Eversolo DMP-A8 vs iPhone plugged directly to integrated amp - why no difference?

@lanx0003 

Statements like the one you made could potentially destroy their dreams.

Let's bring this back to planet earth shall we.

The global audio consumer market doesn't give a hoot what I think. My potential to destroy anyone's hopes and dreams in an industry where I am just another consumer is akin to removing a grain of sand from a beach and suggesting I accelerated beach erosion.

But I'll give you a gold star and permission to pat yourself on the back for defending the capable young women and men who are potentially pursuing their dreams and aiming to become entrepreneurs and pioneers in the audio industry. Whomever they are, I sincerely hope they are paid well and treated fairly. 

However, a true hero would have sold the unsatisfactory product on the used market and allowed the Company to profit from the sale rather than incur a loss processing the return. 

Low-res tube amp mated to low-res Audio Note speakers could be why you don’t hear a difference.

The DMP-A8 has state of the art transparency as recently confirmed by Stereophile’s measurements. Any situation in which such components are bottlenecked downstream, as is the case when any (Yes, ANY!) tube amp is mated to non-linear speakers, you won’t hear the source at its full potential.

I understand why many will doubt this assertion because audiophilia is chock full of hullabaloo, but you don’t have to take my word for it. Try a pair of high res monitors with high quality, low distortion drivers, and amplification with transparency similar to Benchmark’s and you’ll become a believer. The funny thing is it cost relatively little to compile such a system these days. Technology has marched on thankfully.

Did the OP ever identify the streaming source?  How useful can the discussion be without knowing that?

@helomech Thanks for that info. Answer that makes the most sense so far based on what I've been trying, if the answer I feared most. I'm gonna return the Eversolo and slowly look into new systems and reproach streamers later. I do actually like how my vinyl sounds on the Audio Notes but I'm open to what I find.

And @jji666 both streaming Tidal at highest available stream quality. 

I have the A8 and it’s the best sounding digital source I’ve ever had. Have all my CDs on the internal SSD. Makes for a very convenient way to access all my 400 or so CDs. High rez streaming from Qobuz sounds great. The DAC settings are subtle but there. I had tried the Wiim pro and thought it sounded pretty bad. The A8 DAC chip is advertised as "velvet sound" and it does indeed sound smooth but still has detail. Only thing I didn’t like was the analog in side with my phono pre amp - seemed to lose some air - so I just use the A8 as an input to my Schiit Saga pre amp.

Yes, lower resolving audio systems/speakers using lower rez streaming, one might not see a big difference between it and lower price/quality sources. I think variations in digital sound quality between various components is generally not very great. Digital isn’t vinyl. Vinyl is still king even compared with the highest rez streaming available. Although the 24/96 from Qobuz sounds really really good.  And Tidal has very little of that compared to Qobuz.