Eversolo DMP-A8 Balanced Streamer/DAC Review

[Ugo Ruffini]

In the future it might be wise to actually look at the components measurements before you disparage its performance based on nothing more than your imagination.
Keith

I have already had the pleasure of appreciating your immense knowledge in other previous discussions regarding the behavior of cables and synads. Unfortunately you have serious limitations of knowledge regarding non-measurable parameters such as depth and separation of instruments. One day maybe by putting your ego aside you will be able to understand and respect other people's ideas "great collaborator" hi friend!

 

[marked sound]

The EverSolo DMP-A8 now has an update for room correction software, like the A10 does.

 

[Spyerx]

This was a surprise. I’d picked up a mic a few months ago and was using a Mac to generate the fir files. I couldn’t get it to really work to my liking.

Tried this with the mic direct into the a8 and it immediately improved the sound vs no filter. SUPER easy to use too.

Impressed. Will play with it some more tonight.

 

[marked sound]

The Eversolo

This was a surprise. I’d picked up a mic a few months ago and was using a Mac to generate the fir files. I couldn’t get it to really work to my liking.

Tried this with the mic direct into the a8 and it immediately improved the sound vs no filter. SUPER easy to use too.

Impressed. Will play with it some more tonight.

With the A8 now offering room correction, I do not understand how anyone can justify the cost of an A10.

 

[Jefrpol]

Keith had said: "At the moment you can only add eq to the digital inputs and outputs, the XLR and RCA outputs will have the same filtering.
So you would need filters on the sub." I think the A10 would allow you to do the filtering at its output instead.

Not sure the justifies the cost...

 

[Purité Audio]

It’s a nice looking box ( depending upon your aesthetic) and the sub output/integration could be really useful, as ever you pays your money and makes your choice.
At least it isn’t an A8 with a gold badge!
Keith

 

[marked sound]

Keith had said: "At the moment you can only add eq to the digital inputs and outputs, the XLR and RCA outputs will have the same filtering.
So you would need filters on the sub." I think the A10 would allow you to do the filtering at its output instead.

Not sure the justifies the cost...

I don;t get what you are trying to say.

 

[Jefrpol]

I don;t get what you are trying to say.

The A10 will do all of the filtering, to the speaker and sub. The A8 does the same filtering for the rca and xlr outputs meaning you would have to do filtering at the sub.
I assume the latest update didn't change that (as I thought that was a hardware not software related issue.)

 

[Robocop]

If one is adding subs then the A10 only has RCA outputs. Personally I would recommend the minidsp Flex balanced and this easily handles filtering for all speakers. Although this process takes some practice to manage correctly. I have an A8. I can't justify the A10 already owning the Flex.

 

[Robocop]

I never cease to be amazed at the number of Eversolo streamer/pre/dac owners running separate Dac's and or preamps. What was the point of the Eversolo purchase?

Surely if you want a streamer then buy one for much less. Or buy all separates streamer/preamp/dac. Its always been considered the best approach to buy all separates but has a larger cost. Personally I want less boxes and cables these days but still a good sound.

I find the A8 streamer, DAC and preamp are all superb and I bought it for all three as an upgrade to an Oppo 205 which has been my dac/preamp for 8 years. Both measured superbly. The Oppo being the only electronic box that has gained value from when I bought it. A rarity in all things Hi-Fi. Robert

 

[Spyerx]

Ok. Been playing with the room correction more. It’s good. Hard to describe but it opens everything up and less “mud” and more clarity. I guess this is correcting for room modes and vibrations. It’s not subtle and generally sounds much. Much better. I’m sure this isn’t news to anyone who has used stand alone solutions.

To the above poster, I’m a less box guy. I have an integrated luxman amp and the a8. I also have a turntable. Gone is everything else. But, i do use the luxman volume pre amp i just prefer it, mostly the control. I tried using the amp in (the luxman lets you separate the pre and amp circuits with separate in and out for each).

The a8, it’s really good and this is what really drove my decision: they have the best software and continue to do huge investment in it. It just keeps getting better. I’d evenpay a software annual fee on this thing if they kept pace of development like this.

 

[Jefrpol]

This might be of interest to some:

 

[jiji]

So i had a chance to check the Filters. I have here Green (REW filtered FIR), Blue Eversolo A8 inbuilt Algorithm and Violet Raw without any DSP. Only Right speaker result i have provided. For filtered plots the range i applied is 20 to 900Hz. I can see Rew filters are most effective, and A8 internal algorithm kind of not doing anything below 200Hz(only the DSP -5db gain diff are seen).
If some one really need a good DSP, then it is minidsp flex(XLR or RCA). Also for Low freq minidsp + MSO will do magic than the best result shown here with REW Fir filters.
I will play more during next weekend . But i have already a feeling minidsp is the best solution for DSP.

 

[Edhie421]

Hey guys, I know flavours of this have been asked before, but let's assume I'm a five year old and need an explanation as such:
I haven't really used subwoofers until now, but I've been thinking I'd like to add one to my setup. If I got the A8 (which ticks all my boxes otherwise) feeding into a power amp that does not output to a subwoofer (like, say, a Topping), what would be my best bet?
I've seen elsewhere that some people suggest A8 > Subwoofer > Power Amp > Speakers - I'd rather not because of the way my cables run. Others say it's possible to plug the amp into either XLR or RCA and subwoofer into the other one - that could work, but since there's no HPF / LPF separation on the A8, would it even be worth it (perhaps some specific subwoofers would work better with that)? Or is there a way to take the signal from the A8 and move it through some sort of box that'd do the filtering before redistributing to power amp and subwoofer? My head is spinning - I'd love some help!

ETA: Speakers are KEF R3 Meta if that helps, and I don't have a specific idea in mind for the subwoofer yet, so happy to hear any suggestions that would make this feasible.

 

[JustJones]

Or is there a way to take the signal from the A8 and move it through some sort of box that'd do the filtering before redistributing to power amp and subwoofer?

Minidsp

 

[Edhie421]

Minidsp

Thank you!
Noob follow-ups:
1. how would I actually connect this? Does it go from A8 and then a) back to A8 -> amp, b) subwoofer?
2. any risk this would mess with the sound quality / clarity?

 

[xaxxon]

I wish someone would post results of double-blind listener testing to show that someone can hear the difference between a system like this with near-perfect measured performance and a DAC with "merely good" performance like the Schiit Modi 2. Can anyone hear the difference in performance? If not, then what's the point of product designers and manufacturers chasing these numbers?

The problem there is that it takes a LOT of negative findings on well run experiments to give statistical confidence to no difference. And as more and more companies figure out how to do it right the cost of getting "too good" keeps going down, so there's really no reason not to.

 

[xaxxon]

Is there any chance we will experience app problems in future because android becomes outdated?

Why would it stop being able to do what it currently does? "out of date" os only affects your ability to install new general-purpose software onto the device. It doesn't stop it from doing what it already does.

 

[Salt]

Android is based on Linux ... is based on Unix ....
Basically one can adapt the 'firmware', that is drivers and apps, very individually to the hardware, as far as drivers and/or API for all components an programms are available. Then you can just 'Make' a fitting Kernel for the hardware and are done.
That's what most hardware firmware is (except my Philips ultrasone, it's based on Win Home 98 )

 

[staticV3]

Others say it's possible to plug the amp into either XLR or RCA and subwoofer into the other one - that could work, but since there's no HPF / LPF separation on the A8, would it even be worth it (perhaps some specific subwoofers would work better with that)?

IMO, yes. In that case you'd be running your main speakers full-range and adjusting the sub's crossover control to blend with the natural bass roll-off of your mains.

Doing it this way, you'd lose the ability to adjust the crossover frequency since that's dictated by the mains, and you won't be able to take the bass load off them for potentially cleaner playback.

Still, you'd gain better low frequency extension all the same.

Or is there a way to take the signal from the A8 and move it through some sort of box that'd do the filtering before redistributing to power amp and subwoofer? My head is spinning - I'd love some help!

You could do A8->Digital->miniDSP->Sub&Amp and program the filtering and bass management into the miniDSP.

That would mean completely bypassing the A8's built-in DAC and Preamp, so those would've been purchased for naught.

1. how would I actually connect this? Does it go from A8 and then a) back to A8 -> amp, b) subwoofer?

A8->Toslink/SPDIF->miniDSP->RCA/XLR->Sub+Amp