Eversolo DMP-A8 Master Gen 2

DMP-A8 Master Gen 2: Listening Test

Although this doesn’t directly concern the sound quality, I can’t help but begin this section of the review by reflecting on the usability of the DMP-A8 Master Gen 2. If you’ve had the patience to follow along this far, you’ve surely grasped the level of complexity of this product, given the wide range of functions it’s capable of performing. However, this complexity is not apparent at all, as it is concealed by a user interface that is not only beautifully designed to be intuitive and immediately understandable, but also incredibly fast and unhesitating in responding to commands. Some might argue that this is now standard for this type of device. My response is to invite you to spend a few minutes “playing around” with the This machine’s touchscreen. You’ll see that after this review, everything else will seem just as outdated as a PC with a 386 processor might seem to you today. Regular readers may recall our review of Eversolo’s flagship DAC/streamer, the DMP-A10, published last year. I wrote something similar back then as well, but the DMP-A8 Gen 2 made an even better impression on me, thanks to a more refined implementation. I’d even go so far as to say that even the tricky parametric equalizer function, as it’s been implemented, struck me as simple and easy to understand. But now let’s talk about the sound.

Our review of the DMP 8 lasted several days, giving us the opportunity to integrate it into multiple systems with different characteristics. I’ll start by saying that the first configuration we used was one in which the DMP 8 served as a DAC/streamer/CD player paired with a Denon PMA 3000NE integrated amplifier driving either Davis Olympia Master One 35 bookshelf speakers or Paradigm Premier Series V2 speakers. In both cases, we experienced a full and detailed sound, excellent tonal accuracy, and the sense that the source was able to highlight the best characteristics of the downstream system, bringing out its strengths. In this setup, I enjoyed listening to several CDs whose metadata was recognized flawlessly. Out of a sense of sadism, I went and dug up a CD burned by a friend at least twenty years ago, which contained what we would now call a Playlist. The CD had zero artistic value—it was a senseless jumble of tracks, some of which were even rather bad. What was amazing, though, was that the DMP-A8 Master Gen 2 recognized them all without a single error! That is to say: the display didn’t just show “track 1, track 2, etc.” as I was used to seeing on other players, but rather the track title and the artist’s name. A true marvel! I’m digressing and need to get back to talking about the sound. I’ll start by saying that it’s actually quite difficult to describe the sound of this DMP-A8 Master Gen 2, since with a little effort—not even that much—you can make it sound exactly the way you want. By this I mean that, thanks to the options offered by the DSP, the choice of output filters, the Room Correction: the device adapts beautifully to any usage scenario. The great thing is that you can take advantage of this flexibility—or choose to ignore it. No unwanted complexity.

The second usage scenario involved the DMP-A8 Master Gen 2 serving as a preamplifier, taking advantage of its sophisticated volume control, which we’ve already discussed. The power amplifier connected to it was the excellent Pass Aleph 5 clone built by my friend and colleague Giancarlo Valletta. Here, things got even more interesting. Yes, because up until now, my favorable assessment had been reserved for the source—as sophisticated and effective as it was in every respect. Here, however, I found myself resorting to the usual evaluation grid I use when assessing a standard analog preamplifier. In this instance, the true nature—the sonic character—of this Eversolo really came to the fore. A character that tends toward restraint, attentive to detail, capable of evoking emotion not through a forceful presentation but, on the contrary, through a preference for nuances, tonal accuracy, and a sense of cohesion in the sound—all combined with a beautiful flow. In short, a performance worthy of a true preamp—one capable of infusing character and providing direction to the audio system within which it operates. Here, too, the point made a few lines above applies: this character can be adjusted via the electronic controls. Right? Wrong? I cannot answer this question, which, I believe, comes down to each of our individual musical sensibilities.

Conclusions

At this point, I should say that the Eversolo DMP-A8 Master Gen 2, priced at €2,580.00, is a real bargain. Yes, of course. It’s so obvious that I certainly stand by this statement. However, reducing everything to a mere question of money seems reductive to me and somewhat disrespectful toward a product that, in my opinion, represents a turning point. Not only for the Asian company, which has reached full maturity with this product, positioning itself at the forefront of digital audio manufacturers. I’d go so far as to say that the Eversolo DMP-A8 Master Gen 2 is a turning point for audio in general, demonstrating that innovative technologies, crafted to the highest standards with the goal of achieving the best sonic performance, do not necessarily entail exorbitant costs or complexity of use. These are things that can happen—and do happen—only when backed by the power of industrial groups like Zidoo, the parent company of Eversolo. I have one regret: not having been able to listen to it in a system consisting of this music machine and a pair of active speakers paired with a subwoofer.

In my opinion, that would have been fantastic.

Giulio Salvioni

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS

Chassis: Aerospace-grade aluminum
DAC: AK4499EXEQ + AK4191EQ
Velvet Sound™ technology: Integrated
Volume adjustment: High-precision R-2R resistor ladder (analog domain)
CD playback system: Custom with high-precision error correction
Precision Clock Input: 10 MHz adaptive external clock input
IIS output modes: 8 configurable modes
SUB output: Dedicated
HDMI ARC/eARC: Built-in
SFP optical network port: Dedicated (supports gigabit single-mode single-fiber, gigabit single-mode dual-fiber optical modules, and SFP network communication modules)
Bluetooth version: 5.4
Wi-Fi: Wi-Fi 6 (dual-band 2.4 GHz + 5 GHz)
SSD slot: M.2 NVMe (supports up to 1×8TB expansion capacity)
USB OTG external expansion: Supported
Coaxial and optical input support: Up to PCM 192kHz / 24-bit and DSD64 DoP
Analog Inputs: One pair of balanced XLR and single-ended RCA
Analog Input Gain: up to +10 dB
AES/EBU interface: Dedicated balanced digital interface (XLR-style)
USB Audio Output Support: Up to DSD512 Native and PCM 768 kHz/32-bit playback
Analog Output: XLR balanced and RCA single-ended
Streaming service integration: Apple Music, Spotify, TIDAL, Qobuz, Amazon Music, Deezer, etc.
File-sharing protocols: SMB, NFS, and WebDAV
Streaming protocols: Spotify Connect Lossless, TIDAL Connect, Qobuz Connect, DLNA/UPnP, and Network Audio Adapter
Audio Engine: EOS (Bit-Perfect path)
Audio Upsampling: Up to 16×
Room Correction System: evotune™ PRO (supports USB measurement microphones and smartphone microphones)
Supported audio formats: DSD, MQA, FLAC, APE, and WAV
PCM Support: 768 kHz/32-bit
DSD Support: 512
Equalizer: 20-band PEQ (supports FIR filter import, loudness control, and dynamic range compression)
DSP EQ Adjustment Range: 3.51 Hz–20,000 Hz
Wake-on-LAN: Supported (requires a wired Ethernet connection)
Remote Control: Dual-mode (Bluetooth and infrared) with alloy casing
Audio Processor: Eversolo AuralEngine
Operational Amplifiers: OPA1612
Display: 8.6-inch LCD touchscreen
Storage: 8 GB DDR5 + 64 GB eMMC
SSD Protocol: M.2 NVMe PCIe 3.0, 2280 form factor, supporting SSDs up to 8 TB
Ethernet: RJ-45 (10/100/1000 Mbps)
Dimensions: 388 mm L × 265 mm W × 98.5 mm H