Good, better, best. It’s a marketing strategy as old as stereo sound. We’ve already seen Eversolo’s ‘good’: the DMP-A6 was 2023’s runaway hit (review here and here). Later that year came the DMP-A8, which (to these ears) sounded quite a bit ‘better’ (review here and here). Now comes the Chinese company’s moonshot: the DMP-A10.
Will it be Eversolo’s ‘best’? Let’s dive in…
The DMP-A10 is a DDC, streaming DAC, standalone DAC and — bypassing digital sources, the parametric EQ and Eversolo’s own room correction software — a fully balanced analogue pre-amplifier with balanced XLR inputs and XLR outputs and a resistor ladder volume control.
Measuring 6.5″ across its diagonal, the A10’s front-panel touchscreen is slightly larger the 6-incher found on the A6 and A8. It still gives us 1) VU meter display via a 2) a heavily customised Android operating system with which we install many of the popular streaming apps. White-listed are Apple Music, Spotify, Tidal, Qobuz, Deezer and Amazon Music (and more). Eversolo’s Original Sampling-rate Audio Engine (EOS) bypasses Android’s SRC to guarantee bit-perfect playback of all streams and we still get a smartphone app that, when turned to landscape mode, can mirror the A10’s display.
A new feature: Eversolo’s Global Music Search allows us to search across multiple streaming services. Spotify Connect and Tidal Connect will also be onboard from the get-go. Roon Ready certification is still in the works.
Want to play higher bitrates than Tidal’s or Apple Music’s 24bit/192kHz maximum? The DMP-A10’s undercarriage will accommodate a pair of M.2 NVME SSD drives – and the USB-A socket USB storage devices – for streaming support up to DSD512. Alternatively, we can use the A10’s suite of digital inputs: 2 x coaxial, 2 x TOSLINK, USB and HDMI ARC. Hello TV audio!
The internal DAC is built around an ESS 9039PRO chip – and not the AKM used in the A8 – but, in a blow to short-cut culture, we aren’t told enough about the analogue output stage or the twin linear “ultra-low noise” power supplies to reliably infer any of the A10’s audible characteristics. (FWIW, Eversolo rates the A10’s THD+N at -122dB with SNR sitting at 130dB). However, we are told that the DAC circuit’s clocking is handled by independent 44.1kHz and 48kHz OCXO oscillators and that the front-panel display is electrically isolated from the analogue circuitry.
Three surprise inclusions: a nicer-looking remote control, dual subwoofer outputs and an SFB Fiber network port.
Pricing? US$3680 or โฌ3780.
Further information: Eversolo