Fosi Multichannel DAC coming!

[badie]

(just initial thoughts)

Adding :
- at least 8 channels OUT, XLR/TRS Combos
- HDMI eArc in (at least stereo, better Dolby)
- high power output - fitting the needs of Class-D amps
- at least 2 analog stereo ins
- remote control (at least for master volume and inputs) -
- AES support would be very nice
- bigger case, color LED (with level metering: see MOTU 828)
- no popping noises when switching ON/OFF (relais)

(Edit)
- a proper, decent StandBy Mode with less than 0,5W of power consumption
- Trigger OUT

In the end something in between a MOTU Ultralite mk5 and the OktoDAC.
To fit in the market price should not be (much) more than ultralite mk5.

I am also opting for doing it right and not cutting corners.

The absolute burner would be an inclusion of HDMI eARC multichannel IN with support for Dolby and consorts. I know of many people who would really like to ditch their AVRs.

A full blown PEQ/Filters would be nice, would need a GUI (web). But to make it really work for driving active multiway speaker setups this needs to be way more than 4 PEQ on each OUT. (FIR/LIR .... Delay ... Phase)

Maybe better: Make sure, that it works with LINUX/Pi/CAMILLADSP. (IMHO without this support won´t have a chance for most of the DIY active multichannel speaker projects).

Even better: Integrat a RaspPi or make room in the case where people can put there own RaspPi.

Very much looking forward

 

[MCH]

(just initial thoughts)

Adding :
- at least 8 channels OUT, XLR/TRS Combos
- HDMI eArc in (at least stereo, better Dolby)
- high power output - fitting the needs of Class-D amps
- at least 2 analog stereo ins
- remote control (at least for master volume and inputs) -
- AES support would be very nice
- bigger case, color LED (with level metering: see MOTU 828)
- no popping noises when switching ON/OFF (relais)

(Edit)
- a proper, decent StandBy Mode with less than 0,5W of power consumption
- Trigger OUT

In the end something in between a MOTU Ultralite mk5 and the OktoDAC.
To fit in the market price should not be (much) more than ultralite mk5.

I am also opting for doing it right and not cutting corners.

The absolute burner would be an inclusion of HDMI eARC multichannel IN with support for Dolby and consorts. I know of many people who would really like to ditch their AVRs.

A full blown PEQ/Filters would be nice, would need a GUI (web). But to make it really work for driving active multiway speaker setups this needs to be way more than 4 PEQ on each OUT. (FIR/LIR .... Delay ... Phase)

Maybe better: Make sure, that it works with LINUX/Pi/CAMILLADSP. (IMHO without this support won´t have a chance for most of the DIY active multichannel speaker projects).

Even better: Integrat a RaspPi or make room in the case where people can put there own RaspPi.

Very much looking forward

I follow the ultralite thread because I own one and I have read the okto thread occasionally. Doing so one realises the level of support and updates such complex devices need. I hope Fosi plays that league one day, but with all respects, I don't think they are there yet, nor that it is their business model (vs releasing new devices every week)

 

[charlielaub]

I am really scratching my head reading some of the posts in this thread. This product is a DAC. Why post wish lists for features like ADC functionality, HDMI eARC inputs, DSP, or whatever? There are other products for that stuff. I find when a manufacturer attempts to put too many different types of products into one, the end result is often disappointing. It's the old "receiver versus separates" argument!

Although some of you seem to be in love with XLR connectors, I doubt that Fosi will choose them because the case size and therefore its MFG costs and also all the shipping costs for the life of the product will be higher, for zero improvement in the product performance. What is the problem with TRS balanced outputs?

Hey FOSI: just keep it simple like the TOPPING DM7 but make sure performance is high and the device is class compliant for broad support under multiple OSes. 4V or 5V Rms output is also a plus because of the trend towards low-gain, high performance amplifiers. You will find lots of buyers.

 

[badie]

Well - making wishes is for free. And I know that some wishes will be never fullfilled (or taking very long)

But yes. I agreee. If its meant to be a multichannel DAC only.
Then please keep it simple. Leave all DSP stuff ...

HDMI eARC in: Fosi knows how to do this (at least for stereo) --> see ZD3 which includes HDMI in.
TRS vs XLR: if the case is big enough then combos, if not TRS balanced is also fine
4V to 5V: a must (if balanced)
Linux/RaspPi/CamillaDSP compability: for me still important
ASIO: same same
Standby Power Consumption important for me, maybe not for others
...

looking forward for @Fosi Audio statements

 

[evedoesaudiothings]

Would love some kind of an update. Most of the feature requests here are completely off the rails. If we're already off in fantasy land, gimme AES67 / Ravenna support.

Jokes aside. It needs 8+ channels balanced out, DSD support, ASIO for Windows hosts, volume attenuation that can be controlled either via USB, IP or RS232. All the other stuff is fluff.
Per channel attenuation would be nice to have.

If you're trying to bring analog in or get your HDMI audio sources, you do that with a different device........ *shrug*

 

[Kal Rubinson]

Would love some kind of an update. Most of the feature requests here are completely off the rails. If we're already off in fantasy land, gimme AES67 / Ravenna support.

Agreed.

Jokes aside. It needs 8+ channels balanced out, DSD support, ASIO for Windows hosts, volume attenuation that can be controlled either via USB, IP or RS232. All the other stuff is fluff.

Yes.

 

[chnan]

making wishes is basically waste of time. So I bought an RME UFX, a 802, and a marian seraph 8.

 

[evedoesaudiothings]

Agreed.

Yes.

There's a market for this stuff, and for what people are requesting but ultimately, KISS. That seems to be what Fosi is about. All this other stuff probably should be handled elsewhere anyways. Maybe this is too opinionated but your multichannel D/A likely shouldn't be responsible for your DSP.

The HDMI in, considering they've done it before, I can see that being a reasonable request. I personally disagree but I can understand it.

 

[dziemian]

Keep it simply. Keep it cheap. For those who need more features.there is Okto Dac Pro and music interfaces

 

[zzcraft]

AES67 or dante pls

 

[zzcraft]

I’ve been planning on buying an Okto Dac 8 Pro. I’m going to wait for this and see how it measures.

Thanks for posting!

why not go for smsl d6s * 4 ?

 

[FERCSA]

why not go for smsl d6s * 4 ?

You can't sync them properly.

 

[zzcraft]

You can't sync them properly.

Actually you can , many audio processor capable of sending multiple aes3/coax output. I don’t get it why you say so.

 

[dhaman]

Actually you can , many audio processor capable of sending multiple aes3/coax output. I don’t get it why you say so.

Could you please describe more details how is possible clock synchronize 4 * smsl d6s ? To get 8 channel DAC ?

 

[somebodyelse]

Could you please describe more details how is possible clock synchronize 4 * smsl d6s ? To get 8 channel DAC ?

You need an interface with multiple coax/toslink digital outputs with a shared or synchronised clock source, and use that to drive the 4 stereo DACs. Something like the RME Digiface or MiniDSP U-DIO8 would do that with a shared clock source. Dante, AVB and similar synchronise clocks over the network connection, so you could use multiple adapters like the Dante AVIO AES3 adapter and still have synchronised digital outputs.

Unless you already have the hardware it's probably not going to save much if anything over the Okto, and it's a lot less tidy.

 

[evedoesaudiothings]

AES67 or dante pls

Dante isn't a great choice here. Licensing fees & AES67 / Ravenna is superior.

I will say, Audinate's Windows VSC is mostly better than the competition in terms of intrusiveness / stability. Lawo's isn't good, the Ravenna reference one is terrible with how it has to replace your NIC driver, MAD from Merging is very good but you need Merging hardware, honestly you can just get funky with GStreamer since their PTP helper works on Windows now. However, with the Dante VSC you can hijack the PTP process that it spawns to have it use PTPv2 (so you don't need to distribute a PTPv1 clock in addition to V2, which is also a valid option) , so it works fine for AES67 if you forward the packets (look up dante aes67 relay for a reference on how to do that).

Dante is great for huge networks, their management tools when you're dealing with large deployments are *excellent* but you don't need that at home really.

 

[Honken]

Unless you already have the hardware it's probably not going to save much if anything over the Okto, and it's a lot less tidy.

This cannot be stressed enough. In a home setting, a simple 8ch DAC is just that much easier and nicer to deal with.

 

[dartinbout]

This cannot be stressed enough. In a home setting, a simple 8ch DAC is just that much easier and nicer to deal with.

Excuse me while I sacrifice a goat, in effigy, for a Topping DM8 with a full PEQ computer GUI.

 

[tinnitus]

My motto is: keep the areas clean. Basically there are three areas: digital (D input D output), analog (A input A output) and mixed (A input D output / D input A output). It would be nice to have a scalable DAC for 2, 4, 6 or 8 channels that can be upgraded.

 

[dhaman]

I would like to implement an active 4-way crossover using a Raspberry Pi with Moode Audio and CamillaDSP. It will be connected to an 8-channel USB DAC (linux uac2) with XLR (balanced) audio outputs. A master volume control and remote control functionality would be a nice addition. Only digital/stream source.