Eversolo DMP-A8

@letshearit : 

Hello! thank you kindly for alerting others to the situation you have.

i am a little confused. i will be using the A8's RCA outputs as i wish to use the A8's internal DACs. i will be connecting my Anthem AVR so i am guessing that i'll use the A8's RCA outputs to connect to the Anthem AVR's RCA inputs, right?

may i please ask what you meant by "CDP?

how is your volume output issue relevant to my use scenario please?

kindly note: as mentioned above, i will be connecting my A8 to my AVR (Anthem brand) and i wish to use the A8's internal DACs.

thank you in advance!  look forward to hearing further details.  for some reason, i can't understand what settings you were talking about.  are the fixed +10db setting on the A8?  

CDP = CD Player

I replaced a RPi 4B running PcP, Schiit Bifrost DAC (fully upgraded) and a Audio Research LS3 Preamp with the A8. Have had the A8 in my system a week. So far I like it. 

SQ pros - better instrument separation, very smooth presentation

SQ potential cons - The soundstage may be a little flatter, the presentation is less mid-bass forward (I increased my sub gain a few notches and all seems right)

I have the RCA unbalanced out parallel split each channel has one RCA cable straight to the subs input and the other through a passive line level high pass filter to my main amp input (this rolls off the bass to the main speakers). The A8 output is lower than the Audio Research preamp so volumes that were at 12 o'clock with the Audio Reseach are at -5 db with the A8.

The system is much more user friendly streaming Tidal and playing tracks off my SSD hard drive. Tidal Connect functionality is great and I have volumes remote from my IPad and the A8's remote control.

I need some more time to experiment and swap my Maggies back in to know how it will all work out. Having lots of fun.

Loving my A8 as well! I find the internal DAC to be very satisfying if not quite the best thing ever. I had a $4.5k Wyred 4 Sound 10th Anniversary DAC in that system and I did notice the difference in character, but it wasn't drastic. Sold the Wyred and am happy with the internal Eversolo DAC for now, will eventually add another dedicated DAC to the system. The A8 DAC is so good that I'm not in a rush though.