Eversolo dmp A6 vs Master edition vs Z8

I have a Master Edition and had the standard which I returned. I can’t make the comparisons to anything else unfortunately other than to themselves. Without a doubt the Master Edition is absolutely a better sounding component to the standard DMP A6. Running them both into analog inputs of my 300B tube amp (or my Yamaha S2200) aligning up some tracks from Tidal or Qobuz and A/Bing the pair instantly shows that they did their homework with the Master Edition. The Master sounds more realistic, the soundstage has more depth and separation with instrument placement. The Standard sounds much flatter like all the people in the band are just standing next to each other in comparison. Things like cymbal hits just sound more realistic and taper off slower. I think female voices from Diana Krall sound incredible and just flow out of the speakers very naturally. The bottom end is tighter with more definition to the bass. Where I didn’t find a lot of difference between the two units was when playing some late 90s rock. Think, Rage against the Machine, Nine Inch Nails, Incubus. Part of that may be the quality of the recordings? I’m not sure. I still think that even to the untrained ear it sounds better, it’s just not as big of a difference as say, with some thing like in Etta, James, Uncle Lucius (Keep the Wolves Away), or the entire Darkside of the Moon album. 

I am often quick to bash budget Chinese gear, because honestly a lot of it is crap.  The A6 is a nice box for the money.  You could do a lot worse.  A lot 

@Richl35, did you compare the two versions as streamers only?  that is what interests me, as I use an separate DAC

Thanks

I have compared both as a streamer and the master is clearly better in my system. The master is more warm, and refined sounding, it has a more refined sound, slightly more laid back compared to the standard,

dewest1023

That's an interesting observation. I think one of the YouTube reviews ( (Hans B.) said something similar..... reason why I say its a interesting observation, is  that per Eversolo, the upgrades in the Master Edition relate to improving the Dac performance and have nothing to do with Streaming performance..... Wonder why when used just as a streamer , with exactly the same parts as the Standard version there would be improved performance.....( its not like they improved the power supply, etc.)