Astell&Kern has always been synonymous with "tall, handsome and rich" in the walkman. In April, they unexpectedly launched a machine with "cost performance" - KANN. In addition to the excellent appearance design, KANN also has strong performance and comprehensive configuration. The AK4490 decoding chip, DSD256 hardware decoding, built-in AMP, dual SD cards, balanced Line Out output, Type-C interface, fast charging and other features make KANN quite competitive. Come and see this fully armed satchel immediately:
The outer package of KANN is a dark gray paper box with patterns. Compared with the fuselage, the size of the package is relatively large.
The logo and model of the brand are printed on the front of the package. KANN is the first product of Performance Line, a new product line different from Casual Line (AK70) and Core Line (AK380, AK320, AK300).
Love to play computer games The color match named EOS BLUE is obtained, and there will be a blue triangle logo on the side of the package.
Open the package, you can see that the stuffing in the carton is sufficient, which can play a good role in protecting the product. There is a transparent protective film outside the fuselage.
KANN's appearance design is very different from Astell&Kern's (hereinafter referred to as AK) products in the past. The asymmetric front design, together with four physical keys, is not a "beauty act", but the appearance recognition is really high.
Like many other products of AK, KANN uses touch screens and customized intelligent systems. The 4-inch 800 * 480 resolution screen is also at the high-end level for a player.
KANN has four physical keys, including the previous song, the next song, the home key, and the play/pause key. The two keys in the center have obvious gradients. The keys feel tight and are not easy to be touched by mistake.
There is a huge volume knob on the right side of the fuselage, which is very convenient to adjust the volume greatly. The knob has some damping, and it feels good to adjust.
The design of the back of the body is a feature of KANN. The appearance style of Doric from ancient Greece makes it more unique than other players.
The back highlights the brand of KANN, showing its difference from AK's previous products.
The density of lines on the back and side of the fuselage is obviously different, which results in its varied visual and tactile styles.
Doric style combined with exquisite sandblasting technology makes KANN's metal part very textured.
The machine body is made of all aluminum and the shell is processed by CNC and sandblasted. We have to admit that "foreign brick" has certain advantages over "national brick" in terms of workmanship and design.
There are rich interfaces on the top of the body. From left to right, there are 3.5mm headphone ports, 2.5mm balanced headphone ports, 3.5mm linear output ports, and 2.5mm balanced linear output ports. It is worth mentioning that the linear output supports voltage regulation, which is obviously designed for some struggling enthusiasts. With regard to the richness of these four interfaces, the mainstream "brick" products are unparalleled.
There is a physical power key on the top edge. The power key is small, which is slightly different from the masculine and aggressive style of the whole machine.
There are SD card slot, microSD card slot, USB Type-C interface (for data transmission and charging) and microUSB interface (for USB DAC, the maximum DoP supported is 2.8MHz/5.6MHz) at the bottom of the fuselage. Even if similar products have dual card slots, they are generally dual microSD cards, while KANN directly introduces a standard SD card. It has a large capacity of 64G, and supports a maximum of 512G SD card and 256G microSD card. In theory, it can reach 832G. Due to the integration of AMP, the thickness of KANN is larger than that of AK's previous products, but it has certain advantages in volume compared with the Core Line series products with AMP modules.
The two slots at the bottom of KANN are dust-proof, which shows that AK is considerate in details.
In terms of accessories, KANN does not provide a power adapter (with QC2.0 adapter to achieve fast charging). The accessories include a USB Type-C data cable, two screen films, two additional dust proof cards and related instructions. For some "Handicapped Party", it may be more desirable for the official to stick a film when leaving the factory.
KANN follows the trend and uses the USB Type-C interface. Of course, the data cable also uses a new interface. Moreover, the data cable is very full of materials and has the style of "Viagra cable".
Astell&Kern KANN & Empire Ears Zeus-R Adel。
KANN's 2.5mm balance port is its advantage. Compared with the single ended 3.5mm interface, KANN has stronger thrust and better sound quality. Inside KANN, there are left and right channels of dual AMP response balance port. We will continue to share more about its use and sound experience in subsequent articles. Please wait and see.
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