Listened to the Astell&Kern SR15 and SE100 at the AK store in Taipei, initial impressions are pretty positive.
First I listened to Sony’s XBA-A3 via unbalanced ports. The SR15 and SE100 shares the same characteristics: both are flat in tonality, have a very vivid imaging and have sharp transients. The SE100 might be a bit more natural sounding but from the XBA-A3, I couldn’t say there’s much of a difference. I also compared both to my iPhone+Mojo, while Mojo has a warmer & sweeter sound, I felt that the resolution is higher in both SR15 and SE100.
[Side note: I found out awhile ago that Mojo’s capability are largely being limited when being used as a portable DAC/AMP paired with smartphones. Mojo sounds dramatically worse when connected directly to the iPhone X, compared to connecting with a Mac or PC through Schiit Eitr.]
Next up I tried HD650 with their balanced ports. I tested HD650 balanced before with a lot of different DAPs: including Fiio X5iii, AK KANN, and Sony WM1A/Z balanced. None of them drive HD650 well enough. Sony’s WM1A/Z isn’t powerful enough to drive HD650 to play classical music, not even in balanced high gain mode. The X5iii and KANN while having enough power, sounds grainy and a bit distorted in high gain mode.
To my surprise, SR15 balanced out to HD650 sounds quite listenable. It’s powerful enough for quiet passages in classical music (never needed to exceed volume 140 out of 150) The sound is clean and distortion-free, nothing is missing from low to high. I feel that SR15 has more detail than iPhone+Mojo, but still lacks the easiness of Mojo.
Then I switched to SE100 balanced out and found out that this is where SE100 really shines. The SE100 drives the HD650 effortlessly. I admit I was hoping for it but never really thought it would work with HD650s. The sound became full and detailed, depth is more pronounced and there’s more liveliness in the music. This might be the first DAP I tried which actually brought out good macro-dynamics from my HD650.
Near the end of my long listening session (About 1.5 hrs), switching back and forth between SE100 and SR15, the difference between the two became evident: SR15 had become a little fatiguing over the long listening session, but with the SE100, I’d still want to run through playlists and wanted to discover more about its character. I think the great clarity and enjoyable musicality in SE100 is almost on par with Eitr+Mojo, which is my current Office rig. They both work well with long listening sessions through HD650.
The only downside I find about SE100 is that the edges of its body is sharp, making it uncomfortable to grip. The SR15 is much better in this regard. And of course the price tag... I'd have to listen to it more to see if it justifies the cost, but unlike their previous offerings, which often attracted me first by their appearance yet soon made me disappointed by their lack-luster sound (Maybe excluding SP1000, for me it's too expensive to put into consideration), this one really does sound as good as it looks.
Another thing is, the SE100 sample here doesn't seem to have SPDIF output, the option is not shown in the menu (SP1000 has a SPDIF option in the menu)
I'm seeing contradicting specs everywhere either with optical or without it, maybe this one's different from their final-production units.
I'm at the Astell & Kern launch event in Singapore and just wanted to sound out: the SR15 is very comfortable to hold. The tilt seems to allow my hand to settle into a position where my wrist is straight/not bent, which makes holding the player pretty darn comfortable.I'm at the Astell & Kern launch event in Singapore and just wanted to sound out: the SR15 is very comfortable to hold. The tilt seems to allow my hand to settle into a position where my wrist is straight/not bent, which makes holding the player pretty darn comfortable.
