South Korean high-resolution audio specialist Astell & Kern has revealed a second model in its KANN line of players is on the way, and is set to hit our shores next month.
The KANN CUBE offers twice as much internal storage as the original KANN player, jumping from 64GB to 128GB (expandable via microSD card).
Balanced output from a new amplifier offers 70% more power, jumping from 7Vrms to 12, which Astell & Kern claim is enough to drive any headphone you can connect to it.
A 7,400mAh battery is claimed to offer up to 9 hours continuous playback in 16-bit/44kHz (as yet unknown how long it will last on the player’s highest quality 32bit/384kHz), while a fast charging USB-C will take about 4 hours to recharge.
The CUBE is larger than the original KANN, packing in a 5-inch touch screen in its aluminium enclosure, but the trade-off of this sturdy construction is in the player’s weight, which comes in at nearly half a kilogram.
Pending final testing and certification, support is scheduled for Master Quality Authenticated (MQA) playback through local files and Tidal Masters, with a pair of Sabre ES9038PRO digital-to-analog converters configured in dual-mono handling the conversion to analog.
The CUBE is set to go on sale in Australia this June, retailing at $2199 and distributed by BusiSoft AV.
