The new PD5 Music Player with Full Android

An extra £100 is easy to spend in personal audio. Whether it makes your listening any more enjoyable is another question.

The new Astell&Kern PD5 arrives as the effective successor to the SR35, with a £100 step up in price. There are more DACs, a larger screen and some interesting new features. But what interests me is how those changes fit into the way you actually listen.

Does it make a dedicated music player easier to live with? More useful when travelling? Better suited to your headphones?

That’s where the comparison becomes worthwhile.

Longer Listening Between Charges

One of the PD5’s most useful changes is also its least complicated: longer quoted battery life.

Astell&Kern specifies up to 28 hours in Quad-DAC mode, compared with the SR35’s quoted maximum of 20 hours in Dual-DAC mode. These are manufacturer test figures rather than a promise for every listening situation, but the potential benefit is straightforward.

If you take your player away for a weekend, use it throughout the working day or simply forget to charge things, more time between charges matters.

Run the PD5 in its full Octa-DAC configuration and the quoted endurance becomes approximately 15 hours. You have a choice about where to place that balance.

Eight DACs: What Should You Actually Care About?

The SR35 uses four Cirrus Logic CS43198 DACs, with selectable Dual and Quad operation. The PD5 uses eight of the same DAC model, switching between Quad and Octa configurations.

That’s the technical change. It isn’t, on its own, a listening verdict.

Eight DACs don’t mean twice the enjoyment. The implementation, amplification and pairing with your earphones or headphones all contribute to the result.

What I appreciate is having the option: a mode that prioritises endurance for everyday use, and another that engages the full DAC configuration when you choose.

Whether you prefer the difference is something to explore with familiar music, rather than decide by counting chips.

A Larger Screen Without a Huge Weight Increase

The PD5 moves from the SR35’s 3.6-inch screen to a 4.1-inch display, while weight rises from approximately 184g to 198g.

It is physically larger, so the SR35 retains an advantage if minimum size is your priority. But a little more screen space could be a welcome trade when browsing albums and navigating your library.

A portable player should be something you’re happy to take with you. How it feels in your hand deserves as much consideration as how impressive it looks on paper.

EnviroTune: A Feature with an Everyday Purpose

EnviroTune is arguably the PD5’s most distinctive addition.

It uses a built-in microphone to analyse surrounding noise and adjusts the audio to compensate for frequencies that may be masked. It isn’t active noise cancellation; it changes the playback signal rather than removing outside sound.

Think about moving from a quiet room to a busy train. The recording hasn’t changed, but what you can hear has.

That is the problem EnviroTune aims to address. I’m interested in whether it helps preserve musical detail in those situations. Its value will depend on how it behaves with your headphones and surroundings.

Check Your Headphone Connection

Both players offer 3.5mm and 4.4mm outputs. The SR35 also includes a 2.5mm balanced socket, which the PD5 drops.

If you already own a favourite cable with a 2.5mm termination, factor that into your decision.

The PD5 also offers a higher maximum balanced output voltage: 8Vrms versus 6Vrms, specified without a load. That may be relevant to headphone matching, but it doesn’t establish that every headphone will sound better—or that every headphone needs it.

Should You Buy the PD5 or Keep Your SR35?

If you’re buying a dedicated player today, the PD5 makes a persuasive case for the additional £100. Longer quoted endurance, a larger display and EnviroTune are changes with practical applications beyond the specification sheet.

If you already own an SR35, the question is different. You’re replacing a player, rather than simply spending another £100. If yours still suits your listening, there’s no reason to dismiss it because a newer model exists.

My advice is to start with what you want to improve. Battery life? Usability? Compatibility with a different pair of headphones?

Then choose the player that addresses it.

You can explore the official Astell&Kern PD5 features and specifications, or view and buy the Astell&Kern PD5 at Audio Concierge.

If you’re unsure how it will fit into your system, get in touch. Tell me what you listen with and what you’d like to improve, and we can take it from there.