advertisement


Eversolo DMP A8 - Is this the end for all other streamers?

maro73 said:
Hello Folks
Just have in the house a DMP A 8 for demo
First impression : nicely built
NOT EASY TO CONFIGURE
Compared to Lumin app or Aurender : well Eversolo app is not that good (better the hifiRose though)
I'm seeing loads of downsides (not on sound , but on usability)
I'll report soon
Cheers
Click to expand...
I am the owner of both a Lumin U2 mini and an Eversolo A6. I would strongly disagree with you regarding the app for the Eversolo compared to the Lumin. I find the Eversolo far more intuitive and with Qobuz it shows my favourites in alphabetical order, on the Lumin it does not.
 
cooky1257 said:
Well I thought it had a very detailed and initially impressive hifi sound but it lacked the solidity and body I like, it has lean and grainy upper mids that were cruelly exposed by my ATCs.The A6 is a great piece of user friendly kit but suffers the same sonic limitations I found in the WiiM Pro and Bluesound node.
Click to expand...
Which streamer or streamer DAC do you recommend? Thanks!
 
My MacBook Pro running through a Topping or Audial sounds better than my Eversolo, but only just. It’s a nice thing.

I know what cooky means but it has a lot less of that than the Bluesound to my ear. I could certainly live with it but probably wouldn’t bother buying it if I’d known what I know now. Strangely, given various complaints, it’s the user-friendliness of it I like most.
 
I think this lack of body thing with streamers is primarily down to the deficiencies of the power supply (usually SMPSs).
 
Alex S said:
My MacBook Pro running through a Topping or Audial sounds better than my Eversolo, but only just. It’s a nice thing.

I know what cooky means but it has a lot less of that than the Bluesound to my ear. I could certainly live with it but probably wouldn’t bother buying it if I’d known what I know now. Strangely, given various complaints, it’s the user-friendliness of it I like most.
Click to expand...
Just checking, you have the A8?
 
Alex S said:
A6 ME. Should have said (but I don’t think any version will sound much if any different).
Click to expand...

Reviews say that the A8 sounds slightly better than the A6/ME but not enough to justify the extra £1000

The A8 has a different DAC to the A6 (AKM vs ESS) and uses a dedicated LPSU for analogue where the A6 has a shared SMPS and the A8 has an r2r volume control.

On paper the A8 looks better but no idea how much better/different it sounds in real life.

I guess if the A8 used a GaN power supply then it would be an Accuphase beater.
 
vacuum_tubes said:
Reviews say that the A8 sounds slightly better than the A6/ME but not enough to justify the extra £1000

The A8 has a different DAC to the A6 (AKM vs ESS) and uses a dedicated LPSU for analogue where the A6 has a shared SMPS and the A8 has an r2r volume control.

On paper the A8 looks better but no idea how much better/different it sounds in real life.

I guess if the A8 used a GaN power supply then it would be an Accuphase beater.
Click to expand...
I can say with confidence that the A8 DAC is within touching distance of a well-regarded £3k DAC. It's entirely down to the minutiae of personal preference and - IMHO - subjectively a worthwhile improvement over that of the vanilla A6. Whether it is worth the extra £1k is not purely a decision based on SQ given that the A8 is also a highly competent preamp with analogue inputs. A relative bargain compared to some of the other hifi things you could spend that money on, e.g. cables or comparable DACs... again, IMHO.
 
JTC said:
I can say with confidence that the A8 DAC is within touching distance of a well-regarded £3k DAC. It's entirely down to the minutiae of personal preference and - IMHO - subjectively a worthwhile improvement over that of the vanilla A6. Whether it is worth the extra £1k is not purely a decision based on SQ given that the A8 is also a highly competent preamp with analogue inputs. A relative bargain compared to some of the other hifi things you could spend that money on, e.g. cables or comparable DACs... again, IMHO.
Click to expand...
I've demoed the A6 ME, it's not good as a streamer DAC, I was considering using it as a streamer but saw this vid which showed no improvement over a laptop:
 
Yes, I thought we were talking about streaming to a separate dac. As for the onboard dac, the A6ME is decent but not as good as my other dacs. Don’t want to sound like Keith, but unsighted I think I’d struggle.

For me the Eversolo is good value, well built, nice screen if you want one, good app. It’s a good way to have all my music files backed up and doing something. Nonetheless, together with the Bluesound, it is essentially in the ‘give to the kids when they move out’ bin.
 
Well it didn't take me long to compare the A8 and Soekris dac's, there really wasn't much in it. Maybe the Soekris has slightly more body, changing the filters may have made a slight difference for those with discerning ears, but I'm happy to continue using the A8 on it's own as streamer and dac. For anyone interested the filter settings were:-

Eversolo = Low Dispersion Short Delay

Soekris 2541 = Minimum Phase Filter.

I can strongly recommend the A8 for anyone wanting to reduce their box count.
 
Fourlegs said:
Maybe you haven’t listened to the right alternatives? For me the difference between the 2i and an Innuos Zen was worthwhile as was the difference when I upgraded to the Zenith but we all place different values on what we can achieve with our systems. Luckily I have a wife that accepts my explanation that my ATC 150 active speakers are ‘essential’ in our sitting room!

Of course I do not need to daisy chain £2k audiophile switches because I use a single Innuos PhoenixNET switch! 🤣
Click to expand...
Nice one 👍🏻 Just got the 40a's but I'm sure in the future I'll have to use your tactics to upgrade to 50's🧐🤣🤣🤣
 
jason rockley said:
Seems to be a fair few of these for sale on the used market at the moment. Are they a bit of let down or do people not need the features?
Click to expand...
Definitely not a let down. I only wish the A8 had been around five years ago, it could have saved me a fortune! It's one of the few audio components I've ever experienced that I simply can't find reasonable fault. It has a DAC ever bit as good as the £3k DAC I had before. Its preamp section is stunning. It has a good DSP implementation. It has analogue inputs. Remote. Nice display. Ability to store the music library on its own SSD stick (up to 4Gb - plenty!). Stable software.

There are some very minor things I do wish it had, but I'm being super fussy: a second set of XLR outputs, the ability to ADC the analogue inputs and then process through the DSP would be nice, and the ability to set shortcuts for input/output pairs on the homescreen would make it super easy (imagine, a 'vinyl' icon that switches to the analogue input rather than having to select it manually, etc.).

The A6 was good, but needed a decent outboard DAC to be a true contender. But the A8 is - for me - an absolute game changer.

Longevity might be one unknown, but this is true of any hi-tech component. If it dies at some future point, maybe buy another, or maybe buy the A10. No reason to think it won't carry on for a long time, given the lack of moving parts, decent caps etc.
 
Salamander said:
Well it didn't take me long to compare the A8 and Soekris dac's, there really wasn't much in it. Maybe the Soekris has slightly more body, changing the filters may have made a slight difference for those with discerning ears, but I'm happy to continue using the A8 on it's own as streamer and dac. For anyone interested the filter settings were:-

Eversolo = Low Dispersion Short Delay

Soekris 2541 = Minimum Phase Filter.

I can strongly recommend the A8 for anyone wanting to reduce their box count.
Click to expand...

Wonder how it compares to Lumin with the leedh vol control.. as a streaming dac tge Lumin D2 is nicer than than the standard A6 but likely more level with A8 except the vol control on the A8 may be better with its discreet r2r encoder.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.


advertisement


Back
Top