I'll report back after my findings.
Cheers,
Eversolo T8 vs Lumin U2 and Laiv Harmony DAC
Tested the Eversolo T8 for a couple days now.
Some quick points:
In a stereo setup with USB to Fezz Audio Equinox tube DAC with Fezz Lybra 300B amp and Harbeth HL5+ XD speakers against the Lumin U2. The Eversolo is compressed between the speakers. Sound stage is just within each speaker and vocals very centered. The Lumin U2 extends the sound stage about 10 feet outside the speakers either side and much more 3D depth. Instruments and vocals much more in real positions rather than compressed to center.
In headphone setup with LAIV Harmony DAC to Woo Audio WA22 balanced tube amp and Focal Utopia. USB sounds more organic but a little less clear. I2S sounds more detailed but has a slight harshness. Almost like the I2S connection is not perfectly matching to the LAIV I2S input. Compared to Denafrips ARCE into Ares 15th with I2S I would say the Denafrips is a little warmer and more musical with good sync between streamer and DAC.
Just some initial thoughts. Overall for the price it is a good streamer. Lumin U2 is much much better.
I'll wait for the LAIV streamer and return the Eversolo.
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That LTA looks like a really nice piece of equipment - congrats! What drew me to the Fezz Audio DAC was that it is single ended design (by Lampizator) to match to the single ended 300B amp I have. Hard to find high quality single ended DACs. And Fezz has amazing toroidal transformers. The output transformers in the amp are highly resolving with a response of 12Hz to 60kHz. Anyway I should check out some LTA gear when get a chance.... |
my source is the Bluesound Vault 2i, sure if I need another upgrade that will be next. I do have a node that serves my outdoor speakers, the vault definitely sounds better, although the node is newer and is starting to burn in, I've noticed improvement over the last couple of weeks. The system works great for me because they sync beautifully or I can play different music inside on the main system - all in one application on my phone or tablet. |
You might want to give the Volumio Rivo+ with a linear power supply a shot. Extremely musical and large sound stage. Coming from an IPAD streaming to the same DAC, the Rivo+ streaming & files playing sound quality absolutely shocked me ! I use Qobuz and also .wav and .dsf files with it. No display, but, that is good because you can add a really nice big one. I added a 13.5" OLED monitor on a stand, just infront of the Rivo+. Volumio shows the album covers and streams band and song information to the monitor and remote ipads. The screen looks fantastic and I control it with my iphone or ipad which shows the same images as the monitor. Note: you can also control it with the monitor. The Rivo+ requires a 4k monitor. The best part is really the sound quality & big sound stage plus good deep bass, smooth highs, great vocals. |
@katzenjammer27 - I recently got an LTA microZOTL preamp, with 12SN7's. From my experience, I think when your tubes are burned in for 100 hours or more, you are going to hear a not-insignificant difference. |
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