Description: Music streamer, DAC, preamp with 6" LCD touchscreen, onboard parametric EQ, virtual VU meters, dedicated control app, AK4191EQ delta-sigma modulator, AK4499EX D/A converter, and the XMOS XU316 audio processor. Capable of decoding up to stereo DSD512, 32/768 PCM data, which can be accepted by USB, Ethernet, or Wi-Fi. S/PDIF and HDMI ARC inputs support stereo PCM up to 24/192 and DoP64. Frequency response: 20Hz–20kHz (±0.25dB). Output level: 4.2V XLR, 2.1V RCA. Dynamic range: 128dB XLR, 125dB RCA. THD+N: 120dB XLR, 119dB RCA, unweighted. Crosstalk: –…
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Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Digital sources: Eversolo A6 Master Edition. Aurender A20 streamer and DAC controlled with Conductor 4 iOS app. HiFi Rose RS520. 16" MacBook Pro M1 Max running Roon 2.0. Roon ROCK running on a Lenovo ThinkCentre.
Preamplifiers: Benchmark HPA4, BAT VK-90.
Power amplifier: Krell FPB 200c (recapped).
Integrated amplifiers: Anthem STR, PrimaLuna EVO 400.
Loudspeakers: Focal Utopia Scala Evo, Tekton Moab Be, Piega Coax 811.
Cables: Speaker: AudioQuest Thunderbird Zero. Power: AudioQuest, RSX, Clarus. Interconnect: AudioQuest, Clarus.
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Sidebar 3: Measurements
I measured a different sample of the Eversolo DMP-A8 from that auditioned by RvB. The serial number was 800A805CC764, and my sample was fitted with the v1.2.80 firmware.
Looking first at the line-input performance with my Audio Precision SYS2722 system, the DMP-A8 preserved absolute polarity (ie, was noninverting) with both balanced and unbalanced inputs and outputs. With the volume control set to "0dB," the gain was –0.06dB from the balanced inputs to balanced outputs and from the unbalanced inputs to the unbalanced outputs. Setting the volume…
I examined the behavior of the Eversolo's D/A conversion circuitry with one of the optical inputs. This locked to S/PDIF data with sample rates up to 192kHz. With the volume control set to "0dB," a 1kHz digital signal at 0dBFS resulted in an output level of 4.36V from the balanced outputs, 2.18V from the single-ended outputs. The DMP-A8's digital inputs preserved absolute polarity from both output types with the XLR jacks set to Positive Port Polarity. (The polarity setting is fixed as positive for the analog inputs.)
Fig.8 Eversolo DMP-A8, Short Delay, Sharp Rolloff filter, impulse…
My reference preamp of the past few years, the D’Agostino Momentum HD, is ceding to the new D’Agostino Momentum model, to be called the C2 preamp. Termed “a complete departure from the HD,” the C2 derives from the superb, top-line D’Agostino Relentless preamp (review forthcoming).
Among the C2’s many new features: power travels from the power supply into the preamp via interlocking 20A connectors in the preamp’s feet, eliminating all external umbilical cords. Both the remote and the power supply include numerical readouts of volume. Another first for D’Agostino: a headphone…
Western Electric owner Charles Whitener and Sales Director Trent Suggs together gave us a first look at Western Electric’s upcoming products. Dumb me failed to turn on my video until late in the presentation, but below you can catch a bit of Suggs’ presentation.
WE’s reference-level Series 100 will include a range of products. Pictured here is the first of the lot, the Type 100M monoblock, which is almost 14" tall and is expected to sell for $120,000. By email, Suggs touted pure class-A2/SET technology and zero negative feedback. Using ECC81, 300B, and 308B tubes—the towering…
VTL and Wilson have delivered great sound at previous shows, and they did so again here in a set-up of which Peter McGrath, Brand Ambassador for Wilson Audio, was especially proud: VTL’s MB-450 III Signature monoblocks, TL7.5 III Reference preamplifier, and TP6.5 II.
A Signature phono preamplifier joined a dCS Rossini Apex DAC and Rossini clock, Wilson Sasha V loudspeakers, VPI Avenger turntable, and Nordost cabling. To get an idea of the size of Audio Reference’s space, note that this was but one of at least six listening areas in the room.
Seventy years ago this summer, a young pianist from Tryon, North Carolina—a town of fewer than 2000 residents—made her professional debut in Atlantic City. This was not the culmination of a dream but rather an economic choice born of the racial circumstances of the era. It was a letdown.
The venue was the Midtown Bar. If they'd known what she was doing, her parents would have objected and her musical peers would have sneered, so Eunice Waymon performed under a pseudonym: Nina Simone. Adding to the indignity for this classically trained pianist, playing wasn't enough; she was also expected…
Most of the 1950s Contemporary Records catalog is the bullseye of "West Coast Jazz," a smoother, more laid-back flavor than the hard bop and soul jazz styles percolating back east. Set in that context, tenor saxman Harold Land's The Fox stands out for its aggressive speed and punch. Its style would seem more at home on Blue Note or Prestige.
Read the back notes on the beautifully packaged new reissue from Craft Recordings and Acoustic Sounds and clarity emerges. The Fox wasn't born in Contemporary's studio/shipping room. Instead, it was laid to tape at Radio Recorders, Studio B, Los…
It's no secret that the musical history of New Orleans is rich and varied. From Buddy Bolden to a young Louis Armstrong being consigned to the Colored Waif 's Home for shooting off his stepfather's pistol on New Year's Eve, to the many pianists who accompanied the irresistible allure of Storyville, musicians and their music have forever been a key ingredient in NOLA's flamboyant DNA. Most elemental of all—did he facilitate the birth of rock'n'roll?—are those honeyed days at Cosimo Matassa's humble but groundbreaking studio J&M Recording on Rampart Street (1947–1956). There, his infallible…