John Darko
Eversolo has today confirmed the imminent release of its DMP-A8 streaming pre-amplifier. The new model retains the DMP-A6‘s brushed aluminium enclosure, six-inch LCD touchscreen, internal NVME bay, CD playback (and ripping) from an external USB drive, ‘cast mode’ smartphone app, digital inputs (coaxial, TOSLINK and USB) and balanced/single-ended outputs but adds a slew of new features.
Firstly, an HDMI ARC input – which I believe is near-essential on products of this stripe. Eversolo has also upgraded the USB input to XMOS Gen 3 and the Bluetooth 5.0 input is marshalled by Qualcomm’s QCC5125 chip to support LDAC, aptX HD, aptX LL, aptX, AAC and (of course) SBC.
Also new to the DMP-A8 is a balanced analogue input whose 10dB of gain attenuated by an R2R volume control. Then there’s the two-stage power supply where a linear transformer feeds the audio circuitry and a switch-mode power supply the digital circuitry that hosts the operating system. The A8’s heavily customised Android OS offers bit-perfect playback but adds deep DSP functionality with (among other things) a user-tweakable loudness booster and a parametric EQ.
D/A conversion comes not from ESS Labs (as per the A6) but AKM whose Velvet Sound Verita silicon appears to centre on two chips: an AK4499EX and an AK4491EQ. Streams arriving at the DAC circuit are clocked in by a pair of ‘low noise’ Femto clocks: one for 44.1kHz-based sample rates and one for the 48kHz family.
Most striking of all, the preliminary photos suggest that the DMP-A8 will be a full-width hi-fi component.
And that’s all we know for now. Pricing on the DMP-A8 remains TBC but according to Dutch dealer Magna Hifi’s Facebook page, it’ll start shipping before the end of 2023. A December arrival would certainly complicate many a hifi publication’s end-of-year list.
Further information: Eversolo
