EverSolo Z8 DAC & Amp Review

[Purité Audio]

I am hopeful Amir ( I think it was Amir) mentioned that their parent company Zidoo has a good reputation in the AV world.
I just hope they don’t suffer from the rather unpleasant xenophobia Soncoz garnered from the U.K. forums.
Keith

 

[Snoopy]

I am hopeful Amir ( I think it was Amir) mentioned that their parent company Zidoo has a good reputation in the AV world.
I just hope they don’t suffer from the rather unpleasant xenophobia Soncoz garnered from the U.K. forums.
Keith

What UK forums would that be? (Private message works too).

I hope this product will do well. Looks really like finally some competition for hifi-rose and matrix-audio with their DAC , streamers.

But the gold edition with tax is really not cheap at audiophonics.. that's not really that far away from more expensive brands anymore.

 

[Purité Audio]

Payment sent, they look great. measurements appear to be excellent not ‘cheap’ but pretty inexpensive, re the xenophobia, I am not particularly happy about the Chinese government but I am not that keen on the U.K government.
Soncoz was pilloried because of one unsubstantiated report of a unit overhearing, we didn’t supply the unit, I offered to exchange the unit and to send it back to Soncoz for inspection, but it was never returned despite repeated requests.
A relatively small number of posters seized upon this to disparage the product, a little unfair as I had no reported issues whatsoever.
Keith

 

[multisport4me]

I did notice the DMP-A6 uses OPA1642 and the Master version uses the OPA1612 - which is what the Z8 uses. I'm not sure its worth a $400 premium though. Especially since I plan to use the HDMI Audio output predominantly. Does anyone think the OPA1642 will be significantly worse than the OPS1642? I mean, I would like the DAC to sound as nice as the Z8 does when/if I use analog out.

 

[multisport4me]

Payment sent, they look great. measurements appear to be excellent not ‘cheap’ but pretty inexpensive, re the xenophobia, I am not particularly happy about the Chinese government but I am not that keen on the U.K government.
Soncoz was pilloried because of one unsubstantiated report of a unit overhearing, we didn’t supply the unit, I offered to exchange the unit and to send it back to Soncoz for inspection, but it was never returned despite repeated requests.
A relatively small number of posters seized upon this to disparage the product, a little unfair as I had no reported issues whatsoever.
Keith

Did you order the Master version? Also, are there measurements posted somewhere?

 

[Purité Audio]

I don’t believe the ‘Master’ version is available , Misue said he would ask Audiophonics to take it down, I don’t know how many they made but there wasn’t an option to order one.
Keith

 

[multisport4me]

I don’t believe the ‘Master’ version is available , Misue said he would ask Audiophonics to take it down, I don’t know how many they made but there wasn’t an option to order one.
Keith

FWIW - Audiophonics quoted me the master shipped to NY. That said, I'm just going to hang with the regular version. The price difference is signficant for what I perceive will be little to no audible differences. Tough to know until Amir test one and someone else test a Master version. But I'm guessing Zidoo/Eversolo won't screw up the DMP-A6 DAC performance enough that there will be audible differences.

 

[amirm]

Payment sent, they look great. measurements appear to be excellent not ‘cheap’ but pretty inexpensive, re the xenophobia, I am not particularly happy about the Chinese government but I am not that keen on the U.K government.
Soncoz was pilloried because of one unsubstantiated report of a unit overhearing, we didn’t supply the unit, I offered to exchange the unit and to send it back to Soncoz for inspection, but it was never returned despite repeated requests.
A relatively small number of posters seized upon this to disparage the product, a little unfair as I had no reported issues whatsoever.
Keith

That is sad to hear. FYI the AV products from Zidoo are quite popular in Europe and have fans in the largest AV forum in UK (AVforums).

 

[Maurix]

l'ho comprato, ottimo in tutto... buono il telecomando che rispetto agli smsl è più efficiente, il dac è davvero bello e professionale.... si sentono i clic relè ad ogni commutazione e accensione spegnimento. Lo si può pilotare con lo smartphone tramite l'app.. davvero bello.

 

[Barryfromholland]

Does anyone know if there is a problem with the acceptance of toslink stream from a Samsung tv?
my topping d90se can not handle the high jitter from the Samsung tv, therefore regular hiccups in the sound.

I solved this by using a bluesound node between the tv and the topping dac: tv—hdmi arc--node—usb cable—topping d90se—XLR—purify power amp

 

[nawfal07]

Hi everyone,

I don’t comment much but I’ve never stopped being fascinated by this boards and everyone involved, especially @amirm and so many other members with vast knowledge in audio science, all gathered in one place.

I only started into stereo setups (used to only have a home theater setup) last year, wonder if anyone can help clarify a thing or two now that I’ve found this sexy DAC.

I began with the dirt cheap AIYIMA A07 out of curiosity using the preout from the Denon AVR-X4700H, that wasn’t bad but didn’t impress me much. Then I bought a Topping D90SE, firstly out to the A07 then I simply like it better to the Denon. Then I bought a Topping PA5 to power it up separately.

My source is Apple Music from my iPhone to the D90SE via Bluetooth. I realize via BT I’m not getting hi-res audio, but it sounds amazing enough I didn’t bother to look for other solutions (I still get lossless with BT right?). I also sometimes use Apple TV 4K connected to the X4700H for spatial audio music (Dolby Atmos, it’s a different level of experience, you just have to try it).

Now that I saw this EverSolo DAC-Z8 has a USB-C input, it got me thinking again. I have a few lightning-USB-C cables around, can I use the cable to connect my iPhone to this Z8? If yes, will I get hi-res audio?

I’ve learned all about this Z8, if the answer to the above is yes I would not hesitate to buy it.

The D90SE has USB-B which I don’t have a lightning cable for, even if I have one like many here I just like the VU meter and everything I see with the Z8. Plus, I own Zidoo Z9X media player since 2020 still going strong (video quality way better than Apple TV 4K), would be cool to have them as cousins.

I know I will not get better performance than the D90SE, but I like the Z8 better overall. So the real question remain (and this applies to D90SE too), will I get hi-res audio from my iPhone connected to the Z8 via the USB-C input?

PS: Would it work if I use a HDMI-USB-C cable from my Apple TV 4K to this Z8? I know never spatial audio, but stereo hi-res audio?

PPS: I use Apple Music because it has hundreds more local songs from my country that the other services don’t have, and it’s the cheapest and easiest in the ecosystem I’m already in.

Thank you in advanced.

Cheers.

 

[Purité Audio]

The dac Z-8 has both USB- B and USB- C inputs,

Eversolo DAC-Z8-Specs

www.eversolo.com

Keith

 

[nawfal07]

The dac Z-8 has both USB- B and USB- C inputs,

Eversolo DAC-Z8-Specs

www.eversolo.com

Keith

Thanks Keith. I’m looking to connect to USB-C at the moment. Just wondering if I will get hi-res audio from my iPhone.

 

[notsodeadlizard]

Hi everyone,

I don’t comment much but I’ve never stopped being fascinated by this boards and everyone involved, especially @amirm and so many other members with vast knowledge in audio science, all gathered in one place.

I only started into stereo setups (used to only have a home theater setup) last year, wonder if anyone can help clarify a thing or two now that I’ve found this sexy DAC.

I began with the dirt cheap AIYIMA A07 out of curiosity using the preout from the Denon AVR-X4700H, that wasn’t bad but didn’t impress me much. Then I bought a Topping D90SE, firstly out to the A07 then I simply like it better to the Denon. Then I bought a Topping PA5 to power it up separately.

My source is Apple Music from my iPhone to the D90SE via Bluetooth. I realize via BT I’m not getting hi-res audio, but it sounds amazing enough I didn’t bother to look for other solutions (I still get lossless with BT right?). I also sometimes use Apple TV 4K connected to the X4700H for spatial audio music (Dolby Atmos, it’s a different level of experience, you just have to try it).

Now that I saw this EverSolo DAC-Z8 has a USB-C input, it got me thinking again. I have a few lightning-USB-C cables around, can I use the cable to connect my iPhone to this Z8? If yes, will I get hi-res audio?

I’ve learned all about this Z8, if the answer to the above is yes I would not hesitate to buy it.

The D90SE has USB-B which I don’t have a lightning cable for, even if I have one like many here I just like the VU meter and everything I see with the Z8. Plus, I own Zidoo Z9X media player since 2020 still going strong (video quality way better than Apple TV 4K), would be cool to have them as cousins.

I know I will not get better performance than the D90SE, but I like the Z8 better overall. So the real question remain (and this applies to D90SE too), will I get hi-res audio from my iPhone connected to the Z8 via the USB-C input?

PS: Would it work if I use a HDMI-USB-C cable from my Apple TV 4K to this Z8? I know never spatial audio, but stereo hi-res audio?

PPS: I use Apple Music because it has hundreds more local songs from my country that the other services don’t have, and it’s the cheapest and easiest in the ecosystem I’m already in.

Thank you in advanced.

Cheers.

If I understand you correctly, in less than a year you have bought all sorts of "small Chinese boxes" in an attempt to turn a good 9.2 Denon receiver into some kind of stereo system.
Then you find out that the Bluetooth in the "small Chinese box" is not really suitable for audio purposes (which is true, even more true is that you will never get an isochronous Bluetooth LE for this box, even when heavy commercialization begins).
In addition, you found that the USB connector in the box is incompatible with your requirements.

Do you still really want another exactly the same box, it will be the fourth in a row, right?
Think about it
And just think why do you need a VU meter not in the amplifier and not in the power amplifier especially.
What will you look at if the VU meter shows obscure-fascinating levels of something before the volume control?

You spent more than $1.1K only on two "small Chinese boxes" for which there is no service, for which de facto there is no support.
For that money, you could buy a great A-brand integrated amplifier with a great DAC inside.

As for those Apples with their special connectors...
Buy this for $9 and forget about the headache at all, you can't hear 0.0011% from 0.00011% by ear:

Apple Lightning Adapter Audio Quality Measurements

 

[nawfal07]

If I understand you correctly, in less than a year you have bought all sorts of "small Chinese boxes" in an attempt to turn a good 9.2 Denon receiver into some kind of stereo system.
Then you find out that the Bluetooth in the "small Chinese box" is not really suitable for audio purposes (which is true, even more true is that you will never get an isochronous Bluetooth LE for this box, even when heavy commercialization begins).
In addition, you found that the USB connector in the box is incompatible with your requirements.

Do you still really want another exactly the same box, it will be the fourth in a row, right?
Think about it
And just think why do you need a VU meter not in the amplifier and not in the power amplifier especially.
What will you look at if the VU meter shows obscure-fascinating levels of something before the volume control?

You spent more than $1.1K only on two "small Chinese boxes" for which there is no service, for which de facto there is no support.
For that money, you could buy a great A-brand integrated amplifier with a great DAC inside.

As for those Apples with their special connectors...
Buy this for $9 and forget about the headache at all, you can't hear 0.0011% from 0.00011% by ear:

Apple Lightning Adapter Audio Quality Measurements

Thanks, but I’m not looking for advise on how I spend my money. I just needed to know if I can get hi-res audio from my iPhone via the USB-C.

Edit: That article was from 2017, Apple Music only introduced lossless/hi-res audio in 2021. Not to mention all hardware upgrades in the last 6 years.

 

[Purité Audio]

Thanks Keith. I’m looking to connect to USB-C at the moment. Just wondering if I will get hi-res audio from my iPhone.

Yes if your phone can send files up to 768kHz then the Dac Z-8 will play them.
Keith

 

[nawfal07]

Yes if your phone can send files up to 768kHz then the Dac Z-8 will play them.
Keith

Thank you so much, Keith!

 

[notsodeadlizard]

Thanks, but I’m not looking for advise on how I spend my money. I just needed to know if I can get hi-res audio from my iPhone via the USB-C.

Edit: That article was from 2017, Apple Music only introduced lossless/hi-res audio in 2021. Not to mention all hardware upgrades in the last 6 years.

Apple Lightning to USB Camera Adapter + any USB cable + any cheap external DAC or USB input of integrated into something DAC.
No more.

 

[notsodeadlizard]

Apple Lightning to USB Camera Adapter + any USB cable + any cheap external DAC or USB input of integrated into something DAC.
No more.

It is found by google in 5 seconds (tons of this stuff, you are not alone), but read the comments pls:

How To Get Digital Audio Output From Your iPhone or iPad (2022 Edition) - Music Server Tips

I'm discussing methods how you can extract a digital USB output signal from your iPhone

www.musicservertips.com

 

[nawfal07]

It is found by google in 5 seconds (tons of this stuff, you are not alone), but read the comments pls:

How To Get Digital Audio Output From Your iPhone or iPad (2022 Edition) - Music Server Tips

I'm discussing methods how you can extract a digital USB output signal from your iPhone

www.musicservertips.com

And I’ve done tons of googling. I’m asking about this particular model in this thread, EverSolo DAC-Z8. Especially those have tried it themselves.

It’s okay I already placed my order anyway, until then I’ll see if others who’ve tried can respond otherwise I’ll find out myself. If it doesn’t work then it’s fine I’m going to use it the usual way.

Thank you for your response.