Audiophilepure

The brand also developed a new in-house FPGA-Master chip, working as the audio system controller. Working as the brain of the audio circuit, it receives the data from the CPU, synchronizes and generates all audio clocks at the same time using two Accusilicon femtosecond oscillators, then sends it to the quad DAC in I²S, or DSD.

The DAC is advertised for a DNR of up to 128dB and THD of -120dB, and it can handle up to 32-Bit 768kHz PCM, DSD256 via DoP, and native DSD512. For amp and LPF, Shanling uses a new setup of OPA2211 combined with ADI AD8397 chips and the KDS crystal oscillators, helped by the new FPGA chip, to guarantee a bit-perfect playback.

https://www.hifinews.com/content/astellkern-afutura-se200-digital-audio-player

Why the choice of DACs? The engineers might, in an unguarded moment, admit the reason is ‘because we could’, but the official explanation is the choice ‘exhibits the philosophy of the A&futura line to pursue fundamentally different sound than found in typical DAPs’. Development and ‘sound tuning’ time was necessarily doubled too.

All of which might suggest that the SE200 is an exceptionally complex player to use, which is true if you choose to make it so. You can go deep into the multilayered menu system, make life as difficult as you want, and spend more of your time fiddling with settings than listening. But it’s perhaps best to have an initial play, settle on the configuration you like, and then just get on with enjoying your music.”

I applaud AK for their dedication to innovation and simply trying something different when it came to the Astell&Kern SE200. Going to the trouble to develop and fine-tune not one, but two entire digital/analogue pairings within the gorgeous enclosure the SE200 is quite remarkable in terms of it being an engineering feat alone. So who is it for then? While I did hypothesise that the SE200 is probably best suited for ‘digital tweakers’, it also happens to be an impressively capable and simply stunning-sounding device irrespective of which side of its personality that you choose. Would I make use of the multiple digital options within the SE200? Probably not. But would I be very, very happy to have it as my go-to on-the-go player? You betcha.

Bass extends low and has good sub presence, so if your IEM can render it, you’ll be very pleasantly surprised. The bass layering is really nice, and the presentation is clean and natural. In short: you get top quality, natural bass with an engaging and musical character

The mids connect perfectly to the lows and they have the same amount of body. The mid section is spacious, precise and ultra-clean. The mids have an airy and natural presentation, and this  combined with a very rich timbre, excellent decay and perfectly black back ground. Because of their naturalness and analogue character the mids are very easy to listen. The P6’s lower regions are great but the mids are even more spectacular. As said, some find the vocals to be very forward, but I don’t really feel that’s the case. If they are it’s just a tiny bit.