Eversolo A8 gen 2 Master Edition - A few interesting questions

Hi everyone.
Can someone clarify a few things for me regarding the new A8 Gen 2 Master Edition streamer?

1. Is it really impossible to light up the ring around the encoder—at least in a single white color?

2. Can the built-in drive really read these formats: DVD and SACD?

Why is there only one hard drive slot in the new DMP-A8 Gen 2 and ME versions? I think I know why. It occurred to me that the second drive controller is used for the CD mechanism, leaving no other slot free. Is that correct?

 

I just don't understand, if the A8 gen. 2 has a DAC function with USB, why doesn't it also have an I2S input?

 

Helo Miki222,

1. It should be possible (color and brightness), at least from the Eversolo Control app
2. Drive is only capable of reading and ripping music CDs

 

I think it's because this device is designed as transport and digital source rather than a DAC. This is why it has some of the more common DAC properties - but not all. And since USB is way more common than I2S, that's why the decision was made in favor of USB.

 

I understand, but it's a shame, I listen to music in a chain PC (Foobar) - Gustard u26 - DAC Z-10 via I2S cable and the quality is fantastic, when I compare it to connecting the Zidoo UHD 8000 via USB cable to the Z-10, it's a disaster.

 

Thank you for your answer.

 

Hi,
I will use this thread as there is nothing else dedicated to Gen 2 version. I have some questions about some aspects on implementation side:

1. I notice that DMP-A8 Gen2 models still have DSP. It is covered though from what I have understood. Your video show something about "DSP8808" on which I cannot find any info. Do we have any improvement to not resample to 48kHz? For me it would be better to had the option to resample to 96kHz or 192kHz and have less DSP capabilities.
2. Is also this time EQ bounded with the DSP for the Internal Player? Simple SW EQ could be a choice over a downsampled process audio that passed through DSP.
3. I noticed also that you have changed the Femtosecond clocks on Gen 2 version to double frequencies from 45.1584 and 49.152 to 90.3186 and 98.304 MHz. I do not find the reason why to do that on already good clocking mechanism. I have observed though that higher frequencies tend to have more phase noise. As an example on Accusilicon the similar chips have -90 dBc/Hz than -103 dBc/Hz at 10 Hz, -115 dBc/Hz than -130 dBc/Hz at 100Hz, -159 dBc/Hz than -144 dBc/Hz at 1kHz and so on. I know that for marketing reasoning you will not disclose your actual chips that you are using. You could though disclose its performance.
4. Another tricky question, how you utilize the 4 new faster cores? What kind of differentiation we can have on the future on older devices that use the older chips and less rams? Personally I find it a little irritating to not have those capabilities on a T8 model making it more easy to end up with a handicapped streamer that is relatively new. CPU, RAM and storage are some of the most important factors (if not he most) on the streamer side in order to have a good user experience from a stable and extensive SW.

 

So, today I was confirmed what I thought all along. A8 gen 2, A8 gen 2 ME, does not have the option of backlighting the encoder, as it was before. It's a big shame, it could have been illuminated at least with white color so that it would fit into the overall harmony of the backlight with the white touch buttons... It's a big shame that it only has one slot for HDD.

 

This is regarding the original post of asking about the light around encoder. Is it because there's no light Ring around the encoder or there's just no option yet in the firmware

 

The most relevant answer to your question would be someone from Eversolo who was involved in the design of this new A8 gen 2 streamer. I would also be interested to know if the encoder has a built-in light ring and is just waiting for software support, or if it was not considered at all during the design. Could someone from Eversolo comment on this topic?
@Zidoo Support-Kim

 

No built-in light ring on A8 Gen 2 series.

 

Thank you very much for the quick reply.

 

@Zidoo Support-Kim Can you give a feedback about those questions? For the 3. I think I understood that on 44.1 KHz and above the clocks are very close regarding the phase noise. Is there though any reason to choose those frequencies? Is there any possibility to unlock on the future DSD1024 and PCM1526?

 

Any DSD frquency is a multiple of 44.1kHz, as PCM1536 is a multiple of 48kHz. Since the clocks provide a frequency divider, there should not be any problem; apart from the DAC chip itself being able to handle them natively. IIRC. the DAC inside the A8 can go up to DSD512 and PCM768, so...

 

The delta sigma modulator AK4191 clearly mentions that supports PCM1536 and DSD1024. The limitation on DSD1024 is that it cannot be direct (bypassing volume etc). For DAC AK4499EXEQ it is not clear as in reality it does know anything about those two encoding types. It takes as input 7 bit flows that process on a specific frequency. Still it has the bandwidth to accept that. 11,2896 Mhz * 7 bits = 79027200 bit/s in mono or the double of that in stereo mode. For sure there are DAC that seem to support like DAART Yulong Aquila III or Singxer SDA-6 Pro2. To be honest I do not care if we had that support. I am trying to understand the logic of selecting those frequencies on clocks. Maybe it is not the DAC in mind. It could be the DSP.