Eversolo DMP A6 vs DMP A6 Master Edition. The Shocking Truth Revealed!

I just got my DMP A6 Master Edition. Quite pleased. Sound is top notch. I am using airplay and Apple Music off of my iphone and the convenience is great. A couple of things of note. When I bought the unit I was interested in the EQ feature advertised on their website. When I received the unit, there was no EQ. Disappointed, I sent a message to their support group. They wanted me to take a picture of the display and send back to them. Meanwhile, I get a notice of an upgrade available on the Eversolo iphone app. I installed the upgrade and it updated the unit to include a set of EQs (parametric and graphic), other goodies included, but that feature was what I was interested in. Why didn't the support group just tell me an update is forthcoming? However, when I did an A/B comparison with the built in digital graphic EQ and my other "analog" EQ (Technics SH-8022), both with identical settings, the DMP A6 built in EQ sounded muddy. My Technics EQ sounds much smoother. Granted the Technics EQ is probably not considered a "grand audiophile EQ", but I've owned it more than 30 years and it sounds great! A bug feature was also included to fix "Added seamless CD playback", and "Fixed occasional stuttering issue with certain audio in optical output". I notice before when I played a CD through the optical interface to the DMP A6 it skipped on occasion. Just tested this feature by playing a CD for about 20 minutes and it seems this issue is still not fixed. Not a big deal, but it is a little annoying if your playing back CDs through the optical interface to the DMP A6. Overall it sounds great, but be aware the sw is still somewhat immature, and there are limitations with using airplay (limited to 44kHz/16 bit) and ir doesn't let you use the crossfeed feature.

Which would be better if used as the main device for drying music from a hard drive? a6 and a6me? there is a big difference in sound, is there any reason to overpay for 6me?

I am surprise that in nearly every reviews that done by so call expert, none has mentioned about the pointlessness or uselessness of the internal dac on music streamers when an individual has already have an external dac or intend to use external dac.

I bought the ME , def it hits the ball out of the park. I connected it to my network via LAN and upgraded my mains switch to 63 amps. It is more revealing , great bass details , voice , micro details etc. The spkr positioning becomes more sensitive. Very happy with the purchase.

shocking, funny how all audiophooles are old blokes with worn out ears, thats why they clutch ont a sheet of plastic, lets call it vinyl

I would like to know if the master edition sounds better than the a6 in digital out mode? Did you test this also?

Hi Mark,
I’m from Holland and i like your presentations.
I have the Eversolo master edition with the Hegel h390 with the speakers Focal Vestia 4 and i’ m supprised about the sound.
Even my wife who never listen too music is amazing about the music,
Thanks for you anthosiasme , rinus from Amsterdam

Thx for this!
Can You comp dmp6 Classic with linear supply VS master edition ?

Good test but why do they all love their voice......and sit still for god's sake.....

Have you compared these two as transports spdif vs spdif? I hear that the coax and toslink outs aof the a6 aren't that good and was wondering if it carries over to the master edition as well.

Eversolo already has the brand new DMP-A8 out much too many people's chagrin... and I agree that's way too soon a product cycle. But this A8 is supposed to blow the doors off both of the previous models as its armed with that new AKM velvet chip--with a price tag to match.

See if you can get that beast in for a comparison review :)

I waited months to make a choice regarding a streaming DAC & ultimately chose the DMP A6 Master Edition. I tossed in a 2TB Samsung 990 SSD and purchased a Pioneer branded external USB disc drive for CD ripping.

....and I absolutely love my new streaming setup but have 1 major complaint.

Why is this device so "finnicky" about ripping CDs? It simply will not load the info for about 1 out of every 4 discs....and at times I will run into 4 or 5 straight CDs that simply will not load.

There's no reason for it that I can figure out. The discs are in like new condition & everything else in the equation IS new.

So, I'm at a loss as to why so many of my CDs won't load via the Eversolo's software but it's happening...and it's a pain in my butt.

If I intend to use an external Dac, do the difference diminishes ?

Did you use an external DAC with these tests ? Great informative video 🎉

Great review series, thank you. I bought the Master Edition this weekend based on multiple accounts of a somewhat smoother high frequency response (not less detailed). My Monitor Audio Silver 200 speakers already have a very detailed and slightly bright profile, so it was important to not exaggerate that. Still, the combo is not for metal heads but very enjoyable to listen to for my main choice of music. Using Audiolab 7000A amp.

I don’t think this is the best way for hifi dealers to gain consumers trust. It’s a very rudimentary test. A proper blind test - which this is not - means you randomly (by coin tosses written down in advance) play a track from a then b or the other way around, to person a. A is the standard eversolo and b is the master edition. You then randomly play a or b as the third test called x. Then person a has to decide if x is the first one they heard or the second. Repeat for the remaining tracks to get a bigger number of repetitions and for the 7 people who took part. You’d then have to do a control with all eversolo standard editions and not tell the audience that’s it’s either a control or the test proper. You don’t let the audience influence others by milling around or seeing their results, which may be the case from the video with people standing around. If you do that and run results through a t-test with even an 80% confidence or significance level, you likely won’t show any differences.

This is not to deride the two models but this is best done in sighted tests by consumers in their own environment where acoustically they hear the differences. The reason why it’s harder to do this in a shop is factors like

1) the gear is not familiar to those listening to hear a component change
2) lack of familiarity with acoustic environment and how components cope in that environment
3) the differences are already small between the components on test.
4) we don’t know the hearing acuity of the people taking part.
5) the music played might not be what they are familiar with.

This is outstanding. Exactly what I've been needing in determining a personal choice of upgrade. Especially taking into consideration using an aftermarket lps on the Rivo, not to mention comparing the software applications. Thank you so much for putting in the time to make these comparisons possible.

Hi, great review!! Wondering if you guys tested these 2 units with and external dac and if there still is a sound difference w the master over the standard using both as transports. Thanks!!

i want to use the A6 via usb to my external DAC ( Hegel h590 ). In this use case is there a difference between A6 and the Master?

Well, you tried squaring the circle without any knowledge of trigonometric functions. The term “blind test” or even “double blind test” requires not only a technically perfect laboratory setup, but also randomly selected test subjects according to predetermined parameters, a statistically significant population and corresponding valid statistical evaluations.

Nice try, but ultimately I like your rumbling Scottish accent 😊

Do you have a description of your test protocols? For example, how did you precisely level-match each player? Were the test results reliably repeatable? Etc.

“Shocking truth!” Omg can we finally get rid of the exaggerations like “shocking truth“. That said, excellent video. Blind A/B tests are the most valid determinants when comparing anything.

I am about to buy the master edision, and a topping a90d with all cables balanced. What do you thingk about that combo. I have a pair of Hifiman arya stealth edision. Best reguards Peter from Sweden.

There is no need to do these tests. The gold badges mean the Master is better. 😂

So where is this multi shootout? You mentioned it several times but I can't find it in your playlist.

PLZ repeat the test with both ES but purely a Sourcecode with an external DAC. I doubt there will be any difference at all

Therre should be a comparison on their streaming section only so we know if the difference in SQ is caused by the quality of DAC or both.

I enjoyed the content and subscribed.

Thank you very much for this nice comparison.
Another question that is very curious: Does using a Z8 dac with an A6 give a better sound?
Greetings from Türkiye.

Beware of system and software bugs. Many of them. Product is still too new. Wait for another year if you can wait. Bought this A6 and experienced frustration using it. They're using consumers as their free testers 😡. Their customer service is ridiculously bad and said that having bug is normal😱.

This is good the see/hear! After much research, I ended up with the Eversolo DMP-A6 Master Edition to replace a dead Pioneer Elite N-50 that I've had for some 10 years. I personally really like the sound of it. The clarity and detail is really good. I will admit if maybe the extra $400 or so I spend was actually worth it in the end, but I personally think so to these ears and it is nice to see it verified with tests like this. This is not the only video that I've seen were a side-by-side comparison was made between the Standard Edition and the Master Edition were made and the Master Edition became the preferred device, despite the cost upgrade. Anyway, with that being said, I am willing to bet the standard edition is going to be a very good solution to the vast majority of people. At least for those that do want that little bit extra, the master edition is available.

Thank you very much for an excellent video. I'm a very happy user of the standard version, purchased even before I knew there was a gold edition. I wanted an all in one streamer/dac, that was also capable of playing my music library from a SSD (whether internal or external, it did not matter). I also wanted a player that could be used wirelessly since it would mainly be used in a holiday system, and as far as I'm concerned it does everything I need and sounds excellent. Whether it would have been better to spend £400 more would be debatable for me since I'm only using a cheaper amp and speakers.

I’d love to get the master edition. It’s currently out of stock at bay bloor radio here in Toronto. It’s 2000 bucks so it’ll be a while before I can get one. I currently use the bluesound node 2021 which is pretty good but no match for the eversolo.

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Uncle Mark

I must be one strange person as I find it hard to tell the difference using a DAC or using just the amplifiers. I have used decent Chord DAC’s and I’m now trying an Audiolab M-DAC and still I struggle. I went through the various modes on the M-DAC but nothing stands out that is blatantly obvious.

I'm still waiting for the platinum version. until then, the silver version will do the same - for my Setup

Any difference between the two when used as a transport only and via hdmi only?

Great Video Mark, answering the question that everyone wanted answered!! For me, i'm looking forward to the bigger, wider test results....please carry on what you're doing buddy!!

once you pay $400 more for master edition you can pay $250 more and get Gustard A26 with a Roon end point and a much better sonic of course without the screen

DMP-A6 outputs : Analog vs Digital. I assume that this A/B Test was purely using the Analog outputs, which proved to be improved upon with the Master Edition. How about using the Digital outputs? Will one still hear a worthwhile improvement? Or heck, any improvement whatsoever? Ps. Liked & Subscribed !!!

Here in Canada the master edition is $800 more expensive. My friend took that money added $200 dollars to it and bought a nice external dac. When that was integrated into the chain with the standard edition it sounded better to everyone present. There are ways to adjust the sound of the standard edition that makes it superior to the master edition for relatively the same amount of money. Albeit as stand alone units the sound it better on the master edition but I don't think it is worth 50% more money.

I can only assume that the upgrades in the Master Edition effect the DAC section only? (no reviewer today it has bothered to mention this). It would be interesting to have a blind shoot out of both of them going into the same external DAC.

I went for the master edition because of the reviews I've read and watched claiming that it had the bigger and smoother sound stage and greater separation over the standard edition I will use mine with a pure class A pre amplifier and a class D power amplifier I've just received it today so over next few days I will be putting the master edition through its paces 😊

Is there any advantage of the master edition if you use the device as a pure streamer and use an external DAC?

What I liked best about the video is your passion for your work. Love it. And I did subscribe to your channel. Much respect to you from Larry from the states.

Interesting video, thank you. Can you confirm how you are volume matching?

I didn't have a chance to audition both, I bought the standard edition. That extra 400 quid can go towards a subwoofer which will have more and effect on the music. (My thoughts currently).

Very, Very good.Thanks!