Streaming platform product only

Hi,
i would be very interested in a "streamer only" product platform.
One, that provides all the great streaming functionality of your A8 product but, which does not include pre-amp or DAC.
Would be interested in what the view of the community is on this... For sure there are many who like me already have high quality pre-amp and, custom DAC... but i do see (at least for people like me) a "gap" in the market for a really high end "streamer only" but with all the benefits of high end power supply, USB, I2S, etc.. and with the great screen and app (as well as input customization of the A8).
For me this would be an ideal product. I wonder if there are others in the Forum that also see this as an opportunity and i wonder if such a device is on the product roadmap for Eversolo?
Thanks for any feedback. Warm regards from Germany.

 

Of course Eversolo will come out with a streaming only model. I strongly believe that such a device (maybe a usual 2 tiers offering) was already in the plans at the time of the ZX models release and was not release before the DMP-AX models not to internally fight with the integrated streamer+DAC offering. Many DMP-A6 owners already use the streamer part only and many others already requested a streamer only version (actually there was already a quite funny debate on how such a model should be named). In my opinion there's no need for poll or further push, just sit and wait.

 

That would be a very nice addition. I use the A6 as streamer only.

 

There are a lot of people using even the Master Edition (?) as a streaming-only device, so I really see fit for maybe an A0 (DAC-free) model...

 

That would be a fantastic idea, then I could connect my Z8 Dac to it

 

Exactly.
And an option, for music-fanatics, that forbids to rip/play any MQA stuff, so that we can start educating more people. /s

 

I'm starting to suspect you might have an obsession with this "educating" thing. I've never been a MQA fan. It is lossy and I see it as a way to impose a sort of DRM. However, my freedom ends where someone else's begins. Hence, each individual is free to choose whatever they want as long as that doesn't hurt others.

Moreover, MQA is dead, even Tidal, its biggest sponsor (reason I chose Qobuz), is dropping it. Let's leave to its natural destiny

 

Me too.

 

Here is why MQA is dead !

 

This request pops up with regularity on this and other audio forums and I am curious whether this isn't a very small niche market. Do folks who own high-end DACs and preamps still use computers to stream Tidal and Quboz? Isn't a Network Streamer just a purpose-built computer with its own OS, power supply, GUI, operating system, digital clock, CPU, ethernet/wifi and media playback software? Functionally and complexity-wise isn't the A6 80% streamer and 20% DAC (add your own % split). IMO keeping all inputs and outputs in a single box avoids external noise and clocking issues associated with USB, SPDIF, etc. I tried using my laptop as a source to the A6 (via USB C); its power supply noise found its way to the A6 analog outputs. Galvanic USB isolation definitely a requirement. Volumio, Auralic, Lumin, etc. all seem to make DAC-less Network Streamers. What should an Eversolo network streamer include to differentiate itself from the competition, apart from being the Price/Performance leader?

 

Thanks a lot for the replies. For me (as i have a Pontus II) the interest is purely on the streaming front end. Here , with the screen and fantastic app - i think Eversolo has a leading solution. Ideally i would like the connectivity and manageability features of the A8, in a pure streamer front end. Thats it. I do think there is a market out there for such a product and and the price/feature-richness/performance would make (at least for me) a rather compelling proposition.

 

IMO it doesn't need to add anything: it has a wonderful set of functions and a nice display.

Just leave the DAC out of the equation. Without it, you wouldn't need to spend money on a thing you won't use. It will probably cost a half, if not less...
And to those not owning a DAC yet, well... simply buy the A6 and a suitable DAC of your choice; and for the price difference you can get a decent one + HPA.

For example I already own a Z8, if the A6 (or the A8 for that matter) came as a plain streamer I would get myself one straight away. I already had a pure streamer, kind of those you mentioned above, so I just went the other way around, and got myself just a pure DAC; no waste of money / doubling of equipment.

Just my 2c

 

I suppose it's analogous to Separate pre/power amps vs. Integrated. It depends on one's current system and preferred evolution path. I used standalone DACs and laptops as music streamer/players for many years. The weak point was always the computer... neverending Windows updates, device driver compatibility, defective screens, hard drive failures. Meanwhile DACs with the latest-greatest chips seem to appear monthly, making tech obsolescence ridiculously short. I "downgraded" to an integrated streamer DAC (Node 2i) and got off the "upgrade treadmill". That said, it sounds like my next upgrade should be a really good DAC...like a Pontus but didn't Denafrips just introduce a network streamer? Maybe audiophiles never really get off the treadmill...

 

As noted above, a great set of features and a nice display to interact with that doesn't require a PC running!

I use active speakers that manage their crossovers and room correction in the digital domain and have their own DAC's, so I just need a digital output to them (ideally using an AES/EBU rather than a digital coax) that has a volume control.

 

I think it already has a lot of features; anyway, willing it doesn't require a PC running when it IS itself a sort of PC sound funny to me...

 

Indeed, I was agreeing.

 

I have an integrated amp (strictly speaking two for dual mono mode) with a built-in DAC. I also had to learn that digital source material will NOT sound identical via any digital transport.
So, an A8 like device, at the price level of an A8, with maximized effort for digital transport (without DAC on my behalf) would be top notch.

 

A dedicated headphone amp is my request!

 

I am also waiting for the streamer only model without DAC to come out.
If this makes it cheaper, that would be a point to purchase it.
If this is not enough as a selling point for people, there could be additional features at the digital side, e.g.
- parametric equalization with or without DIRAC
- a second SSD M2 slot, and/or support of up to 8 TByte SSD
- HDMI video output (this would also make it a great Karaoke machine)

 

I would buy a DMP-A6 without DAC. But only, if it was able to stream Atmos from Tidal and Amazon Music, as well. And btw. Auro CX is said to be coming to a music streaming service this year as well, according to someone from the Auro company in a Youtube interview. So that Eversolo device should be able to decode Auro CX, as well.
That guy said, If you have an Auro 3D capable AVR, you would need a device that could convert Auro CX to "normal" Auro 3D. At the moment nvidia shield is the only device that can do it, according to him.
I´d also like to see a video streaming device, which can do, what the Amazon Fire Cube can do. But this thing looks so cheap that I would like to pay more, if there was a device similar to the A6, which could run all the video streaming services.