Gold Note DS-10 Evo

The Gold Note DS-10 Evo is a streaming DAC and preamplifier of extraordinary versatility and technical ambition — a component that unites a high-resolution network streamer, an AKM DAC of exceptional specification handling PCM to 32bit/768kHz and DSD512, a fully switchable analogue preamplifier stage, and a professional-grade headphone amplifier in a single precision-machined aluminium chassis of Gold Note's characteristic Italian authority. It is the streaming source component that redefines what a DAC at its price can achieve — one whose breadth of format support, streaming service compatibility, and analogue output quality places it in genuine high-end territory, and whose combination of Roon Ready certification, Bluetooth 5.0, Wi-Fi, and comprehensive digital input provision ensures that no source, no network, and no listening scenario lies beyond its reach.

AKM DAC — 32bit/768kHz PCM and DSD512

The DS-10 Evo's digital-to-analogue conversion is entrusted to an AKM converter of outstanding specification — handling PCM signals to 32bit/768kHz and DSD to DSD512, a resolution ceiling of reference ambition that places the DS-10 Evo's conversion capability well beyond the requirements of any currently available streaming service or digital file format. Three selectable DAC profiles allow the listener to fine-tune the converter's behaviour — adjusting the de-emphasis, low-pass digital filter, and DSD filter characteristics — without modifying the audio signal or interrupting playback, delivering a level of real-time sonic customisation that no other DAC at this price provides. Each profile can be selected in real-time via the 2.8" TFT display, the Single Knob Control on the front panel, the Gold Note remote control, or the free GN Control App — ensuring that the DS-10 Evo's DAC character can be matched to the music being played, the loudspeakers it is driving, and the listener's own preferences with a precision and immediacy that transforms the listening experience.

Roon Ready Streamer — Every Major Platform, One Component

The DS-10 Evo is a fully certified Roon Ready network streamer — compatible with Tidal Connect, Qobuz, Spotify, Deezer, vTuner, and AirPlay 2.0, and controllable via the free GN Control App for iOS and Android. Wi-Fi and Ethernet connectivity ensures seamless integration into any home network, while compatibility with all UPnP/DLNA services allows local library playback from NAS devices and USB storage with complete format flexibility. The DS-10 Evo's streaming architecture is further enhanced by the implementation of Tidal Connect — allowing direct streaming from Tidal without the intermediary of a Roon core or additional software — and by Bluetooth 5.0 connectivity for wireless playback from smartphones, tablets, and computers at 44.1kHz/16bit quality.

Switchable Analogue Preamplifier — Complete System Flexibility

The DS-10 Evo's analogue preamplifier stage is fully switchable — engaged or bypassed via the front panel, remote control, or GN Control App — and provides volume control of the highest quality for direct connection to a power amplifier or active loudspeakers without the need for a separate preamplifier in the signal path. When engaged, the preamplifier stage allows the DS-10 Evo to function as a complete streaming preamplifier — controlling volume, selecting sources, and driving a power amplifier such as the Gold Note PA-10 directly from its balanced XLR or unbalanced RCA outputs. When bypassed, the DS-10 Evo operates as a pure DAC and streamer — delivering a fixed-level output of maximum purity to an external preamplifier or integrated amplifier, with no additional active stage in the signal path between the converter and the amplifier input.

Professional Headphone Amplifier — Two Sensitivity Levels

The DS-10 Evo's headphone amplifier output is of professional 6.3mm specification — a standard that accommodates the full range of audiophile headphones from the most sensitive in-ear monitors to the most demanding full-size planar magnetic designs — and offers two independently selectable sensitivity levels, High and Low, that allow the output level and gain to be matched precisely to the headphones connected. It is a headphone amplifier of genuine high-end quality — not a convenience feature appended to a DAC design as an afterthought, but a fully engineered output stage of Gold Note's own design that delivers the current capability, dynamic authority, and low noise floor that the finest headphones require to perform at their best.

Comprehensive Digital Inputs — Every Source Connected

The DS-10 Evo's digital input provision encompasses one RCA PCM coaxial input, two optical TOS-Link inputs, one AES/EBU XLR input, one USB-B input for direct computer connection, and one USB-A host port for local file playback from USB storage — alongside the network streaming and Bluetooth inputs described above. This breadth of digital input provision ensures that the DS-10 Evo can serve as the digital hub of any serious system — accepting signals from CD transports, computer audio sources, AES/EBU professional equipment, and network sources simultaneously, and converting every one of them with the full authority of its AKM converter at the resolutions those sources can deliver.

Technical Specifications

Who Is It For?

The DS-10 Evo is for the music lover who wants a single streaming source component of genuine high-end engineering ambition — one whose DAC specification, streaming versatility, and analogue output quality place it well above the crowded mid-market, and whose switchable preamplifier stage and professional headphone output make it a genuinely complete source solution for systems of any configuration. It is the natural streaming source partner for the Gold Note PA-10 power amplifier — and those building a complete Gold Note system around it will find the Gold Note PH-10 phono stage the ideal analogue companion for vinyl replay of equivalent authority.

Buying from Martins Hi-Fi

Martins Hi-Fi has been in Norwich since 1968. Elizabeth Gould runs the business today, and we stock only brands we have heard properly and stand behind. We can demonstrate the DS-10 Evo in our Norwich showroom — streaming from Tidal, Qobuz, and local storage, and driving a quality pair of loudspeakers directly — so you can hear precisely what this extraordinary streaming DAC achieves in a properly configured system. When you get in touch, you'll be speaking with Dave, Chris and Tim — experienced specialists who can advise on this product and your whole system.

Contact us at info@martinshifi.co.uk, call 01603 627010, or WhatsApp on 07554 687137. You can read more about how we work on our Why Martins Hi-Fi page. We are at 85–91 Ber Street, Norwich, NR1 3EY.