Astell&Kern Acro CA1000 All-in-One Desktop Headphone Amp/ DAP Announced

Posted on 5th January, 2022
Astell&Kern Acro CA1000 All-in-One Desktop Headphone Amp/ DAP Announced

Astell & Kern starts the new year with the Acro CA1000 all-in-one desktop headphone amplifier and digital music player combo.

Astell&Kern's Acro CA1000 is an intriguing design that appears to pack in everything an ardent head-fi aficionado would want in a compact and portable device whose 8400mAh fast-charging battery offers up to 10.5 hours playback before needing a plug socket.

Astell&Kern Acro CA1000

Looking like a docking station with separate DAP, the in-built digital music player has a 4.1-inch 720x1280 pixel portrait touchscreen that can tilt upwards up to 60-degrees, allowing you to control playback and adjust settings through its Android-based OS. Alternatively, the screen can lie flat within the aluminium chassis when not required.

Astell&Kern Acro CA1000

The CA1000 boasts balanced 2.5mm and 4.4mm alongside unbalanced 3.5mm and 6.35mm outputs up front, as well as a four-step Gain Level setting ensuring that all headphone types no matter their impedances will feel at home. Meanwhile, wired inputs around the rear cater for RCA, Coax, Optical and USB-C.

Wireless connectivity includes the ability to receive music over Bluetooth from a connected phone (via the BT Sink function) and send playback wirelessly to a pair of wireless headphones thanks to its Bluetooth 5.0, aptX HD and LDAC support. Naturally, the CA1000 features dual-band Wi-fi, too, although there is no news of its Roon capabilities in the press release.

Astell&Kern Acro CA1000

Additionally, you get 256GB of onboard storage, which can be further augmented up to 1TB via a microSD card with a Quad ES9068AS DAC performing conversion duties, including native DSD512 support and 32bit/384 kHz playback.

Astell&Kern Acro CA1000

Finally, the Acro CA1000 utilises Astell & Kern's Teraton Alpha technology as introduced with the A&futura SE180 pocketable player. This tech promises to deliver optimal audio output through efficient power management and the removal of amplification distortion and power noise.

The Astell & Kern ACRO CA1000 lands in February 2022 with a ticket price of US$2,100.

Visit Astell&Kern for more information

Jay Garrett's avatar
Jay Garrett

StereoNET’s resident rock star, bass player, and gadget junkie. His passion for gadgets and Hi-Fi is second only to being a touring musician.

Posted in: Headphones

JOIN IN THE DISCUSSION

Want to share your opinion or get advice from other enthusiasts? Then head into the Message Forums where thousands of other enthusiasts are communicating on a daily basis.
CLICK HERE FOR FREE MEMBERSHIP

applause awards

Each time StereoNET reviews a product, it is considered for an Applause Award. Winning one marks it out as a design of great quality and distinction – a special product in its class, on the grounds of either performance, value for money, or usually both.

Applause Awards are personally issued by StereoNET’s global Editor-in-Chief, David Price – who has over three decades of experience reviewing hi-fi products at the highest level – after consulting with our senior editorial team. They are not automatically given with all reviews, nor can manufacturers purchase them.

The StereoNET editorial team includes some of the world’s most experienced and respected hi-fi journalists with a vast wealth of knowledge. Some have edited popular English language hi-fi magazines, and others have been senior contributors to famous audio journals stretching back to the late 1970s. And we also employ professional IT and home theatre specialists who work at the cutting edge of today’s technology.

We believe that no other online hi-fi and home cinema resource offers such expert knowledge, so when StereoNET gives an Applause Award, it is a trustworthy hallmark of quality. Receiving such an award is the prerequisite to becoming eligible for our annual Product of the Year awards, awarded only to the finest designs in their respective categories. Buyers of hi-fi, home cinema, and headphones can be sure that a StereoNET Applause Award winner is worthy of your most serious attention.

00000797