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

[JTC]

Would be great if the pre had balance control

It does, via DSP, but that doesn't help for analogue. In my case, with active speakers, I can adjust the balance at the speaker end so it's not an issue for me (though I do notice a stereo shift between door-closed and door-open in my room).

 

[vacuum_tubes]

It does, via DSP, but that doesn't help for analogue. In my case, with active speakers, I can adjust the balance at the speaker end so it's not an issue for me (though I do notice a stereo shift between door-closed and door-open in my room).

Think the DSP only adjusts for speaker distance i.e time delay

Don't think it allows to reduce the levels between channels, unless I've missed it.

 

[JTC]

Think the DSP only adjusts for speaker distance i.e time delay

Don't think it allows to reduce the levels between channels, unless I've missed it.

I'm 90% certain I saw a balance setting there, but I'm away from home today so can't check for sure. You may be correct, I don't know since it's not something I've needed to use.

 

[Salamander]

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.

That's the $64k question, I felt the A6 streamer was on par with the Lumin U2 mini. I do know my Soekris 2541 with LPS added is a great dac and the A8 is very close.

 

[Fergus]

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.

I auditioned the standard A6 as a streamer only against my Metrum Ambre in my main system but there was really nothing in it, though I did buy an A6 ME for my second system and I am very pleased with it. Very recently I replaced the Metrum with a Lumin U2 Mini which royally trounced it, and even more so when I reconfigured my system and engaged the Leedh Lossless volume control. How the Lumin D2 and the A6/A8 match up I could not really say.

I should say that when I compared A6 with Metrum the A6 was connected using USB to my DAC and the Metrum was over I2S, maybe not a fair fight! Metrum and Lumin were compared with both using an AES/EBU cable.

 

[leroyd]

I am not familiar with the A8, other than familiarising myself with reviews etc. Until now my go to streamer/server of choice has been Innuos and currently use the Zen Mk3. No complaints and love the sense app. For the technically challenged like me, it is a breeze to set up and customer support is second to none.
However a factory upgrade to the Zenith, which is the next model up, costs the same as a a brand new DMP A8. The A8 offers the extras of what appears to be a decent onboard DAC and the option of using its preamp, neither of which is available on the Zen mk3.
For now I will be sticking to my Zen mk3, but if I was in the market, the A8 would be hard to pass by.

 

[vacuum_tubes]

If the Innuos had a decent DAC in it I'd be on it like a tramp on chips.

The Zen I had was fantastic and IMHO the sense interface is the best out there (I prefer it to Roon) but I now want a single box solution.

 

[JTC]

Well, I paid full whack for mine and I'm not a reviewer and although it narks me a bit to think that reviewers got to keep theirs, this could be quite common, but I'd also like you to confirm that this is the case - where did you read this?

What I can say is that it's a stunningly good device and makes some of my previous systems seem a bit silly in hindsight. For example, spending £3k on a dedicated R2R DAC which does just that - this device equals it, basically, and does so much more. I loved that DAC but doing direct comparisons at home was a real eye-opener for me. I don't regret a penny spent on it. Which is more than I can say for a lot of more expensive things I have bought......

 

[vacuum_tubes]

No. Just because it has a fancy screen folk seem to think its the business. All the reviewers were also gifted their units so Im dubious about not one reviewer daring to criticise it in any way as not to scupper any further units the Company offer for free for a review.

All the reviewers got to keep their units and every man and his dog seemed to do a reviews, maybe they're are all being sold...

Audio Emotion is the UK distributor so they would have had to cover the cost of all those free units. Eversolo would have provided a couple of units for review but nothing like what you are claiming.

Sounds like you haven't got a clue what you are talking about.

 

[Zombie]

Are Tidal favourites integrated into the the local library view or do you neeed to access Tidal specifically?

 

[leroyd]

The dogs in the street know that reviews are likely to have a certain amount of bias and only a fool would view such as gospel. However, other than having the actual unit at hand, articles/reviews are as good as it gets, in terms of providing us with information on the A8. There is always the option of purchasing and returning inside the 14 day window, with no risk other than return shipping charges. Thats as good as it gets.

 

[Fourlegs]

Personally I tend to think of YouTube ‘reviewers’ as being YouTube ‘influencers’ rather that reliable reviewers.

 

[Salamander]

Im glad your enjoying it, on the flip side, like stated above plenty come up for sale which might suggest other folk dont. So who's right..? Whos's wrong?

Are there really plenty that come up for sale compared to how many have been purchased. When I read on forums what facilities people want to make their life easier, if it doesn't make them breakfast in bed every morning it's a no no. Have they forgotten when using vinyl, you had to get off your chair, sort through your albums, remove and replace the record and 20 minutes later turn the bloody thing over.

 

[vacuum_tubes]

Im glad your enjoying it, on the flip side, like stated above plenty come up for sale which might suggest other folk dont. So who's right..? Whos's wrong?

Plenty?

Just looked on HIFI shark and there are 2x for sale, both from dealers at full retail price.

Under sold history it shows 3x unique sales since Dec 23,

 

[Zombie]

Plenty?

Just looked on HIFI shark and there are 2x for sale, both from dealers at full retail price.

Under sold history it shows 3x unique sales since Dec 23,

Bring out the garlic and silver bullets, someone is actually checking the facts!

 

[Columbo]

Personally I tend to think of YouTube ‘reviewers’ as being YouTube ‘influencers’ rather that reliable reviewers.

I've found most reviews to be fairly accurate in their assessment of the A8. Really good streamer, decent DAC, excellent build and functionality. It's a really solid, tidy bit of kit that does what it's supposed to.

I moved mine on; I didn't see the value in keeping a device whose DAC I wasn't using. Used the money to get a dedicated streamer, no DAC, for the same dough which should offer better performance.

On reviewers, if folk start finding the gear doesn't match the reviews then those reviewers will likely find they start getting less views. There are definitely one or two hype merchants who I now watch less and/or pinch of salt their feedback. Equally there are a few whose opinions I trust after buying based on their reviews and the gear met expectations.

So much better than 15 years ago and forums/YouTube weren't as popular, just relying on What Hi-Fi's reviews which seem to spend 17 paragraphs of waffle and 1 paragraph of actually trying to describe how it actually sounds by some anonymous author (and why are the Aussie WHF reviews so much better than the UK ones?)

 

[Salamander]

@Columbo You might have jumped the gun, I found even my A6 streamer to be on par with my Lumin U2 mini, sold because I preferred the Eversolo app. I never expected to buy an A8, one popped up on ebay (at the right or wrong time ), a returned unit which was a bids sale and | won. I've not compared the streamers since they will be used in different systems.

 

[Columbo]

@Columbo You might have jumped the gun, I found even my A6 streamer to be on par with my Lumin U2 mini, sold because I preferred the Eversolo app. I never expected to buy an A8, one popped up on ebay (at the right or wrong time ), a returned unit which was a bids sale and | won. I've not compared the streamers since they will be used in different systems.

All part of the fun of this insane hobby I'll find out soon enough, if the sodding thing ever gets sent. (One review said the Rhein Z1 Plus was punching with £10k+ streamers. Don't know about that, but that it's also a Roon Core and Roon Bridge in is a big part of the appeal)

 

[Salamander]

@Columbo Sorry I forgot it was you buying the Rhein Z1 Plus, I thought it looked an ideal solution for people who want to cut down on their box count. I did also ask you to post a few comments when it finally arrived.

 

[Roog]

"Is this the end for all other streamers?" this seems doubtful, as the streaming front end is prone to rapid development and older systems becoming unable to operate with newer forms of media. This has happened to me already, my Naim streamer bought in 2015 is already out of date and required work arounds to play music from some sources and I expect it to happen to me and my stereo again.

My view of streaming devices is buy one that provides reasonable quality, I believe many do, and have the features you want whether this relates to the user interface, (this matters to me) or DSP features such as PEQ and buy it and use it for the duration because it will invariably require replacing at some point in the near future. Even a PC based system hosting your favorite playback software will cease to run the latest version of the software eventuality or its operating system will cease to be supported and ultimately require replacement.

From what I have read, the A6 ticks many of my feature requirements and the A8 a few more, but like all streamers at this time it is unlikely to out live the useful life of my amplifier or speakers.

My position is don't spend money on a streamer that you are not prepared to loose in the not too distant future.

If I wasn't completely happy with my current set up of an RPi plus Allo SPDIF hat running Picoreplayer I'd probably buy an A6, whilst I like the features of the A8, the additional cost puts me off and I already have DSP PEQ features built into my RME DAC, and by keeping the functions of steamer and DAC separate I hope to eek a bit more useable life out of my stereo components down stream of the streamer.