Acclaimed transportable audio model Astell & Kern has engaged in what I’m going to name a “reverse Toyota.” The Japanese hero of inexpensive, dependable motoring wished a chunk of the premium automotive motion, and so developed a completely new luxurious model known as Lexus. (Enjoyable truth: The model title stands for “Luxurious Export US.”)
Astell & Kern, having established itself because the planet’s main purveyor of high-performance, high-bling, high-priced, high-resolution digital audio gamers, has developed Activo. It’s a subbrand that permits Astell & Kern to compete in these areas of the digital audio participant promote it has lengthy since deserted in its remorseless drive upward.
Thoughts you, whenever you line up this P1 system in opposition to opponents from the likes of FiiO and Sony it doesn’t actually appear all that inexpensive. Entry stage is relative, and the P1 has been pitched into an space of the market that’s, if something, much more aggressive than the quite rarefied areas Astell & Kern is contesting lately.
However then it’s not as if the Activo P1 hasn’t been outfitted to compete; a fast look at its specs is sufficient to verify it has what it takes. Is it value the additional price for Astell & Kern lite? That is dependent upon how a lot you care about appears.
{Photograph}: Simon Lucas
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The essential digital-to-audio conversion of the P1 is taken care of by an ESS ES9219Q Sabre dual-DAC association that’s in a position to deal with digital audio recordsdata of as much as 32-bit/384-kHz and DSD256 decision. Amplification comes by way of the Astell & Kern Teraton Alpha system, which the corporate deems ok for taking good care of enterprise in digital audio gamers costing 10 occasions as a lot because the Activo P1.
An octacore processor guarantees a slick and responsive person expertise, and the interface itself can be acquainted sufficient to anybody conversant in Android devices. The inclusion of the Google Play retailer as an embedded app means it’s straightforward so as to add to the gathering of music-playing apps (Apple Music, Qobuz, Spotify, and Tidal, in addition to a devoted Activo participant). Sixty-four gigabytes of inside reminiscence is low, however the SD card slot can increase that by as a lot as 1.5 TB in the event you provide your personal card.
