Note: all photos supplied by Eversolo.
The unit under review is the first generation DMP-A6.
Consider Your Source
An idea that today is as relevant as ever, perhaps more so, both in life and in our weird corner of it. System building is a personal journey, if we prioritize the experience over reviews, specs and measures. Knowledge and experience aren’t required if we simply look to buy the priciest, or best-measured bits. Finding satisfaction requires big ears. Listening. We don’t know until we do. So, well, here we are. Or, here I am.
Streaming music is all the rage. Most, not all, but most of us are up to our necks in the stream. I do still embrace the physical, but am currently on the hunt for an affordable, great sounding dedicated streaming device. I’m starting here, with Eversolo’s initial offering, which has been available for a couple of years now. The plan is to sit with it for a good while and then compare it to their recently released dedicated streamer, the T8. This is my ultimate target. I chose Eversolo because the general consensus is that it sounds good, plus the UI, software, and host of digital and analog inputs/outputs make it an attractive option. This is an outsized desktop system, so the option of controlling everything from the lovely 6” screen is a draw. No remote necessary. I’ve been a Roon/Tidal/Qobuz user for some time, and years back had gone the way of modding a desktop machine to use as a server: JCAT USB card with external power supply, dedicated SSD, fancy cabling, etc. Time to simplify. And, time to untether the music and system from everything else. The DMP-A6 does include a DAC, but I don’t plan to use it. I may do some comparisons later, but the initial focus here is using the unit to feed the Schiit Yggdrasil.
First Blush
The DMP-A6 arrived yesterday. The streamer was well-packed, double-boxed and bagged, similar to many components in this range. The unit, once powered on and connected to the network, automatically offered all available software updates. Cool. Everything can be input and handled via the touchscreen. Simple. Disabling the volume control (volume knob also doubles as power button) so that I could use the unit as a dedicated streamer, was also easy to find within the settings. Logging into Qobuz was no different. The Eversolo Control app on Android offers full control, and has worked smoothly from the moment I synced my phone to the DMP-A6. I’ll use this less, but it remains a selling point.
The display is bright and responsive. The active playback display offers record art, most of the detail regarding file type I’d need, and the usual transport functions. The VU meter display options are cool, but not something I need. I haven’t looked yet, but wonder if I could use Qobuz’ native import function here, and store the files in the optional SSD storage. Would be cool, though I don’t think this is available. I’ll come back to that.
I’ll leave the DMP-A6 to limber up for a few days before settling in for an extended listening session. More soon.
Updated: The DMP-A6 does not support direct download of Qobuz imported files to the optional SSD. We'd need to download files on another computer and then transfer using Eversolo's process.