Okto DAC 8 Stereo (Shout-out)

@milpai Much of the general chatter about DACs is based on the Emperor's New Clothes.

Virtually every DAC out there is made as either an ESS 9038 Pro based DAC or a R2R Ladder DAC.

There was a very interesting discussion on WBF a little while back which maintained the point, what could you possibly do to turn a Wadax into a $240k DAC? Even a MBF R2R DAC into a $100k DAC?

They all use the same resistors, maybe they are closer matched? Certainly better power management but you're still dealing with the same core.

If you've got a good (real good) front end most DACs are going to sound excellent.

A recent fallacy is it's all down to the DAC. This is preposterous. Trash in, trash out. A DAC cannot reconfigure the signal it gets unless oversampling and up-sampling are employed, but it gets boring and lifeless after a while. It's like looking at your Rolex and knowing it's a fake.

Personally I prefer ESS DACs, I've had AKM and they sound muddy to me.

R2R can sound excellent but at the end of they day, maybe not this day, processing power will remain supreme.

Any digital based system needs a master clock more than a high priced DAC.

If you’ve got a good (real good) front end most DACs are going to sound excellent.

 

Agreed. I believe an upper-tier server/streamer paired with a mid-tier DAC will sound superior to a mid-tier server/streamer with a top-tier DAC.

Personally I prefer ESS DACs, I’ve had AKM and they sound muddy to me.

The Gustard A26 uses AKM and I’ve yet to come across any mention of them referred to as sounding "muddy". As with ESS, implementation is everything.

Any digital based system needs a master clock more than a high priced DAC.

 

Agree. Once again, a well designed and implemented mid-tier DAC strapped to a high quality 10Mhz reference clock can lift the performance envelope to a very high level.

@raysmtb1 

Thank you for posting your experience!

Do you happen to know anyone using the Okto DaC8 Pro? I have a 4-way active stereo system and have had my eye on this DAC. The Pro version has 6dB less dynamic range than the stereo (the stereo runs 4+4) at 125dB which is the same as the Merging Hapi - another unit I have my eye on.

The Okto has the option to directly drive amps. Did you pick this option? I wonder what it entails?

Thank you!

@lewinskih01 I do not know anyone that has that model sorry. I am amazingly happy with mine. I ran it direct to the amplifiers and it works great. I can’t find anything I don’t like about it. For what it cost you can’t lose if you buy one. Like I said before I want probably 10 different units in the past two years and this is by far the best one. I have a DCS Bartók that is spotless that I’m looking to sell. That’s the only one that gives it a run for his money. 

I finally got my Okto stereo DAC today. Took nearly 4 weeks and they were supposedly in stock. I realize it's very early to be making assessments, it's only been on for a few hours, but so far, I'm a bit disappointed. The clarity is certainly there, but in my system ear fatigue sets in pretty quickly. I have it in my headphone setup, feeding a McIntosh MHA200 tube amp. Compared to my Yggy LiM, it just doesn't (yet) sound as natural or, yes I'll say it, analogue. I've never once had ear fatigue with the Yggy, even at loud volumes. It took the Yggy a full week of being on 24/7 before it settled in to the performance I love it for now, so I'll give the Okto time to see if it can blossom. I can already recognize that it is indeed a bargain at it's price point. It's very good, just not quite yet as good (to me, in my system) as my beloved Yggy.