Eversolo leaves the 2026-2027 EISA Awards with two titles

On 24 August the Expert Imaging and Sound Association delivered its verdict for 2026-2027. Forty-fourth edition, thirty-seven hi-fi winners, and one name appearing twice in the list: Eversolo. The T8 is named EISA Digital Player 2026-2027, while the DAC-Z10 walks away with EISA DAC 2026-2027. Two separate categories, two machines that look nothing alike on paper, and yet the same design logic behind both.

An award won over several months

EISA is not a show-floor prize handed out in the heat of the moment. The association brings together around fifty specialist magazines and websites across roughly twenty-seven countries. Over several months their editors test each manufacturer's new products, compare notes, then meet to debate and vote category by category until a consensus emerges. That is what makes the list worth reading: a product doesn't win because it impressed one publication, but because it held up against everything else, in several countries and on several systems.

The T8: a transport, and nothing else

The T8 is the kind of machine that owns what it doesn't do. No built-in DAC, no amplification, no trade-off to arbitrate between the two — just the digital section, pushed as far as it will go. It is aimed at people who already own a reference converter and want a network source capable of actually exploiting it, over USB, AES/EBU or I²S.

The spec sheet follows that logic all the way. PCM 32-bit / 768 kHz, DSD512, machined aluminium chassis, carefully designed power supply, and above all an SFP input that lets you connect the T8 to your network over optical fibre rather than copper — a blunt way of cutting the electrical interference that travels up the Ethernet cable, and a detail few manufacturers offer at this level. Two internal SSD bays also let it act as a local server, up to 2 × 8 TB. Roon Ready, TIDAL Connect, Qobuz, DLNA and UPnP are all supported, with a large touchscreen on the front panel and iOS and Android control apps.

The T8 already appeared on this blog a fortnight ago, when its bigger sibling the T10 scored 9.3/10 at Best of High End. Eversolo's transport range clearly holds up beyond a single publication.

The DAC-Z10: two conversion chains in one box

The DAC-Z10 attacks the problem from the other end: instead of removing functions, it doubles them. Each channel has its own AK4191 + AK4499 pairing using AKM's Velvet Sound technology, so left and right never meet between the input and the conversion stage. Three isolated linear power supplies — left channel, right channel, system circuitry — carry that separation through on the power side. The measured result matches the ambition: 0.00008% THD+N and 130 dB of dynamic range.

Volume control is handled by a high-precision R-2R resistor network, again with one module per channel. The difference from a digital volume control isn't cosmetic: it shows up at low listening levels, where digital attenuation eats into the available resolution. The DAC-Z10 keeps its signal integrity and phase alignment at any setting, which lets it drive a power amplifier or active speakers directly through its XLR and RCA outputs. Add the Precision Core clock with its oven-controlled OCXO, the 10 and 25 MHz external clock inputs, the 1 W into 32 Ω headphone amplifier and the 8.8-inch touchscreen, and the EISA DAC 2026-2027 title needs little explaining.

Eversolo isn't alone on the list

Two other brands we carry feature in the 2026-2027 results. The Audeze Maxwell 2 ANC is named EISA Wireless Gaming Headset, confirming that the adaptive noise-cancelling wireless planar released this summer was more than a routine refresh. And the Focal Mu-so Hekla, developed with Naim, takes EISA Immersive Audio System on the home cinema side.

• EISA Digital Player 2026-2027 — Eversolo T8
• EISA DAC 2026-2027 — Eversolo DAC-Z10
• EISA Wireless Gaming Headset 2026-2027 — Audeze Maxwell 2 ANC
• EISA Immersive Audio System 2026-2027 — Focal Mu-so Hekla

Trophies handed out in Berlin on 4 September

The awards will be presented officially on Friday 4 September 2026, opening night of IFA Berlin, at the association's annual gala. The full list, with the jury's citation for each category, is published on the EISA website.

Availability

The Eversolo T8 is available at €1,399 and the DAC-Z10 at €1,990. Both are in stock at Cool Kids Audio, alongside the rest of the Eversolo range — from the DMP-A6 Gen 2 to the DMP-A10.