Review and Measurements of Okto DAC8 8Ch DAC & Amp

[Okto Research]

To judge from the picture below, it's most likely possible to choose the screen to be off 'After timer'. After all, which modes would there be to choose from after the timer, other than 'dim' and 'off'? If only 'dim' was the option, why have an option at all? Pavel could probably chime in here with a bit of input, when he has the time
View attachment 35261

Hi there,

sure, "dim" and "off" are the two options for "After timer" menu entry. The timer can be set to 10s/60s/5min in the demo unit and first rev. DAC8 PRO firmware.

We haven't observed any burn-in so far while testing these displays. If there is some, I guess it would mainly be visible on an uniformly lit area, not so much on a text. The demo/tour unit is our longest working product with those, so it would be interesting to take a look at how they do.

Pavel

 

[Bliman]

Hi there,

sure, "dim" and "off" are the two options for "After timer" menu entry. The timer can be set to 10s/60s/5min in the demo unit and first rev. DAC8 PRO firmware.

We haven't observed any burn-in so far while testing these displays. If there is some, I guess it would mainly be visible on an uniformly lit area, not so much on a text. The demo/tour unit is our longest working product with those, so it would be interesting to take a look at how they do.

Pavel

Hi Pavel,
Could you say if you sent amirm the stereo dac already?
And please would you answer my mails( just in case if they are in the spam folder).
I really want to have a timetable for the European tour of the stereo dac and when I can test it?
This was a very impressive review here but I would like to see the final stereo one tested. It has been around 7 months that the review here came up. And I want to be patient, but I would need some concrete information when the unit can be tested here and also in my home (although a good review here would maybe be enough).
I know you are busy, but I just want some concrete information.
By the way can your dac play MQA files and will the website be updated with more information?

 

[SpyB]

So no plans to change the displays anytime soon, in fact there is a lot we can do with the existing ones thanks to the possibility of field SW updates (for the DAC8 PRO and the upcoming DAC8 Stereo).

So what can you actually do,can you actually improve the pixelated font,and make it look better close up.

Do not get me wrong,I think it is a great display/although it needs some consideration for improvement,
to compliment the rest of your excellent work

 

[Hemi-Demon]

Okay I see pictures of stacked boxes, has anyone from the US actually received one? I don't want to order as a pre-order.

 

[g29]

Okay I see pictures of stacked boxes, has anyone from the US actually received one? I don't want to order as a pre-order.

I doubt they have shipped any yet, else they would have publicized it.

They appear to be in a month-for-month schedule slip pattern for a while now. They keep repeating the same thing each month once they miss another ship date, "we are in production, all pre-orders will be shipped with in the month and new orders will ship after that".

There hasn't been anyone providing public feedback from the domestic demo tour of the pre-production unit in the last couple of months either. I think Josh358 was the last one to publicly comment on testing the domestic tour unit in July.

 

[Okto Research]

Hi Pavel,
Could you say if you sent amirm the stereo dac already?
And please would you answer my mails( just in case if they are in the spam folder).
I really want to have a timetable for the European tour of the stereo dac and when I can test it?
This was a very impressive review here but I would like to see the final stereo one tested. It has been around 7 months that the review here came up. And I want to be patient, but I would need some concrete information when the unit can be tested here and also in my home (although a good review here would maybe be enough).
I know you are busy, but I just want some concrete information.
By the way can your dac play MQA files and will the website be updated with more information?

No, the DAC8 Stereo has not been shipped for a review yet. And sorry, no plans to support MQA in our products. We don't see the benefit for the customer, especially compared to a bit-perfect format like FLAC.

So what can you actually do,can you actually improve the pixelated font,and make it look better close up.

Do not get me wrong,I think it is a great display/although it needs some consideration for improvement,
to compliment the rest of your excellent work

What I meant is that we intend to bring additional main screens with other information like level indicators and with different visual representation. We will consider making one designed specifically for a close-up view using more suiting character size and font. But of course, we cannot increase the resolution of the displays with a firmware update.

I doubt they have shipped any yet, else they would have publicized it.

They appear to be in a month-for-month schedule slip pattern for a while now. They keep repeating the same thing each month once they miss another ship date, "we are in production, all pre-orders will be shipped with in the month and new orders will ship after that".

There hasn't been anyone providing public feedback from the domestic demo tour of the pre-production unit in the last couple of months either. I think Josh358 was the last one to publicly comment on testing the domestic tour unit in July.

The first batch of the DAC8 PROs has been shipped last week. After that, I took two days off, for the first time after many months. I tried to communicate clearly (although admittedly sparsely) what caused the delay. The DAC8 PRO is more complex product than it seems due to it's ability to operate within a single clock domain for AES/EBU inputs and USB, making the recovered AES/EBU clock also control the rate of feedback to the USB host, which allows for resampling-free, real-time signal processing or simultaneous recording on the host computer/DAW.

While in most products the XMOS chip serves only as a USB bridge and the code provided by XMOS Ltd. is utilized without major modifications, the entire back-end of the DAC8 PRO's software runs on XMOS, including 3 AES/EBU receivers, and the original code is modified heavily to fit our needs (again, kudos to our SW team). The "front-end" (controls & UI) runs on an ARM microcontroller, so implementing the firmware update functionality was challenging. Unfortunately, in development of a product (similarly to an academic research), it is very difficult to make time estimates. It has been a lesson to us and in future, we are not going to take pre-orders for the following products and instead take the "it will be done when it's done" approach.

Regarding the tour feedback, there is no obligation for the tour participants to write any sort of public reviews. Some of them let us know what hardware did they compare to and how did they like the demo unit, some of them just write "thanks for the opportunity" and that is absolutely fine with us. I guess majority of them are just passive readers here or don't follow this thread at all. We are not going to condition taking part in the tour by writing an online review.

Pavel, Okto Research

 

[MWC]

@Pavel a great reply and good news Thank you.

 

[Neddy]

Pavel,
Thanks much for the great update.
Your 'it'll take what it takes to get it right' attitude is to be commended, in my view, and I wholly support you in that.

Better yet, Amir's test results on your earlier product demonstrates clearly your ability to deliver - and that's largely the basis on which I placed my order.

From decades in project management, tech support/field service mgt and new product development, I've so often seen new products/software pushed out the door b/c of pressure from bean counters, marketing/sales, and over-eager customers...all of which resulted in (time after time again) headaches for users (usually the last being considered when developing 'schedules'!), difficult or impossible/but not cost effective field fixes, or just plain stupid software faults (not to mention poorly thought though 'new features').

(Witness, for example the continual pains that some emotiva customers seem to suffer from overpromise underdeliver syndrome, even with all the best intentions in the world.)

I admire the rigor and mental toughness it must take to stay the course.

By the way - I hadn't thought of this before - but if you need any beta testers (even if only software mockups), I'd be more than happy to volunteer - I have even have some experience with that and UI design 'ergonomics' (and apparently some talent at finding/causing 'undiscovered bugs'!)

NOW. Having said that, I do so hope/wish that My order is in the next Stack of Eight (did anyone else catch that?) going out the door!
I'm crossing my fingers for a Good Okto-ber yet!
No pressure
Thanks again!!

 

[Feyire]

What I meant is that we intend to bring additional main screens with other information like level indicators and with different visual representation. We will consider making one designed specifically for a close-up view using more suiting character size and font. But of course, we cannot increase the resolution of the displays with a firmware update.

Sounds great. Would this come in the form of firmware/software updates at a later stage?

 

[MWC]

"I'm crossing my fingers for a Good Okto-ber yet!"

 

[tleej]

Got mine this morning, and it's incredible. Just did an A/B testing with an Oppo HA-1 on a pair of Audeze LCD-3 and it's day and night, the sound is open, clean and detailed (sorry not a tech!). Nice touch, a personalised welcome message when you turn the unit on the first time. Thanks Okto! PS how do you turn it off?

 

[meracus]

hi
did anybody receive an okto 2 channels yet , my aunt ( yes you read right ) emailed okto to purchase one to go to canada as a gift ..... a week on and no reply ... whats the delay between paying for one and one actually leaving the door
kind regards

 

[Neddy]

Pavel has stated that the stereo one is not shipping yet.
I ordered my DAC-Pro about a month ago, and Pavel responded to my question about delivery schedule by quoting the web site: "Delivery time for new orders is 1-2 Months" (doh!).

 

[meracus]

so the 8 channel is shipping but not the 2channel ? is that correct ? is there a disadvantage in using an 8 channel ....... its a gift

 

[Bliman]

so the 8 channel is shipping but not the 2channel ? is that correct ? is there a disadvantage in using an 8 channel ....... its a gift

If you want a stereo dac then I should wait and not go for the 8 channel.
The stereo dac according to Pavel would even measure better. And yes the 2 channel has not shipped yet.
But according to them it shouldn't be far of anymore. Both are for different things.
Some will explain it much better then me.

 

[g29]

so the 8 channel is shipping but not the 2channel ? is that correct ? is there a disadvantage in using an 8 channel ....... its a gift

Okto's website still is not taking orders for the Stereo version yet (DAC8 Stereo launch is coming in the following weeks. We are currently not taking new orders due to limited production capacity. ).

As for the deltas, the Stereo version is supposed to have better specs and more inputs. From the website, the Stereo version is supposed to have these additional inputs as well as the PRO's USB and AES/EBU:

1. SPDIF
2. Optical
3. Ethernet (through Raspberry Pi)
4. Wi-Fi (through Raspberry Pi)

 

[g29]

Got mine this morning, and it's incredible. Just did an A/B testing with an Oppo HA-1 on a pair of Audeze LCD-3 and it's day and night, the sound is open, clean and detailed (sorry not a tech!). Nice touch, a personalised welcome message when you turn the unit on the first time. Thanks Okto! PS how do you turn it off?

Glad to hear you received yours. What country are you located in if you don't mind me asking ?

 

[Okto Research]

Got mine this morning, and it's incredible. Just did an A/B testing with an Oppo HA-1 on a pair of Audeze LCD-3 and it's day and night, the sound is open, clean and detailed (sorry not a tech!). Nice touch, a personalised welcome message when you turn the unit on the first time. Thanks Okto! PS how do you turn it off?

We've reached Tleej through e-mail earlier today, but if anyone else is interested, DAC8 (any of them) can be turned off by long knob press or with a long press of the Apple Remote play/pause button. The manual for the product is almost ready.

hi
did anybody receive an okto 2 channels yet , my aunt ( yes you read right ) emailed okto to purchase one to go to canada as a gift ..... a week on and no reply ... whats the delay between paying for one and one actually leaving the door
kind regards

I've checked our inbox, but there is no message like that. Could you please send us her e-mail address using a private message here on forum or ask her to send the e-mail again?

Okto's website still is not taking orders for the Stereo version yet (DAC8 Stereo launch is coming in the following weeks. We are currently not taking new orders due to limited production capacity. ).

The information on the product page has been corrected and the price of the product has been added.

 

[meracus]

We've reached Tleej through e-mail earlier today, but if anyone else is interested, DAC8 (any of them) can be turned off by long knob press or with a long press of the Apple Remote play/pause button. The manual for the product is almost ready.


I've checked our inbox, but there is no message like that. Could you please send us her e-mail address using a private message here on forum or ask her to send the e-mail again?


hi
you have just replied to them actually and you quoted several weeks , and you couldn't guarantee a delivery date ( Kelm from Canada )
no worries . thanks for the prompt reply

 

[g29]

...The information on the product page has been corrected and the price of the product has been added.

Just to clarify for those that have asked, the website is still not taking pre-orders (no BUY button) for the Stereo version.

Previous information:

"... DAC8 Stereo launch is coming in the following weeks. We are currently not taking new orders due to limited production capacity. ..."​

Updated information:

"... We are preparing the DAC8 Stereo launch for you to take place within several weeks. The product is going to cost 1089EUR + shipping. Thank you for your patience! ..."​