Hi everyone!
There are some tests about the stereo dac ?
I hope order will be available soon
Is there anyone here with a stereo model? I am interested in it but nowhere can I find the impressions of the people who own it or some more detailed SQ review?
The dac8 Stereo is ready to be sent to ASR and the first orders are shipping next week. Right after that the product will become available again on our website.
Hey. This is big problem: The display does not display bitrate.
The display is not like page 1 nor the manual so that should be corrected. Bummer, I was looking forward to the bitrate. Trinnov doesn't either display bitrate.
My biggset gripe is that it does not display bitrate like manual. I really, really wanted that.
Just noticed the Manual shows USB with the bitrate. So maybe only USB shows bitrate? I'm AES.
Can anyone confirm if bitrate is displayed with USB?
Bits per sample information is only displayed in either USB or USB/AES mode (for USB data). The reason is that while a USB host explicitly provides this information, the device receiving SPDIF or AES/EBU signal needs to rely on status data provided by a transmitter device. Unfortunately, these are far from reliable since a lot of devices just don't bother with sending the status data correctly based on the actual audio data and either fill them with zeros or send incorrect, fixed values. To avoid confusing users with misleading bit depth values, we just omitted that completely in Pure AES mode. The displayed sample rate is a different topic, that reading is obtained in other way and is reliable.
Question: If I understand the measurements, no DAC today gives full 24 bit? The best known DAC only gives 21 bits? And the Dac8 only 20 bits?
If so, wonder why did the host not mention this? This is very important to know. Maybe I am not understanding the measurements?
Yep, analog is hard. 24-bit or 144.5dB dynamic range would require a device with a full-scale voltage of 4V to have just 0.25uV of noise. That is not unattainable, but it would very difficult, costly and space-consuming to do, especially for 8 channels. Not even the APx555 generator, let alone DAC, approaches such a low noise level and that is almost a $30,000 device.
High dynamic range (or low noise) in DAC is definitely good when you do some DSP and need to attenuate part of the band in order to boost other region. Also, it makes digital volume basically a superior solution, since its only downside - leaving noise level unchanged - is not an issue if the noise is far below audible treshold. What is left is fluency and lack of relay clicking.
Does the current production version measure better than early versioni measured by amirm? Why is conduction better than convection for this case? Thanks in advance.
It does. Production dac8 PRO got a new generation DAC board, which measures roughly 2dB SINAD better and has increased dynamic range.
Conduction cooling doesn't rely on airflow that much and allows for a dust-proof case free of venting holes. Lower temperature also slightly contributes to lower noise.
3D Issues with DAC:
The dac8 screen, even at lowest setting, flickers very, very distractedly with 3d glasses. I was forced to cover display during 3d viewing.
Good catch! But you don't need to cover the displays, just make them automatically turn off by setting Menu > Displays > Timer to "10s" and Menu > Displays > After timer to "off". Then they will only light up briefly after making a change.
Small issues.
Twice the DAC was unresponsive to the remote only (dial was responsive) and did not auto shut off after the 10 min settings. Unplugging fixed. PITA because 5 minute process for me to get behind rack. Oddly it only loses the auto shut off settings after reboot & reverts back to 2 hours.
I don't care about remote so much as I don't plan on using it. Just wanted a DAC. Auto shut off is important. I guess the BOM - learned that word here
- for a switch was too great. In this day & age, when rebooting solves most problems it seems like a missed opportunity & we should have increased price. Perhaps switches mess with SINBAD's? But better measured DAC's have switches...
Given that the Dac has a case without vents I'm presuming that RF/EMI is affecting the remote sensor via the front panel. Early plasma TVs cranked out a far amount of RF and were known to interfere with Apple TV remotes. It's just a guess and perhaps others (or Pavel) with more technical knowledge can respond to my findings.
Arrg! My DAC didn't/won't shut off again & is coupled with not responding to remote. I only used it for a few seconds to take a pic this morning. So happened every day in my 3 days. I'm just going to leave on forever & problem solved for my usage. Since Trinnov must do volumey stuff in crossover & EQ, I'd rather not mix volume tech anyway.
Okto boasts 10+ years.
Does that mean on continuously? Well what choice I got? If it breaks, I'll just get a new one. No way I'm opening my rack after every usage.
Chalking it up as a win and minor issue.
Should I email Okto let them know that my DAC doesn't shut off as an FYI? I feel bad to bug them after their amazing contribution in A/V history. The first (known) rug that completes the room in A/V.
Hm. Thanks, I missed that. Wonder what's been added/changed in 1.32.
@Okto Research ??
Since 1.31 firmware version, we sped up the user interface by increasing display update speed 20x, which results in almost instantaneous response to user commands. Unfortunately, this also had an adverse effect on a remote reception and caused susceptibility to electromagnetic interference, which may break responsivity to IR commands and all the functions concerning timing.
We already fixed that in 1.34 so the new devices don't suffer from that, and we are preparing a firmware update package for the existing devices. If you are experiencing issues, the dac8 PRO needs to be moved away from the source of EMI, which might be a D-class amplifier like in case of
@Burning Sounds, a plasma TV like in case of
@jjk (probably) or generally a device with switch-mode power supply.
In all FW versions, the menu settings are only stored when a soft power off is performed (no matter if using knob or remote) in order to save flash memory write cycles. The settings from the last session are lost if power cord is pulled, so this behavior is normal.
Hmm, might be enough though. The Okto Dac doesn't have any RFI/EMI mains input filtering - complete speculation on my part though as to whether this is the cause of this remote issue.
Susceptability to mains EMI would show up in a measurements. The issue here only concerns IR receiver, not internal circuitry.
Please feel free to start charging double. The bargain price is inviting suspicion on the performance.
Ok then, waiting for the second half of your payment! But really, once our products are in stock, there will be some price increase.
I'm version 1.32
I'm not troubled. What is the harm leaving it on? Longevity, perhaps? Ideally an even better device comes along between now & 5-7 years, preferably in small form factor
There is close to zero harm in leaving your dac8 PRO on. The power consumption is around 7W so it is not going to break the bank either.
Pavel, Okto Research
