EverSolo Z8 DAC & Amp Review

[Grooved]

I saw it a few days ago on the Audiophonics website, and was wondering what kind of DAC this brand could build... (I remember that, years ago, this brand was certainly the only one selling a TV Box with HDMI input, if I'm not wrong).
I thought this DAC looked good on paper, but an almost perfect one with this screen was not what I was expecting. Good job!

A bit pricey compared to the SMSL M500 MKIII which is almost the same but costs less and has a better headphone amp.
But this one has the best screen/menu if you really want such a thing.

They also have the DAC Z6 for 469€ instead of 699€ which is the same but with:
- dual ES9068A (2 x 2ch DAC chip, instead of 1 x 8ch DAC chip for the Z8)
- 6 x RT6863S Opamps (instead of 10 x OPA1612A)
- Low Noise PS (instead of Ultra-Low Noise PS)
- 3 PCM filters (instead of 7 PCM and 4 DSD filters)
- DR 8dB lower

 

[PeteL]

Absolutely great stuff, sorry to be that party breaker, seeing this manufacturer just come out of the left field like that with such performance, makes me wonder how much of a matured and solved thing ESS reference design are at this point. Like, did anybody managed to really mess it up on a standard dac? Is it even possible if you just follow the instructions? Did we see any dac with that chip perform significantly less good. Are we at a point where just about anybody can do that and not achieving these number you would have to be really careless and incompetent? Just wondering, are there actual exemples?

 

[Doodski]

Absolutely great stuff, sorry to be that party breaker, seeing this manufacturer just come out of the left field like that with such performance, makes me wonder how much of a matured and solved thing ESS reference design are at this point. Like, did anybody managed to really mess it up on a standard dac? Is it even possible if you just follow the instructions? Did we see any dac with that chip perform significantly less good. Are we at a point where just about anybody can do that and not achieving these number you would have to be really careless and incompetent? Just wondering, are there actual exemples?

Good questions. So basically you are saying that any qualified person can acquire the datasheet/book/design notes on these DAC chips, follow the schematics and design notes and make a nice DAC?

 

[voodooless]

Absolutely great stuff, sorry to be that party breaker, seeing this manufacturer just come out of the left field like that with such performance, makes me wonder how much of a matured and solved thing ESS reference design are at this point. Like, did anybody managed to really mess it up on a standard dac? Is it even possible if you just follow the instructions? Did we see any dac with that chip perform significantly less good. Are we at a point where just about anybody can do that and not achieving these number you would have to be really careless and incompetent? Just wondering, are there actual exemples?

Buy a few of those cheap ESS board from AliExpress and send them in… then we’ll know soon enough.

It took quite a few years to find an optimal design for these chips. Once the code was cracked on how to extract the best performance, everybody started doing it. I actually doubt the specific answers are to be found in the reference manual, otherwise it would not have taken a while for these designs to extract the best performance.

 

[Grooved]

@amirm it looks like the filter graph is showing twice the Fast minimum filter. The red one, if Fast linear, should be different

 

[restorer-john]

What's with colours on the "VU meters"?

 

[boxerfan88]

I wonder are they going to offer a AKM4499 variant any time soon?

 

[Doodski]

What's with colours on the "VU meters"?

It looks like a oil sheen on water. Perhaps it is a property of the plastic with the bright light reflecting off of it or maybe there is some plastic wax on the surface..

 

[Jake Cushing]

Would love to see PEQ become a more frequent feature on these DACs, so it's not just the RME (great DAC but pricey).

 

[Blumlein 88]

What's with colours on the "VU meters"?

Wondering the same thing. Thought it was some kind of butterfly logo or something.

 

[Blumlein 88]

Top performance and design IMHO. Sidenote: Is the toslink's "hatch" missing?

Looks like a design I've seen where it has a plug rather than a hinged hatch.

 

[Triliza]

Nice product. it has Bluetooth and Wi-Fi from I can tell, what for, does it has any streaming capabilities?

 

[amirm]

Top performance and design IMHO. Sidenote: Is the toslink's "hatch" missing?

Yes. I broke it.

 

[restorer-john]

Yes. I broke it.

Those spring cover hatch TOSLINK sockets are nasty, but they are all over stuff these days. Very easy to break without even trying.

I much prefer the solid original design with removable plugs.

 

[amirm]

What's with colours on the "VU meters"?

That one style has the rainbow background. Others do not.

 

[PeteL]

I actually doubt the specific answers are to be found in the reference manual, otherwise it would not have taken a while for these designs to extract the best performance.

Do you have exemples of early ES9038 Pro implementations that did not extract top performance.

 

[VintageFlanker]

Thx, Amir !

Some top performer product, yet with a terrible, terrible name.

Do you have exemples of early ES9038 Pro implementations that did not extract top performance.

Review and Measurements of Hifime UDA38Pro DAC

This is a review and detailed measurements of Hifime UDA38Pro DAC which is built on the flagship ESS DAC chip, the ES9038Pro. I purchased this a few weeks ago based on suggestions from members that this is by far the cheapest implementation of ES9038Pro. I paid USD $260 including shipping from...

www.audiosciencereview.com

 

[voodooless]

Do you have exemples of early ES9038 Pro implementations that did not extract top performance.

I guess we all remember the ESS hump debacles? Basically all devices of that era had these issues… until suddenly this was a fixed problem. Es9038Pro is from past the ESS hump era, so I wouldn’t expect major issues.

But most of the DAC’s tested are from somewhat reputable companies. We’ve never seen the ominously cheap and no-name boards tested though. I bet there are some very nice gems out there with < 90 SINAD to mock and belittle

Edit: Anthem AVR90 has ES9038Pro and only claims a 100 SINAD. It’s an AVR, but still, that’s 20dB off the mark.

 

[fordiebianco]

Very nice unit. Many thanks for taking the time to test it, @amirm. This would make a lovely pre-amp in front of some beefy monoblocks. Very high WAF. Unfortunately not yet available on Amazon UK.

 

[jonk72]

From what i know, eversolo is a subsidary of zidoo.