Astell & Kern AK Junior Review featuring Sennheiser HD650

1. Introduction2. Unboxing and First Look3. Testing4. Conclusion5. View All Pages

The Astell & Kern AK Junior isn't just a gorgeous looking device, it is also incredibly easy to use. It comes with 64GB of internal memory as standard and getting music onto it is as simple as possible, all you need to do is drag and drop your files on to it while connected to a PC via USB.

The AK Junior is a touch-screen device but the software interface is a tad sluggish to navigate and it doesn't feel particularly smooth especially when scrolling, the device is also on the slow side when booting up. This isn't great when compared to something like a smartphone but perhaps a firmware update could help out in this area in the future. Speaking of which, this player doesn't have WiFi, unlike some of the more expensive models, so firmware updates will need to be handled via a PC.

Fortunately, that is where the negatives end as the UI itself is well-designed, making it incredibly easy to work your way around the device's features without ever needing to seek help elsewhere. The main home screen has six sections, from here you can see your library sorted by artist, album, song title or genre. You can also create playlists, or view your library broken down by folder, as you would see it on a PC when putting music onto the device.

The biggest reason to pick up a portable audio player like this is for the higher quality components, such as the Wolfson WM8740 DAC, which can decode higher quality audio formats like FLAC or WAV. It is also possible to listen to tracks at 24 bits of resolution at sampling rates of up to 192KHz, so audiophiles are in safe hands with this device.

This player can also double as an external sound card for your PC, which could be handy for audio purists who haven't necessarily invested in a sound card.

I have had the AK Junior with me for some time now and I have had the pleasure of listening to plenty of music tracks on it. For this review, I am pairing the player with a pair of Sennheiser HD 650 headphones, which operate at a fairly high impedance (300 Ω). I chose a high impedance headphone to show that this player is capable of driving one, without the need for a separate amp.

Sound quality on the AK Junior is fantastic, as you would probably expect from a £400 piece of tech. However, it really shines when paired with a decent headphone, like the Sennheiser HD 650, which offer rich, full-bodied sound. The sound signature on these cans are on the warm side, which I think livens things up a bit, compared to flat, reference audio.

To get a good feel for what the AK Junior is capable of, I went to HDTracks and picked up Greenday's American Idiot, which is available in 24-bit/192kHz. This is one of my personal favourite albums of all time and is largely responsible for my love of music today.

I have heard this album countless times but never in a lossless format and I was amazed to discover the extra detail. Tracks like ‘Are We The Waiting‘ suddenly sound massive, as if you were sitting centre stage in a private stadium. ‘Give Me Novacaine‘ is another detail rich song, to the point where you can hear the plectrum hitting the strings during the acoustic verses.

Moving on to something heavier, I had a listen to Absolute Zero by Stone Sour. This is Corey Taylor's second band besides Slipknot. In my opinion, he is one of the most talented rock vocalists around today, so if you were put off by Slipknot, then I would recommend giving a Stone Sour record a listen.

Absolute Zero is a guitar driven track. Right from the get go, it kicks off with a punchy guitar riff that constantly builds up until the chorus hits, at which point Corey's voice soars above the rest of the band, providing the ultimate musical payoff.

If you are passionate about music and getting the best sound possible, then there is definitely a case to be made for carrying around a digital audio player. Listening to a well recorded, lossless album is a different experience compared to standard MP3s, or a streaming service like Spotify. As long as your library consists of a lot of 24-bit music (or even 16 bit uncompressed files), then you should be able to make good use of the Astell & Kern AK Junior. The wow factor can be dulled a bit while listening to compressed tracks but that has more to do with how audio works and less to do with the player itself.

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