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Review and Measurements of Okto DAC8 8Ch DAC & Amp
- Thread starter amirm
- Start date
phoenixdogfan
Major Contributor
Isn't this how all these cables which have RCA on one end and XLR on the other are wired?
I wired them liked this :
https://benchmarkmedia.com/products/benchmark-xlrfm-to-rca-adapter-cable-pin-3-floating
phoenixdogfan
Major Contributor
Be easy enough to do with any such cable. Just unscrew the XLR end and cut pin 3 so the wire leading from it makes no contact with it. Should take about 20 seconds to do.
AnalogSteph
Major Contributor
No, there isn't even one single correct pinout for XLR > RCA, it depends on the output. 2 and 1 with pin 3 floating is going to be correct in a lot of cases though.
Some RCA > XLR cables will just be unbalanced and connect pin 1 and 3 at the far end, that's a mere mechanical adapter. In order to make semi-proper use of the balanced input, shield and cold have to be split at the RCA end. And sometimes you only want the shield to be connected on one side.
Note that RCA > XLR and XLR > RCA cables will be using physically different connectors either way - XLR is obviously gendered so such a cable can never be used in the other direction. I imagine XLR cables always being female to male makes the life of sound guys a little less hard, they can just plug in another one if more reach is needed.
I finished an Open Baffle project and tried the Octo Dac8Pro with EKIO. Unfortunately, it doesn't work for me.
The bass is very bad and I couldn't find a good setting for the AE Dipole15 speakers.
I tried with a 2x4 miniDSP and the result is very good.
For this reason I would like to buy a Venu360.
Can you tell me please, how to connect PC-> OktoDAC-> Venu360? I'm interested in what you said here: (AES inputs bypass the Venu's AD). I would like to skip the AD conversion.
And is this sequence of PC-> OktoDAC-> Venu360 - amplifier correct?
I thought it had to be PC-> Venu360 -> OktoDAC - amplifier...
Thanks a lot !
Attachments
Certainly. (Those are VERY pretty speakers!!)
OktoDAC8 pro has Ch 1 & 2 output in AES as well as analog.
Venu will accept AES Ch1&2 (simpler cabling, too!).
So OktoDAC->Venu AES is plug and play, wiring-wise.
I DID have trouble figuring out how to do the input/mix configuration for it, and ended up calling Harman support for the Venu, who were extremely helpful.
Turned out it had to be done through the front panel.
The Harman support tech told me that using AES inputs bypassed the ADC circuits...but I'd take that with a grain of salt, as he didn't seem extremely certain about that (or just had never been asked that before.)
AES should be pretty simple to set up by itself, and is one of the default configs.
[Most of my config setup problem was b/c I am 'mixing' the Okto Ch4 LFE/Subwoofer (analog) output to Venu 'Ch3' (analog) input, for advanced sub control and dBX bass features.
CH1/2 and the Sub/LFE aren't mixed or combined in any way on it, just crossovers and limiters. Strictly speaking, really not needed since I'm using a Crown DSP amp to drive that with, but having extra xover flexibility, AND be able to monitor what's coming in on the Sub input IS very handy.)]
Let me know if it's still an issue and I'll get a screen shot of the front panel setup for you.
FWIW, it was the Harman support tech who told me that using AES inputs bypassed the ADC circuits...but I'd take that with a grain of salt, he didn't seem extremely certain about that (or just had never been asked that before.)
Good luck!
OktoDAC8 pro has Ch 1 & 2 output in AES as well as analog.
Venu will accept AES Ch1&2 (simpler cabling, too!).
So OktoDAC->Venu AES is plug and play, wiring-wise.
I DID have trouble figuring out how to do the input/mix configuration for it, and ended up calling Harman support for the Venu, who were extremely helpful.
Turned out it had to be done through the front panel.
The Harman support tech told me that using AES inputs bypassed the ADC circuits...but I'd take that with a grain of salt, as he didn't seem extremely certain about that (or just had never been asked that before.)
AES should be pretty simple to set up by itself, and is one of the default configs.
[Most of my config setup problem was b/c I am 'mixing' the Okto Ch4 LFE/Subwoofer (analog) output to Venu 'Ch3' (analog) input, for advanced sub control and dBX bass features.
CH1/2 and the Sub/LFE aren't mixed or combined in any way on it, just crossovers and limiters. Strictly speaking, really not needed since I'm using a Crown DSP amp to drive that with, but having extra xover flexibility, AND be able to monitor what's coming in on the Sub input IS very handy.)]
Let me know if it's still an issue and I'll get a screen shot of the front panel setup for you.
FWIW, it was the Harman support tech who told me that using AES inputs bypassed the ADC circuits...but I'd take that with a grain of salt, he didn't seem extremely certain about that (or just had never been asked that before.)
Good luck!
My mistake: (Now I understand, use Venu360 only to drive a JBL subwoofer.
Since I can't handle Crossover on my PC (it's complicated for me), I should probably go for a SHD Studio or DDRC-88D.
Thank you very much for your quick response, I was already ready to order a Venu
Since I can't handle Crossover on my PC (it's complicated for me), I should probably go for a SHD Studio or DDRC-88D.
Thank you very much for your quick response, I was already ready to order a Venu
Not quite; I'm using the Venu for bi-amping & crossovers for mains, and it can handle tri-amping as well. I just added the sub feature b/c I can.
The Okto8 DAC part - for stereo - is overkill in that case, however.
Best wishes, regardless!!
The Okto8 DAC part - for stereo - is overkill in that case, however.
Best wishes, regardless!!
Stereo too. I think their backlog is too large and they need to catch up with production.
I wouldn't be surprised. Pavel has been very hard to reach. Then too, there's been a shortage of some electronics components.
John1959
Member
Well, it's not the first time they had to decide (temporary) not taking any new orders. I guess the supply chain has little to do with it, just demand far surpassing the production capacity (may be the very favourable recent Stereophile review has something to do with it). . I think this is the right thing to do. So not charging your CC and let you wait for a year or so or even longer. That would be unacceptable of course.
Are there any owners of the DAC8 reading this thread ?
I get huge spikes between tracks when playing native DSD in Linux with different family rates, let's say playing one track in DSD128 and the next one in DSD128x48.
My setup: Ubuntu 20, Intel I9, RTX3070 ; player: HQplayer Embedded
Library management: Roon (on a different PC in my LAN)
Google says it seems to be a common design problem for dacs based on USB with XMOS. They way to solve it (according to Miska, developer of HQPlayer) is by muting the DAC 50ms at beginning of each track when playing DSD material. Pavel from OktoResearch says it might be a problem with my unit. Does anybody else have suffered from that ?
I get huge spikes between tracks when playing native DSD in Linux with different family rates, let's say playing one track in DSD128 and the next one in DSD128x48.
My setup: Ubuntu 20, Intel I9, RTX3070 ; player: HQplayer Embedded
Library management: Roon (on a different PC in my LAN)
Google says it seems to be a common design problem for dacs based on USB with XMOS. They way to solve it (according to Miska, developer of HQPlayer) is by muting the DAC 50ms at beginning of each track when playing DSD material. Pavel from OktoResearch says it might be a problem with my unit. Does anybody else have suffered from that ?
Hi all,
I'm considering to order an okto dac8 pro for use with my Oppo BDP-105. But there is a basic question related to MCH SACD.
How can I feed the digital MCH SACD signal from the Oppo into the Okto?
Afaik the oppo 105 only puts the SACD signal to HDMI out.
Thx
I'm considering to order an okto dac8 pro for use with my Oppo BDP-105. But there is a basic question related to MCH SACD.
How can I feed the digital MCH SACD signal from the Oppo into the Okto?
Afaik the oppo 105 only puts the SACD signal to HDMI out.
Thx
The only direct way would be via an Oppo mod'ed for AES outputs, which are long since unavailable (there are some modders still offering these features, I see, but not cheap, and who knows how reliable?)
I eventually gave up on that and just bought a USB ADC (Motu 8Pre USB) that takes the 8 analog outputs and feeds them via USB to my source PC, and from there (via JRIver, in my case) out to the OktoDAC via USB.
Not elegant, but it works, gets me the Mch decoding I wanted for Blurays and streamed content, and doesn't cost an arm and leg!
Or, just bite the bullet and spring for an Oppo 205 ($$$$) and switch outputs between that and the Okto for Mch movies..performance of both is pretty much the same.
I eventually gave up on that and just bought a USB ADC (Motu 8Pre USB) that takes the 8 analog outputs and feeds them via USB to my source PC, and from there (via JRIver, in my case) out to the OktoDAC via USB.
Not elegant, but it works, gets me the Mch decoding I wanted for Blurays and streamed content, and doesn't cost an arm and leg!
Or, just bite the bullet and spring for an Oppo 205 ($$$$) and switch outputs between that and the Okto for Mch movies..performance of both is pretty much the same.
mdsimon2
Major Contributor
Per @Kal Rubinson post 191 in the thread linked below the Meridian HD621 or UHD722 will do this.
https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/okto-8-owner’s-thread.13899/page-10
They seem to be reasonably priced on ebay.
Michael
Thank you @Neddy, I see it's not a trivial issue as I thought so farThe only direct way would be via an Oppo mod'ed for AES outputs, which are long since unavailable (there are some modders still offering these features, I see, but not cheap, and who knows how reliable?)
I eventually gave up on that and just bought a USB ADC (Motu 8Pre USB) that takes the 8 analog outputs and feeds them via USB to my source PC, and from there (via JRIver, in my case) out to the OktoDAC via USB.
Not elegant, but it works, gets me the Mch decoding I wanted for Blurays and streamed content, and doesn't cost an arm and leg!
Or, just bite the bullet and spring for an Oppo 205 ($$$$) and switch outputs between that and the Okto for Mch movies..performance of both is pretty much the same.
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The only direct way would be via an Oppo mod'ed for AES outputs, which are long since unavailable (there are some modders still offering these features, I see, but not cheap, and who knows how reliable?)
I eventually gave up on that and just bought a USB ADC (Motu 8Pre USB) that takes the 8 analog outputs and feeds them via USB to my source PC, and from there (via JRIver, in my case) out to the OktoDAC via USB.
Not elegant, but it works, gets me the Mch decoding I wanted for Blurays and streamed content, and doesn't cost an arm and leg!
Or, just bite the bullet and spring for an Oppo 205 ($$$$) and switch outputs between that and the Okto for Mch movies..performance of both is pretty much the same.
What is the point of doing DAC -> ADC -> DAC ?
You are applying a transformation in the middle like EQ or room correction ?
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