The High End Munich show isn't the sort of place to admit that you still listen to your music on a primitive iPhone. Massive horn speakers aside, it's a place where headphones are taken as seriously as hi-fi, so you won't find brands such as Sennheiser, Meze or Austrian Audio powering their best wired over-ears with nothing but an iPhone 15 and some basic Spotify files.
There's serious desktop hardware around that can help bring the best out of your favourite cans, but if you still want a portable music player with proper pedigree, there's currently one name on the market dominating the competition.
Astell & Kern is currently to PMPs what Sony is to wireless headphones, leading the charge in making on-the-go something of an art form in its own right.
The Astell & Kern A&ultima SP3000 (£3799 / $3699 / AU$5499) was the brand's former high-end flagship, but now there's a new standard bearer courtesy of the big-money A&ultima SP4000.
We use A&K's players to try out the wired headphones that are worthy of a proper source, meaning we're familiar with their healthy array of chunky champions.
A PMP is also a great thing to try to test out if you're ever scampering along the floor of a busy hi-fi show; it can be tricky to gauge the performance of even the best loudspeakers given variations in noise, room material and running-in time, but with digital players, as well as headphones, it's just you and the music in your own little oasis of sound. Almost.
We've occasionally found A&K players to be a tad unresponsive when compared to the best touchscreens and interfaces offered by the likes of Samsung and Apple, but there's less of a hint of lag or ambiguity with the SP4000.
The screen itself feels precise and responsive, and while we weren't in a position to pull out an iPhone and do a like-for-like comparison, we didn't notice that frustrating feeling of vagueness or delay that can make operation feel like a chore rather than a joy.
What we would say is that the SP4000 is an absolute unit. A&K players are always large affairs, and it's one of the things we've pointed to in the past that may act as a limitation on anyone seeking hi-res sound that can be taken on the train in the back of a work rucksack.
The SP4000 is a mini behemoth, and while it feels well-made and has the sheen and allure of an appropriately premium product, you might need a bigger bag, plus a yearly gym membership, if you're planning on picking one up.
Some serious firepower
The new A&ultima SP4000 is built around A&K's advanced 'Octa' circuit architecture which "distils purest essence of audio engineering" to provide a "refined yet powerful sound that is remarkably close to perfection". We like the confidence.
The SP4000 can handle hi-res PCM files up to 32-bit/768kHz alongside DSD512 and comes equipped with 256GB of internal memory for your digital library alongside support for microSD cards up to 1.5TB. There's also wi-fi and DLNA network support, and USB digital audio output and a USB-C port for data transfer and charging.
We're listening using a pair of A&K's own in-ear headphones, so we're wary that part of the sound we experience will be imparted by the Korean brand's in-ears. However much of the resultant profile comes from the IEMs or from the player, the sound that makes its way to our ears has a distinctly "hi-fi" flavour.
How does it sound?
This is an informative reproduction, one that puts you in the picture as clearly and accurately as the most steady-handed of professional photographers.
It's a sonic character that reminds us of the authoritative and detailed nature of the established five-star A&ultima SP3000, wherein tunes have the sparkling sheen and polish of a professional player with proper pedigree.
A&K has been kind enough to install a selection of test tunes onto its latest creation. We've had quite enough of Billie Eilish and Dire Straits for one hi-fi show, thank you very much, so we decide to wake ourselves up a bit with Nirvana's Smells Like Teen Spirit.
The SP4000 feels forensic in the way that it tracks instrumental textures and the ebb and flow of rhythms, bolstering its credentials as an informative and detail-heavy performer.
Guitars are replete with bite and scratch, while Kurt Cobain is hearteningly throaty in his delivery of that irrepressibly iconic chorus. If you're looking for a player that gives you half a chance of understanding what he's actually saying, the A&K appears to be a fine candidate.
Its midrange clarity does, we say tentatively, appear to be one of the A&K's more potent strengths. We switch from one much-missed grunge icon to another, swapping out Teen Spirit for Audioslave's Like A Stone and discovering with pleasure how distinct the contrasting deliveries now sound.
Chris Cornell is less scratchy and raw than Cobain here, and his heartfelt delivery comes through as sincere and downtrodden as the track plays through.
It's those more indefinable or esoteric qualities that often go on to define greatness, and we often need more time with a product than a quick hands-on assessment can afford. The Who's Baba O'Riley is full of detail, but the sense of dramatic grandeur as things build is what separates the men from the boys.
We're wary that incredibly informative and detail-heavy players can sound off-hand or removed, so we'd like more testing time to discover whether the SP4000 can make us feel truly involved in our most adrenaline-inducing tunes.
Go big or go home
From what we've heard, the A&ultima SP4000 is an Astell & Kern portable music player through and through. It has that "hi-fi in your hand" sound that has made its predecessors and stablemates so appealing, even if we would need proper testing time to assess its deeper qualities and drawbacks.
What makes the A&ultima SP4000 notable is its size. It's a big, costly unit (prices are TBC but are set to fly north of £4000 / $4000 / AU$5500), so you'll end up with a very large, very high-end piece of kit in your back pocket.
That might be off-putting for some, but the allure of outstanding sound – if the SP4000 does turn out to be a class-leading performer – could well outweigh all other considerations.
For the right buyer, of course.
MORE:
7 of the quirkiest and strangest pairs of speakers we saw at High End Munich 2025
These are the best portable music players you can buy
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