Anyone have any experience with comparing the sonic difference between the Master Edition A6 and the Z8? Thanks
You probably need a good setup to hear the difference, but on paper there is quite a difference between them, a Z8 is equipped with an Ess 3038pro dac chip which is 8 channels, which then delivers to 8x TI OPA1612 in shunt compensation as then should give a lower distortion
I posted this when the same question was asked on the A6 thread: I had a A6ME for a while before I returned it (frustrated with ripping problems as this was a major reason for purchase). I replaced with a std. A6/Z8 combo (ripping problems with std. A6 still remained, but I discovered a ripping workaround). I also liked the headphone functionality, as my Amp doesn’t possess this. I never had an opportunity to conduct a/b listening, but I didn’t notice any significant difference between the A6ME and Std.A6/Z8 SQ. However, I believe that I can detect a slightly wider soundstage and improved instrument separation with the Z8 - to be fair, I’m sure that many would say that this is my imagination (they may even be correct) Caveat: I’m 60, so there’s no way that my hearing is as acute as it was 30-years ago! Bottom-line, I couldn’t be happier than with the combo and believe that it adds ‘something’. However, there’s no way that I would wager money on my being able to pick between the two in blind a/b testing - it’s that close A final thought, I (and many others) are hugely impressed with this kit. However, a couple of forum members haven’t shared that view (to put it mildly). My instinct is that, like all hifi, sometimes what works wonderfully in one system just doesn’t gel/balance in another. I’d suggest having a word with a retailer and seeing if they’ll let you trial both (interestingly, burn-in time made a huge difference to my ME, but none that I could detect to the combo). Of course, one bonus to a std. A6/Z8 combo is that you won’t have to live with the unforgivable gold detailing.
Would it make any sense to enrich my setup with a DAC-Z8 connected to my DMP-A6 Master Edition? I have my DMP-A6 connected to my ARCAM AVR20 receiver by using the RCA output connection, also by using the coaxial output connection and by using the HDMI output connection. My ARCAM has the ESS ES9026PRO DAC on board. I use the ARCAM AVR20 receiver as pre amp together with my separate ARCAM PA240 power amplifier for 2 channel music listening on my Bowers and Wilkins 700 S3 loudspeakers complemented by my Bowers and Wilkins DB4S subwoofer. I have calibrated my system with DIRAC Live (full bandwidth version, that came with the ARCAM AVR20). Right now I am able to listen to 2 channel music by using the DAC of the DMP-A6 or the DAC of the ARCAM. Finally, I can play multi-channel music through the HDMI output of the DMP-A6 into the DAC of my ARCAM. I am not sure if the DAC-Z8 would mean an upgrade DAC-wise.
If you just wanted to bypass the DAC in the A6, IMO, you should have bough the regular edition; as being the DAC in the ME a better one, doing so you are basically wasting more money... anyway: 1. the Z8 and the A6 ME, DAC-wise are pretty similar; if any, maybe the Z8 slightly better (little to no improvement - no benefit) 2. you would, eventually, get better sound only for the 2 channel, as the multichannel output will still need to go from the A6 to the Arcam (Z8 has no HDMI output / pass-through / routing - no benefit) 3. the coaxial output, also, would be leaving the A6 for the Arcam (Z8 has no digital outputs / routing - no benefit) IMHO you are perfectly fine with the ME.
Thanks for your clarifying message. I decided that I will not be "upgrading" my system with a DAC-Z8! ;-)
The retail store I bought my Z8 from had the A6 and A6 master edition. They knew I was in there with money as a buyer. Their opinion was A6 was a great streamer A6 Master was not worth the extra money over the standard A6 and only sounded slightly better than the A6 Both streamers sounded better connected to the Z8 Their reference system they had set up for listening was A6 into a Z8. Suffice to say I walked away with a Z8. When a sales person walks away from a bigger sale I pretty confident on their advice
I’d agree with the store up to a point (I run the standard A6 to a Z8 following an aborted effort with a A6ME). My experience was that the A6/A6ME differences may be discernible to a teenager, but my ears weren’t up to detecting a meaningful difference. As far as adding a Z8 to an A6 is concerned - I like to believe (kid myself) that I can detect slightly better instrument separation/wider soundstage - but this could easily be bias. Having owned some quite serious kit over the last 40-years, my instinct is that the tech has now come so far that the A6/Z8 is as good as my ears require and that paying anything more has more to do with ego/vanity/ignorance than sonic-gain (perhaps <age 25-years excluded). To me, it seems that going up the cost-scale gains something with speakers, but coupling an A6 to a c£2k Amp (for context, Linn kit is my spiritual home) seems to be all that’s required to achieve genuine HiFi sound now.
I completely agree. In my use case I didn’t really need a streamer, I play mostly vinyl via a puffin phono pre with coax out and my streaming is via a raspberry pi roon end point. The Z8 makes for a pretty decent digital preamp. There are a couple features that would make it perfect for preamp use, but it’s 90% and that’s probably as close and anything is getting. So if the Z8 sounded marginally better in a perfect environment I’d be silly to go the other way.
Yes, I was put off by that. My DMP-A6 is arriving today, and I have to say I am pretty excited, more so than for a long time. I'm just wondering if I would get any advantage from a line stage, or preamp after the DMP-A6, but having a rack of Eversolo gear does make for nice eye candy.
I can't really say anything about the Z8, but i own the A6-ME and did some extensive listening with the Chord Qutest, the Denafrips Ares II/12th Anniv. FW and the Topping E70-Velvet, all connected via USB. Long story short, i'm using the A6-ME standalone.
