Leave the turntable at home with Astell & Kern’s audiophile-approved AK100 audio player

By Peter Suciu Published January 28, 2013

Image used with permission by copyright holder

Check out our full review of the iRiver Astell & Kern AK100 audio player.

Portable digital music players are great for taking music on the go, but as any audiophile will attest, it comes at the cost of reduced quality. If you can accept this fact, MP3s are totally for you. For the more discerning audio connoisseur, it takes more than an iPod to get the job done.

Recommended Videos

Astell & Kern’s AK100 portable audio system from iRiver is just such a device. The beefy high-fi music player skirts the scourge of compression with support for lossless Mastering Sound Quality files, along with Ogg, FLAC, WAV, WMA, APE and of course, ordinary MP3s.

A 2.4-inch touchscreen provides control, while a high-end Wolfson 8740 DAC handles turning bits and bytes into audio. Interestingly, it can double as an outboard DAC for computers and CD players connected via the integrated optical output or USB port. It comes with 32GB of internal storage, which can be expanded to 96GB via two microSD card slots. A 2,000mAH battery provides up to 16 hours of continuous audio playback.

The Astell & Kern AK100 portable audio system will retail for $700.

Former Digital Trends Contributor

Peter has spent much time plugging and unplugging various A/V equipment over the years as a reviewer, and he is always on the…

Audio / Video

Astell&Kern blurs the line between headphone amp and digital audio player

Astell&Kern Arco CA1000 headphone amp and digital audio player held in someone's hand.

For audiophiles, dedicated headphone amps are a key component in their personal audio arsenal, one that lets them get the most out of their preferred wired cans. But Astell&Kern (A&K) clearly believes we haven't been expecting enough from these devices, so it has launched the $2,199 A&K Acro CA1000, a so-called "carriable" headphone amp that packs its own internal rechargeable battery as well as a full-featured, hi-res audio digital audio player. The pricey but capable hybrid gadget will be available January 24 at authorized Astell&Kern dealers in the U.S. and Canada.

The Acro CA1000 ticks an enormous number of boxes for folks who want maximum flexibility for controlling and enjoying digital music. It has two sizes of balanced outputs (2.5 and 4.4mm) and two sizes of unbalanced jacks (3.5 and 6.35mm), which should work with a majority of both general use headphones as well as audiophile-grade models. The built-in digital audio player -- accessed via a multi-angle touchscreen -- pumps data through a quad set of ES9068AS digital-to-analog converters (DACs), and they'll handily crunch any file you throw at them, including WAV, FLAC, WMA, MP3, OGG, APE, AAC, ALAC, AIFF, DFF, DSF, plus there's full rendering support for the MQA format and bit-perfect playback of up to 32-bit/384kHz PCM and native DSD512 (22.4MHz) tracks.

Audio / Video

These Beats ANC headphones are $100 off today

Beats Studio Pro on headphone stand.

One of the top headphone and earbud brands is and always has been Beats. Renowned for bass-driven sound profiles and iconic designs, Beats has been delivering stellar over-ear ANC products for many years, so we’re ecstatic to direct your attention to this great offer: For a limited time, when you purchase the Beats Studio Pro Wireless Noise Cancelling Headphones, you’ll only pay $250. At full price, this model sells for $350.

We tested these headphones two summers ago, and our reviewer had this to say: “You still pay a premium for the Beats brand, but the Studio Pro is worth it.”

Audio / Video

The 8 best QLED TVs for 2024

Hisense U8N QLED TV.

Editor's note: The best time of year for TV deals is during Black Friday. In addition to many of the first deals on new products — like $300 off on the Sony Bravia 9, the best overall QLED — it's the perfect time to pick up one of last year's models if you can find them. Check out our other Black Friday deals for even more savings on the best headphones, laptops, and more.

If you’ve been shopping around for a new TV, your brain is likely chock-full of acronyms and tech terms. We’re willing to bet that you’ve seen one group of letters again and again while researching the best TVs of 2024: QLED. An acronym for “Quantum Dot Light Emitting Diode,” a QLED TV combines traditional LED backlighting with a layer of quantum dots. (We have a full explainer that answers the "what is QLED" question, too.) When charged, these dots enhance the brightness, colors, and contrast levels of a QLED, making for some of the most vibrant colors you’ll ever see on a modern set. And because they can get so bright, QLED TVs are some of the best sets for brightly lit rooms.