 26 лип 2024
- In this video, Steve looks at the Astell&Kern SR35. He talks about the update to the Astell&Kern OS, explores the similarity to higher end A&K players, and does a comparison with the KANN Max and iBasso DX240.
0:00 Intro
0:44 Skip Credits
1:46 Build & Design
5:43 Sound Impressions
7:42 Comparison: A&K Kann MAX, iBasso DX240
12:16 Final Thoughts
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#hifiaudio #audiophile #headfi #astellnkern - Наука та технологія
You are really a great reviewer! All of your reviews are so articulated and well explained! Thanks for that! :)
Can’t believe in 2024 AK is still delivering that sluggish UI with extreme laggy touch response and charge it for 900. Such a greedy company
Since I can’t afford to put a Lamborghini in my ears, I’ll have to settle for the Astell&Kern MP3 Player.
OMG, I'm a musician from the Apache Reservation here in New Mexico, and I thought you were saying "Hi, Rez player!." // There was also, this folk singer from the Bob Dylan era who was a Cree Indian from Canada, Buffy Sainte-Marie. Well, it was just discovered that she is actually white and was pretending to be an Indian her entire life using suntan lotion and brown foundation. To keep her secret she even resorted to threateing her little brother that she would claim s@xual abuse if he told the public the truth. Anyway, I was just putting a recording of hers I did, so I thought you were one of my Indian friends joking with me!!! - Frank Montoya at _The Acoustic Rabbit Hole_
Nice review, i'm begging for this AKS35... Have you infod about a new version of this? thx you
Great review. I am new to the world of DAPs ( boy, do they cost) and hope to get the SR 35 ONEDAY.
Will it download Audible and Libby? I am a great fan of audio books too.
Mine came from you guys yesterday and it’s completely sick for $800!
Can you please compare this to the new Hiby R6 Pro II ?
Sounds like this is the best plug and play DAP for someone who doesn’t really know what gain os or why to use 2.5 socket instead of another. Someone who loves music but isn’t an audiophile tech wise
Your description fits me to a T. Cheers
Does the sr 35 allow you to EQ 32 bit music? Does the dx 240 allow you to EQ 32 bit music? Thanks
Vs hiby r6 gen III PLEASE
This or Kaan Max. I can get moth at same price so confused to get which one. Coming from an SR25. Thank you
Can you suggest iem to pair with it
at 9:01 you stated that you don't think the Kann Maxx user interface will be upgraded to AK's most current Crimson UI. Why say this? It means the Kann Maxx won't be upgraded at all, right? Thx
Great review, twoquestions.. Why is ui so slow & amazon reviews I see people complaining connecting streaming spotify tidal, is it true ?
The speed is a twofold thing - one aspect is that Astell&Kern is focused more on the build, design, and audio components than the OS/UI performance, and on the other is that they seem to deliberately go with a more power efficient CPU over a more powerful to achieve significantly more battery life than most of the other HiFi DAPs in the $500-$1000 range.
As far as streaming connections, I have found that the WiFi performance still lags behind a bit. I haven't had any issues with Spotify in terms of connection, and I typically don't have issues streaming 192k/24bit with Qobuz, but if I'm too far from the router I've had issues with high res streaming getting interupted.
@BloomAudio Thanks, Mate, very informative and helpful insight, respect 🫡
How does the SR35 comapare to the outgoing SR25mkii, with emphasis on sound quality/presentation?
There are lot of similarities, and I think some of the differences match up with the differences between the SP2000 to SP3000, with SP3000 being a little more reference tuned with a larger more three-dimensional soundstage than SP2000. Similarly I hear something a little closer to a reference sound with better imaging in the SR35. I also find SR25MKII just sounds a little "mushy" by comparison.
Hi am thinking of getting a SR35 . to get the best out of the unit will I need to get a balanced cable to get 6Vrms as I don’t want to buy a separate amp am just looking at buying a unit with good power / sound . Am using Campfire mammoth iem’s (bass head)
Campfire Mammoth will sound great with the stock cable/3.5mm output. The Campfire headphones are really sensitive, so I don't typically even notice much difference in the bass between 3.5mm and 4.4mm on A&K players. Astell&Kern in particular seems to do a really good job on their amp design so that there's not much difference between balanced/single-ended unless you absolutely need the power.
Excusme,
Are there any ways to listen to Tidal thru offline albums downloaded on A&KSR35 like iphone or andoird phones?
Yes, you can download files to listen offline in the Tidal app on the SR35 and other A&K devices. But to do this, you have to download the full app through the Services -> Download section. There is a Tidal app included with the player, but it doesn't support offline listening.
@@BloomAudio oh Godness, I realized. Thanks for my innocent question :)
Hi! How would sr35 work with highly sensitive IEMs, such as Campfire Andromeda? Specifically I’m curious about the background noise often being an issue with these particular iems. Thanks!
Hey there! I've found it to be a pretty good option with sensitive IEMs, but theres still a small hiss in the background (mostly with the new Campfire Audio Fathom, which is actually more sensitive than the Andromeda.) While this noise is usually undetectable once the volume reaches comfortable listening volumes, you can often notice it in quiet parts of the music. Usually using 3.5mm instead of 4.4mm offers slightly better hiss retention, at least in my experience. I hope this helps! - Matthew
@@BloomAudio thanks!
Great review .. but is it slightly slow or sluggish may be ??
For general use I felt that it was fine, but definitely not fast or “snappy.” When I was quickly flipping through apps and functions for the video it did feel a bit sluggish though.
Not acceptable for a $800 Dap in 2023. The player is nice but the software implementation is horrible. Steve, thanks for being honest and another informative review.
@@BloomAudio Steve do you not agree in this day n age daps need to implement a better refresh rate and at least a 1440p panel? Its ridiculous
@@HD-wp2oo All that matters is SQ, and good volume for 150 ohm h/phones.2nd is battery life. Go to the orchard and stuff your face with apples, I don't give a monkeys if the cider takes a little longer.
All DAPs are slow and clunky compared to modern flagships smartphones or PCs, it's just the way it is as the priority is purely focused on hardware, computer architecture and sound engineering. to deliver HiFi audio through your given choice of HPs/IEMs. It sucks that they're always an entire iteration behind in OS/Android version, but like I said you have to treat it purely like an "MP3 Player" from the early 2000s and set your standards low, think of the UI/UX of Android 12/13 as a bonus icing on the cake.
Even the flagship S&P 3k/TOTL DAPs won't feel nearly as responsive compared to a brand new Sony Xperia 1-V or a SDG2+ gaming smartphone with 720-960hz touch sampling rate (Asus ROG 7 Pro/Ultimate and Nubia Redmagic 8S Pro+). "Portable" DAPs are also anything but, they're massive bricks that you have to lug around with easily 3-4x the thickness of a phone. The worst part IMO is the upgrade path - you'll have an itch to upgrade yearly to keep you with the latest UI/I
It's a damn shame that Android flagships no longer have dedicated DACs like LG's V flagship lineup, it's all SoC now because there's no demand and people prefer TWS.
Thanks Aaron Rodgers
Free wifi can’t connect to the device. I tried a lot but that’s big minus point. Sound wise is amazing.
150 or 300 ohm 'phones. Can it drive them?
Possibly some 150 ohm headphones, but definitely not going to be great with 300 ohm headphones.
@@BloomAudio Thanks. It's not a total deal breaker, but I don't fancy another £570 on the AK amp. My humble aged Sony with Dac/amp can do my Senn 560s OK at 150 ohm, but an upgrade in 'phones might be tricky without going really expensive; all the better Senn's are 300 ohm.
Does this offer any remote control options?
There isn't any kind of remote control included, but we had a customer who was using it for bike rides and was able to connect a handlebar mounted bluetooth remote control that worked for skipping tracks and adjusting the volume. So you might have some options for an aftermarket remote control.
@@BloomAudio Thanks for confirming. I've used those with other devices overlooked them in this case...
I had mine for less than 6 hours 😢 took it back and got a refund as the WiFi connection was so bad, it knocked it out completely. Certainly not worth the £800 price tag.
Have an offline library saved to an SD card. Streaming won't compare to lossless
I went to my local dealer and tried this and I really was not impressed.
I do not like the UI and the sound quality wasn't any better than cheaper DAP's.
Maybe it was the IEM's, but another annoyance was the shape and it dug into my hand.
I was really disappointed as I was all set to buy it after the rave reviews.
What's your IEM?
Hey, the screen should be "straight" because people hold things bent in their hands lol why aren't you holding yours at a bent angle lol
On a budget???
It cost me 800 English pounds.
I suppose "on a budget" is a bit relative. Compared to an iPod classic that cost $249 in 2008, it's not exactly "budget," it certainly isn't, but compared to top end audiophile digital audio players that cost $3000-$4000, it can be considered a bit more "budget friendly."
@@BloomAudio I bought the Astell&Kern AK70 in 2016 for £499. That was a fine player.
Don't like the shape. Maybe it's an acquired taste idk. It's not for me.
Wait... so people still buy music playing devices?? Why not just use your phone? Wtf is the point of these things?
That's a pretty common question. :) There are a couple of reasons. The big reason is that if you use wired headphones, a player like this will sound SIGNIFICANTLY better than your phone.
Another big reason is that if you want to use a music collection (CD rips, downloaded files, etc) rather than a subscription service, you can expand the storage on most of these to 2TB with a microSD card - you can even use that if you want to download a ton of files off TIDAL or Apple Music for a long flight.
And some people just want to avoid using their phone when they don't need to. It's easier to relax and unplug with music if you're not getting notifications from your phone, or the temptation to pick it up and check your socials every 30 seconds.
Even my teenage daughter knows why you would want a dedicated music player. The audio sucks through phones. Come on now. It’s like being a gamer and trying to play games on a 10 year old budget laptop.
Better Audio Quality, no memory space constraint, less distraction, wired support, convenience, etc
Pick your reasons.