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NETWORK AUDIO PLAYER

Network-enabled media player/storage/USB DAC
Made by: Astell&Kern, Seoul, Korea
Supplied by: Computers Unlimited, London
Telephone: 0208 200 8282
Web: www.astellnkern.com; www.unlimited.com
Price: £8999

Astell&Kern AK500N
Having redeﬁned portable hi-ﬁ, Astell&Kern has turned its thoughts to music at home:
the result is as idiosyncratic as you’d expect, but the sound is remarkable
Review: Andrew Everard Lab: Paul Miller

T

here’s an apparently amusing
note in the instruction manual
for Astell&Kern’s AK500N, thecompany’s new £8999 network
player. It says ‘This device was tested for
typical body-worn operations with the backof the portable music player kept 5mmfrom the body.’
While still sniggering that anyone would
want to lug around an 11.4kg unit clearly
designed for home use (albeit powered byan internal battery), I received a picture ofan AK500N user doing just that, employing
a frame on his back built by Japanesecompany VanNuys, which also makes
cases for the more obviously portable A&K
products. Oh well…

‘drive’ at least the playback functions of
the AK500N using third-party apps, A&K
recommending Network Music Player for
iOS, or Bubble UPnP on
Android. I found Bubble
UPnP the more convenient,which is perhaps not
surprising given that theplayer runs on an Android
operating system. I also
had good results using
PlugPlayer on OS X. Whenthe apps become available the update will
also add internet radio functionality.
As a CD ripper, the A&K offers the
choice of WAV or FLAC storage, using the

APPS ON THEIR WAY
The AK500N is the ﬁrst ‘desktop’ modelfrom the Korean company, and is set tobe joined this year by a matching power
amp and enhanced supply, thus creating acomplete ‘just add speakers’ system.
More on that in our interview with
A&K’s James Jeong [see p37], but for now
we have a unit combining the functionsof network server/player, CD ripper,
USB/MicroSD card player and DAC with
asynchronous USB and Bluetooth – and all
in a strikingly styled, almost cubic package.
It’s smaller than pictures might suggest,
standing just over 240mm tall and a little
less in width and depth. There’s a slotloading CD transport for disc-ripping only,
not playback, in the front panel, while
the slightly offset sculpting reminds me
more of ‘stealth’ technology than themountain said to have inspired it (the Swiss
Matterhorn). The ﬂip-up 7in (178mm)
WXGA touchscreen panel on the top plays
host to an extensive series of set-up andcontrol options.
There’s no conventional remote control
handset, but iOS and Android control
apps for smartphones and tablets aredue in April. However, it’s also possible to
RIGHT: The unusual faceted front panel is said
to be derived from the shape of the Matterhorn;slot-loading CD drive is only for ripping

REPRODUCED FROM HI-FI NEWS | www.hiﬁnews.co.uk

cdparanoia extractor software and theGraceNote database for metadata lookup, and a choice of ripping speeds, but
its capabilities go way
beyond CD-quality music:
it can handle content
up to 384kHz/24-bit, as
well as offering native
playback of both DSD64
and DSD128 ﬁles using a
dedicated chipset.
In fact, all the ﬁles it
plays can be repurposed to DSD before
they pass through the onboard digital-toanalogue conversion, which uses the same
dual Cirrus Logic CS4398 DAC chips, one‘At the heart of
the AK500N is aterabyte of SSD
storage’MUSIC AT A TOUCH
Apart from the quirky looks, what sets the AK500N apart is the ﬂip-up
touchscreen for set-up and control, looking for all the world like an add-on
tablet computer. This can be used to drive the system for playback (althoughforthcoming apps may prove more convenient), but a touch of the standard‘cog’ symbol takes you into the settings menu. You can go as deep as you like– moving and copying ﬁles between folders on the SSD storage, or accessing
USB devices connected to it – and these menus also let you select gaplessplayback (though it’s not infallible), or decide whether or not the AK500N will
convert all your ﬁles to DSD before they hit the DAC.
It’s possible to decide the format you want when ripping discs inserted into
the front-panel slot (WAV or FLAC), and choose whether the player charges, or
isolates itself completely, during playback. Experience suggests the latter ispreferable. The panel also allows setting of the USB-B input to the rear, so you
can decide whether it’s allowing the unit to function as a DAC, or in ‘MTP’ modefor ﬁle transfer from a computer, and enabling various ‘housekeeping’ settings.

LEFT: The AK500N’s
top touchscreen is
its control hub: sideconnections allow
for ’phones (2.5, 3.5
and 6.35mm) plus USB
and MicroSD storage.
The only conventional
controls are forvolume and power

for each channel, found in the company’s
very upmarket AK240 portable player.

STEPS TO EXCLUDE NOISEAt the heart of the AK500N is 1TB of SSD
storage, upgradable to 4TB if required, andthat internal battery, designed for total
isolation from any mains or power-supply
noise. Unless you choose the ‘charge while
playing’ option in the menus the system
can be disconnected from the mains for up
to seven hours or so, when in use.
This idea of noise-exclusion extends
to the input and output provision, which
includes ﬁxed and variable-level RCA andbalanced outputs, AES/EBU, optical, coaxial
and BNC digital inputs and outputs, USB-B
and USB-A ports to the rear and USB-A
and MicroSD card slots on the side-panel.
There’s also a choice of balanced orconventional headphone output, using
2.5mm, 3.5mm and 6.35mm sockets – also
on the side. Each of the audio connections
can be enabled or bypassed individuallyusing the menu system, meaning those notin use are unable to create interference or
allow noise ingress.
All-in-all, this unusually-shaped unit
is a very long way beyond the novelty
it may seem at ﬁrst glance: clearly a lotof attention, and a lot of the knowledge
gained in creating the company’s rangeof high-quality portable players, has gone
into its design and construction, and the
optimisation of its performance.
What’s more, while the menu system
may seem complex, simply because it’s socomprehensive, with a little familiarisation
it’s easy to get to grips with the set-up of
the AK500N. As soon as it connected to myhome network (it can use either Wi-Fi or

www.hiﬁnews.co.uk | REPRODUCED FROM HI-FI NEWSLEFT: Internal view
reveals quite a lot of
fresh air between the
CD drive and rest of
the player electronics.
Lower down is thedock for up to four
SSD hard drives [left],
and the battery power
supply [right]

Ethernet) it performed a ﬁrmware update– seemingly inevitable with any networkconnectable product! – and was then readyfor action.
It can work directly as a USB DAC witha wired connection from a computer, also
necessary if you want to copy music fromyour computer to the A&K, and don’t wantto put it all on a USB drive. Connecting it to
my MacBook Air, I was able to use Android
File Transfer to copy music to the unit’s
internal storage.
The AK500N will function as astandalone device, as a network player forcontent stored locallyon a NAS device or on acomputer running UPnP/DLNA server software– for Windows users,
the company provides
MQS Streaming Server
for download – and it
will also make its storedcontent available to any other playback
devices on the network.

available here (and there are quite a few!)
and found the A&K to be most impressive
when playing from its internal storage or
as a network player for music from my NAS,
where it delivered a sound with as muchscale and information as any high-end
streaming device, especially from higher
resolution PCM and DSD ﬁles.
There’s a solidity and speed to the bassthat very few network devices, let alone
CD players, can match, while the senseof soundstage depth, focus and presenceshows just how well midband and treble
information is handled.
The AK500N also
copes very well withhigh-resolution ﬁles on
USB storage, either via
the rear or side ports,
but to my ears sounds
a little softer whenconnected direct to
a computer via a USB
cable, and used in DAC mode [see Lab
Report, p39]. It’s still very impressive, andmore than a match for many an offboard
USB DAC, but it never quite reaches theheights it can when streaming from its own
SSD storage.
The Bluetooth option, meanwhile,is – well, a Bluetooth input: as ever it’s atriumph of convenience over substance,and ought only to be used in emergencies(or at least only for short-term listening).
I’ve already mentioned the effect of
the battery power but, to reiterate, it’s
perhaps best described as removing aslight thickening of the sound encounteredwhen you opt for the ‘charge while playing’setting. I got the best results with thepower supply disconnected completely,
which was a bit of a pain as the multipin‘It reaches theheights when
streaming fromits SSD storage’

SOLIDITY AND SPEEDTo say that I was taken aback by what
the AK500N can do was something of anunderstatement. From the off it impressedwith the kind of big-boned yet agile andﬁnely detailed sound one would expect
only from the very highest of ’ﬁ – which I
guess, given the price, is just what it is.
Cast aside any expectations ofgimmickry you may have when surveying
its unusual form-factor. This is a very
serious piece of equipment, daring to bedifferent when it comes to its aesthetics,
and demonstrating that not all good things
come in 430mm-wide packages. I tried
all the various input and playback options

JAMES JEONG
As general manager of the strategicplanning team at Astell&Kern’s
parent company since 2001, James
Jeong has been closely involved withthe development of the AK500N.
Asked why A&K had expanded into‘home’ audio, he replied that ‘our
medium and long-term goals werealways to build a strong brandposition in high-end home hi-ﬁ while
continuing to develop and progress
our award-winning portable line. We
want to provide our customers withmore options.’
That unusual styling, he says, was‘inspired by images in nature. The
core design features multiple
facets coming together in a single
point, symbolising the greatnessof Switzerland’s Matterhorn, everchanging with time and the amountof light.’ Talking about two of the
major elements of the design, hetold me the decision to offer DSD
upconversion was simply because‘it’s the format many audiophiles
enjoy’, but he also revealed that themost challenging part of the design
was ensuring reliability for thebattery PSU.
James also revealed the AK500N
will be joined by a matching power
ampliﬁer, the AK500A, and an
outboard power supply dubbed
the AK500P. First seen at theInternational CES 2015, they’re due
to be launched at the High End Showin Germany in May. And he agreed
that, while there are no speciﬁcplans he can announce yet, there is
scope for the AK500N design to betrickled down to lower-priced home
products in the future.

www.hiﬁnews.co.uk | REPRODUCED FROM HI-FI NEWSLABREPORTASTELL&KERN AK500N
LEFT: There’s achoice of balanced or
RCA phono outputs,
and either ﬁxed orvariable level, plus
a good range ofdigital input options,
Ethernet and USB A/Bconnector is ﬁddly to reattach, since
it’s at the back of the unit.
Similarly, I experimented a
lot with the AK500N’s ‘convert
everything to DSD’ option, and while
it added some heft to the sound of
MP3 ﬁles and some CD rips, I foundit rather over-egged higher-res ﬁles,giving them a sheen of smoothness
allied to a slightly sacchariny treble.
So I hope the forthcoming apps will
have a button to turn this facility on
and off, as I have a feeling it may suit
some tracks and not others.
The only other glitch was ahesitation with some albums withmusic stretching across multiple
tracks – there’s an on/off button forgapless playback, but even so some(not all) high-res content seemed tocatch it out in this respect.

WHO DARES WINS
However, when the AK500N is
good, it can be stunning. Opening
listening with some high-resolution
content, namely David Bowie’s Ziggy
Stardust in DSD [EMI 521 9002], I
was immediately impressed withthe thump of the bass as the album
opened, and the sheer impact of
the acoustic guitar, sharply focusedalong with Bowie’s voice, plus
the way the sound maintained its
integrity and clarity even when the
tracks got rather rockier.
Similarly with ELP’s Brain Salad
Surgery [96kHz/24-bit HDtracks
download, Razor & Tie ELP0BSS401DL], the A&K showed its stuff withreal drive from the drums and guitar,
allied to a wonderful bass snarl from
Keith Emerson’s bank of synths whenrequired, such as in the ‘not on thealbum’ title track included as part of
the 40th anniversary package. And
in the transition between the ﬁrst
two parts of ‘Karn Evil No 9’ there
was no hint of a gap!
‘Extra’ by Chip Taylor and Carrie
Rodriguez [Let’s Leave This Town
– Trainwreck TWO19] saw the
AK500N demonstrating its ability
when it comes to the sound of real
instruments (in this case guitar andﬁddle) and the tonality of voices,giving the track all of its goodnatured immediacy and humour.
Mind you, it can also deliver all
the power and weight you could
want with those big operatic andorchestral pieces, grabbing theattention with the texturing of the
instrumental timbres.
By any standards this is aremarkable digital player/streamer/ripper thingy – just how do you
describe it? – and even more striking
for daring to be different.

Although A&K employs a pair of CS4398 DACs this chip is still
only a 192kHz device, but its compatibility with DSD2.8 and
DSD5.6 streams allows the AK500N to service higher rate
LPCM/DXD ﬁles by conversion to DSD without downsampling.
Nevertheless, while our sample was lab tested before any
ﬁrmware updates were received, the results suggested that
48kHz inputs via S/PDIF and USB were also being converted to
DSD while 96kHz and 192kHz inputs remained as LPCM... The
rise THD+N at high frequencies was marked – 0.05% for 48kHz/
24-bit versus 0.00085% for 96kHz/24-bit (20kHz/–10dBFs
signal). All else was consistent with sample rate, including thewide 112dB A-wtd S/N ratio, excellent ±0.1dB resolution over
a 100dB range, the 3V maximum balanced output (ﬁxed XLR)
and fabulously low 3ohm source impedance.
Jitter was a little higher than anticipated at ~275psec via
the digital inputs [red trace, Graph 2] but proved exceptionally
low at <10psec via both internal or external SSD storage (thelatter via USB Type A connection). This is clearly illustrated
by the black spectrum in Graph 2, below. Distortion via SSD
was lower with 48kHz/24-bit ﬁles because, unlike via S/PDIF,
the conversion appeared to be LPCM throughout. A ﬁgure of
0.0008% (20kHz/0dBFs) is truly excellent [see Graph 1, below]
as is the 112dB A-wtd S/N ratio, unchanged from the S/PDIF andUSB tests. Responses are ruler-ﬂat too, extending to 45kHz
within ±0.1dB (96kHz ﬁles) and 90kHz within ±0.4dB (192kHz
ﬁles). Readers may view comprehensive QC Suite test reports
for the S/PDIF and USB-drive audio performance of theAstell&Kern AK500N by navigating to www.hiﬁnews.co.uk andclicking on the red ‘download’ button. PM

ABOVE: Distortion versus 24-bit/48kHz digital signal
level over a 120dB range at 1kHz (S/PDIF, red; SSD/
USB disc, black) and 20kHz (SSD/USB disc, blue)

HI-FI NEWS VERDICT
However unlike a conventional
network storage/player device
it may appear (and the designshows the greater freedom such
hardware brings), the AK500N
is even more extraordinary in
the way it performs. Don’t let
the looks put you off, as thesound from this innovative unit isnothing short of remarkable, withexcellent slam and weight allied
to very ﬁne detail and serious,
sustained musical involvement.

Sound Quality: 88%
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ABOVE: High resolution 24-bit/48kHz jitter spectra
comparing S/PDIF (red, marked) with USB disc (black)

HI-FI NEWS SPECIFICATIONS
Maximum output level (Balanced)

2.97Vrms at 3ohm

A-wtd S/N ratio (S/PDIF / USB disc)112.0dB / 112.0dB

Distortion (1kHz, 0dBFs/–30dBFs)

0.00019% / 0.00017%

Dist. & Noise (20kHz, 0dBFs/–30dBFs)

0.0008% / 0.0032%

Freq. resp. (20Hz-20kHz/45kHz/90kHz)–0.0dB to +0.0dB/+0.1dB/+0.4dB

Digital jitter (S/PDIF / USB disc)275psec / <10psec

Resolution @ –100dB±0.1dB

Power consumption

13W (9W standby)

Dimensions (WHD) / Weight

214x243x238mm / 11.4kg

www.hiﬁnews.co.uk | REPRODUCED FROM HI-FI NEWS