I am perfectly fine with having a THD rising at higher levels (like amps and loudspeakers do anyway: why would the DAC be the only device that is supposed to be at its best near 0dBFS? That makes no sense, especially with digital volume control).
Oh, and I would also love to see residual noise measurements for these different output levels (but I suppose this will be pretty linear?)
Oh, and I would also love to see residual noise measurements for these different output levels (but I suppose this will be pretty linear?)
That makes sense, thank you.
I guess that will show on high bandwidth measurements, but that is probably not a problem for us mere bandwidth-limited animals
I guess that will show on high bandwidth measurements, but that is probably not a problem for us mere bandwidth-limited animals
I have played with the DAC8 USB for a few days now. My use case is one of needing an active crossover for my 2 way stereo and sub. I had been using a minidsp 4X10 HD for this purpose. Plagued by certain amount of hiss, and mediocre DAC, I have been looking for a suitable solution. It so happens that my sub is also acting up, so most of the testing I have done has been without one.
The OCTO DAC8 DSP, is really what I need, but what was on tour has been without the DSP. That limited what I could do. Used JRiver, to setup the crossover. I did not do any measurements or room correction, just a basic cross over set up. Also I could not take the TV audio out and could only use it to play what music I had on the laptop.
My initial review of the DAC8, is just:
Wow!, Analog.
Comparing it to the minidsp is like comparing a Toyota with a Porsche, be that as it may. This one throws a gigantic sound stage. A friend remarked, I needed a bigger room to do justice to the stage. This thing is black. The dynamic range is huge. Just for giggles, I brought down the volume -60 Db and I could still hear the song well. The sound is a little laid back, very musical, and analog. The notes are crystal clear, very resolving. Never heard a power up/down thump or hiss. I have not spent much time playing with the menu options such as the ESS filter settings.
The tiny issues, Amir pointed out, like the cabinet needing reinforcements, Pavel says has been resolved. The unit looks great, well engineered. If I had gotten a production unit with DSP, I would have simply kept it, paid Pavel off and call it done.
Octo Research, congratulations on a great job.
Thanks,
Dinesh
The OCTO DAC8 DSP, is really what I need, but what was on tour has been without the DSP. That limited what I could do. Used JRiver, to setup the crossover. I did not do any measurements or room correction, just a basic cross over set up. Also I could not take the TV audio out and could only use it to play what music I had on the laptop.
My initial review of the DAC8, is just:
Wow!, Analog.
Comparing it to the minidsp is like comparing a Toyota with a Porsche, be that as it may. This one throws a gigantic sound stage. A friend remarked, I needed a bigger room to do justice to the stage. This thing is black. The dynamic range is huge. Just for giggles, I brought down the volume -60 Db and I could still hear the song well. The sound is a little laid back, very musical, and analog. The notes are crystal clear, very resolving. Never heard a power up/down thump or hiss. I have not spent much time playing with the menu options such as the ESS filter settings.
The tiny issues, Amir pointed out, like the cabinet needing reinforcements, Pavel says has been resolved. The unit looks great, well engineered. If I had gotten a production unit with DSP, I would have simply kept it, paid Pavel off and call it done.
Octo Research, congratulations on a great job.
Thanks,
Dinesh
Glad you like it. Feedback like this keeps us going.
Just e-mail us at info@oktoresearch.com with your address and we will add you to our tour list, so you will have the DAC8 demo unit for audition in the same way dviswa did.
i also want the dsp unit.. and my current nanodigi only have spdif output so i would need spdif input on the dac8 anyway.. i2s input also would be nice and worldclock in/out if the internal clock is awesome something the clock of the source isnt very good so nice to sync the source to a better clock..
Besides @ dviswa, has anyone else on the tour had a chance to review the DAC8 ??? If so, please post your impressions.
192kHz/32 bit and DSD128. We don't see much reason to go higher than that since DAC chips perform worse in the audible spectrum when processing higher sample rates, so its actually counterproductive to use them.
UAC2 compliancy ensures no additional driver is needed on any modern OS. ASIO (which does concern Windows machines only and is needed to bypass its poorly performing mixer) works with ASIO4ALL.
Hinted about the existence of this product by a friend on the french Forum Hifi. Specs and early reviews look very promising. Very good multichannel DACs are rare. Definitely interested in benchmarking it against my Exasound E28 (similar specs and same ESS chip) and Devialet D200 DAC. Cout me in if there's a European tour! The potential advantages I see against competition (Exasound) are : 1) price 2) UAC2 compliancy 3) integrated power supply. Bravo for the entrepreneurial spirit, wishing all the best to Okto!
Is the 192KHz/DSD128 sample rate limitation due to thermal dissipation issues with higher frequency rates or something else (please elaborate) ?
I see some other DACs that implement the newer ESS chips using heat sinks on the DAC chips.
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