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Astell&Kern A&ultima SP1000 portable audio player

People often ask me how I listen to music when I travel. I play MP3s on my iPhone.

That answer always surprises, and sometimes disappoints: "You listen to MP3s?"

The response is moderately tempered when I add that I use good in-ear monitors (IEMs)—either Westone ES50s (ca $995) or Jerry Harvey Audio Laylas (ca $2725), both with eartips made from molds of my ear canals.

Those multiple-balanced-armature IEMs perform incredibly well, and the custom eartips make seals that are measurably better at rejecting noise than the noise-canceling, over-ear phones worn by Bose-fanboy…

Astell&Kern A&ultima SP1000 portable audio playerPage 2

None of this would be worth a damn if a full charge of the SP1000's battery pooped out too soon, but A&K claims it will last 12 hours. Using a 9V, 1.67A charger (not supplied), fully charging the completely drained battery should take no longer than 140 minutes. A 5V, 2A adapter did the job in five hours. A 12V charger won't work, and could damage the SP1000. Supported operating systems are Windows XP/7/8/10 (32/64 bit) and Mac OS10.7 and up.

Setup
For every reason I hate iTunes, I loved the A&ultima SP1000's Android-based operating system. An hour with the SP1000 made me…

Astell&Kern A&ultima SP1000 portable audio player Specifications

Sidebar 1: Specifications

Description: Portable music player. Apps include: WiFi (802.11 b/g/n, 2.4GHz), Bluetooth v.4.1 (A2DP, AVRCP, aptX HD), Tidal, Groovers+, Parametric EQ, 256GB internal memory, microSD card slot (256GB), 5" touchscreen (1280x720). Compatible file formats: AAC, AIFF, ALAC, APE, DFF, DSF, FLAC, MP3, OOG, WAV, WMA. Compatible sample rates: up to 384kHz, DSD256. Compatible bit depths: 8–32. Outputs: headphone/optical (3.5mm jack), balanced (2.5mm, only 4-pole supported). Frequency response: 20Hz–20kHz, ±0.062dB, unbalanced. Maximum output: 2.2V RMS/balanced 3.9V RMS.…

Astell&Kern A&ultima SP1000 portable audio player Associated Equipment

Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment

Digital Sources: Simaudio Moon Evolution 780D streaming DAC, Wolf Audio Systems The Cub server.
Amplification: Marantz AV8801 preamplifier-processor & SR6011 A/V receiver.
Headphones: AKG AK701, Audeze LCDi4, Jerry Harvey Audio Layla, Westone E50.
Loudspeakers: Pioneer SP-FS52, REL T-7 subwoofer.—Michael Fremer

Astell&Kern A&ultima SP1000 portable audio player Measurements

Sidebar 3: Measurements

After copying the necessary test tones to its internal memory, I measured the Astell&Kern A&ultima SP1000 with my Audio Precision SYS2722 system (see the January 2008 "As We See It"). I couldn't obtain a 2.5mm balanced connector, so all measurements were taken from the single-ended 3.5mm headphone jack, with the volume control set to its maximum of "150" unless otherwise noted. (The volume control appears to operate in 0.5dB steps.) The SP1000 was running the 1.01CM firmware when I performed the measurements. (As I was packing up the unit to ship to our…

Devialet Diary

It's day five of our planned month-long stay à Paris, late April through most of May. My wife is here for work—for me, it's strictly for pleasure—and we're enjoying Paris's rich, sensual goodness: food, museums, architecture, coffee, people, food. And yet, earlier today, when we were out for a walk—we've been walking close to 10 miles each day, exploring the city—I realized that my life here has been missing something important.

As we approached one of Paris's many bridges over the Seine, I heard music. The source, I soon learned, was an organ grinder—tall, bearded, upended Greek…

Devialet Diary Page 2

As we motored across Paris, Gold Phantoms on our laps, Leblais told me that many customers buy just one Gold Phantom at first and use it solo—mono—until they save up enough to acquire another. A lone Gold Phantom can be thought of as a heavy, high-end Bluetooth speaker (though it's not limited to Bluetooth); as a standalone mono sound system; as a modernist sculpture that makes music.

Once that hypothetical customer acquired a second Phantom, a pair of Trees, and a Dialog, she or he will own a serious stereo hi-fi system—that, anyway, is Devialet's claim. Just add a source—a laptop or…

Day 2 at TAVES

If you do a Google search for "loudspeaker" combined with "full-range," "line source," "one-way," and "modular," you'll get results that match some, but not all, of the characteristics of the Ruel Audio R7. The Audience ClearAudient 16+16 comes the closest, with 16 drivers firing forward and 16 to the back, but its small full-range drivers are supplemented with eight 6x9" passive radiators, and it does not have modular construction. Plus, it appears not to be in production. For that matter, Google misses Ruel, but it has been granted a provisional patent.

It's a very interesting,…

Vadim Gluzman's Consummate Brahms

How many times can one write "beautiful" before the word loses all meaning? And yet, what else can I say when Brahms' sole violin concerto, as well as his first Violin Sonata, are so profoundly touching, and played so exquisitely by violinist Vadim Gluzman, the Lucerne Symphony Orchestra under James Gaffigan, and pianist Angela Yoffe?

Although Vadim Gluzman has yet to receive the same attention as some of his contemporaries, in no small part due to his embrace of a long-term contract with the BIS hi-rez record label rather than Universal Classics, Sony, or Warner, his schedule for the…

TAVES 2017, Day Two, Part Two

Totem Acoustic has always impressed me with their ability to get big sound from small boxes, but never more so than when I listened to the Tribe Tower ($US5300/pair) at this year's TAVES. Designer Vince Bruzzese has surpassed even his own high standards here. My first impression, before I heard the speakers, was that this is a "lifestyle" product: stylish in a modern way, with a small footprint that allows it to blend into most home environments. Almost by definition, sound quality is not top priority with lifestyle products

And then Vince played some music. I don't remember what it was…