The Astell&Kern SA700 is a portable hi-res audio player that’ll turn heads

Astell&Kern has unveiled a portable hi-res audio player designed for those who enjoy the finer things in life. Pitched as the Dom Perignon of pocket-sized audio, the swish new SA700 (£1295) features an elegant industrial design inspired by the iconic AK120, and combines an angular steel body with a 4.1in 720×1280 touchscreen to create a device that feels both vintage and modern. In terms of audio, the SA700 uses a Dual DAC system, comprised of two AKM AK4492ECB DACs, to deliver “incredible sonic performance.” The player supports bit-to-bit playback up to 32-bit, 384KHz and native DSD playback up to 11.2MHz, meaning your favourite tunes should sound as close to the original production as possible. 128GB of built-in storage might not sound like a lot when you’re talking about hi-res audio, but support for an extra 512GB through a microSD card slot should quell those fears.

Chris Kerr Contributor, Stuff.tv

About

I’m a freelance games and technology journalist currently mashing my keyboard in the name of fine institutions like Stuff, where you'll usually find me waxing lyrical about the latest mobile morsels. I've also been known to cook up some decidedly delicious reviews from time to time, and was once dubbed 'the games industry's answer to Nigella Lawson' by someone probably somewhere.

Areas of expertise

Video games, computing, smartphones, home entertainment, lamps