FAQ

Current generation Astell&Kern players officially support up to 1TB of microSD cards. 

• Octa-Core Series: A&ultima SP2000, A&ultima SP1000/1000M, A&futura SE100
• Quad-Core Series: KANN Cube, SA700, A&norma SR15

All previous generation players officially support up to 512GB SD/microSD cards.

• Previous generation players include AK3xx series, AK240, AK1xx Series, KANN , AK70 MKII, AK70, AK Jr.   

[Disclaimer] Use of external memory cards is at user's own risk.  Astell&Kern is not responsible for lost or corrupt data stored on 3rd party manufactured memory cards.

Astell&Kern recommends all external memory cards to be formatted with the “FAT32” file system, as this is the most stable and compatible format for expandable memory cards with Android-based OS.

[Please note] New microSD cards may come pre-formatted in another file system.  When formatting cards, all data stored on the card will be erased.

Cards may be formatted in the FAT32 file system by the following methods:

• Astell&Kern player - Settings -> System Information -> Erase SD Card
• Windows OS Computers - A third-party file formatting program such as Fat32Format by Ridgewood Systems - http://www.ridgecrop.demon.co.uk/index.htm?guiformat.htm
• Mac OS - In Disk Utility, which can be found in Applications -> Utilities -> Disk Utility.  Choose format as MS-DOS (FAT)

*Please note, formatting a memory card will erase all files currently stored on the card.

Line out is enabled via the Line Out icon in the quick settings menu by swiping down from the top of the player screen or from inside the settings menu.  Once Line Out is enabled, please turn the volume knob for the onscreen volume control to appear and press the “Line Out” icon in the middle of the screen to enable line out.

This extra step is a safety feature in case Line Out is accidently enabled with headphones on.  

The “AK Connect” feature allows AK users to stream music stored on a computer, music server or network-attached storage (NAS) device to Astell&Kern media player on the same Wi-Fi network.  

AK Connect supports the DLNA networking protocol for streaming from devices that support DLNA.  

On select players, the 3.5mm jack supports both 3.5mm unbalanced analog output and mini S/PDIF toslink optical output.  The player automatically switches the 3.5mm output between analog and digital out depending on the cable plugged into the jack.  

The following AK players support Optical Out:

• A&ultima SP2000
• A&ultima SP1000
• KANN Cube
• AK380
• AK240

The following AK Models Features USB Digital Audio output:

• A&ultima Series (SP2000, SP1000, SP1000M)
• A&futura Series (SE100)
• A&norma Series (SR15 and SR25)
• KANN Series
• AK300 Series
• AK240
• AK70 Series

To enable USB Digital out, connect your AK player to an external DAC/Amp via USB cable.  Enable USB Audio output via menu setting.

• A&ultima, A&futura, A&norma, KANN CUBE players – Once USB cable is connected and external device is powered on, swipe down from top of screen to access the quick settings menu.  Press the External USB icon to enable USB Audio Out. Once enabled, “USB Audio” will be displayed beneath the icon.  
• AK300 Series, KANN (1st generation), AK240, AK70 Series players - Once USB cable is connected and external device is powered on, swipe down from top of screen to access the quick settings menu.  Press the External USB icon to enable USB Audio Out. Icon will turn from grey to black color when enabled.  

The virtual back button can be moved to any part of the screen by pressing and holding on the button while dragging it to a different part of the screen.

The virtual back button can only be disabled while using the main music playback interface.  The button cannot be disabled while using music streaming applications. Android OS requires a back button to be present for Android apps to function properly.

• To disable the back button in the main player screen – drag the button to the middle of the screen and release it.
• The back button can also be turned off in the settings menu – Settings -> Input Method -> Back Button

[Disclaimer] The feature is only available on the select Astell&Kern players. 

Android OS requires a back button to be present when using apps, therefore the back button cannot be disabled while in an app.  The button can be moved to another portion of the screen by pressing and holding the back button while dragging it to the new location. 

All software updates are done Over The Air (OTA) via wi-fi.  If you are connected to a Wi-Fi access point that has am Internet connection, the player will prompt with a pop-up message when a firmware (software) update is available.  You can also manually check for a firmware update by going to Settings -> Update -> and pressing “System”. 

To update firmware:

1. Player will display message that a new firmware update is available, along with what the new firmware contains. Press Update to download firmware.
2. After firmware is downloaded, a pop-up will ask you to press ok to update the firmware.  
3. Player will reboot and install new firmware.     

All firmware updates for Wi-Fi enabled players can only be installed via OTA.  We do not make firmware files available for manual install.

All firmware updates are done OTA and previous versions of firmware are not available.  It is not possible to uninstall a firmware update or install an older version of the player software.

No, all Astell&Kern players are tuned on the hardware side during production.  Astell&Kern does not change the sound profile via software update. 

All products come with a Quick Start Guide in the package with basic instructions. For full User Manual please refer to the product page to download a PDF copy. 

A copy of the manual in PDF format can be found in the internal memory of your Astell&Kern player when connected to the computer.

All wi-fi enabled Astell&Kern players feature Tidal music service built-in.  No additional software installation is needed.

Current generation players that include our OpenApp service allow additional music streaming services to be added to the players by installing the service’s Android APK file.  

Current Astell&Kern players that feature OpenApp include: 

• A&ultima: SP2000, SP1000 and SP1000M
• A&futura: SE100
• A&norma: SR25 and SR15
• KANN Cube
• SA700

Astell&Kern currently supports the following music streaming services - 7Digital, Amazon Music, Apple Music, Audiobooks by Audible, AWA, bandcamp, BBC iPlayer Radio, Bugs, Deezer, DS Audio, Foobar2000, IDAGIO, Joox, KK BOX, KT genie, Last.FM, Melon, Moov, Music Mate, myTuner Radio, Nugs.net*, Onkyo Music, Pandora*, Player FM, Qobuz, QQ Music, Sirius XM, SoundCloud, Spotify, Tidal and Tune-In Radio. 

Please note, not all services are available in all countries and certain apps are not available on certain player models.  

For more information on OpenApp, please view the OpenApp Service Instructions page.

*Example: Download and install Qobuz on SP1000M from APKPure.com.

1. On your computer, go to https://apkpure.com.
2. In the APKpure search box, type "Spotify" and press enter.
3. Click on "Spotify Music" to take you to the app page. Then, click on the green button "Download APK" to initiate the download of the app file to your computer.
4. Connect your A&K player to your computer. Then, drag the downloaded Spotify file into the file named "OpenService" on the player.  The OpenService folder is automatically generated on the player. The process with not work if the app file is placed outside of this folder.
5. Once complete, safely disconnect the A&K player from your computer.
6. On the main menu of the A&K player select "Service" folder.
7. Now you will see the apps that have been downloaded to the player and you will need to install the app by tapping on the icon to the right.
8. Next, select "INSTALL" to initiate the install process. 

Once the install is complete you are ready to start streaming!

To install other APPs on the player, repeat the steps above for each service. 

Please note, Quad-Core CPU players have a limitation of 4 applications installed at a time.  

Yes!  To install a supported music service available as an XAPK file:

1. Confirm you have the APK Pure XAPK Installer installed as an app on your OpenApp supported Astell&Kern player under the services menu.
2. If you have not installed the XAPK Installer, download XAPK Installer from this link - https://apkpure.com/xapk-installer/com.apkpure.installer
3. Copy to OpenService folder. Once it appears in the services menu on player, install the XAPK installer on the player like you would any other APK.
4. Copy the XAPK of the music service you would like to install to OpenService Folder.  
5. Open XAPK Installer app in the services menu on the player.  Choose the XAPK file you would like to install and click install.

 ** Please note, you cannot install any XAPK files.  You are still limited to apps that are currently whitelisted by Astell&Kern.  For more information on supported apps and how to install APKs, visit our tutorial - OpenApp Service Instructions

Most of the streaming apps that we support do have a download or offline mode where you can download music to the internal memory or external memory of your player to listen to when you are not connected to the Internet via wi-fi.   Options vary by app.  Please refer to the instructions from the streaming service on how to configure offline storage location and what can be downloaded for offline use.  

PLEASE NOTE – Due to DRM restrictions, offline music downloaded to the player is only available for playback in the streaming app where it was downloaded from.  You will not be able to play tracks downloaded from a supported streaming service from the main player interface. 

All apps are designed and maintained by third-party companies and services.  Astell&Kern has no control over apps, features or bugs in a particular application.  While we recommend certain APK download sites to obtain streaming APKs, the original source of the apps listed is unknown and not provided by Astell&Kern. 

Please be aware that by installing third-party apps, your device may become unstable, damaged and/or personal data compromised.   If you install an app from an unknown source, despite this warning, Astell&Kern is not responsible for any damages to the device and loss of data resulting from the app's installation.  All apps are installed at user’s own risk and any issues caused by installed apps that force a player to not work properly and require service will not be covered under warranty and will incur additional costs for service by the owner.  

The following app versions have been tested and are known to work without issue on all Astell&Kern players that support OpenApp.  There may be newer versions available that are compatible with our players.  We will continue to update this list as newer versions are tested.

* Spotify APK is currently unavailable for download from APKPure.com in North America.  For North American customers, we recommend downloading Spotify directly from this link - http://download.spotify.com/android/SpotifyAndroid.apk

1. The battery may need to be recharged. Charge the device for at least one hour and try again.

2. Reset the device by pressing the on/off button for 12 seconds to force a shutdown. The device can be restarted after the shutdown has been completed.

1. Use a USB port on the computer and check that the USB port is functioning properly.

1. Check that the USB cable is connected correctly.

2. For Windows XP, verify that Service Pack 2 (or higher) and Windows Media Player 10 (or higher) are installed.

1. Check the device for debris.

2. Restart the device.

1. Check that the volume setting is above 0.

2. Check that the earphones are plugged in properly and no debris is obstructing the port connection.

3. Check if the music file is corrupted.

4. Verify that the audio settings have been properly set. (Balanced out, line out, etc.)

1. The following may occur due to the condition of the file:

• Playback is unstable or difficult.
• The product may not work normally.
• The file may sound different from a computer.
• There may be a difference in the performance of playback or other functions.
• There may be differences in the playback specs.