Eversolo T10 streaming transport
Eversolo have carved out a competitive space for themselves in the streaming world, their DMP range of streamer/DACs play hard in the mid market while the Play streaming amp puts the fight to the likes of Wiim and and Bluesound at the cut throat end of the business. So a streaming transport like the flagship T10 is a little bit niche for the brand, there is only one other model in an extensive portfolio, yet Eversolo clearly appreciates that hardcore enthusiasts like to keep things separate.
The T10 still has what would appear to be every feature under the sun and far too many to mention here and its engineers have gone to considerable lengths to have it deliver top notch performance. The latter includes partitioning the chassis to reduce interference between circuits and reduce noise, using multiple methods to isolate signal paths from crosstalk and interference from the power supply, and the inclusion of an ultra-low phase noise clock in an effort to reduce jitter.
The in- and outputs include some rarities, BNC sockets for 50Hz and 75Hz external word clocks (10 or 25Mhz) being the least expected at this price. Such things are not usually found for less than three times what Eversolo are asking. There’s also an HDMI socket for an I2S connection to suitable DACs and selectable pin configurations to enable this standard free interface. Those with a network switch that has an SFP fibre connection will be able to hook straight up to the matching port on the T10, which is also a feature rarely seen on affordable streaming gear.
The T10 also offers the more popular outputs in the form of USB, AES balanced and a particularly fancy RCA for coax. It’s commitment to noise control is evidenced by the absence of wireless network connection – the last thing you need is an antenna collecting radio frequency interference on the back of a device that lives or dies by its ability to keep this insidious form of noise at bay. So there is an RJ45 for ethernet and a pair of USB sockets for hooking up drives filled with music files. I keep my music on a Melco server and had the T10 scan its contents via the dedicated Eversolo control app.
Scrolling through the options on the app might baffle the purist but gives some idea of how broad the feature set is on the T10, with digital outputs for instance you can set the sample rate and bit depth, DSD modes, and also choose degrees of upsampling for each one separately. With higher upsample options available on the outputs that can transmit them: USB and I2S. There are numerous playback options including automatic VU meter display on start up. Eversolo are very keen on VU meters and the T10 offers a wide array of styles to choose from. Alternatively there is an album artwork option with playback info or, for the purist, the display can be defeated entirely leaving only the power icon lit up. This I noted was how the T10 was running at the recent High End show in the midst of a system that had an awful lot of amplifiers in it, only their VU meters were on display.
The multifaceted screen on the T10 is touch sensitive right down to the power ‘button’, you could control your music playback from the screen alone if needs be but there is also an app and a rather attractive remote handset. The latter has a sculpted chrome back and operates over Bluetooth so does not need line of sight, it’s a nice detail even if some of the buttons have less than obvious markings. Another useful feature is a hatch in the base of the T10 which will accept two solid state drives (SSD) of up to 8TB capacity each, which means that it can store your music files rather than having to stream them from a music service. As a rule locally stored files sound significantly better than even the best that streaming services can provide.
This Eversolo provides access to more services than pretty well any streamer I have reviewed, the full list is in the specifications below but includes three internet radio providers, Soundcloud and all the Connects. If there’s a streaming service you can’t access through it I don’t know what they are, the ellipsis at the end of the list that Eversolo provides indicates that not all are on the list. One totally new category is music cloud drivers of which Dropbox is the best known but there are five others listed. Fortunately you can omit services from the app’s home screen if they aren’t required. It’s worth noting however that Roon is not mentioned as being compatible, JPlay isn’t either but that worked well for me.
Sound quality
As a purist I found the feature list a bit concerning, how on earth can you make a source component sound good if it’s processing so much data? The answer probably lies in what the processors are doing when the T10 is playing back files. Because whilst this isn’t the most transparent streamer I have heard it is one of the more engaging examples of the art, it has a quality that makes you want to keep on listening to the end of the track almost every time. Which for a reviewer with only so many hours of listening time in the day is quite unusual.
The T10 has a musical fluency that is particularly enjoyable, it draws you in even when attention is diverted elsewhere, and reveals the magic in the music. It gets to the parts that other streamers do not, not by producing extreme detail resolution or mercurial immediacy, both of which grab the attention but don’t necessarily hold it, but by revealing the subconscious musical message in a way that is easy to understand. This result will depend on the attached DAC of course but I found it worked with the modest Henry DA 256 and the rather more spendy Bricasti M11 Classic, using both USB and coaxial connections.
My reference streamer outguns the T10 in terms of openness, speed and detail resolution but costs more than twice as much and doesn’t necessarily provide significantly greater musical pleasure even if it offers higher fidelity. The T10 sounds smooth by comparison but doesn’t hold back things like emotional expression, on Stephen Stills’ So Begins the Task the voice and guitar are well separated and highly articulate, the feelings that back up the song easy to appreciate. Likewise Joni Mitchell’s voice on The Man I Love is mellow but highly expressive, this was made in her later years as a performer and lacks the purity of its younger self yet the depth of feeling is clear, the T10 is nothing if not emotionally intelligent.
This Eversolo has the knack of drawing your attention to the music and not the mechanics of its reproduction, the T10 is no attention seeker, rather it’s happy to deliver the message with the minimum of intrusion, and this lets you appreciate the brilliance of the composition, the playing and the real meaning of each piece played. I am a big fan of timing, it’s the key to high fidelity no less, and rarely does a smooth and easy sounding piece of electronics deliver decent timing. The T10 upsets this notion, it doesn’t seem to be trying yet overplayed test tracks seem to reveal their magic in its hands. On this occasion it was Steely Dan’s Babylon Sisters, a piece usually chosen to check timing that on this streamer, with the Bricasti, brought a lump to my throat, this indicates that the T10 really can get to the parts that matter.
Just in case I have given the impression that this Eversolo is a bit touchy feely I should mention that it does dynamics when required as well, the lilting weighty groove of Bob Marley’s No More Trouble reveals just how well the Wailers could play despite the miasma of dope fumes surrounding them. If you are looking for hard leading edges there are alternatives which will have more appeal but as a rule a smooth sound at normal levels can be a monster one with the volume cranked up, yet it doesn’t make your ears bleed. I certainly felt the crunch on a number of tunes including Sarniezz by Angine de Poitrine, the T10 lets you hear that they hit pretty hard when things get going.
As the T10 has a clock link and I own a Mutec Ref 10 Nano word clock I hooked it up to the 75 ohm connector and selected the appropriate master clock in the app. This brought about a notable uplift in spaciousness, separating out the various instruments and revealing more of their shape and timbre. It made for more three dimensional imaging even off axis via PMC prophecy9 speakers and brought out subtleties and dynamic shadings previously masked. This clock costs £1,550 so might be considered overkill but it’s nice to have such an upgrade option should you want to take things further.
Verdict
For a streamer with all the features under the sun and then a few more the Eversolo T10 does a remarkable job of making engaging music. Its balance is on the smooth side but this does not impact on timing, detail or dynamics which given the asking price is an impressive achievement. The huge array of set up options means that tweakers will get hours of entertainment out of trying different EQs, room acoustics options and much much more but at the end of the day the T10 makes you want to listen to the music because it presents it in such an easy to enjoy fashion.
Eversolo pack an awful lot into the T10’s beautifully executed form and even if you don’t want to play with its myriad features this is a streamer that can deliver the musical goods in a fashion that while it sounds effortless can still land an emotional punch with impressive accuracy. I can’t see what’s not to like.
Pros
Exceptionally comprehensive feature set and connectivity
Highly engaging, musical and emotionally expressive sound
Excellent timing, dynamics and upgrade potential
Superb build quality, touchscreen, app and Bluetooth remote
Outstanding value for a high-end streaming transport
Cons
Slightly smooth balance lacks ultimate transparency and bite
Huge range of settings may overwhelm purists
No built-in Wi-Fi or Roon support