AudioStudies
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Okto dac8 stereo DAC Review
- Thread starter amirm
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Get the Supra, that’s an exciting Toyota! Wait... is it really a Toyota?...
AudioStudies
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I have to stick with the Jag, I installed a high-end audio system so don't want to give up on it quite yet.
Vasr
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No, it is a transformer toy morphing from a Miata to something else but getting stuck in the middle of the transformation.
Some real elitist nonsense the should be shunned by anyone who cares about good music reproduction and hearing quality products.
Yeah. We had one of these in my neighborhood when I moved in almost 30 years ago. He later moved to a smaller shop on a side street and, subsequently, disappeared. Of course, a lot has changed and/or disappeared over that span of time but the more traditional shops have endured, so far..
Actually it's a Bimmer.
I remember going to some high end stores in downtown Chicago back in the 70-80s. There was a shop called Paul Heath Audio on N Clark St and another who's name escapes that was right down the street. They were the cream of the crop TOTL back in the day. I would pull up on the sidewalk right in front and get off one of my straight piped Harley choppers wearing old jeans and my cut vest. The sales guys would run for the back room like John Dillinger just walked thru the door. LOL
Those were the days...
I have a feeling we might be talking about slightly different things. Even if you think it's pointless, would you mind taking a few minutes of your time to do a quick test, so I can see things clearly in a form I am familiar with? Could you download and play the below 30-second long BS EN 50332-1 Program Simulation Noise from your AP Analyzer and record its output using the same Analyzer in (internal) loopback?
https://www.dropbox.com/s/ocxvs0bhneadcnh/EN50332_ProgSignal_44.16_-10dBFS.wav?dl=0
Alternatively, you may be able to just use the signal generator of the AP for this, as said in the documentation for AP's Audio Player Test Utility:
Then just upload the recorded wav file to a file sharing site, and I can do the rest. That would be highly appreciated. (Or if you feel like it, you can download DeltaWave and compute the Df metric using that yourself, by loading in the software the original Program Simulation Noise file and the AP Analyzer's recording of this.)
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OP
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If you have an amp with SINAD of 113 dB and you put a DAC with SINAD of 113 dB, the resulting SINAD for both will be 110. So you do lose fidelity.
For the DAC to have negligible impact on SINAD of the amp, it needs to be 10 dB better or 123 dB. In that case, the system SINAD drops to 112.5 dB so not much impact.
Maybe we could use a little combined SINAD calculator app.
Check out the calculator at the bottom of this page. Use negative values to calculate SINAD additions (obviously switch the sign of the result back to positive at the end).
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Bottom of the page: "Addition of harmonic distortion attenuation of multiple devices", just add a minus in front of each THD value.
To keep the smile on your face do never add the THD of the speakers, because depression and anxiety will rise up.
To keep the smile on your face do never add the THD of the speakers, because depression and anxiety will rise up.
Please don't forget, 122dB SINAD is true at max volume for this DAC. At normal music listening we won't use max volume, level of instruments in recordings could be about at DAC -12dBfs... -20dBFs level, depends on the power amplifier max power and necessary input level to drive. At -15dBFs this DAC has SINAD about 105dB or less. AHB2 has 113dB SINAD at full power and same 113dB SINAD at 15W (4Ohm, high gain) . So on average music listening levels these (and most of the) DACs are on the same level or worst than the AHB2. Don't be enchanted by the good SINAD numbers, they are important, but the key is how internal volume control of DAC works (digital, switched resistors, mixed) providing output signal around -15dBFs, in my opinion.
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Ambient noise is about 30 dB SPL, music peak SPL is usually between 90...100 dB coming from speakers, so the actual listening dynamic is probably around 60-70 dB for our ears.
It's good to know that our gear has a dynamic range higher than 120 dB (you never know when you'll use that headroom), but I don't think we actually use it entirely when doing regular auditioning.
It's good to know that our gear has a dynamic range higher than 120 dB (you never know when you'll use that headroom), but I don't think we actually use it entirely when doing regular auditioning.
https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...rements-of-essence-hdacc-ii-4k-hdmi-dac.7171/If only we could get a unit that is a mashup of the two Okto units with Optical inputs for 2.0 PCM, USB for PC connection and a HDMI port (just 2.0 to LPCM 7.1 no licensed Dolby/DTS nonsense, no 4k pass through etc), this would make for a fantastic lightweight pre-amp for a mixed music/HT use that would be totally transparent for both uses.
Yes, I know the primarily music guys will jump up and down foaming at the mouth at that "travesty" at the mere mention of HDMI but if I had a nickel every time when someone declared what they need is all that matters, I would be very, very, rich.
and it's brother
https://www.essenceelectrostatic.com/product/evolve-ii-4k-hdmi-v2-0-multi-channel-dac/
not exactly Okto level of perf but more than good enough. Particularly for $300. It also does "LPCM 7.1CH, Dolby TrueHD, Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby Atmos and DTS-HD Master Audio".
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AudioStudies
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This essence unit appears to have a USB input in addition to the HDMI input. However, in the specs it calls it a "propriety service" input. Does that mean that the USB is for firmware upgrades only? Or can it serve as a USB input from a computer for audio use?
Sorry, I do not own one and cannot help. Their support line should be the best contact
Vasr
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That pair has similar issue as the Okto pair even if they are not in the same league as Okto. If you want volume control and source switching, you get only stereo. If you want multi-channel, you don't get switching and you don't get volume control (unlike Okto). Like Okto, these also leave you wishing for a mashup of the two.
Thinking a combination of the following would be really interesting and give state of the art performance for 2 channel audio with subs while allowing for HT bypass
MiniDSP SHD Studio , AES out for L+R plus 1 or 2 sub channels
Okto Dac8Pro
ARX RS-1 with trigger controlled by AVR or DAC8
For multichannel audio a PC could be hooked up to the Okto DAC8 Pro USB port directly
I would really like to see the ARX RS-1 measured to verify that its just a relay with no signal degradation.
Wayne
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