EverSolo Z8 DAC & Amp Review

[poxymoron]

Christ. Nobody else is doing what Amir does. Is he really not working hard enough for us?

 

[Jimster480]

Any idea what DAC chip this uses?

 

[VintageFlanker]

Any idea what DAC chip this uses?

ES9038 PRO.

 

[Jimster480]

ES9038 PRO.

Thanks! I was wondering if it was maybe the new AK4499. Haven't seen anything that uses that one yet.

 

[VintageFlanker]

AK4499 is several years old, already. You must be thinking about AK4499EX.

Haven't seen anything that uses that one yet.

Measurements of Topping E70 VELVET DAC - L7Audiolab

台式设备 随着"三小强"中SMSL和Gustard都推出了自己的4499EX解码器，拓品的研发总让我感觉是不是有点滞后？不过随着我拿到这台 Topping E70 VELVET 我打消了疑虑，拓品还是他家的老样子……

www.l7audiolab.com

SMSL D400EX DAC Review

This is a review and detailed measurements of the SMSL D400EX balanced DAC based on AKM4499EX chip. It was sent to me by the company and costs US $959.99 The D400EX is quite attractive looking with the flush controls and the grills on the sides: The latter gives it a high-end look. Alas, I am...

www.audiosciencereview.com

 

[Jimster480]

AK4499 is several years old, already. You must be thinking about AK4499EX.

Measurements of Topping E70 VELVET DAC - L7Audiolab

台式设备 随着"三小强"中SMSL和Gustard都推出了自己的4499EX解码器，拓品的研发总让我感觉是不是有点滞后？不过随着我拿到这台 Topping E70 VELVET 我打消了疑虑，拓品还是他家的老样子……

www.l7audiolab.com

SMSL D400EX DAC Review

This is a review and detailed measurements of the SMSL D400EX balanced DAC based on AKM4499EX chip. It was sent to me by the company and costs US $959.99 The D400EX is quite attractive looking with the flush controls and the grills on the sides: The latter gives it a high-end look. Alas, I am...

www.audiosciencereview.com

Thanks! I was thinking about the 4499EX.

 

[Phoney]

Hey! I'm seriously considering the EverSolo DAC-Z6 for an all purpose use. Which means for my active Airpulse A100 as a dac and preamp for improved volume control (and maybe an improvement over the built in dac), and also as a headphone amp for the HD800. I believe the headphone amplifier is the same as the Z8, while they share a lot of similarities in general aswell. I know there are even cheaper options out there for this purpose, but I really like this design.

1. Should the Z6 be well suited for an active speaker like the A100s as a dac/preamp volume control using RCA to RCA? No real issues or anything worth noting?

2. I think that the above purpose will not take use of the internal DAC of the A100s, but correct me if I'm wrong. According to their manual only the USB input uses the XMOS interface chip. It also says this:
"PCM audio signals (44.1KHz/48KHz/96KHz/192KHz) only functions in USB mode." Will the PCM audio signals also function in RCA mode if I use a proper dac/preamp like the Z6 into the RCA?

3. Is the headphone amplifier of 27mw into 300ohm sufficient to drive HD800 when I use an EQ pregain of -8,7db (because of my 8,5db bass boost in PEACE)? I believe my preferred HD800 listening volumes are 80-85db at most, but I do have some tracks in my list that are around 10db quieter than some others.

 

[AnalogSteph]

1. Should the Z6 be well suited for an active speaker like the A100s as a dac/preamp volume control using RCA to RCA? No real issues or anything worth noting?

Likely so. With the cheaper opamps being used, I might wait to see how it's doing in terms of "ESS hump".

It also says this:
"PCM audio signals (44.1KHz/48KHz/96KHz/192KHz) only functions in USB mode." Will the PCM audio signals also function in RCA mode if I use a proper dac/preamp like the Z6 into the RCA?

I think this may be poorly worded. They may actually have wanted to imply that USB input is PCM only, i.e. no DSD and such.

3. Is the headphone amplifier of 27mw into 300ohm sufficient to drive HD800 when I use an EQ pregain of -8,7db (because of my 8,5db bass boost in PEACE)? I believe my preferred HD800 listening volumes are 80-85db at most, but I do have some tracks in my list that are around 10db quieter than some others.

You should really be using some playback volume normalization (e.g. ReplayGain) if differences between tracks are that great, assuming they aren't wildly different in terms of dynamic range (e.g. some classical symphony in the midst of rock tracks, that's asking a bit too much). Watch the actual peak levels displayed by PEACE to determine whether your pre-gain is in the right ballpark. If those never move past 50%, you can probably let up a bit. If in doubt, check "Avoid clipping", which would turn the level down automatically were it ever to occur.

27 mW into 300 ohms comes out to about 2.85 Vrms (ca. +9 dBV), which is generally sufficient for 300 ohm Sennheisers. You may be cutting it close at your levels with that much pre-cut, but it's worth a shot. This amount of output is more in line with a MOTU M2... the hardware listed in your signature has more oomph.

How are you getting along with the Qudelix "barefoot"? That only has 3 dB less output.

 

[Phoney]

Likely so. With the cheaper opamps being used, I might wait to see how it's doing in terms of "ESS hump".

I think this may be poorly worded. They may actually have wanted to imply that USB input is PCM only, i.e. no DSD and such.

You should really be using some playback volume normalization (e.g. ReplayGain) if differences between tracks are that great, assuming they aren't wildly different in terms of dynamic range (e.g. some classical symphony in the midst of rock tracks, that's asking a bit too much). Watch the actual peak levels displayed by PEACE to determine whether your pre-gain is in the right ballpark. If those never move past 50%, you can probably let up a bit. If in doubt, check "Avoid clipping", which would turn the level down automatically were it ever to occur.

27 mW into 300 ohms comes out to about 2.85 Vrms (ca. +9 dBV), which is generally sufficient for 300 ohm Sennheisers. You may be cutting it close at your levels with that much pre-cut, but it's worth a shot. This amount of output is more in line with a MOTU M2... the hardware listed in your signature has more oomph.

How are you getting along with the Qudelix "barefoot"? That only has 3 dB less output.

With louder tracks (high gain, -8,5db pregain):

While with quieter tracks:

This is the max of my comfort zone in terms of volume over time. I guess I overestimated what I remembered to be the difference between the tracks. By the way I put 300 ohm for the HD800 on the Qudelix which calculates volume, but the impedance curve measurements of the HD800 shows higher numbers with peaks and dips. Some sites says that it's 430ohm on average. So I don't know if the volume is correct, but you can still see how far away it is from max power. Anyhow it sounds okay to me, but it's hard to compare it with my K5Pro and decide if there's a difference due to lack of power, but it's not obvious in my listening tests anyways. Judging by the amount of headroom here I should be okay? Especially since the Z6 is a bit more powerful.

The reason for using -8,7db in peace is because of resampling due to not being in exclusive mode, I just read somewhere around here to put pregain to 0.2db above the highest peak for the resampling, and then I should be safe. The highest peak is 8,5db, but that's far below 20hz, so I could probably set it lower.

 

[poxymoron]

1. Should the Z6 be well suited for an active speaker like the A100s as a dac/preamp volume control using RCA to RCA? No real issues or anything worth noting?

2. I think that the above purpose will not take use of the internal DAC of the A100s, but correct me if I'm wrong. According to their manual only the USB input uses the XMOS interface chip. It also says this:
"PCM audio signals (44.1KHz/48KHz/96KHz/192KHz) only functions in USB mode." Will the PCM audio signals also function in RCA mode if I use a proper dac/preamp like the Z6 into the RCA?

Not sure how helpful this will be but I'll tell you what I know from when I was considering a similar option. My Edifier S3000pro active speakers' internal DSP cannot be bypassed by using an external DAC. Edifier confirmed this to me when I enquired. FWIW, Airpulse are owned by Edifier and also have internal DSP, so I suspect, but cannot be certain, that the same might apply to your A100s. I think if you contacted Airpulse you may get your answer.

 

[Snoopy]

So no DSD because of the digital volume control? Or why is that?

 

[Phoney]

1. Should the Z6 be well suited for an active speaker like the A100s as a dac/preamp volume control using RCA to RCA? No real issues or anything worth noting?

2. I think that the above purpose will not take use of the internal DAC of the A100s, but correct me if I'm wrong. According to their manual only the USB input uses the XMOS interface chip. It also says this:
"PCM audio signals (44.1KHz/48KHz/96KHz/192KHz) only functions in USB mode." Will the PCM audio signals also function in RCA mode if I use a proper dac/preamp like the Z6 into the RCA?

Not sure how helpful this will be but I'll tell you what I know from when I was considering a similar option. My Edifier S3000pro active speakers' internal DSP cannot be bypassed by using an external DAC. Edifier confirmed this to me when I enquired. FWIW, Airpulse are owned by Edifier and also have internal DSP, so I suspect, but cannot be certain, that the same might apply to your A100s. I think if you contacted Airpulse you may get your answer.

Thanks! Well if that's the case, the Z6 would just act as a volume control for the speakers pretty much. I don't doubt that the internal dac is okay anyways, hard to screw up a dac to a point where it becomes clearly audible.

 

[notsodeadlizard]

The main thing is that there is a VU meter. That is the main thing.

 

[Phoney]

I was trying really hard to convince myself of spending $500 on vu metres by trying to find other benefits, but ASR shattered my dreams with their logic and common sense.

 

[0rangutan]

Question for Z8 owners. I have discovered a defect with mine and am keen to know whether anyone else can recreate the same issue. Ie. is this is a systematic defect or a problem with mine in particular?

The issue: If the Z8 receives a PCM signal at 705.6kHz (16 x oversampling a 44.1kHz signal in Roon) or re-sampled to 768kHz, after a short while (just a few minutes) there is clearly audible white noise in the background on one or both channels. I get the same issue if resampled to DSD128 or 256 in Roon.
If I pause the music, close Roon or disconnect the USB cable the noise continues so it is definitely the Z8 creating this noise rather than my source. If I change the volume on the dial, the volume of the white noise does not change.
The noise will only stop when I restart the Z8, after which it will play as normal before returning again after a further few minutes.
I do not experience this issue resampling to 352.8/384kHz or below, or DSD64.

Can anyone else recreate this issue with their Z8?

 

[Agoue]

De mon côté ce sont des micro coupures quand je connecte ma tv via l'entrée optique.

 

[Warrant]

Christ. Nobody else is doing what Amir does. Is he really not working hard enough for us?

Right. He's doing an amazing worldwide service for free, leveraging people form "my-cousin-once-told-me" kind of reviews. Thanks @amirm!

 

[exhale]

Hello to everyone.
I'm a recent owner of the Z6 and although i have been doing some research prior to buying it, i noticed that there aren't many reviews of these 2 devices. Yet.
After reading the ASR thread about the Z8 and noticing there are quite a few people asking about the Z6 as well, i'm gonna write a few words about my own (obviously subjective) experience with the device, in hope that it will help at least a few of you guys here.
I was lacking a dedicated DAC in my audio chain (had a dedicated ASUS sound board) so i went to a specialized audio shop, 300 km away from my town, to have a chat with the guys there (they are the best in business, here in my country) and ended up with the Z6. I already had a Woo WA6 2nd gen with NOS tubes and was hoping that i could, maybe, "clean" the audio signal a bit. Listening is done on 2 pairs of headphones, an Arya SE and LCD-2 Bamboo (fazor). The chain is PC (Foobar2k) -> Z6 -> Wa6 -> Headphones. Mostly FLAC, locally stored, files.

First impressions were... tiresome, to say the least. After more than 1000km driven (had to take a few detours), i couldn't help myself and jumped right into it. The Aryas were unbearable to listen to, at higher levels. I felt like my ears were bleeding and yes, i am highly sensitive to sibilance, high freqs, the works. I look for a warm sound signature but i also enjoy a more neutral(ish) one, too. Before this, straight from the pc's sound board, the sound seemed more tame, more warm. The issue is that besides bringing a new device into the chain, i've also swapped the power/driver tubes with a different NOS pair so i've said to myself that it's a mix of new tubes, excessive exhaustion on my behalf and the Aryas being a bit too bright, at times.

So after a long night's sleep, i made the biggest coffee mug i could find and sat down, powered everything on and started listening to music. I listen to all genres (from classical to 60s, 70s, 90s, trance, ambient, psy, progressive, rock, etc.) so i started with something more laid back (Nibana - Aeon) and lo and behold, when my body isn't at the brink of collapsing, my brain (through my ears) is also better functioning. So the music is exactly as i have hoped it to be. Neutral-warm sided with plenty of volume left on the WA6.

Now for the Z6 - i keep it at 0 db gain and use the amp for volume tuning. It's connected via USB-B to my PC and through 2xRCA cables to the WA6. I couldn't hear any sort of background noise (or at least anything *new* to what i could already hear). It has 3 filters and although i couldn't hear any difference between them, i've left it on the slow roll-off one (the middle filter). It does, indeed, have 3 VU meters and everything can be controlled from within the app (iOS, in my case). There is a bit of a delay when changing something from within the app and sometimes, some options are stuck in some sort of a loading state. Restarting the app fixes it.
I also tried listening straight from it's 6.3 headphone-out port, on the Arya and it managed to drive them to a decently loud volume (not brain cooking loud but loud enough that if you aren't partially deaf, you'd be able to enjoy the music). It sounds more neutral, at least to my ears, when compared to the WA6 but not by a huge margin. The volume know works flawlessly and it's also the main control option, if you choose to use it. You can press and, obviously, roll left or right to navigate through the menu.
Streaming to it via Bluetooth works without any issues (so far). I was able to stream via aptX HD (i don't have a better bluetooth device, with LDAC or Adaptive, on hand),

One issue i have been encountering are some small interruptions in music playback. It happened 4 or 5 times, so far and the first time it did, was when i used a magnetic tape measuring device, so i could measure the dimensions for the furniture needed to stack the devices (the woo has too big of a depth to be able to stack it onto the Z6 and viceversa is a no go, due to the tubes / transformer sticking out). Then, today for example, it happened again while simply listening to it. I do have a small magnetic device next to both of the units (a QI charging pad) but that was there since forever and it never happened before.
Build quality seems top notch, the package comes with a normal power cable and a USB-B to USB-A cable. I haven't tried the USB-C port but i will, since i have a few cables laying around.

I was also able to test the Z8, at the same store. I wasn't particularly interested in it, since i already have a dedicated desktop AMP and due to the audition being done on a different chain than the one i have at home, my impressions are heavily skewed and subjective but what i noticed, first hand, was a higher volume coming out from the Z8 (they had a pair of SE Aryas for testing, among other headphones) but if my memory serves me right, nothing that can compare to what i can output back home. Still, high enough that i felt discomfort during, say, Enigma's Between Mind and Heart song so i had to lower it by a few dbs. The Z8 also has 4, i think, more filters than the Z6 and 2 or 3 more VU meters (since i can't tell the difference between any of the filters and the 3 VU meters that the Z6 has are more than enough for me, i don't find these as good selling points for the money difference). Connectivity wise, they are the same. The display is the same. The amp stage is better on the Z8, at least subjectively and the DAC section is the last element that differs. Z8 has a single ES9038Pro, compared to the dual ES9068 of the Z6. Sonic wise, they were the same (again, subjectively).

So in my opinion, for someone who already has a dedicated AMP or for someone who isn't using very hard to drive headphones, the Z6 is the price/performance champ, between the two. On the other hand, if you are buying the Z8 for it's amplifying capabilities, you're wasting money since it won't be able to properly drive, say, a pair of HD800s or some hungry planars. Come to think of it, i can't exactly figure it out for whom, exactly, was the Z8 designed but this might be my buyer's bias.

Hope my useless rambling helped at least a few of you and if you need any additional information about the Z6, feel free to chime in and i'll do my best to help!

Cheers.

 

[engineeringDynamo]

imo when you use a DAC like this as a preamp, it is really nice to have the volume display be pretty big.
The Gustard x16 had a silly little volume display.
The next version, Gustard x18 has a much bigger volume display.
My hope is that EverSolo will follow Gustard and put a bigger volume display in their next DAC. I will buy it.

Before someone comments - Yes, I understand that you don't really need a volume display at all if you are using this as a DAC in a system with a different preamp.

 

[JktHifi]

I like this kind of plug. There are 3, not 2 (model eight) on others.