Review and Measurements of Okto DAC8 8Ch DAC & Amp

[dualazmak]

Quite regretfully, I still heard no news of the firmware update from Pavel, even though (fortunately) I have no issue/problem in my project with my firmware 1.32 DAC8PRO...

 

[DrDardis]

Yeah, I have written to Pawel for new firmware to see if it corrects my issue with 5.1 from NVIDIA shield not playing correctly. No reply yet. A firmware tool and support forum would be useful.

 

[mkt]

Update: Pavel says 2 weeks

Arrived today

[Order #191 placed 2020-08-03]

 

[dualazmak]

Arrived today

[Order #191 placed 2020-08-03]

Firmware version # ?

 

[mkt]

Firmware version # ?

1.42

 

[Vincentponcet]

Yeah, I have written to Pawel for new firmware to see if it corrects my issue with 5.1 from NVIDIA shield not playing correctly. No reply yet. A firmware tool and support forum would be useful.

What is your issue with the shield ?
Shield is not doing audio decoding, it sends 5.1 bitstream only on the hdmi port. You need an AV receiver to extract it. But the only AV processor with aes outputs costs thousands of dollars.

 

[DrDardis]

What is your issue with the shield ?
Shield is not doing audio decoding, it sends 5.1 bitstream only on the hdmi port. You need an AV receiver to extract it. But the only AV processor with aes outputs costs thousands of dollars.

The Shield 2019 pro has USB audio output - 2.0 up to 192/24, 5.1 up to 48/16. It also decodes DD and DD+ to pcm (and AC3 and AAC I think?). The issue is that the Okto is making ungodly noises on 5.1 (even though it is correctly being seen as 48/16). Tested with HDMI to make sure it wasn't the DD decode. Tested with topping DAC to see if it was USB. Both passed, so I am thinking it is the Okto xmos. I am an early-ish customer though, so I figured I'd try update the firmware before I pursue further support.

Any advice?

(Edit: firmware 1.32)

 

[Vincentponcet]

The Shield 2019 pro has USB audio output - 2.0 up to 192/24, 5.1 up to 48/16. It also decodes DD and DD+ to pcm (and AC3 and AAC I think?). The issue is that the Okto is making ungodly noises on 5.1 (even though it is correctly being seen as 48/16). Tested with HDMI to make sure it wasn't the DD decode. Tested with topping DAC to see if it was USB. Both passed, so I am thinking it is the Okto xmos. I am an early-ish customer though, so I figured I'd try update the firmware before I pursue further support.

Any advice?

(Edit: firmware 1.32)

Topping is not a 5.1 DAC so the shield is just doing stereo 2.0 decoding, which is known to work.
There is still a possibility that the issue is in the shield 5.1 decoding.
In my understanding, the dd/dd+ decoding was just to 2.0 not to 5.1
Most shield users in multi-channel setups are using hdmi output with bitstream passthrough to an AV receiver, hence no decoding in the Shield. The user base using multi-channel usb DAC is very tiny.
I saw dozens of bug reports about that on the nvidia forum, and never saw someone saying it was working well.
Did you see reports it is working ?

 

[Vincentponcet]

When I change either master volume ( numid=5) or individual channel volume (numid=6), there is no change to the DAC8PRO volume output or the DAC8PRO volume setting display. I have firmware 1.4. Amixer accepts the requested changes



but the volume output of the DAC8PRO is not changed.

I tried changing what I assume are
- master mute, numid 4
- individual channel mute, numid 3

same results, no effects on the DAC8PRO. The DAC8PRO mute, volume and chanel routing settings are not reflected in the amixer.

I don't know what the numid 8 'Keep Interface' is, maybe the keep display on setting ?, regardless, I dont see any difference with it set to on.

Should we expect the amixer to display and set the volume settings of the DAC8PRO ? if so, it does not seem to be working for me with firmware version 1.4 connected to a raspberry pi with raspbian OS

Christian

Same for me on windows with the ASIO driver, the volume control has no effet. I'm firmware 1.0 though.

 

[mkt]

The only annoyance so far is the pop I get whenever I hit stop on a playing track when bitstreaming DSD music (DoP). This doesn't occur with PCM music. I also did not have this problem with the RME ADI-2 DAC. @Okto Research Any thoughts as to what might be going on?

I don't seem to get pops when I pause or skip with DSD files. I have firmware 1.42. I do get pops going between FLAC and DSD files, which is annoying.

It is not clear to me why you are using DoP at all.

Using Roon on a Mac, I don't see native DSD as an option. (Or in other players either). Does Windows do native DSD or do you transcode to PCM in Roon?

We know about the issue and we are working on a fix. It is a software one, so we should be able to address it with a firmware update package that our software developers are working on.
Pavel, Okto Research

Will this address the FLAC to DSD pops too?

Thanks and best regards

 

[Kal Rubinson]

Using Roon on a Mac, I don't see native DSD as an option. (Or in other players either). Does Windows do native DSD or do you transcode to PCM in Roon?

Native DSD under Windows with Roon or JRMC.

 

[mkt]

Native DSD under Windows with Roon or JRMC.

Thanks for the info. I have just confirmed that I have no pops under Windows using native DSD and the Okto provided driver.

 

[Ozymandias]

I don't seem to get pops when I pause or skip with DSD files. I have firmware 1.42. I do get pops going between FLAC and DSD files, which is annoying.

Thanks and best regards

My DAC8 Pro is on firmware version 1.31. I’m on a Mac. I use JRiver to stream to the DAC8. Unfortunately on the Mac DoP is the only option the DAC8 supports for bitstreaming DSD, at least with the 1.31 firmware.

 

[DrDardis]

Topping is not a 5.1 DAC so the shield is just doing stereo 2.0 decoding, which is known to work.
There is still a possibility that the issue is in the shield 5.1 decoding.
In my understanding, the dd/dd+ decoding was just to 2.0 not to 5.1
Most shield users in multi-channel setups are using hdmi output with bitstream passthrough to an AV receiver, hence no decoding in the Shield. The user base using multi-channel usb DAC is very tiny.
I saw dozens of bug reports about that on the nvidia forum, and never saw someone saying it was working well.
Did you see reports it is working ?

Huh, this is interesting info. I had assumed given USB was set to 5.1, and DD decoding was set to 'true', that shield would process the 5.1. I explicitly disabled passthru on all the formats on the shield (DD, DTS etc) when testing with the receiver, and that worked, so I had thought the shield was decoding 5.1, but that was over HDMI admittedly.

My plan was to go shield > PC, room correction > OKTO > amps. I could not work out a way to pass audio from the shield to PC directly, and going hybrid AES/USB to pc with USB interface seems to be stereo only, negating the need for okto.

Perhaps it is time to sell the okto to someone using with PC or doing a digital crossover. I tried with PC and that was all good for local files, but Disney+ has no windows app, hence no HDR or 5.1. Plus windows 10 as a media center is clunky AF these days, especially compared to the shield. Anthem DACs aren't as good but maybe better system for general use case.

All advice welcome .

 

[somebodyelse]

Before selling the Okto I'd ask Nvidia support or forum to confirm exactly what decode options are supported, and whether a multichannel USB DAC can work with it. I suspect @Vincentponcet is correct, but it's worth asking the question. It's also possible that the apps get to limit options that would otherwise be supported, like Disney+ and Netflix linking Atmos and Vision.

 

[Vincentponcet]

Huh, this is interesting info. I had assumed given USB was set to 5.1, and DD decoding was set to 'true', that shield would process the 5.1. I explicitly disabled passthru on all the formats on the shield (DD, DTS etc) when testing with the receiver, and that worked, so I had thought the shield was decoding 5.1, but that was over HDMI admittedly.

My plan was to go shield > PC, room correction > OKTO > amps. I could not work out a way to pass audio from the shield to PC directly, and going hybrid AES/USB to pc with USB interface seems to be stereo only, negating the need for okto.

Perhaps it is time to sell the okto to someone using with PC or doing a digital crossover. I tried with PC and that was all good for local files, but Disney+ has no windows app, hence no HDR or 5.1. Plus windows 10 as a media center is clunky AF these days, especially compared to the shield. Anthem DACs aren't as good but maybe better system for general use case.

All advice welcome .

Shield -> PC is impossible, Shield output is HDMI. There is no HDMI input on PC, because of licensing restrictions.
MiniDSP AVR had models with HDMI in and out, so can replace the PC, but is now discontinued
https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/nanoavr-discontinued.10686/

 

[Kal Rubinson]

MiniDSP AVR had models with HDMI in and out, so can replace the PC, but is now discontinued https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/nanoavr-discontinued.10686/

But, surely, used ones are out there.

 

[Dichotome]

@DrDardis; well if you do decide to sell please contact me as I would be interested.

 

[makimov]

Yeah, I don't really mind the long delivery time to be honest but I do mind the lack of communication and the misleading delivery time estimate*. That #191 is due for delivery soon gives me some hope for a delivery this year though, it'd make a nice christmas present for myself.

@Okto Research I really do wish you the best, but I do think you could gain some good will from being more transparent with your customers with regards to purchase lead times and firmware updates. I'm assuming good faith here and I'm guessing you're working your asses off trying to balance R&D with fulfilling orders and other day to day business, but I'm sure a lot of customers would appreciate more info.

*If I recall correctly, they estimated 10 weeks when I ordered mine, we're looking at double that now.

I placed and paid for my order on Dec 23rd. After that, I sent three letters to [email protected]. So far, no answer at all! I'm starting to worry about the fate of my order ....

 

[Honken]

I placed and paid for my order on Dec 23rd. After that, I sent three letters to [email protected]. So far, no answer at all! I'm starting to worry about the fate of my order ....

It could very well be that they're taking time off for the holidays. When I had questions, Pavel always answered in a rather timely fashion, but close to work hours.