Astell & Kern SR35

Sources split, largely by load. Most drove real headphones without trouble: What Hi-Fi? on Sony's MDR-Z1R, TechRadar on FiiO's open-back FT5, Audio46 on a 250 Ω DT 1770, eCoustics on an Arya Stealth, T5p and TH900, an owner's HD6XX on low gain. Others warn about the difficult end: Bloom Audio says it can struggle with planars, one owner cautions against high-impedance gear driven directly, and another finds current-hungry low-impedance IEMs fall flat. Use the balanced jack for headphones.

The strongest agreement in the record. eCoustics had to turn the volume all the way up on a hiss-prone Andromeda with the music stopped to hear anything, and owners with sensitive IEMs and low-impedance headphones report a black background. Bosk is the mildest, calling it respectable for the size. One thing to check is the balanced jack's 2.7 Ω output impedance: some owners use it deliberately to calm bright IEMs, and it can change the tuning of multi-driver sets.

“Background noise was superbly low through the SR35; IEMs like the Campfire Audio Andromeda are known for hiss and we had to turn the volume all the way up with the music stopped to discern any.”

eCoustics

“The SR35 is dead quiet and there is no hiss on anything I own disregarding the impedence.”

dawidstn, Head-Fi owner

“Background blackness is also respectable for such a small player.”

Bosk (Nick Smith), Head-Fi

Sources split on what they're hearing, though most like it. One group hears warmth, richness and smoothness: What Hi-Fi?, Bloom, Bosk and several owners enjoy that, while Headfonia finds it soft and short of resolution, calling it no DAP for critical listening. Another group hears something neutral and clean, including TechRadar, eCoustics and Audio46. A small third group is unimpressed: one reviewer heard less detail than his M17 and SP1000M, SweeDecoy found the treble irritating, and a demo listener couldn't separate it from a dongle. Quad and dual DAC modes split too: What Hi-Fi?, Headfonia and aftersound hear a clear loss in dual, while Taps Das and several owners hear none.

Sources split, largely by how the listener uses it. Press reviewers like the closed system: What Hi-Fi? and TechRadar prefer it to full Android, and Headfonia got happily into streaming with it. People living with it for streaming report more trouble: no Google Play, a whitelist with limits, apps that crash or lag, Roon Ready working only as an endpoint and no Roon controller, and awkward Mac transfers. Several owners conclude that it's a local-library player that happens to stream, and they're happy on those terms. A&K has kept up firmware, but the Android base is old.

Everyone agrees on the two facts here, and differs on how much the second matters. It's small and light, easy to use one-handed, with a volume wheel most people love (one owner calls its clicks cheap), and its corners bother some people and not others. It's also slow: Bosk calls the CPU a big compromise, and some owners returned it or regretted it over the lag, while local-file listeners tend to call it fine. The screen is small enough to make typing fiddly. Battery depends heavily on use: A&K's 20 hours is a best case, with owners timing 18 hours in dual-DAC, 12 in quad on high gain, and 7–9 when streaming.

“Its compact dimensions (108 x 64 x 16mm) make it perfectly pocketable and easy to hold and operate in one hand”

What Hi-Fi?

“The other big SR35 compromise is its' CPU, which is fairly slow due to size & battery limitations.”

Bosk (Nick Smith), Head-Fi

“if you mostly stream as I do these days and run the SR35 in quad-DAC mode with Hi-Gain enabled (for optimal audio performance) I estimate 7-9 hours would be more accurate”

Bosk (Nick Smith), Head-Fi

“The SR35 volume wheel deserves special mention, resembling the crown of an expensive mechanical watch”

Bosk (Nick Smith), Head-Fi

“Very frustrating, it is so slow, you spend too much time waiting for the player to catch up”

Jair, Amazon owner

Sources split along who has lived with one. Reviewers with loan units praise the finish, and kakaku.com owners rate its design far above the category. Long-term owners report failures that a short loan wouldn't catch: three in the Head-Fi thread found swollen batteries or detached back panels, one saw the panel start to detach again and another says the issue is common across the SR line; another owner's LCD died within months. Headfonia's unit froze with a 400 GB card in it, and Amazon reviewers report a screen fault and a dead unit. The fault posts come from a self-selected few, so they show what can go wrong, not how often.

Sources split on whether the sound and size justify the price. What Hi-Fi? gave it an award, and Bloom, Audio46 and some owners call it good value, especially those who paid around $650. TechRadar agrees, scoring value 4.5/5, though it also says that in absolute terms it's questionable value and that you're paying for the industrial design. Bosk, SweeDecoy and Amazon reviewers call it pricey for what it is, and even What Hi-Fi? says it doesn't look like a $799 device. New stock is now scarce, and its $1,049 successor is the current comparison.