Fueling Your Sound
The KANN series is adored by audiophiles all over the world for its performance that focuses on ultra-high output and clear sound.

KANN ULTRA, the 5th product in the KANN series, continues the success of the KANN series by providing the highest output of any Astell&Kern player, the inclusion of Triple Output Sound, and an optimized processor and UI/UX to make it even easier to enjoy clear sound performance.

With four Gain Modes that provides up to 16Vrms of desktop Hi-Fi level output and sound, and ES9039MPRO Dual DAC chips, KANN ULTRA perfectly powers many of today's headphones with high resolution. A separate Pre/Line Out allow users to enjoy the sound with a variety of different devices.
 
Triple Output Mode Featuring Separately Configured Circuit and Amplifier Designs
HEADPHONE OUT / PRE-OUT / LINE OUT
Next-generation Octa-Core processors with significant high-performance improvements
Supports 4 preset gain settings with ultra-high output up to 16Vrms (Headphone Out)
Equipped with ES9039MPRO Dual DACs
Features Digital Audio Remaster (DAR) technology
Supports playback up to 32bit/768kHz, Native DSD512
Features Astell&Kern's unique TERATON ALPHA technology
Battery 8,400 mAh (up to 11 hours of playback)
 
Triple Output, Triple Sound
KANN ULTRA features a Triple Output Mode that allows you to enjoy Astell&Kern's perfectly prepared sound when connected to demanding headphones, highly detailed IEMs, and external devices.

Instead of simply separating the output ports, Astell&Kern's Teraton Alpha technology allows for separate amplifier/sound design for the Headphone Out and Line/Pre-Out ports to provide the optimal sound for each port.
Complete your powerful Head-Fi system even on portable devices with the KANN ULTRA with Triple Output.
 
Upgraded Sound, the Newest ESS Flagship DAC
The KANN ULTRA is designed with dual ES9039MPRO DACs, the newest flagship DAC from ESS, to deliver richer and more expansive sounds that exceed your expectations.

The ES9039MPRO is an updated ES9039PRO model that has a built-in stereo hardware MQA renderer. It has even more advanced modulation than the existing flagship DAC to reduce power consumption, noise and distortions inside the DAC for enhanced audio performance.

Astell&Kern has redesigned the AMP BLOCK to ensure that the clear, high-resolution sound of the ES9039MPRO is clearly expressed through every port of the Triple Output, and each output's characteristics show its own advanced performance.
 
Specifications
 
General Specifications
KANN ULTRA
Body Color 
Astro Gray
Body Material 
Aluminum
Display 
5.5inch HD 1080 x 1920 touch screen
Supported Audio Formats 
WAV, FLAC, WMA, MP3, OGG, APE, AAC, ALAC, AIFF, DFF, DSF, MQA
Sample Rate 
PCM : 8kHz ~ 768kHz (8/16/24/32bits per Sample)
DSD Native: DSD64(1bit 2.8MHz), Stereo / DSD128(1bit 5.6MHz), Stereo
DSD256(1bit 11.2MHz), Stereo / DSD512(1bit 22.4MHz), Stereo
Output Level 
- HEADPHONE OUT
[Low Gain] Unbalanced 2Vrms │ Balanced 4Vrms (Condition No Load)
[Mid Gain]Unbalanced 4Vrms │ Balanced 8Vrms (Condition No Load)
[High Gain]Unbalanced 6Vrms │ Balanced 12Vrms (Condition No Load)
[Super Gain]Unbalanced 8Vrms │ Balanced 16Vrms (Condition No Load)
- PRE · LINE OUT
Unbalanced 2Vrms │ Balanced 4Vrms (Condition No Load)
CPU 
Octa-core
DAC 
ES9039MPRO x2
Decoding 
Support up to 32bit/768kHz Bit-to-Bit Playback
Input 
USB Type-C input (for charging & PC & MAC)
Outputs 
- HEADPHONE OUT
3.5mm(Unbalanced Out, Optical Out), 4.4mm (Balanced Out, only 5-pole supported)
- PRE · LINE OUT
3.5mm(Unbalanced Out), 4.4mm (Balanced Out, only 5-pole supported)
Wi-Fi 
802.11 a/b/g/n/ac (2.4/5GHz)
Bluetooth 
V5.3 (A2DP, AVRCP, Qualcomm® aptX™-HD, LDAC, LHDC)
Dimensions 
3.24” (82.4mm)[W] x 5.55” (141.1mm)[H] x 0.96” (24.4mm)[D]
Weight 
About 13.75oz (390g)
Feature Enhancements 
Firmware upgrade supported (OTA)
Operating Temperature 
0℃ ~ + 40℃ (32℉~ 104℉)
 
Audio Specifications
Frequency Response 
HEADPHONE OUT
±0.006dB (Condition : 20Hz~20kHz) Unbalanced │ ±0.004dB (Condition : 20Hz~20kHz) Balanced
±0.016dB (Condition : 20Hz~70kHz) Unbalanced │ ±0.020dB (Condition : 20Hz~70kHz) Balanced
PRE OUT
±0.022dB (Condition : 20Hz~20kHz) Unbalanced │ ±0.023dB (Condition : 20Hz~20kHz) Balanced
±0.023dB (Condition : 20Hz~70kHz) Unbalanced │ ±0.023dB (Condition : 20Hz~70kHz) Balanced
LINE OUT
±0.002dB (Condition : 20Hz~20kHz) Unbalanced │ ±0.002dB (Condition : 20Hz~20kHz) Balanced
±0.007dB (Condition : 20Hz~70kHz) Unbalanced │ ±0.006dB (Condition : 20Hz~70kHz) Balanced
S/N 
HEADPHONE OUT
115dB @ 1kHz, Unbalanced │ 119dB @ 1kHz, Balanced
PRE OUT
110dB @ 1kHz, Unbalanced │ 126dB @ 1kHz, Balanced
LINE OUT
110dB @ 1kHz, Unbalanced │ 125dB @ 1kHz, Balanced
Crosstalk 
HEADPHONE OUT
134dB @ 1kHz, Unbalanced │ 140dB @ 1kHz, Balanced
PRE OUT
128dB @ 1kHz, Unbalanced │ 128dB @ 1kHz, Balanced
LINE OUT
129dB @ 1kHz, Unbalanced │ 121dB @ 1kHz, Balanced
THD+N 
HEADPHONE OUT
0.0004% @ 1kHz, Unbalanced │ 0.0004% @ 1kHz, Balanced
PRE OUT
0.0012% @ 1kHz, Unbalanced │ 0.0005% @ 1kHz, Balanced
LINE OUT
0.0013% @ 1kHz, Unbalanced │ 0.0005% @ 1kHz, Balanced
IMD SMPTE 
HEADPHONE OUT
0.0006% 800Hz 10kHz (4:1) Unbalanced │0.0006% 800Hz 10kHz (4:1) Balanced
PRE OUT
0.0006% 800Hz 10kHz (4:1) Unbalanced │0.0006% 800Hz 10kHz (4:1) Balanced
LINE OUT
0.0006% 800Hz 10kHz (4:1) Unbalanced │0.0006% 800Hz 10kHz (4:1) Balanced
Output Impedance 
HEADPHONE OUT
Unbalanced Out 3.5mm (1ohm) │ Balanced Out 4.4mm (1.3ohm)
PRE OUT
Unbalanced Out 3.5mm (3.5ohm) │ Balanced Out 4.4mm (5.7ohm)
LINE OUT
Unbalanced Out 3.5mm (6.5ohm) │ Balanced Out 4.4mm (10.7ohm)
 
Clock Source
Clock Jitter 
25pS (Typ)
Reference Clock Jitter 
200 Femto Seconds
 
Storage Capacity
Built-in Memory 
128GB [NAND]
External Memory 
microSD x1 (Max. 1TB)
 
Battery
Capacity 
8,400mAh 3.8V Li-Polymer
Charge Time 
about 3.5hours (PD 3.0 Charger)
Playback Time 
about 11hours (Standard: FLAC, 16bit, 44.1kHz, Vol.50, LCD Off, Low Gain)
 
Supported OS
Supported OS 
Windows 8,10,11 (32/64bit) MAC OS X 10.7