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Review and Measurements of Okto DAC8 8Ch DAC & Amp

dualazmak

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Thanks for the responses on the power-off save uncertainty!
Actually that leads me to a (hopefully) final question on this issue:
Once the settings are saved with a soft power-off, can multiple full power-offs be performed and the settings kept? Thanks.
I really hesitate and have never done (will never do) full power-off (power supply cut off by unplug or full switch-off by power distributor) while DAC8PRO is actually working. I always, everyday, do soft-off by the dial push or by the remote, and then full power-line off by central power distributor. The memorized settings are always reload and reflected on next power-on.
 

Vasr

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(Sorry if this has been answered already)
Have a look at the MiniDSP DDRC-88D.

The thing that kills me in this product design is the straddling between pro-audio and consumer audio that all these vendors are doing. One can blame the content industry for going via the DRC enabled HDMI route but why isn't the rest of the industry not directly catering to the copyrighted DRM industry making it easier for other use case instead of trying to straddle the middle between pro-audio and consumer?

Would it have killed the miniDSP guys to have provided a USB-in/USB-out DDRC-88D? Sure you can use a UDIO-8 but that is another $300 and another power supply to plug in. For what benefit?

Would it have killed Okto to provide a 8 channel DAC with the option of a TOSLINK instead of AES/EBU? So you can connect your stereo streamers or players? And even switch between them?

Earlier I tried looking at a Motu as multi-channel DAC. It has balanced TRS out for 8 channels. But if you want to stick it into an unbalanced RCA inputs of an amp, you need to find a TRS to RCA jack in which the ring is disconnected (while every such cable available has the R and S shorted) or use a TRS to dual RCA and leave one RCA hanging disconnected.

All these seem like self-inflicted wounds in the industry and they wonder why the all-in-one convenient AVRs are purchased by most people than deal with this crap. This has nothing to do with DRMs and the evil content industry or the greed of the mass-market brands.

Not saying hobbyists cannot do any of the above work-arounds but that is not a very large market requiring these vendors to straddle the pro and consumer audio which decreases the market for the latter in the first place. A very cyclic situation.
 

waynel

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Has anyone received a DAC8 pro lately? What was your order number and date of order?

Thanks
Wayne
 

maverickronin

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Would it have killed the miniDSP guys to have provided a USB-in/USB-out DDRC-88D?

For this one, yes. They'd likely need to add another SoC to act as a USB host and then customer support would have to deal with DAC compatibility issues from poor UAC2 compliance on one end or the other.
 

Vasr

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For this one, yes. They'd likely need to add another SoC to act as a USB host and then customer support would have to deal with DAC compatibility issues from poor UAC2 compliance on one end or the other.

If you are saying USB falls short in that regard to get audio out of a device as a separate port, I don't disagree for many reasons. This is why I started the thread on a better universal connector need.

But I don't necessarily agree with the strength of the argument here. If you used the USB port already available for POC control (or another one) to use two-way audio to the host that initiates contact with the DDRC8D using it as an external processor, then you don't need to be a host. Am I wrong on this?

Okto doesn't have any problem providing a two-way USB port and it is not using a host controller as far as I can see. Why would DDRC8D be any different?
 

maverickronin

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But I don't necessarily agree with the strength of the argument here. If you used the USB port already available for POC control (or another one) to use two-way audio to the host that initiates contact with the DDRC8D using it as an external processor, then you don't need to be a host. Am I wrong on this?

You want it to receive audio from the computer over USB and then send it back to the computer via USB after processing it like virtual line in or something? Or am I misunderstanding you?
 

Vasr

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You want it to receive audio from the computer over USB and then send it back to the computer via USB after processing it like virtual line in or something? Or am I misunderstanding you?

Yes, that is the use case I had in mind a while ago when I explored it. Just using the room correction with Dirac as an external processor in the PC audio chain instead of doing it in software on the PC.

There is also a different use case with Okto I think is possible for a source that has AES/EBU out to which is you want to add a room correction before sending it to speakers and don't have a PC connected all the time. This is to connect that source to the Okto via AES, connect the DDRC8D with USB to Okto (if that interface was available) just as Okto intends in AES/USB mode (no PC necessary after room correction measurements are done) and let Okto send the analog out to speakers. No dongles and converters needed.
 

maverickronin

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Yes, that is the use case I had in mind a while ago when I explored it. Just using the room correction with Dirac as an external processor in the PC audio chain instead of doing it in software on the PC.

OK. You wouldn't need an extra host controller for that. It would just be like a multi in and out pro interface

That's really seems like a worst of both worlds solution to me though. You'd have to route those inputs though a DAW or something like VAC to get them back out to a DAC.
 

Vasr

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OK. You wouldn't need an extra host controller for that. It would just be like a multi in and out pro interface

That's really seems like a worst of both worlds solution to me though. You'd have to route those inputs though a DAW or something like VAC to get them back out to a DAC.

Don't see the problem with that compared to what would happen with DDRC which is play to Okto via USB by whatever player one is using. No DAW required. Instead of the Okto USB out device, you play your media players via the DDRC USB Output (if it had that interface) instead of Okto and set up an ASIO bridge between the DDRC USB input device and Okto USB Out device. Takes less than a few minutes at zero cost of any additional adapters and converters.

I don't see it as a problem as it can be done bit perfectly if the playing is via the PC (and not wanting to use the Dirac DLP instead which has its own issues).

The second use case I mentioned is even more direct and simple than trying to do it any other way unless Okto can only talk to a USB host controller with its USB interface which would place the burden on the DDRC box. But this is a problem with the Host/Client asymmetry of USB force-fit into audio use and here I agree with you.

But my point of that earlier post was different than solving this use case. That providing connectors that are half-baked between consumer audio world and pro audio world as is done now is a pain requires all kinds of adapters and converters.
 

Snoozer

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Hi all

I've got a DAC8 Pro and I am super frustrated as it is impossible to make it work under Linux (PC, raspberry, etc). It seems ALSA gets an error whenever a command gets sent. Really weird since I managed to make the DAC work with Windows and the Thesycon drivers.

Does anybody successfully managed to get the DAC working under linux ?
 

Zooqu1ko

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Hi all

I've got a DAC8 Pro and I am super frustrated as it is impossible to make it work under Linux (PC, raspberry, etc). It seems ALSA gets an error whenever a command gets sent. Really weird since I managed to make the DAC work with Windows and the Thesycon drivers.
Still waiting for my DAC8 Pro, so I haven't tried it. However, what does dmesg say when the DAC is plugged in, and what's the error message you're getting (and where)? What does lsusb -v say about the DAC?
 

lkong

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In the same boat as Snoozer. Trying to get DAC8 working with ALSA.
Here's my lsusb
volumio@volumio:~$ lsusb Bus 002 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0003 Linux Foundation 3.0 root hub Bus 001 Device 006: ID 0424:2530 Standard Microsystems Corp. Bus 001 Device 005: ID 05e3:0761 Genesys Logic, Inc. Genesys Mass Storage Device Bus 001 Device 004: ID 0a12:0001 Cambridge Silicon Radio, Ltd Bluetooth Dongle (HCI mode) Bus 001 Device 003: ID 0424:4603 Standard Microsystems Corp. Bus 001 Device 002: ID 148f:5572 Ralink Technology, Corp. RT5572 Wireless Adapter Bus 001 Device 008: ID 20b1:2009 XMOS Ltd Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub

aplay -l
volumio@volumio:~$ aplay -l **** List of PLAYBACK Hardware Devices **** card 0: bytchtnocodec [bytcht-nocodec], device 0: Audio (*) [] Subdevices: 1/1 Subdevice #0: subdevice #0 card 0: bytchtnocodec [bytcht-nocodec], device 1: Deep-Buffer Audio (*) [] Subdevices: 1/1 Subdevice #0: subdevice #0 card 5: DAC8PRO [DAC8PRO], device 0: USB Audio [USB Audio] Subdevices: 1/1 Subdevice #0: subdevice #0

I'm trying to customize a .asoundrc file to separate a few channels out as individual output devices. like below:
pcm_slave.outs { pcm "hw:DAC8PRO,0" channels 8 } pcm.fullrange { type plug slave.pcm { type dshare ipc_key 4242 slave outs bindings [0 1] } } pcm.sub { type dshare slave.pcm { type dshare ipc_key 4242 slave outs bindings [2 3] } }

My goal is to run digital crossover on the device level with rt-plugin: https://faculty.tru.ca/rtaylor/rt-plugins/index.html
So the whole system can be presented just as a stereo output for mpd or any other players.

Any advise and inputs are appreciated. @Pavel
 

wineds

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In the same boat as Snoozer. Trying to get DAC8 working with ALSA.
Here's my lsusb


aplay -l


I'm trying to customize a .asoundrc file to separate a few channels out as individual output devices. like below:


My goal is to run digital crossover on the device level with rt-plugin: https://faculty.tru.ca/rtaylor/rt-plugins/index.html
So the whole system can be presented just as a stereo output for mpd or any other players.

Any advise and inputs are appreciated. @Pavel

The plughw is the only one that works for me with Linux distros. I have had it working on volumio, picoreplayer, moode and dietpi. What is your firmware version?


Screenshot_2020-09-14-10-45-26-565_mark.via.gp.jpg
 

lkong

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The plughw is the only one that works for me with Linux distros. I have had it working on volumio, picoreplayer, moode and dietpi. What is your firmware version?
My Firmware version is 1.34. I can not even use surround71 with 8 channel file.
Code:
volumio@volumio:~$ aplay -v 8chan.wav -D surround71:DAC8PRO,0
Playing WAVE '8chan.wav' : Signed 16 bit Little Endian, Rate 48000 Hz, Channels 8
aplay: set_params:1403: Unable to install hw params:
ACCESS:  RW_INTERLEAVED
FORMAT:  S16_LE
SUBFORMAT:  STD
SAMPLE_BITS: 16
FRAME_BITS: 128
CHANNELS: 8
RATE: 48000
PERIOD_TIME: 125000
PERIOD_SIZE: 6000
PERIOD_BYTES: 96000
PERIODS: 4
BUFFER_TIME: 500000
BUFFER_SIZE: 24000
BUFFER_BYTES: 384000
TICK_TIME: 0

Not with a stereo file obviously:
Code:
volumio@volumio:~$ aplay -v pink.wav -D surround71:DAC8PRO,0
Playing WAVE 'pink.wav' : Signed 16 bit Little Endian, Rate 44100 Hz, Stereo
aplay: set_params:1403: Unable to install hw params:
ACCESS:  RW_INTERLEAVED
FORMAT:  S16_LE
SUBFORMAT:  STD
SAMPLE_BITS: 16
FRAME_BITS: 32
CHANNELS: 2
RATE: 44100
PERIOD_TIME: (125011 125012)
PERIOD_SIZE: 5513
PERIOD_BYTES: 22052
PERIODS: (3 4)
BUFFER_TIME: 500000
BUFFER_SIZE: 22050
BUFFER_BYTES: 88200
TICK_TIME: 0
 
Last edited:

Snoozer

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Version 1.34 here as well. Ikong and I are trying to achieve more or less the same. Here is my lsusb:

Code:
volumio@volumio:~$ lsusb
Bus 002 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0003 Linux Foundation 3.0 root hub
Bus 001 Device 005: ID 20b1:2009 XMOS Ltd
Bus 001 Device 002: ID 2109:3431 
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub

aplay -l
Code:
volumio@volumio:~$ aplay -l
**** List of PLAYBACK Hardware Devices ****
card 0: ALSA [bcm2835 ALSA], device 0: bcm2835 ALSA [bcm2835 ALSA]
  Subdevices: 4/4
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
  Subdevice #1: subdevice #1
  Subdevice #2: subdevice #2
  Subdevice #3: subdevice #3
card 0: ALSA [bcm2835 ALSA], device 1: bcm2835 IEC958/HDMI [bcm2835 IEC958/HDMI]
  Subdevices: 1/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 0: ALSA [bcm2835 ALSA], device 2: bcm2835 IEC958/HDMI1 [bcm2835 IEC958/HDMI1]
  Subdevices: 1/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 1: Headphones [bcm2835 Headphones], device 0: bcm2835 Headphones [bcm2835 Headphones]
  Subdevices: 3/3
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
  Subdevice #1: subdevice #1
  Subdevice #2: subdevice #2
card 5: DAC8PRO [DAC8PRO], device 0: USB Audio [USB Audio]
  Subdevices: 1/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0

I am also toying with another PC computer to use HQPlayer embedded, either the bootable version provided by the author of HQPlayer or the one that can be installed in AudioLinux. Once I get the lsusb s I will post it as well
 
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