Review and Measurements of Okto DAC8 8Ch DAC & Amp

[Ranath]

Hello!
What are the possibilities of what to do with okto research dac8 pro?
Can I use this dac to watch movies with surround audio on my home theater?

 

[lkong]

I can play the 8 channel flac test track from this archive : http://www.curtpalme.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=194523

But as I only have 2 channels connected I only hear "front left" then "front right".

Are those the front panel headphone jack or the backpanel XLRs?
In ALSA, front is listed separately from the other channels.

 

[wineds]

Are those the front panel headphone jack or the backpanel XLRs?
In ALSA, front is listed separately from the other channels.

backpanel XLRs. As a further test I just reconfigured one to the DAC08 XLRs connected to my stereo amp and I now hear "centre" on the test track so its definitely playing 8 channels I think.

 

[Kal Rubinson]

Hello!
What are the possibilities of what to do with okto research dac8 pro?
Can I use this dac to watch movies with surround audio on my home theater?

You can if you have a USB or 4xSES/EBU source to feed it.

 

[lkong]

backpanel XLRs. As a further test I just reconfigured one to the DAC08 XLRs connected to my stereo amp and I now hear "centre" on the test track so its definitely playing 8 channels I think.

Next question is how can I manipulate channels separately. I wonder how the DAC8 with DSP version set those channels up.

 

[Kal Rubinson]

Next question is how can I manipulate channels separately

What kind of manipulation are you looking for?

 

[lkong]

What kind of manipulation are you looking for?

Overall goal is to do digital crossover and DRC.

I want to use channel 1-2 for full range speaker and apply high pass filter to them, also use channel 3-4 for subwoofers and apply low pass filter to them.

From what I've seen, brutefir plugin in volumio doesnt seems to support multichannels.



So my idea is to use some alsa functions to apply filters to those channels and "repackage" them into a stereo interface like this: http://rtaylor.sites.tru.ca/2013/06/25/digital-crossovereq-with-open-source-software-howto/

Do a measurement based on that then use the brutefir plugin to do DRC.

 

[waynel]

Overall goal is to do digital crossover and DRC.

I want to use channel 1-2 for full range speaker and apply high pass filter to them, also use channel 3-4 for subwoofers and apply low pass filter to them.

From what I've seen, brutefir plugin in volumio doesnt seems to support multichannels.

View attachment 83145

So my idea is to use some alsa functions to apply filters to those channels and "repackage" them into a stereo interface like this: http://rtaylor.sites.tru.ca/2013/06/25/digital-crossovereq-with-open-source-software-howto/

Do a measurement based on that then use the brutefir plugin to do DRC.

MiniDSP SHD studio or nanodigi can to this.

 

[Kal Rubinson]

Overall goal is to do digital crossover and DRC.

You are doing that before the DAC, right?

I want to use channel 1-2 for full range speaker and apply high pass filter to them, also use channel 3-4 for subwoofers and apply low pass filter to them.

Sure. The channel labels are arbitrarily applied. Think of them as 1-8 and use them as needed.

From what I've seen, brutefir plugin in volumio doesnt seems to support multichannels.

I have no knowledge of brutefir (at this moment) but this is not an Okto issue. There are other apps that will do what you want.

 

[wineds]

CamillaDSP can do it. See the diagram in post 1 of this thread :

https://www.diyaudio.com/forums/pc-...iir-fir-engine-crossovers-correction-etc.html

 

[lkong]

Hello Ikong,

Although I do not fully understand what you would like to achieve, my configuration using DAC8PRO in multichannel multi-amplifier system with software crossover EKIO would be a reference info for you. If not, please just ignore this post.

My most recent configuration is like this;
View attachment 83149
View attachment 83161

Sorry for being rude, you've mentioned this setup to me multiple times. I apperciate your approach, but please stop posting the same stuff to me.
I've read your post, but clearly you didn't read mine.

 

[lkong]

You are doing that before the DAC, right?

Sure. The channel labels are arbitrarily applied. Think of them as 1-8 and use them as needed.

I have no knowledge of brutefir (at this moment) but this is not an Okto issue. There are other apps that will do what you want.

The problem is DAC8 is presented as a inseparable 8 channel device in the system, or I'm too dumb to figure out how to divide it. So I'm here to ask for help.

 

[dualazmak]

Sorry for being rude, you've mentioned this setup to me multiple times. I apperciate your approach, but please stop posting the same stuff to me.
I've read your post, but clearly you didn't read mine.

Sorry, noted. I deleted my post. Good luck for your progress.

 

[Kal Rubinson]

The problem is DAC8 is presented as a inseparable 8 channel device in the system, or I'm too dumb to figure out how to divide it. So I'm here to ask for help.

I am not sure what you are asking. For example, I use the Dac8 with JRiver and I set the output from JRiver as 7.1. That means it will send 8 channels to the Dac8. When I play a 2 channel file, I get only 2 channels of output (left front, right front)...................

---------------------UNLESS---------------------

....................I set up Jriver to copy the left channel signal to two other channels (e.g. left surround and left rear), filter each of those three channels to limit their bandwidths to suit the passbands of my woofer, mid and HF drivers and use them to drive the left speaker system. I can add DSP to each. I can expand to a 4-way system. I can add subwoofers with bass management. And, of course, I can do the same for the right channel information.

(In addition, JRiver is not the only software that will do this.)

 

[Vasr]

I am not sure what you are asking. For example, I use the Dac8 with JRiver and I set the output from JRiver as 7.1. That means it will send 8 channels to the Dac8. When I play a 2 channel file, I get only 2 channels of output (left front, right front)...................

---------------------UNLESS---------------------

....................I set up Jriver to copy the left channel signal to two other channels (e.g. left surround and left rear), filter each of those three channels to limit their bandwidths to suit the passbands of my woofer, mid and HF drivers and use them to drive the left speaker system. I can add DSP to each. I can expand to a 4-way system. I can add subwoofers with bass management. And, of course, I can do the same for the right channel information.

(In addition, JRiver is not the only software that will do this.)

Your principles on how to do manage the 8 channels are correct and shows that this is possible. But, I think the poster's problem is in figuring out how this works in the Linux environment. Someone familiar with the Linux sound system would need to translate the above into the software available there based on how he has set it up there.

 

[Vincentponcet]

Any news about the firmware update tool ?
I'm in 1.0 ...

 

[Snoozer]

Well, it is confirmed (by Pavel) that revision 1.34 seems to be broken under Linux. It'll take 2/3 weeks for a new version to correct for the problems detected

I thought I'd share the news for the ones who own a unit like mine

 

[Vincentponcet]

Well, it is confirmed (by Pavel) that revision 1.34 seems to be broken under Linux. It'll take 2/3 weeks for a new version to correct for the problems detected

I thought I'd share the news for the ones who own a unit like mine

So it means it is possible to upgrade a firmware ?

 

[lkong]

Well, it is confirmed (by Pavel) that revision 1.34 seems to be broken under Linux. It'll take 2/3 weeks for a new version to correct for the problems detected

I thought I'd share the news for the ones who own a unit like mine

Oh well, I'm affected by this since I'm running 1.34 firmware. that might explain its behavior under linux.

 

[somebodyelse]

Overall goal is to do digital crossover and DRC.

I want to use channel 1-2 for full range speaker and apply high pass filter to them, also use channel 3-4 for subwoofers and apply low pass filter to them.

From what I've seen, brutefir plugin in volumio doesnt seems to support multichannels.

View attachment 83145

So my idea is to use some alsa functions to apply filters to those channels and "repackage" them into a stereo interface like this: http://rtaylor.sites.tru.ca/2013/06/25/digital-crossovereq-with-open-source-software-howto/

Do a measurement based on that then use the brutefir plugin to do DRC.

Have you had a look at the brutefir plugin code yet? It's essentially putting values from the GUI into templates for the alsa and brutefir config files. You just need to put your config changes for adding the crossover functionality into the templates. It's probably easier to add the crossover in brutefir, changing only the brutefir config template, rather than adding an extra output chain in the alsa config and pointing the brutefir output to it in the brutefir template. It's probably worth bringing it up with the plugin developer too, either on the Volumio forum or as a github issue with a feature request. Good luck when the firmware fix comes through.