Astell&Kern has unveiled the Astell&Kern PD20, and it’s aimed at listeners who want a sound that’s for their ears only.
The £1799 portable music player is billed (by Astell&Kern no less) as the first digital audio player to tailor its sound specifically to how you hear. It uses built-in personalisation tech to shape audio around individual ears.
At the heart of the PD20 is a Personal Sound system that’s been developed with Audiodo. Using the included earphones, users are able to complete a short hearing test that analyses left and right ears independently. The player then generates a customised sound signature to compensate for hearing differences, rather than applying a generic EQ curve.
The fine-tuning doesn’t stop there. A physical Sound Master Wheel offers 160-step EQ control from –8.0 dB to +8.0 dB across bass, mid and treble bands. This allows real-time adjustments without pausing playback.
In addition, it’s part of what Astell&Kern calls a “Sound Lab Control” design. The system is complete with dual top-mounted wheels, physical slide switches for amp and current selection, and LED indicators that display track bit depth and active modes.
Under the hood, the PD20 uses a Quad-DAC configuration built around four ESS ES9027PRO chips to reduce channel interference and improve separation. A proprietary Enhanced Signal Alignment system helps minimise distortion. Meanwhile, second-generation Digital Audio Remaster tech restores lost harmonics before upsampling for a more natural presentation.
Also included is a Triple AMP architecture that lets users switch between Class A, Class AB and Hybrid amplification modes. In Class A and Hybrid, amplifier current can be set to High, Mid or Low, depending on headphone sensitivity and listening style.
Furthermore, the PD20 supports PCM up to 32-bit/768kHz and DSD512. It includes 256GB of storage (expandable to 2TB via microSD), and features Wi-Fi, DLNA, USB-C, Bluetooth with aptX HD and LDAC, plus BT Sink mode to act as a wireless DAC. Battery charging via USB PD 3.0 takes around 3.5 hours.
Astell&Kern says the PD20 will be available in late March for £1799 / $1970.
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