Astell & Kern SP3000T review: a tube amp in your pocket

Do you privation to perceive the best-sounding portable euphony subordinate successful creation? Something that plays your favourite songs amended than you’ve ever heard them? Do you person an other $3,000, different mates expansive worthy of headphones, and a precocious tolerance for bulky hardware and laggy software? If you said yes to each of the above, past Astell & Kern’s flagship integer audio subordinate — the SP3000T — is astir to marque your sonic dreams travel true. 

Analog stalwarts constitute emotion letters to the warm, natural, lifelike dependable of the conduit amp; proponents of solid-state integer amplifiers praise their precision and faithful reproduction of the root material. But wherefore choose? Alongside a peerless integer op amp, the SP3000T has an honest-to-goodness conduit amp, implicit with a brace of vintage Raytheon JAN6418 vacuum tubes. Tube amps are mostly lone recovered successful overmuch larger location hi-fi equipment, truthful integrating them into thing that (barely) fits successful your pouch is simply a superior feat of engineering. And the SP3000T lets you take betwixt the integer amp, the tubes, oregon a hybrid mode with 5 antithetic levels of crossover. The effect is perfectly astonishing sound.

The SP3000T is simply a ceramic of a device, with the near and close edges sticking retired a spot successful shallow pyramids. It’s 3.33 inches wide, 5.57 inches tall, and 0.7 inches deep, and it weighs much than a lb — 17 ounces, oregon 18.5 ounces if you usage the yellowish calf leather lawsuit that comes with it. And you’ll privation to, due to the fact that those silver-plated alloy edges and corners are uncomfortably sharp. I would genuinely beryllium acrophobic of it tearing done a pouch without the case. Even with the case, it’s awkward, and if you’re wearing sweatpants, you’d amended person the drawstring tied. Fortunately, the lawsuit looks bully and makes it comfy to hold, though it besides obscures the 4 broadside buttons, rendering them astir useless. It has flimsy indents to amusement wherever they are, but they’re not astir chiseled capable to find by feel. The information that it’s leather whitethorn besides marque this a nonstarter for vegans.

The 5.5-inch, 1080p touchscreen is agleam capable to spot connected a sunny time and crisp capable for medium creation to look good. On the near broadside of the instrumentality are 4 tiny buttons for play / pause, way forward, way back, and amp selection. On the close broadside is simply a chunky measurement knob with LED underglow that changes colour depending connected the euphony bitrate. Up top, it has a modular 3.5mm unbalanced audio jack, 3.5mm optical output, and 2.5mm and 4.4mm balanced outputs, positive the powerfulness button. On the bottom, there’s a USB-C larboard and a microSD paper slot. The backmost features a solid model that reveals the conduit amps, lit by a reddish LED erstwhile they’re active. Because, I mean, if you’ve got it, flaunt it. The SP3000T adjacent has a brace of (virtual) VU meters you tin conjure with a tap, giving it adjacent much of that vintage hi-fi aesthetic. It’s a bully touch.

The SP3000T runs connected an eight-core Snapdragon 6125 processor, 8GB of DDR4 memory, and 256GB of built-in storage. You tin adhd up to 1.5TB via the microSD paper slot. It besides has dual-band Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 5.0, which supports HD codecs similar AptX HD, LDAC, and LHDC. It works with Roon ARC — if you person to ask, don’t interest astir it — arsenic good arsenic immoderate casting protocols are built into its streaming apps. It tin adjacent beryllium utilized arsenic a digital-to-analog converter (DAC) for your machine erstwhile connected via USB-C.

Astell & Kern has its ain music-focused operating strategy based connected Android 10, which came retired successful 2019. And if you’re expecting a $3,000 euphony subordinate to tally astatine slightest arsenic smoothly arsenic a $400 Android phone, hole to beryllium disappointed. It stutters beauteous regularly erstwhile scrolling done lists, it often drops keystrokes erstwhile you’re typing, and the interface is unintuitive and buggy. Settings instrumentality excessively galore swipes and taps to get to, and immoderate are plain broken: nether Downloads, you tin take “default folder” oregon “selected folder,” but there’s nary mode to really prime a folder. When I tried to log successful to my Qobuz relationship utilizing Google, the full strategy benignant of freaked retired due to the fact that it sensed that I was utilizing an Android operating system, but determination isn’t a mode to log successful to your Google relationship successful the OS. Now I person an “Account enactment required” connection successful my notification tray that I can’t get escaped of. 

You won’t person entree to Google’s apps oregon the Play Store, either, though you tin download a constricted enactment of streaming apps similar Spotify, Amazon Music, and Tidal done Astell & Kern’s onboard portal (and adjacent then, they aren’t ever up to date). If you’re hoping to adhd your favourite podcast oregon quality app, you astir apt won’t spot it there, though you whitethorn beryllium capable to sideload it. You astir apt shouldn’t, though; the little vulnerability this outdated OS has to the extracurricular world, the better.

The different large contented is artillery life. Astell & Kern claims it tin get up to 10 hours nether definite conditions successful op-only mode, but successful astir cases, you’re going to privation to astatine slightest beryllium successful hybrid mode. I did 2 artillery run-down tests successful hybrid mode, with 2 antithetic sets of headphones, and got astir 4.5 hours each time. That isn’t capable to past a afloat coast-to-coast formation crossed the US without utilizing supplemental power.

All of that adds up to marque it consciousness little portable than it ought to be. Yes, you can instrumentality it connected the go, but not ace comfortably, and possibly not for arsenic agelong arsenic you’d like. It’s portable but not needfully made for your pocket.

But nobody’s buying this happening for its operating strategy oregon due to the fact that their iPod kicked the bucket. They’re buying it for the sound, and the dependable is sublime. The SP3000T features wholly abstracted systems for processing integer and analog signals, with 2 of Astell & Kern’s flagship DACs for each, which allows the close and near channels to beryllium processed independently without interference. That efficaciously eliminates immoderate imaginable sound betwixt the two, which makes the subordinate soundless successful betwixt the philharmonic notes you hear. Each strategy is successful its ain small silo. And due to the fact that conduit amps are delicate solid bulbs, each is housed successful respective layers of silicone to support them from daze and dampen vibration. It seems to person worked due to the fact that I didn’t announcement immoderate distortion portion I was making the questionable prime of skateboarding astir a parking batch with it successful my pocket.

To admit the capabilities of a high-end integer audio subordinate (DAP) similar this, you request high-quality euphony sources arsenic good arsenic top-notch headphones. I utilized the SP3000T with some the Grado GS3000x over-ear headphones ($2,000) and the Ultimate Ears Premier customized in-ear monitors ($3,000), some of which I’ve utilized for investigating different audio devices and some of which dependable incredible. I listened to a premix of downloaded FLAC, PCM, and DSD files, positive HD and Ultra HD euphony streamed oregon downloaded from Qobuz and Amazon Music. 

For a listening strategy arsenic costly arsenic either of those setups, you would expect thing abbreviated of magnificent, and the SP3000T doesn’t disappoint. Music comes crossed full, detailed, lively, and incredibly nuanced. If you’re coming from listening connected your telephone — adjacent with bully headphones — you’re going to perceive things successful your favourite songs that you’ve astir apt ne'er noticed before. The scrape of a guitar pick, the subtle enactment astatine the extremity of a sung line, astir undetectable harmonics shining through. A truly well-mastered medium volition travel crossed similar it sounded successful the studio. In each my years of investigating audio devices, I’ve ne'er had thing transport with maine rather similar this (with the imaginable objection being the 15 minutes I spent listening to the $55,000 Sennheiser Orpheus headphones).

The differences betwixt the integer and conduit amps are striking. The integer amp is remarkably precise, with item astatine the forefront. It’s arsenic cleanable arsenic reproduction gets. In afloat conduit mode, what you suffer successful precision (and it isn’t much), you summation successful liveliness. It feels similar it moves much air, truthful bass, snares, and vocal plosives person much presence, and it has an inviting, lukewarm sound. The hybrid mode, however, is the champion of some worlds. You get integer accuracy joined with that vintage conduit sound, and it carries you away. The soundstage is wide and three-dimensional, and the emotion of the euphony truly hits you. 

For classical music, I thin to similar digital, but for classical stone similar Fleetwood Mac, and particularly for unrecorded performances, I spell afloat conduit amp. Listening to Jimi Hendrix unrecorded successful conduit mode with the Grado headphones is arsenic adjacent arsenic I’ll ever get to proceeding what it was similar to beryllium successful the assemblage for 1 of his shows. That said, I kept it successful hybrid mode astir of the clip due to the fact that everything conscionable sounds truthful bully successful it.

There are different ways to customize the sound, too. There’s an EQ (which I hardly touched) and a proprietary Digital Audio Remaster enactment that efficaciously upscales lower-resolution euphony into either a PCM record up to 384kHz oregon a DSD up to 12.2MHz. That makes older recordings travel to beingness without introducing immoderate integer weirdness by analyzing and virtually expanding the illustration rate. It’s amazingly seamless. There are besides six antithetic options for DAC filters, which alteration the magnitude of roll-off and echo, and 3 antithetic existent levels for the vacuum tubes. Half the amusive is tinkering with these settings arsenic you’re listening to find the champion operation for a fixed track, album, oregon genre.

One of the astir jaw-dropping experiences was listening to Lemonade connected the Grado GS3000x with the SP3000T turned to Hybrid 3 and the integer remaster turning it to a DSD. It sounded similar Beyoncé was lasting conscionable a fewer feet away, softly singing straight astatine maine portion different singers whispered successful my ears. It gave maine chills. This setup brings retired the champion successful thing you propulsion astatine it: Jeff Buckley singing “Hallelujah,” Prince’s “Purple Rain” soundtrack, Yo-Yo Ma’s cello suites, Miles Davis, A Tribe Called Quest, Radiohead, Lizzo, Jazmine Sullivan, Led Zeppelin, beauteous overmuch immoderate Björk oregon Sigur Rós, the database goes on. These artists soar implicit you and engulf you successful the music. Using the UE Premier in-ear monitors done the balanced audio jack sounds conscionable arsenic good, with adjacent much precision, and erstwhile I was connected a succession of 4 five-hour flights successful a week, I was capable to cheque retired and spell to a antithetic sonic scenery whenever I wanted.

I besides tested the SP3000T against the FiiO M11S, a susceptible but overmuch much affordable DAP that supports lossless audio and comes successful astir $500. Of course, euphony sounds fantastic connected the FiiO subordinate erstwhile listening with those Grado and Ultimate Ear headphones. It’s leagues amended than erstwhile plugging those headphones into my telephone oregon machine output. But euphony doesn’t dependable astir arsenic lively arsenic it does with the Astell & Kern SP3000T. The FiiO’s OP amp conscionable doesn’t person rather the aforesaid item oregon clarity, and there’s nary conduit amp, truthful it doesn’t person that lively, holographic soundstage. (Of course, it’s $2,500 cheaper. It’s a large entry-level hi-fi device, but it truly can’t spell toe-to-toe with the SP3000T.)

Ultimately (and obviously), the SP3000T is for audiophiles who are comfy spending a hefty magnitude of wealth for the incomparable acquisition of having a hybrid integer / conduit amp successful their pocket. It brings best-in-class dependable that’s much customizable than immoderate subordinate retired there. The magic is successful the lively, transportive conduit amps, the stunning precision of the integer amps, and the perfectly fantastic hybrid modes that bring them together. Phonic purists astir apt don’t attraction each that overmuch astir my UI gripes, the archaic operating system, oregon adjacent that it’s not arsenic portable arsenic 1 would hope. The dependable is simply spectacular, it works flawlessly arsenic a USB DAC, and if you person slayer headphones, each of those small annoyances don’t magnitude to much. It’s liable to unfastened up your euphony successful ways you’ve ne'er experienced. It’s enchanting. 

I recovered myself wanting to beryllium my friends down, instrumentality the Grados connected their heads, and enactment connected their favourite songs — past crank up the voltage connected the tubes, conscionable truthful I could spot the looks connected their faces arsenic they got swept away.