My pleasure, buddy!

You do have a point and a strong one. I would never call A6 boring if A8 didn't exist, but A8 makes the A6 thin sounding and just as you said - quite boring, but only when comparing them. A8 have a thicker overall tonality and while A6 did sound great directly with a power amp, A8 performed better, simple as that. Dedicated line-amp circuitry versus an attenuator makes a (major) difference. In a ~2K - 3K setup, A6 punches above it's weight and that is still valid, but when you star playing with separates and the cost of the system goes up, A6 is no longer doing justice to the rest of the system.

Moreover, even the preamp in the A8 was considered inferior to dedicated preamps around 1K eur. All is relative... therefore the most useful reviews are the comparative ones, even if at the expense of relativization of superlatives :). So if the A8 sounds better than the A6, that is better info than relative/corrected superlatives.

Lol exactly what I was thinking. When the A10 drops next year: “The A8 was so boring to listen to” 😂

Lifeless could be the correct word. And you can't get that with an ESS chip. Period. AKM is a master when it comes to Music emotions especially the AK4499EX semi conductor. But still ESS can keep trying...

​@@Jamy4ya the implementation is more important than the particular chip itself

@@Jamy4yaaudiophile snake oil BS

@@JustBrowsing777 I know that. But even then this new AKM 4499EX has it's own signature sound to it. Now all that matters is how you can improve that signature sound.

@@wcg66 I am aware of that too. But as I posted earlier there is a sound signature difference between the new AKM4499 ex and ESS chip apart from the implementation. I have owned both chip based dacs and I prefer the AKM more.

Thanks for the cool nickname 😅 I will never forget

Why didn't development develop and the display panel didn't grow from the previous generation? An absolutely incomprehensible arrogant mistake! There is now the entire area from the front panel FULL OF WASTE SPACE! Also, that volume control knob (too small even for children's fingers) makes such a sound that a sane hifi player can't bear to hear it for a very long time until he gets really bored and annoyed. This product is now made completely wrong, in contrast to dmp 6 and the master version, which made some sense in terms of ease of use and efficient use of the surface area.

Not everyone wants a big screen if you want that spend 5k on a hifi rose & enjoy looking at the screen whilst posting on there instead

I agree.

I agree

qutest is more resolving

I too was intrigued by the Eversolo DMP-A8's all-in-one promise and eagerly awaited the Eversolo DMP-A8's arrival. Streamlining my setup with a single unit that boasted high-fidelity streaming, DAC, and preamp capabilities was incredibly enticing prospect. Following a thorough review of online resources, including written reviews and video demonstrations, I eagerly embarked on a three-day audition of the DMP-A8 within my established home audio system. My Parasound PLD/2000 - Class-A direct drive preamp, Gustard A26 DAC, and Audiolabs 6000CDT CD transport served as my benchmark for comparison. Prior to the evaluation, I meticulously reviewed the DMP-A8's 100+ page manual to ensure a comprehensive exploration of its functionalities. This methodical approach aimed to uncover the unit's full potential. However, the results proved to be rather underwhelming. Extensive A/B testing across various configurations - the DMP-A8 acting solely as a digital source, analog source, DAC, and preamp - consistently yielded a comparable outcome: a presentation that lacked vibrancy and dynamic range when contrasted with my established setup. The DMP-A8's portrayal of music felt sterile and compressed, regardless of the employed digital filter settings or digital/analog input/output combinations, including the balanced XLR outputs. This consistency across configurations suggested a more fundamental limitation within the unit itself. Considering the $2,000 price tag, this lackluster performance fell short of expectations. While a price point closer to the DMP-A6 might have softened the blow, the sonic shortcomings remained undeniable.

Very....very close, almost indistinguishable, which is a great thing for the DMP-A8

Thx...@@Soundnews

well then I could get rid of my A6, my Gustard A26 and possibly my line stage ? You did not cover the real selling point however, the DSP engine for room & recording correction ! I'm curious if this affects the Analog input and/or the digital output or only the internal DAC ??? @@Soundnews

Which picture? 🙃 Thanks for the suggestion!

Agree there’s a definite better sound quality from the ssd than streaming but it’s still a good streamer though.

Love the positivity, definitely my man! 😁

And why should they sound better? A normal CD contains 600 - 800 MB digital data. With our current network performance you are able to stream easy this data in real time. Then you have studio quality files like MQA or Highres files with more resolition so this files are better then your cd at home. It depents on your devices. If you have a very good and expensive cd-Player, there is a very good DAC and preamp build in. So you need a very good streamer in the same price level with a similar quality of the DAC and preamp. Then you can compare.

@@ison8582 If you think MQA is better resolution...ok, you're a happy man! Listen to music, not numbers and I'm pretty sure you can tell the difference between local and compressed streaming. If you think Tidal is offering you uncompressed sound...

@@ison8582 It's simple: Signal Path. Much longer via streaming and much shorter via local storage.

I would agree with you, if talk about an analog signal way. There would be electrical damping, electrical resistance and other effects. But if you are sending digital data you have schmitt trigger comparstor circuit, error detectuon and special realtime protocols. With a good internet connection, you are receiving the complete package on your device. And then you only have the influences of the device I spoke before. When I put in my cds into my cd player and play the exact same record on tidal or quobuz there is no differences audible. This is maybe a psychologic effect. Maybe you should do a blind test, somebody should switch between the sources. You are not able to hear an difference.

They both sound the same. Don't buy the audiophile snake oil nonsense. The only reason to buy A8 over the A6 are the features. If you want the extra features, then pay extra.

@@amse9297 I wouldn't call these snakeoil because different dac chips and different implementations do sound different. That's where you get the sound characteristics from. We aren't talking speaker cable here.

@@JustBrowsing777 Whatever differences there are, they're imperceptible to the human ear. Both implementations are audibly transparent. Too many people get influenced by charlatans on YT who wouldn't have a reason to exist as YT reviewers if they told the actual truth. If they conducted unsighted, level matched experiments and found all these differences between dacs, then they would have a point. But they don't. So they get all that equipment from audio companies, use words like "refinement" and "weight" that mean nothing, and people all over the world believe them. As I said, if you think the extra features of the A8 are worth it, go ahead and buy it. Everything else is bs .

@@amse9297 I agree with you to some extent but not fully. It's kind of like saying that every car performs and behaves the same because they have engines, gearboxes and 4 wheels. I have heard vastly different sound from my own equipment and was astonished in particular when I exchanged my old Yamaha receiver with a Burr Brown dac which was highly regarded some 10 years ago, for a Marantz with a AKM dac chip. Obviously much else was different too. The difference exchanging that for an Audiolab amp was less except for sheer power, but also exchanging my Bluesound Node (which I was never that pleased with) for the Eversolo was a definite step. At the end of the day, to each their own.

@@JustBrowsing777 Recently designed dacs measure remarkably well. Now if we're talking about something that was released a decade ago, then it's a different conversation.

If you already have the A6, then I would swap the internal SMPS with a linear one from Beatechnik and never wonder about this question.

true2, unless you switch to cayin itll be good upgrade

Yep, coming in January

👍👍@@Soundnews

I've been begging them for silver units for about 6 months now. All my equipment is either silver or white.

@@Soundnews same here 😅

They are giving away 50% of the market by not offering silver. An unforgivable mistake and the only reason I can’t buy their stuff even if I wanted to.

it was just better, like even noticeably better than (my experience with) 60k he-1

If you are bypassing the internal dac, then I would imagine yes, they should sound the same.

yes,you are right@@davidristic3800

They’re different machines so it’s possible that they might sound different. There’s more to it than just passing the data.

I had both a6 and master. Used ony as a streamer the master sounded better.

Better power supply and circuity will make a better sounding streamer .

In another comment he compares the DAC to the Gustard A26. I don't know what this reviewer said about the A6 DAC, but others didn't rate it so highly (as the Gustard).

I owned the a6 and after that the master a6 (sounded better) but stil there was something not nice about it. But the a8 sounds amazing analogue. Still not as good as my chord tt2 and dac with telefunken tubes. But way waaaaaayyyyyyyyy more musical, more stage, more holografic. Music is around you not stuck in the speakers

Try the new EQ function in the A6. It can sound as whatever you want

@@fofocho71 you can eq as much as you want, eq doesn’t give depth and stage.

Depth and stage are in your imagination as both DACs are audibly transparent. Measured

Yes, really strange that his review is the only one to be found...

Would like to know this also

@@alvidrez7956 elsewhere I got the answer they don't differ that much as a pure streamer. To be double checked.

The Tt2 sounds better and a dave no change.. but still the a8 sounds very good, way better than the a6

EXACTLY my thoughts!

PS Audio Air Lens

@@Pete.across.the.street not yet in the market... but soon

no

@@Pete.across.the.street- thanks, so no volume control at all when using the digital outputs?

@@Trebleclefaudio There is, but it is a digital volume control. It bypasses the R2R. Hopefully, it is better than the digital volume control on the a6. The a6 has 3db jumps in volume instead of the usual 1db.

depends, c9 is a great amplifier prob enough for most ears

Yes- a very advanced one, with DSP. Other reviewers have explored this in some depth.

Yes one of the major selling points of the unit is it's a good quality preamp,thats why the volume control is an R2R stepped design.

@@balooo2863 A6 can be used as preamp too. I use it

Atoll is better sounded but Eversolo has easier application

Interesting and cool how you repurpose the iPad is there a KZfaq video online that shows how to do something like that

That’s just bullsh*t I own tha ifi stream and the a8, can assure, is beaten by a ifi stream is not true

It supports Deezer natively. I have it and use it everyday. Hope this helps.

@@jerkobralic8359 thank you very much, and you are sure it's playing in CD Flac quality 44.1khz 16bit?

I have it on my A6 via APK file so should be the same for A8

ah yeah, hope there are pics related

No because the port is just ARC and not the latest eArc standard. What a shame. NAD products have eArc

I was curious about the same thing…

Very curious . I have a bifrost 2 and wondering if the a8 sounds better . I know it's all subjective but still would like opinions