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Build Quality
When I first saw the pictures of the DMP-A10 online I thought this looked nice, but when I opened the package and saw it in real life, those thoughts were surpassed by a good mile. The DMP-A10 is beautifully designed and built like a real high-end piece of equipment.
Every little detail of the casing is done meticulously. From the volume knob’s angled surface to the power button and the logo. It’s all done so extremely well and a clear step up from Eversolo’s other products, which are also built very well!
The DMP-A10 uses a 6.5” touchscreen on the front of the unit, which is big enough to read meta information from my listening position. The screen itself is very clear and looks gorgeous. Next to the touchscreen there is a smaller screen on the volume dial, which will give you visual feedback of the current volume setting. What appears like a gimmick at first, really is the icing on the cake for me.
Eversolo also uses the DMP-A10’s aluminum case for heat-dissipation. While the unit does get warm over time, it doesn’t produce high amounts of heat at all. The DMP-A10 is a big streaming DAC and bigger than I imagined. It measures 430 x 310 x 117mm (WDH), which translates to 17 x 12 x 4.6 inches. The casework is beautifully finished and flawless in construction.
From the moment of unpacking to every time I look at it, I am floored by its build quality and looks. It’s amazing! This is Eversolo showing the rest how far they can go.
Room Correction
I am a big fan of Eversolo’s software, and it just keeps getting better and better! Newly implemented in their operating system is the option for software room correction.
Room acoustics are an often-overlooked aspect of sound. Every room has its own characteristic and impact on the final sound. Treating a room acoustically isn’t always an option though, as it costs good money and makes an impact on the visual appearance of your living space. However, when a room can’t be treated passively by installing hardware on the walls, there’s the option to do it by software. This can only tackle the low-end reverberation of the room though. Mid and high frequencies will not be affected. The end-result still is there though and with the Eversolo you get that option to further optimize the sound.
The process for doing so is rather simple. Just click the Room Correction button in the software and follow the instructions. The whole thing will take you roughly five minutes at best. You will need a microphone for this though as you are going to measure the frequency response of your room. However, you can use your phone for that. A better result would be to use a third-party mic. Eversolo also offers one specifically for this called the EM-01. It’s an omni-directional microphone specifically for the purpose of room characteristic measurements.
When you are ready and all set to go for room correction, just tap on the corresponding icon “Room Correction” in the App. If you’re using the EM-01 microphone, you can download the calibration file for it, by selecting “Auto retrieve from cloud”. It will then download the txt file on your smartphone and use this for the next steps. Now, it is important to have your room silent.
The best would be to turn off all other devices and stop moving then. In the next step you will have to set the volume to a range between -60 and -20 dB. After you’ve done that, you can start with measuring in the next step. This takes 20 seconds in total. Then the software will create FIR filters, which you can then apply to your DSP settings. If you haven’t set up any before, you can add it to Config 1, which is already pre-set on the DMP. That’s it!
Usability
You can use the Eversolo in three ways. With the supplied remote control. By using the touchscreen on the DMP’s front, or with the App “EverSolo Control”. I strongly suggest the latter, as the App is absolutely fantastic. You can just download the EverSolo Control App in either the Play or App Store.
The Eversolo DMP-A10 comes with a heavily modified Android system. It’s not an open Android, where you can install any app, you want though. The most important streaming services are built-in via an API, so you can use Spotify, Tidal etc natively on the DMP-A10. Alternatively, there is also a selection of white-listed apps that you can install for further convenience.
Since the Eversolo is a closed Android system, you can’t just hit up the Play Store and download anything you want. But with their selection of streaming services, you should have all bases covered. Though I must admit that I definitely don’t know all the streaming services that exist. So maybe you’re not covered.
The App gives you virtually all the possibilities the on-screen navigation does too. For me it was no question to use the App on my phone, as the Eversolo stood quietly in its place in my stereo chain.
One cool thing about the app is Cast Mode. This basically is screen mirroring of your phone on the Eversolo’s touchscreen. However, the regular App screen lists basically the same options as the Cast Mode. So, it’s mostly playing around. Should you hit that mode, you have to know that you can only use your phone horizontally then, as the DMP-A10’s screen is oriented that way.
The DMP-A10 offers so many options in its settings menu, that it is hard to list all of them. But you get access to digital filters, you can change the polarity of outputs, set the maximum sample rate for the digital outputs and you can set all the different looks and themes of the DMP.
In the DSP menu you get so many options to alter the sound to your preferences. You can enable a parametric EQ to shape the frequency response according to your wishes, you can set different FIR filters and much more. There’s almost no end to it. Another cool feature of the Eversolo’s software is that you can set the EQ for each individual input! This means, I can use a different PEQ setting for my ARC-connected TV than for the USB-B connected laptop or my CD drive over Coax. I love this!
Eversolo’s software is hard to surpass, it’s one of the absolute best I ever experienced. Also, I didn’t encounter any annoying bugs or lags at all. It just worked and left me happy as a clam, and that’s something only a very limited number of software has done so far. Very well done!
Most of the time I have used the Eversolo as Tidal Connect endpoint. It is just so easy to use. I also used it as a Roon Ready output, which again, was a friction free experience.
Sound
Over the course of the past weeks, I used the DMP-A10 mainly in my stereo chain, where it was fed ones and zeros via network by my Roon Core or Tidal Connect. The full system consists of a HoloAudio Serene KTE pre-amplifier, two PS Audio M700 mono power-amplifiers and an Audioquest PowerQuest 707 power conditioner. I used the DALI Epikore 3, KEF R3 Meta and Radiant Acoustics Clarity 6.2 speakers. All gear is cabled with Audioquest’s Black Beauty XLR cables and Robin Hood speaker cables.
The DMP-A10 has a supremely detailed sound with high resolution and exceptional rendering. It creates a large sound stage with immaculate imaging values. Its signature leans towards a neutral tuning with great levels of body and precision. Instrumental separation, dynamic range and detailing are simply outstanding on the Eversolo DMP-A10.
Let’s dive in on the next page!
