In this review we will take a closer look on the Eversolo DMP-A6 streamer. A very popular unit from a rather new company. The DMP-A6 is available for $859 USD.
Disclaimer: Eversolo supplied the DMP-A6 at no cost for this review and our honest opinion.
Eversolo
Ever-who?
I didn’t know anything about them before they asked us to take a look at their (back then) upcoming streamer – the DMP-A6 – either.
Eversolo is a Chinese company that produces a range of different high fidelity products. They make streamers, digital to analog converters, DAC dongles for phones and a portable speaker. So quite a wide range of products.
I am always very curious when people speak about streamers, that just gets my attention. Having tinkered with Raspberry Pi’s and Intel Nucs to build myself Roon ROCK servers and Roon endpoints over the last couple of years. Hey Lieven, are you still interested in a ROCK? 😉
After Eversolo wrote us, I started looking into them – and found virtually nothing. The only thing Eversolo has on their website’s About Us section is:
Eversolo Audio Technology Co.,Ltd (Eversolo Audio) is invested by Zidoo Technology Co.,Ltd. The core founding team members have engaged in the development and management among HiFi industry for many years. The R&D team covers audio decoding, analog audio, acoustic tuning, amplifiers, system integration, user experience and so on. The main business includes audio playback devices, HiFi DAC and amplifiers etc. Eversolo is the registered trademark of Eversolo Audio.
That doesn’t give us much really. Their German website is even more shy about the company, as it says nothing at all.
DMP-A6
The Eversolo DMP-A6 is a network streamer/DAC/Digital transport all in one. But it’s main purpose is to be a streamer in a stereo hifi system.
The technical specifications of the DMP-A6 read like the who’s who of spec sheets. The DMP-A6 uses a dual mono setup around the ESS9038Q2M DAC chip. It supports PCM files up to 32bit/786kHz and DSD 512 and is a full MQA decoder (is MQA still a thing?) through its digital inputs. The DMP-A6 has a dynamic range of 128 decibels and a total harmonic distortion (+noise) of 0.00009%.
More technical nitty-gritty can be found on their product page here.
Eversolo’s DMP-A6 comes equipped with a range of digital in and outputs. You can hook up digital sources via USB C, optical or coaxial inputs. On top it of course gives you network connectivity via WiFi and Ethernet inputs.
The DMP-A6 also offers coaxial and optical outputs to serve as a digital transport. Additionally there’s also an HDMI output, which is not a regular I²S output, but rather a multi-channel PCM and DSD output. A good use-case here would be a home-theater setup where you have speakers all around you. For me personally, that’s not something I have or need at home. So I focused on the “regular” two-channel options. On top of those three digital outputs, there’s also a USB A output, marked “Audio Out” on the back of the unit.
Of course the DMP-A6 also has analog outputs, which can be used either in Line Out or Pre-Out settings. On the back you’ll find a set of RCA and XLR outs.
On the front of the unit you’ll find a generous 6” high resolution touchscreen, with which you can operate the unit. But don’t worry, there’s an App too in the Google Play Store and Apple App Store for more convenience. There’s also the volume knob with which you can adjust the volume and turn the unit on/off by hand. You can do that via the App as well.
The DMP-A6 offers a range of different streaming services that are already built-in (pre-installed). You can pick between Tidal, Spotify, Qobuz, Apple Music and High Res Audio streaming. Which is a good selection. I have personally only used Tidal in my time with the Eversolo and found it more than enough.
Additionally, and that’s very important in my books, the Eversolo is also a Roon Ready certified streamer. Which means you can easily select the Eversolo DMP-A6 in Roon’s interface, should you use Roon. I think Roon offers the best software out there in terms of music selection and streaming. So for me, learning that the DMP-A6 is Roon Ready was a huge relief.
One cool thing about the DMP-A6 can be found on the bottom of the unit. Which is an M2 SSD slot. Here you can install any size of SSD and use it as the DMP’s local storage. What doesn’t work however, is to use this storage and connect it with Roon’s library. So that’s basically an Eversolo Read-Only storage if you will.
If you don’t have an M2 SSD anywhere, you can also use the top USB A input (marked OTG) to connect external storage to your Eversolo and read the files from there.
The Eversolo DMP-A6 is available through their global retailers for 859 USD.
Find out more on the next page!
craig pollock
Although it doesn’t have the play store you can side load a number of android apps like PLEX or SmartTube and some others as apk’s.
It’s a versatile little box of tricks (cd ripping too! though some cd drives are a bit tempremental, my ASUS drive works fine.
There have been several OTA software updates (one due very soon) and the team seem very active if bugs are reported to get them fixed.
Jeff
I wanted to bring up a correction you need to make on page one. You can add the NVME storage to Roon by sharing the storage as a SMB share and then pointing your Roon core to that share.
Hatman
How useful is a music streamer if you already own a high-quality DAC and a headphone amp?
Did this streamer make music via Tidal sound better than running your DAC through your computer or laptop?
Martin
Quite a lot seeing as this one doesn’t have a headphone amp in it
Ken
The HDMI output isn’t for ARC/eARC of TVs right? Would have to get the DMP-A8 for ARC capability.