Stereophile
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- Apr 19, 2013
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- #1
<p><img class="story_image" src="http://www.stereophile.com/images/813ak.promo_.jpg" /></p>
Apple's iPod came of age in the fall of 2003, when, with the release of iTunes 4.5, the player was no longer restricted to <a href="http://www.stereophile.com/features/308mp3cd/index.html">lossy compressed MP3 or AAC files</a>. Instead, it could play uncompressed or losslessly compressed files with true "CD quality"; users no longer had to compromise sound quality to benefit from the iPod's convenience.
<p>
Ten years later, while the current top-model iPod features a 160GB hard drive, it still can play only files with sample rates of 48kHz and below and a maximum bit depth of 16. Those of us with a growing library of high-resolution files are therefore restricted to playing them in our big rigs at home.
</p><p>
Enter Astell&Kern. At the beginning of 2013, this brand from iRiver, a Korean portable media company, introduced its AK100, a portable player costing a dollar short of $700 and capable of handling 24-bit files with sample rates of up to 192kHz. (A&K calls hi-rez music Mastering Quality Sound or MQS.) All the usual file types are supported
[Source: http://www.stereophile.com/content/astellampkern-ak100-portable-media-player]
Apple's iPod came of age in the fall of 2003, when, with the release of iTunes 4.5, the player was no longer restricted to <a href="http://www.stereophile.com/features/308mp3cd/index.html">lossy compressed MP3 or AAC files</a>. Instead, it could play uncompressed or losslessly compressed files with true "CD quality"; users no longer had to compromise sound quality to benefit from the iPod's convenience.
<p>
Ten years later, while the current top-model iPod features a 160GB hard drive, it still can play only files with sample rates of 48kHz and below and a maximum bit depth of 16. Those of us with a growing library of high-resolution files are therefore restricted to playing them in our big rigs at home.
</p><p>
Enter Astell&Kern. At the beginning of 2013, this brand from iRiver, a Korean portable media company, introduced its AK100, a portable player costing a dollar short of $700 and capable of handling 24-bit files with sample rates of up to 192kHz. (A&K calls hi-rez music Mastering Quality Sound or MQS.) All the usual file types are supported
[Source: http://www.stereophile.com/content/astellampkern-ak100-portable-media-player]
