Surprising that Exasound has already discontinued this product as it doesn’t seem to have been on the market that long. Have you looked into the Okto Research? https://www.stereophile.com/content/okto-research-dac8-pro-da-processor I’ve read articles about synching up multiple DAC’s as well- probably more expensive but might offer different options and overall flexibility. |
The manual is dated 3/2019. It was replaced by the e68. Manual date 1/2021. Unfortunately, Exasound offers no optional balanced XLRs for the e68, which I need. That really stinks because only the top model s88 has them-but along with advanced DSD, server and other things I don't need-for at least $6.5K. Yes, I'm well aware of the Okto Pro 8 DAC, but enough comparisons have been made to suspect that the Exasound still delivers better sound quality. Also, those build and/or functionality issues with the remote which Okto likely has no plans to resolve. The least they could do is to offer some kind of firmware update that might make the DAC 90% of the DAC's remote functionality learnable by Harmony, Sony, Logitech or other remotes. Unfortunately, being the King of Bad Luck, I don't expect an e38MK2 to be for sale any time soon. But it will be some time before I narrow down my list of front and rear/side speakers to audition. Maybe around then it may happen. Of course, what really stinks is that Exasound and Okto are the only two brands selling respectably sounding MCH DACs for 5.1 or 8.1 systems.
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Theta Digital; that takes me back. Long ago when I began looking into DACs beyond those built into CD players it was the prices on those DACs that first blew me away. The only CasabIanca V that I see anywhere for sale is at Audiogon, but it’s like $5.5K more than I’d want to pay. I think it does have 8.1 channels when I need only 5.1, but I don’t know how much I’d save otherwise. I suppose that I could ask https://www.thetadigital.com/support/ Perhaps they could direct me to sources for 5.1 models and which might omit certain other features that I wouldn’t need and thereby minimize final cost. Presumably, it will work fine with DIRAC 3, which Kal Rubinson finds effective and easy to implement-while the DAC’s balanced and high output voltage will offset the software’s typical 20db gain loss. But how much for an overhaul on a 15 year old model? And the upgrades they offer must be terribly expensive. Total expense compared to the Exasound e38MK2? |
