flagellate nostalgic: Astell & Kern's AK120 portable MQS player graces the FCC with its $1,300 sound

Sunday, May 12, 2013

Astell & Kern's AK120 portable MQS player graces the FCC with its $1,300 sound

Audiophiles eager to get their mitts on iRiver's Astell & Kern-branded AK120 should take note: the portable Mastering Quality Sound player just passed through the FCC's labs. The $1,300 AK120 is the bigger, 2.4-inch sibling to the $700 AK100, promising to net deep-pocketed audio perfectionists improved stereo imaging and dynamic range; this is achieved by two Wolfson WM8740 DACs, each of which are dedicated to a single channel. The player features a physical volume knob and packs 64GB of onboard storage with support for up to 192GB through two microSD slots -- which is perfect for storing your pick of AV, FLAC, WMA, MP3, OGG, APE, AAC, ALAC and AIFF (and eventually DSD) files, as well. With this next MQS player from A&K sure to hit stores soon, we're left to wonder what's the updated word about Neil Young's streaming take on the action.