The SP4000 is the latest flagship device from manufacturer Astell & Kern. Offering FOUR of AKM's flagship 4499EX chips and some quite impressive software features, is this genuinely a flagship tier DAC & amp in your pocket or are you paying for a very expensive iPod? GoldenSound puts it through its paces
So 4k for a device which is designed so well that it absolutely requires a case to be used comfortably, has system-wide EQ which is ridiculously limited, and with slightly less driving power than a Hiby R4. Only the R4 costs 1/16th as much, has full parametric EQ and can be used without a case. To any rational person that is simply a failed product, but to Goldensound the A&K is worth it because it somehow, mysteriously, “sounds better than 99% of desktop DACs”, which he has determined after sighted comparisons. How about reviewing for Stereophile or The Absolute Sound instead of The Headphone Show? You’d fit in better there.