Review and Measurements of Okto DAC8 8Ch DAC & Amp

[Bliman]

It uses the miniDSP nanoSHARC with the 2x8 Plugin. You can find a lot of information about it on the miniDSP website. It does not support a ready to use room correction software like Dirac in this configuration. But you can do proper equalizing and use it as an active crossover to your subwoofer.

It is so confusing to me. Does it work like this

 

[Deleted member 2944]

That's a rather old miniDSP video.
I suggest to purchase the nanoSHARC plugin module ($10) and play around with it on your computer. That will give you a really good idea of all the DSP capabilities, routing, crossovers, etc, etc. (This module is the "heart" of the Okto 8-channel DSP version.)
https://www.minidsp.com/products/plugins/nanosharc-2x8-plug-in-detail

Dave.

 

[Bliman]

Sorry for being real stupid.
So if I am correct, you cannot take measurements with a microphone and correct the frequency?
But what this is for is that you can find the best crossover (in Hz) to set your subwoofer at?
So that the subwoofer picks up where the main speakers stop.
Or does it do more?

 

[amirm]

So if I am correct, you cannot take measurements with a microphone and correct the frequency?

You use a USB microphone and do the measuring on the computer for the input. The output (test tones) would go through the DAC8.

 

[Bliman]

You use a USB microphone and do the measuring on the computer for the input. The output (test tones) would go through the DAC8.

And then you can adjust the frequency curve and send it back to the dac8? And the dac will adjust his settings (or what it is called) so that you will get that curve in the room?
But this is room adjustment, no?
Oh and thanks all by the way for helping.

 

[amirm]

And then you can adjust the frequency curve and send it back to the dac8? And the dac will adjust his settings (or what it is called) so that you will get that curve in the room?

Well, if you get the DSP version of the DAC8, the modifications go to the DSP module, not the DAC part. Regardless, yes, the mods go to the machine and will change the frequency response as directed. This would normally be a manual process unless you invest in software that does it automatically for you.

I will be doing a tutorial for simple manual correction "one of these days."

 

[Bliman]

Well, if you get the DSP version of the DAC8, the modifications go to the DSP module, not the DAC part. Regardless, yes, the mods go to the machine and will change the frequency response as directed. This would normally be a manual process unless you invest in software that does it automatically for you.

I will be doing a tutorial for simple manual correction "one of these days."

Oh thank you very much. Will you do it in this thread? Or where can I look for it?
In my eyes that is room correction. Or is it not called that way because you have to manually change the curve?
And that you can use it with for example?
Sonarworks reference
And it can work with all room correction software?

 

[amirm]

I will be creating a stand-alone article for it.

The correct term is room equalization or Room EQ for short. You can't correct the room since it is always there the same way.

Modifying the curve just for tonality is called "target curve." That is part of the room eq. The more important one is to fix low frequencies where the room heavily modifies the response of speakers. I will cover both of these when I write my tutorial.

 

[Bliman]

I will be creating a stand-alone article for it.

The correct term is room equalization or Room EQ for short. You can't correct the room since it is always there the same way.

Modifying the curve just for tonality is called "target curve." That is part of the room eq. The more important one is to fix low frequencies where the room heavily modifies the response of speakers. I will cover both of these when I write my tutorial.

Thank you. So it can do Room EQ with for example SonarWorks Reference 4?
And can you say in what part of this forum you will post it?
Sorry for all the questions.

 

[amirm]

No worries. It will show up under the Reviews tab of the forum just like review articles do.

 

[MZKM]

I will be creating a stand-alone article for it.

The correct term is room equalization or Room EQ for short. You can't correct the room since it is always there the same way.

Modifying the curve just for tonality is called "target curve." That is part of the room eq. The more important one is to fix low frequencies where the room heavily modifies the response of speakers. I will cover both of these when I write my tutorial.

For bass and subwoofer integration:

Decently in-depth tutorial by Arve, a moderator on /r/audiophile:
https://www.reddit.com/r/audiophile/wiki/room-correction

EDIT: For Arve’s tutorial, it seems for it’s better to do spacial average (go to All SPL Graph -> Average the Responses) instead of doing the vector average, unless you plan to correct the phase; so, if just creating a adjustment in REA for say a MiniDSP 2x4HD, do a spacial average.

 

[Sal1950]

Yo Kal, did you buy that $30K+ processor or is it on generous loan to Stereophile?

Neither. It is here for a review.

HUH? Anyway looking forward to the review and a comparison against your Marantz 8805
It would be great if you could get John Atkinson to put this one on the bench and get some numbers on it's digital performance, etc.

 

[amirm]

It would be great if you could get John Atkinson to put this one on the bench and get some numbers on it's digital performance, etc.

Or if he is not willing, ask Trinnov to send it to me for testing when you are done.

 

[Kal Rubinson]

HUH? Anyway looking forward to the review and a comparison against your Marantz 8805
It would be great if you could get John Atkinson to put this one on the bench and get some numbers on it's digital performance, etc.

It is highly unlikely that he will do that but, now that he has more time for such things, it is somewhat less unlikely than it was before.

Or if he is not willing, ask Trinnov to send it to me for testing when you are done.

You need to ask Trinnov directly. I am happy to ship it to whomever they say.

 

[amirm]

You need to ask Trinnov directly. I am happy to ship it to whomever they say.

I feel less guilty saying bad things about a product if I was not the one asking for the loan.

 

[Sal1950]

I feel less guilty saying bad things about a product if I was not the one asking for the loan.

ROTFLMAO

 

[Kal Rubinson]

I feel less guilty saying bad things about a product if I was not the one asking for the loan.

There's no reason for that. They can say no but, if they say yes, what do you owe them?

 

[JohnYang1997]

There's no reason for that. They can say no but, if they say yes, what do you owe them?

Oh well this logic is solid too.

 

[Bliman]

I also have another question. Does anyone know how good the preamplifier section is? Because to me that is at least as important then the dac section. Because I would use it with a power amplifier.

 

[gvl]

I also have another question. Does anyone know how good the preamplifier section is? Because to me that is at least as important then the dac section. Because I would use it with a power amplifier.

There's no preamp in a classic sense. Just digital volume control on the DAC chip. With 32 bit math and good linearity we see it should be lossless and transparent for all practical purposes.