Astell & Kern reveals Kann Alpha hi-res audio player

Astell & Kern reveals Kann Alpha hi-res audio player
(Image credit: Astell & Kern)

Astell & Kern has introduced the Kann Alpha, adding greater portability, power and battery life to its Kann line of hi-res audio players.

Available from October, priced at £1099, the Alpha is also the first Astell & Kern player to implement Bluetooth 5.0, providing greater range and more stable connection and superior audio quality.

Following on from the four-star Kann Cube, the Alpha features a more powerful built-in headphone amplifier that promises to drive any pair of headphones. The  rearranging of various components and use of smaller resistors and capacitors, meanwhile, means you get that added power in a smaller and more portable chassis.

Astell & Kern reveals Kann Alpha hi-res audio player

(Image credit: Astell & Kern)

That sleeker design is coupled with an increased battery life, up more than 50 per cent to an impressive 14.5 hours.

That means you can enjoy your hi-res library for longer without charging, and the Alpha is capable of playing files up to 32-bit/384kHz PCM and DSD256, while also supporting MQA playback via both downloaded files and the Tidal music app.

Complete with a 4.1-inch touchscreen display, which offers album artwork alongside file type and volume information, the Alpha comes with 64GB on-board memory that can be expanded up to 1TB via its microSD card slot.

With its interface running on a customised version of Android 9.0, there is support for major services including Tidal, Spotify, Amazon Music, Apple Music, Deezer, Qobuz, Bandcamp, Audible and TuneIn.

MORE: