go ahead, prove that you are a true audiophile by acquiring this pricey little gadget called the Astell&Kern AK120 MQS Portable Player. and when we said ‘true audiophile’ we seriously mean true audiophile, as its associated price tag of $1,300 is certainly not for the faint hearted. the AK120 retains the high-end look and feel of its predecessor with its beautiful brushed black metal chassis and a similarly styled oversized, knurled volume knob (note the interesting design element at the volume knob), but at a slightly larger form factor. so what do you get for a high-end portable music player that cost over a grand? well, expect nothing but the best such as a 2.4-inch IPS touchscreen, two DACs (Digital to Analog Converters) with independent outputs for a true dual monaural setup, dual Wolfson WM8740 DAC chips (one for each channel), and 64GB of onboard storage and two microSD card slots, each supporting up to 64GB cards for a total of 192GB of storage. beauty and electronics wizardry asides, the AK120 also comes bundled with “the finest handmade Italian-designed leather case” as a subtle reminder that this little guy ain’t your regular portable music player. scroll down to admire the beauty of the AK120.
Astell&Kern via Engadget
