Verdict
A portable music actor that brings plenty of melodic polish to your music depository library , the Astell & Kern A&ultima SR35 is one of the best picks for the price .
Pros
Cons
Key Features
Introduction
Much like telegraph phone , the portable music participant was said to be on its knees , ushered out of the fashion by the popularity of smartphones . After all , who need two gimmick in their pocket when one is focused on audio and the other can do that – and more .
There ’s no question the world of the smartphone has indent the appeal of the portable euphony histrion , but they ’re still hanging around , and while they in all probability wo n’t enjoy the same grade of mass appeal as MP3 player in their heyday , for a sure someone , they are ideal .
If you ’re a euphony fan , a portable music player is the beneficial way to hear your music , and one of the most notable brands is Korean company Astell & Kern . They ’ve been pumping out excellent portable music players for years , the latest in the more affordable A&norma line - up is the SR35 .
Design
The Astell & Kern A&norma SR35 is a portable music actor that ’s genuinely portable . Unlike theFiiO M11S , which does its best mental picture of a smartphone ( but even bigger ) , the SR35 is dinky by comparability .
It ’s the same sizing as previous iteration : 64 mm wide , 108.3 mm tall and 16.1 millimeter deep . It is dwarfed by the size of it of modern smartphones and may work out the problem of having two devices on your person at the same time by being so compendious .
Its proportions mean the screen takes a hit compare to its FiiO contender at 3.6 - inches with a firmness of 1280 x 720p . As is equation for the track with Astell & Kern products , the concealment is off - axis – slanted diagonally with the soma of the SR35 employing contoured lines . Most of the time I do n’t even think about the angular screen .
The screen itself is brilliant and naturally colourful , the bleak UI provides line for album to bolt down well .
The colourway is charcoal gray gray , which looks lovely , and the chassis is aluminum which take in the A&norma SR35 feel weak but still sturdy , back up by an attractive glass finish on its rear . It attend marvellous , though the glass back attract spot . While the bod is cool to come to when off , the player can incline warm during use .
Astell & Kern places the earphone outputs at the top , which I slightly prefer to the bottom . It gain it easier to take the player out without having to twist the screenland ( and originate embroil the cables ) . You get an imbalanced 3.5 mm , and two balanced outputs in 2.5 mm and 4.4 mm option . At the bottom is aUSB - Cinput and microSD expansion slot .
On the right - manus side is a satisfyingly clicky book wheel , while on the left side are the button for turning the silver screen on and off / power and playback : pausing and skipping backwards and forwards . They ’re space so close together that with my swelled digits , I ’ve had to be more measured to avoid pressing the incorrect push .
Features
I ’ll start with the port . It ’s based on Android but specifically customised and label as the ‘ Crimson ’ themed UX / UI . It operates in a standardized manner to Android with a swipe down revealing notifications , wireless connectivity , EQ modal value and a brightness slider for the screen . Swipe left or good and you ’ll roll through the carousel of record album . It ’s mostly speedy and fluid with no alarming lag in process thanks to the quad - core processor onboard .
Unlike FiiO , Astell & Kern does not support the Google swordplay Store but offers a selection of apps to download in Spotify , Tidal , Qobuz , Apple Music , Deezer , and others I ’ve not heard of before such as Moov and KKBox .
The A&norma SR35 can boot up fairly apace , but at times it can be slow with its Wi - Fi performance . There have been times when I ’ve jumped into an app , started navigating the user interface only to be told that I ca n’t stream audio because I ’m not connected to the Wi - Fi , even though I am .
There ’s a glut of feature article that admit AK File Drop which wirelessly reassign files to a PC , smartphone or FTP program on the same meshing . The BT sinkhole function relate to an external gadget over Bluetooth , like a smartphone connecting to a Bluetooth speaker . Bluetooth connectivityremains at v5.0 , with aptX HD andLDACcompatibility for higher timbre audio streams .
Storage is only 64 GB internally , which speaks the A&norma ’s entryway - level status , but can be bumped up to a upper limit of 1 TB with a microSD wag .
Battery is stated at 20 hour playing 16 - bit FLAC data file at volume level 50 through the unbalanced connection . Obviously , this can change at dissimilar intensity , concealment cleverness , and headphones , though my experience is that the SR35 can chomp through its barrage fire faster than expected . institutionalize back to full beans is 2.5 hours with no fast - charging listed as part of the spec .
Audio data format support is extensive , skinny to if not matching Astell & Kern ’s more expensive player . There is support for WAV , FLAC , WMA , MP3 , OGG , APE , AAC , ALAC , AIFF , DFF , DSF formats , and for streaming it can decodeMQAstreams used by Tidal . PCM file bread and butter reaches up to 32 - bit/384kHz , while aboriginal DSD playback is up to DSD256 . There ’s Roon Ready support for integration with other Roon compliant audio devices .
The SR35 also features a two - stair gain ascendency to match with headphones of varying impedance . For lower impedance rated headphones , the ‘ Normal Gain ’ mise en scene can be choose ; for more sensible headphones there ’s the option of the ‘ High ’ gain mode to produce a more sufficient outturn .
Sound Quality
I had thought the Astell & Kern A&norma SR35 would work likewise to other A&K products , exerting its interpretation of audio frequency on its partnered headphone , like theAK HC3 DAC . That ’s not the suit .
Yes , there is an essence that the A&norma has on headphones , but I do n’t feel it significantly modify the headphone ’s own transonic signature . It takes what ’s there and it founder it more polish and refinement , and in doing so , the AK SR35 kick upstairs the overall operation .
To describe the SR35 ’s tone is slightly tricky , as it depends on the headphone . I ’ve used them with aSivga Robin SV021 , Campfire Andromeda Emerald Sea in - ear admonisher , Sivga Luan , andAustrian Audio Hi - X65open - back up phone and , more or less , they ’ve retain their own fiber .
What the A&norma SR35 imparts on headphones is a sharper sense of definition and higher levels of clarity . equate to the similarly price FiiO M15s , and using theCampfire Andromeda Emerald SeaIEM , a Hi - res caterpillar track of The Beatles tenacious and Winding Road ( Qobuz ) fares much better on the Astell . It ’s fettered with more contingent and exhibit a more convincing sense of dynamism than the FiiO manages .
There ’s not as great a focus on his vox , and the soundstage is account in little terminal figure than the FiiO , but the SR35 teases out more resolving from the recording , mellow frequency are sharper , well defined ; the A&norma dig out more detail from everything whether its Paul McCartney ’s voice or the instruments – I hear more brainwave with the SR35 than I do with the FiiO.
With Esperanza Spalding ’s I have it off You cognise ( Qobuz ) , the dynamic range once is better express on the A&norma SR35 , the piano more detailed , sharper , and define . The FiiO , by comparison , is not as focused .
With a play of David Bowie ’s Modern Love on the Austrian Audio Hi - X65 , and the SR35 communicates the energy and momentum of the cartroad with confidence . Tonally the midrange is leaner and crisper , and bass is delivered with slug ( but not overzealously ) . That contrasts with the FiiO ’s smoother approach . Of the two , the Astell & Kern is the more exciting and self-asserting listen .
With the Sivga Luan and Ludwig Göransson ’s Oppenheimer in stream , the SR35 does n’t tread on the phone ’s lush , smooth intro . There ’s a dainty weight to bass in American Prometheus , the reproduction of the fiddle is nicely sharp and coarse-textured , and there ’s firm dynamical expression as the note rise and settle . With Talking Heads ’ Once In a life-time , it maintains the headphone ’ smooth midrange performance , David Byrne ’s unique outspoken face comes across of course .
You could play with the EQ – the earpiece offer a ‘ Normal ’ EQ – but I discover the soundstage declaration , and while there ’s the option of going into greater item by alter the gain or Q value of each frequence , unless you enjoy that kind of thing , I find it ’s better to leave as is .
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Should you buy it?
The A&ultima SR35 does n’t go about altering the sonic signature of your earphone . Instead , it fine-tune with extra lashings of contingent , sharpness and dynamism for an even better sound .
The performance is excellent , but with each novel iteration of the A&ultima series , it ’s becoming more expensive . £ 800 / $ 800 for an entrance level product raise a few brow .
Final Thoughts
Astell & Kern name the A&norma SR35 as its entranceway - level production and that seems a good enough description . It ’s not less complex than its more expensive first cousin , but the minor form agent and less expensive price works in its favour .
Whether your earpiece sound crisp or quick , the SR35 wo n’t castrate it unrecognisable but refine it with more definition , sharpness , and active expression .
It ’s still expensive , the toll slowly increasing from the £ 649 of theSR25this site reviewed in 2020 , and up from the SR25 MkII ( £ 699 / $ 749 ) or the FiiO M11S ( £ 489 ) . That might be an deterrent to some , but for others for whom the cost is not as insurmountable , the A&norma is another stylish , feature article - packed , and insightful - sounding portable euphony player from Astell & Kern .
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How we test
We try out every portable music player we look back thoroughly over an protracted full stop of time . We use diligence standard tests to compare feature article properly . We ’ll always secern you what we find . We never , ever , take money to review a product .
Find out more about how we test in ourethics policy .
FAQs
It ’s not all about wired headphones with this portable music participant . you could link over a Bluetooth association , and you ’ll get the upright audio quality with earphone that stomach aptX HD or LDAC .
