I'm waiting to see if the DMP a8 Gen 2 is dropping soon, but what Eversolo has yet to do that would be exactly what I'm after is just a streamer with DSP and room correction. Any rumors around Eversolo making one? Seems its the one thing as a 'streamer' focused brand that they don't have.
This was an hot topic since the first release of the DMP-A6, since some were not really happy with the integrated DAC section of the DMP-A6 or just prefer to use their already available external DAC. I myself predicted the release of a digital transport only device even before the release of the DMP-A10 but unfortunately I was very wrong and here we are with a gen refresh just a couple of year after the original release. I strongly believe that a pure digital transport would be very welcome by the market but I think that for some reasons this would jeopardize the overall Eversolo market strategy.
Gotcha. Didn't realize this has been a thing as long as that. Does seem like a missed opportunity in the space, but maybe they see their value more in the "all in one" space. Guess I'll have to keep fingers crossed the gen 2 A8 is just about ready..
If a streamer only is produced it might negatively impact the sales of the other products. Price points can be higher with "all-in-one" approach. How ever if a streamer only can yield high volumes of sales at a lower price it might be profitable for Eversolo.
The point is: a streamer-only can be welcomed by a larger number of buyers, those already owning a DAC (there are many, uh...?), which will not be struggling about paying money for a DAC they wouldn't need/like to use...
I don´t need a DAC within a streamer, because I have a DAC within my Cinema 30, even if the Eversolo DAC might be a tiny bit better, which I probably won´t hear anyway. My dream streamer would look (build wise) like an A-6 or A-8 and would be able to stream multichannel as well as Atmos and 360 reality audio (and maybe Auro CX in the future) from Amazon, Tidal etc. And it should be able to output its screen to a TV, because that´s more convenient to me than using a tablet or phone. And it should be able to shut the TV output off with the press of a button. Last not least, it should be controllable from a PC. If such a machine would come out, I´d pay for it as much as for an A-6.
Fiio is already talking about their plans to build a streamer without DAC: the S 13: from Facebook (Facebook): "You can take the S13 as a simplified version of the S15. For users who already own a desktop DAC and do not require the built-in DAC of the S15, the S13 could serve as a dedicated digital audio source, making for a great system pairing..." Unfortunately only stereo, as far as I can see.
This is, of course, a business decision! I suspect that streamers that require an external DAC are an even more niche product than these combo DAC/streamers. One can make money at it, but would have to assume relatively low volumes
I would also have thought that the incremental cost of the twin ES9038Q2M DAC chips in the A6 is pretty minimal, so there would be effectively no cost saving in creating a lower volume SKU that had them removed.
What about the output stage (balanced and unbalanced outputs) and relevant components, volume control, etc.?
It's difficult to be sure without having access to the financials, but I would suggest that the cost of the additional components is still small compared to the cost of building and managing an additional low-volume SKU. I don't use the DAC or analogue outputs on my A6 and just see it as a streamer than happens to have a free DAC if I needed one.
