Astell&Kern adds MQA support to its HiRes players and is now available for the SP1000, SP1000M, SE100 and SR15 models. In a blog posting the company announced that MQA support was now available on the SP1000 and via a firmware update from the 12th December to the SP1000M, SE100 and SR15 models.
These Astell&Kern players with MQA support have a full decoder built in, so they can unfold all the way to the original resolution of the file. MQA playback is supported both via downloaded MQA audio files and through the embedded TIDAL app, allowing users to stream HiRes audio via TIDAL Masters.
MQA support for other Astell&Kern products will be announced at a later date.
Recent upgrades to Astell&Kern portable players
The company recently demonstrated its OpenAPK service, A@ultima SP1000M and the rest of its current line of portable high-resolution players and accessories at the Rocky Mountain Audio Fest in October and has been adding support for music streamers DEEZER and TIDAL, MQA decoding and Roon network players. Enhancements already delivered or expected by the end of the year are:
OpenAPK Service
The OpenAPK service was launched on select players in mid-October with support for additional players available via firmware updates. OpenAPK adds support for streaming music apps designed for Android devices, allowing users to install additional music streaming services to their player by simply copying and installing the corresponding APK file for the music service they wish to add.
The company will test and allow apps after a verification process and some of the apps that will be available in the initial firmware release include Amazon Music, Pandora, SoundCloud, Spotify, TIDAL, Sirius XM, Tune-In Radio, myRadio, AWA, KK Box, Melon, Bugs Music, KT Genie, BandCamp, Joox, MOOV and Music Mate.
Apps that support offline mode, including TIDAL, Amazon Music and Spotify will allow offline content to be downloaded and stored on the player or external memory.
MQA
MQA decoding and playback has been added to Astell&Kern players this December. MQA’s award-winning technology captures and reproduces the sound of the original studio master in a file that’s small enough to stream and download easily. With the TIDAL Masters integration, users can instantly stream thousands of MQA tracks on their players.
DEEZER
DEEZER will be added as an embedded app on Astell&Kern players. DEEZER features more than 53 million tracks available for streaming in over 180 countries and supports CD Quality streaming.
TIDAL Offline
Players supporting the OpenAPK service will be able to install the official TIDAL Android app which will bring offline content support to Astell&Kern players. Offline content can be saved to internal player memory or external memory card.
Roon Ready
Astell&Kern will add Roon support to the existing portable player line in late 2018. Roon Ready network players have Roon’s HiRes streaming technology built right in. Roon will discover them on your network, deliver the highest possible quality audio, and allow volume control from the Roon user interface.
