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Astell & Kern Releases SE200.

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The World’s First Multi-DAC DAP. About seven years ago, Astell & Kern revealed to the world the First Dual DAC digital audio player, the AK120. Today, Astell & Kern Releases the…
Astell & Kern Releases SE200.

The World’s First Multi-DAC DAP.

About seven years ago, Astell & Kern revealed to the world the First Dual DAC digital audio player, the AK120. Today, Astell & Kern Releases the new multi-DAC player, the flagship SE200.

A throwback to the past

Astell & Kern SE200
Astell & Kern SE200

Fast forward more than seven years, and a lot has changed since then. Astell & Kern released a myriad of single DAC chip products since 2013. 

New companies have entered the DAP market in the past couple of years, with the express purpose of offering “Premium Flagship Players.” FiiO’s recently-unveiled flagship M15 is one such example.

Is A&K’s new SE200 just another “Premium Flagship Player”? Can it beat the competition? What does A&K have that the competition doesn’t? Let’s find out.

Meet the Astell & Kern SE200

Meet the Astell & Kern SE200
Meet the Astell & Kern SE200

The SE100, the first model of A&futura, introduced the world to a portable ES9038 Pro 8-channel DAC in a premium mobile DAP form. Astell&Kern have now announced a second upgrade to this lineup, the SE200.

Astell & Kern SE200 Design

Astell & Kern SE200 Design

There’s no overlooking the fact that the SE200’s design takes its inspiration from the previous model, the A&K SE100. Having a similar character to the SE100, The SE200 combines the same bold curves with its predecessor’s trapezoidal shape identity. The blended trapezoidal curves symbolize the merging of two different DAC chips into a single player.

The volume knob is divided into two to signify the two different DACs utilized and blend with the curves on the Player’s side to reflect a dim LED light.

Volume knob
Astell & Kern SE200 Volume knob

Not only is the SE200 has an alloy body made from a single block of aluminum, But a Swiss watch factory manufactures the entire body. In contrast to the previous 241g SE100, the SE200 is 33g heavier and weighs 274g. 

Ceramic Top & Rear

Unlike the tempered glass found on comparable devices, The A&futura SE200 uses a new ceramic plate material on the Player’s top and rear. Contrary to conventional glass, you can observe the light moving gently around the Player’s aluminum body.

Display & Battery Life

SE200 Display
Astell & Kern SE200 Display

The device takes advantage of the large high-resolution 1280×720 touch display. Additionally, the new model features an optimized octa-core processor. Even though the battery life remains stuck at 3700mAh, it is more efficient than it’s predecessor.

Despite using three high-end DAC chips, the SE200 offers 14 hours of battery life using the ES9068AS DAC chip, and about 10 hours when decoding audio using the AK4499EQ. That puts the device in a challenging position, directly facing the 15 hours of battery life offered by the FiiO M15.

Astell & Kern Releases SE200 3 DAC Chips inside the SE200

3 DAC Chips
Astell & Kern SE200 3 DAC chips

What’s unique about A&futura SE200 is the built-in AKM AK4499EQ / ESS ES9068AS (2 DAC Chips) of these two sets of DAC music processing chips with different brands and different flavors! DAPs previously relied on two DAC Chips of the same model to output the left/right channels or balanced/unbalanced sound. As a result, the SE200 is really “2 DACs in one player”.

The SE200 features two flagships ES9068AS Sabre DACs from ESS in a Dual DAC configuration. Whereas, The third DAC is the flagship A&K AK4499EQ, the same DAC chip A&K used in its flagship SP2000. Combining the three DACs, they have produced the world’s first multi-DAC DAP.

Four different outputs

The SE200 also features two 3.5mm single-ended outputs as well as two 2.5mm balanced outputs. The AKM AK4499EQ DAC chip delivers up to 3.0Vrms and 6.0Vrms respectively; the two ESS DAC chips, on the other hand, are rated as capable of delivering up to 3.0Vrms and 6.0Vrms respectively.

Four different outputs
Astell & Kern SE200 four different outputs

Pricing & Availability

The SE200 is not officially available yet, but A&K has already started taking preorders through its official website, while the official estimated release date is July 20, 2020.

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