I downloaded the alpha just to try out the EQ facilities. You have gain, GEQ and PEQ, you can have them all or some or none. Operates when input source is internal music player only. However output not restricted to analog outputs but also digital outputs up to 192 kHz. Not clear if the EQ uses downsampling to 48 kHz as in A8, but the sampling rates on outputting the EQ remain the same as on input. You can name separate profiles for all the output classes. The user interface is really nice and easy to use, lots of options on the PEQ 10-band in particular. You can adjust frequency, amplitude, Q for each band as well as select the filter type from a comprehensive list. Some types have no amplitude parameter by design, they then grey out that parameter. You hear the results immediately if the EQ feature(s) are toggled on, sometimes I hear a slight click as I adjust a parameter like amplitude, but nothing to worry about. All that is missing relative to A8 is that there is no facility for importing a FIR filter for room correction, presumably this difference will remain. The android controller app has also been improved, different font and icon sizes make it look slicker. You can now tap on album art on the Now Playing screen in the app to get an enlarged version of album art, tap again to go back to normal. This firmware also introduces a hybrid queue playlist function across services as well as support for Squeeze Connect and Sound Cloud. This machine is evolving well, long may it continue.
