Body Color SE300: Platinum Silver
Body Material Aluminum and Stainless Steel
Display 5.46inch HD 1080 x 1920 touch screen
Supported Audio Formats WAV, FLAC, WMA, MP3, OGG, APE, AAC, ALAC, AIFF, DFF, DSF
Sample rate PCM : 8kHz ~ 384kHz (8/16/24/32bits per Sample)
DSD : DSD64(1bit 2.8MHz), Stereo / DSD128(1bit 5.6MHz), Stereo / DSD256(1bit 11.2MHz), Stereo
Output Level [Normal] Unbalanced 2Vrms │ Balanced 4Vrms (Condition No Load)
[High] Unbalanced 3Vrms │ Balanced 6Vrms (Condition No Load)
Decoding Support up to 32bit / 384kHz playback
Input USB Type-C input (for charging & PC & MAC)
Outputs Unbalanced Out (3.5mm), Optical Out(3.5mm)
Balanced Out (2.5mm, only 4-pole supported | 4.4m, only 5-pole supported)
Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac (2.4/5GHz)
Bluetooth V5.0 (A2DP, AVRCP, Qualcomm® aptX™ HD, LDAC)
Introduction
I’m here with a review of Astell&Kern’s latest player, the SE300. Personally, I find the SE series more successful than the SP and SR series. The previous series devices Se100, Se180 and Se200 were quite good in terms of sound. Let’s see if we can find one of the best examples of R2R dacs in a dap, A&futura Se300.
I bought the product myself with the purpose of writing an independent review. I have listened to it with different iems and over-ears for more than 400 hours in total.
Build & Design
The Astell Kern SE300 comes in a very simple box with a usb-c cable, screen protector, some papers, and a plastic sd socket plug. I was disappointed that a product with this price tag came without a case. Apart from that, the plastic piece for the sd slot was well thought out to prevent dust from escaping.
Dimensions 3.01” (76.45mm)[W] x 5.49” (139.45mm)[H] x 0.69” (17.6mm)[D]
Weight SE300: About 11.18oz (317g)
A&futura Se300’s Design
It has angular lines at its core, but with softened mini-curves, a reference to Astell Kern’s elegant design line. I have to say, however, that the SE300 is bigger and heavier than the overall SE series.
The type-c port is at the bottom of the device, while the 3.5mm, 4.4mm, and 2.5mm ports are at the top, along with the power button. The SE300 also has 3 control buttons, forward-stop-reverse. They made a different design with the volume pot on the outside, it’s nice that it’s illuminated but I don’t like the protrusion.
Technology & OS
SE300’s OS
As you know, Astell Kern uses a closed android software focused only on listening to music and offers a different experience from other android daps. Which one you like better is a personal preference, but the Se300 comes with a refreshed UI. It is close to the Sp3000 in terms of speed, but I found it slightly slower. I think the new UI does a great job in the archive section.
Techs
In this section I will talk about some technical details and make some references to the sound. First of all, the A&futura Se300 is a device with an R2R dac. Each R2R dac sounds according to the components used. The R2R dac in the SE300 is built with 96 very special TRC10 resistors, which have a margin of error of 0.01%. The Astell&Kern Se300 is one of the best R2Rs I’ve heard. It’s not just the R2R that’s good here, they’ve optimized the sound with a great FPGA filter that is active in OS mode. And it doesn’t end there. They have combined this great dac stage with an A/AB class amplifier, just as it should be. In this way, the system is designed to work with a great synergy within itself. I can say that there is an extraordinary engineering behind this amazing sound.
Add to all this 256gb of storage, 5050mAh battery (12 hours playtime), a voltage swing of up to 6Vrms, LDAC/aptxHD and Roon Ready support. Not to mention AK Connect. I leave the full audio specs of the Astell Kern SE300 here:
- Frequency Response ±0.038dB (Condition : 20Hz~20kHz) Unbalanced │Balanced
±0.45dB (Condition : 20Hz~70kHz) Unbalanced │Balanced - S/N 114dB @ 1kHz, Unbalanced │ 115dB @ 1kHz, Balanced (Normal Gain)
115dB @ 1kHz, Unbalanced │ 115dB @ 1kHz, Balanced (High Gain) - Crosstalk -135dB @ 1kHz, Unbalanced │ -144dB @ 1kHz, Balanced
- THD+N 0.006% @ 1kHz, Unbalanced │ 0.006% @ 1kHz, Balanced
- IMD SMPTE 0.005% 800Hz 10kHz (4:1) Unbalanced │Balanced
- Output Impedance Unbalanced Out 3.5mm (1.3ohm) │ Balanced Out 2.5mm (1.3ohm), 4.4mm(1.3ohm)
Usabilty
First of all, the Astell Kern Se300 has a great advantage in terms of battery life, which is the most important factor of this thread. It promises 12 hours of battery life, and in my usage, I only need to charge it every two days. Putting that aside, I think it doesn’t have a fast enough interface for a device with a price tag close to 2 thousand dollars. I think this is the biggest disadvantage of Astell devices. When it comes to other issues, it comes without a case and the cases are extremely expensive. This is a minus in terms of user experience. What I like about the device is the versatile sound settings and the ability to control it via the phone. On the other hand, I would have preferred it to be the size of the A&futura SE100, I found it a bit big. On the other hand, I take my hat off to the 256gb storage space. In conclusion, I think that an open android based and smaller dap would be easier to use, but I don’t think it can deliver this solid sound. Just warning you about what you will encounter 🙂
Synergy
The Astell Kern A&futura Se300 has a slightly warm and slightly colored tonality, close to neutral, that will work well with almost any headphone. However, it is both natural and technically good enough to push many iems to their limits. And with OS/NOS and A-class/AB-Class amp options to customize the sound, it can handle even challenging synergies.
Astell Kern SE300 With Campfire Audio Astrolith
When I plugged the Campfire Audio Astrolith into the 4.4mm output of the Astell&Kern SE300, I was pleased with the result. Because this pairing has a fun and balanced presentation at the same time. The biggest reason for this is that the A&futura SE300 has a tuning that will restrain the planar timbre of the Astrolith. To achieve this result, I select an A class amp in OS mode. The resulting sound is still only suitable for certain genres of music due to the nature of the Astrolith. However, I should also mention this: When I listened to the live performance of Dire Straits – Sultans Of Swing from the Alchemy album, this was the pairing that gave me the most pleasure.
Astell Kern SE300 With Yanyin Moonlight Ultra
This DAP and Yanyin Moonlight Ultra is a 10/10 match! Listening through 3.5mm with AB class amp in OS mode. Slightly warm tonality, close to neutral, great timbre, excellent technique. A real treat. I can’t do anything except praise when it comes to this combination. I get optimal frequency response and wonderful imaging in every genre of music I listen to. Strings, woodwinds, drums, vocals… everything sounds very realistic. As befits this pairing, I open up Diana Krall – Besame Mucho and my ears are blown away…
Astell Kern SE300 With Oriolus Monachaa
Listened through 4.4mm in OS mode and A class amp. A nice but not perfect result of two great sound products. They sound great on their level, but they don’t match 100% tonally. This is because the slight coloration in the treble of the A&futura SE300 falls in the same region as the foreground treble of the Monachaa. So the resulting presentation may be a bit high-pitched for some. Nevertheless, this pairing is very pleasant to listen to because the rest of the spectrum has good synergy. I loved the guitar timbre on the tracks I heard with the Astell Kern SE300 and Oriolus Monachaa. All in all, these two are still a good match and very enjoyable, just not perfect.
Astell Kern SE300 With Hifiman Arya Stealth
The A&futura SE300 and the Hifiman Arya Stealth are basically a good match, I’m listening with an AB class amp in NOS mode. However, although the sound I hear is pleasant, it feels like this is not the full performance of the Arya Stealth. Although the sound is resolved and detailed, overall it’s a bit too trebly and distorted at the highest frequencies. To test this, I amplified the line output from the SE300 with the Topping A50iii. Yes, the sound changed completely, this is the Arya Stealth I know. I conclude that the SE300 is well suitable for listening to easy-driving over-ears, such as the Focal Celestee, but it won’t work best with high-end planars and hard-driving dynamic drivers that require power for full potential. If, like me, you have an external headphone amp at home, you can use the SE300 with it and the results are fantastic. When the Astell Kern SE300’s great sound meets power, it’s great both on the headphones and in the speakers. Of course you will need aftermarket special cables for this, so plan your setup carefully.
Sound
OS/NOS
In OS (OverSampling) mode, where the FPGA filter is included, the sound is highly linear and has little coloration. Separation and resolution are at their best. The sound is generally sharper than NOS mode.
When you turn on NOS mode, the FGPA is disabled and you hear pure R2R. The NOS (Non-OverSampling) sound adds a slight analog timbre, giving a softer and slightly warmer presentation. What deserves appreciation here is that NOS mode is not technically inferior to OS. It achieves this analog sound while retaining almost exactly the same resolution and treble control as the OS mode. This shows the quality of the materials used and the goodness of the sound.
A Class / AB Class
First of all, I appreciate the fact that these amp modes have such effective differences, it’s more than just sound design, it’s also synergistic and functional.
A Class A amp adds some body to the sound with an analog-like sound. In terms of timbre, I find this mode more advantageous in genres like metal. A Class plays relatively soft and intimate.
The AB Class amp increases dynamism and has a more analytical tuning. It provides a more laid back and separated presentation but is slightly more synthetic. I like to choose the AB Class more for iems that are already playing warm and close.
Both amp modes have their advantages and can be combined with OS and NOS, making them very useful. I recommend you to try each combination and find your favorite one after a long process.
Technique
The Astell Kern SE300 has an extremely high resolution. So much so that it is comparable to more expensive daps in this regard. Not only that, it has a soundstage width that meets expectations and an imaging capability that does much more than that. Separation, layering and positioning are excellent. It does all this with beautiful texture and great microdetail reproduction. All the instruments I hear are realistic and consistent, full-bodied enough not to pierce and delicate enough not to crush.
Tonality
Incredibly balanced and natural. It’s slightly colorful, a bit warm on the lows and has some gentle Astell touches on the highs. It has a frequency response very close to the neutral range with some small nuances that make all the difference. It adds the right spices to a well-made dish. The Astell Kern SE300 is a DAP that offers a very good technique with the right timbre. This guitar timbre I hear is in the top 3 bests. It’s a very nice device at this point because I think it has a signature sound that even better devices don’t have. Because it’s both calm enough and aggressive enough, it has an overall tone in that perspective. If you say it has no flaws, there is one, it doesn’t match perfectly with iems with highs in front. But other than that, I couldn’t find any flaws in this great tone.
Last Words
The Astell Kern A&futura SE300 is worth its price tag for what it offers. The SE300, which offers an experience close to the end of the game with its sound, is as if Astell Kern is showing what they can do with R2R. This is my favorite Astell sound so far. On the other hand, I think this beautiful new interface needs to speed up.
