With the DAC Z10, eversolo has a new DAC/preamplifier (and headphone amplifier) on offer that puts the competition under pressure. For just under 2,000 euros, the device meets many high-end criteria and is pioneering in terms of ease of use. – The REWIND test.
People enjoy music very differently
Herbert Grönemeyer once sang: “She only likes music when it’s loud.” This is a significant indication that people perceive and consume music differently. Let me break this down in a somewhat exaggerated and provocative way: almost everyone likes music. That is certain. But not all in the same way. Some people only use music as a kind of background sound in their lives because without background noise they may feel unfulfilled or lonely. Others listen to music primarily because of the lyrics. Whether protest songs, love songs or drinking songs – the actual music is just a decorative accessory. The main thing is that you can sing along to the text. Such music usually has a dull umpfz-umpfz-umpfz rhythm or maybe a bit of rock guitar in the sound, but it rarely creates emotion in a melodic way.
eversolo DAC Z10| Art | DAC preamplifier with KHV |
But there are also music listeners who listen to music primarily (but not exclusively) for the sake of music. They are concerned with tones, melodies, rhythms, vocals, instrumental sounds with which the artists paint their picture of the world like a painting. Especially in this last group of music listeners, there are those for whom the sound quality of acoustic works of art is more or less important. If less, then maybe a HomePod is enough for you. Otherwise it should be something at a hi-fi level, or perhaps even something with high-end standards. Just as a brilliant film score or a gripping soundtrack greatly intensifies the experience of a good film, music with the most convincing sound is twice as good.
This also explains the huge and wide range of components and speakers for music playback. There is something for every taste and need. The eversolo DAC Z10, which is what we are talking about here, is quite clearly an offer for the group of “true” music lovers. So those in the latter group who don’t just want to consume music casually or sing along to catchy lyrics, but rather want to experience the music intensively and let it flow through them. This group is best served with decent hi-fi or even high-end technology. The problem: High-end technology in particular is usually very expensive, because it was developed less to save money, but rather to squeeze the last bit of sound quality out of the resources available today, without taking the costs into account.
The miracle of technical evolution
Theoretical and practical knowledge acquired over the decades is constantly refined and optimized. Example of the automobile: It was a long, evolutionary path between the invention of the gasoline engine and the first motor vehicle to today’s extremely powerful high-tech automobiles. If we ignore other types of engines such as diesel or electric, the basic concept remains unchanged to this day. And yet there are worlds in between, because not only the engine technology has been continuously optimized, but also the everything around it: chassis, suspension, wheels, passenger comfort/safety and numerous small details set today’s automobile apart from its nucleus as clearly as humans from primates.
In the course of this technical evolution, there have always been advances that were initially very expensive, but then gradually seeped into consumer-friendly price ranges. This has always been the case in audio technology and hi-fi, too. A lot of what was just expensive high-end back then (and often dismissed as nonsense) is now mainstream and mass standard. The eversolo DAC Z10, to which I would now like to finally build a bridge after a long introduction, is again not a mass standard.
