Okto DAC 8 Stereo (Shout-out)

Hard luck @shooter41. Shows how different folks have different preferences. Also shows how components are system dependent. Appreciate your feedback. Let’s see how things turn out after a few more hours on the DAC. Good luck.

Well, it's already getting better. Even with just a few more hours on it last night the ear fatigue issue was nearly gone. Then today I realized I was making a mistake by also incorporating a new AES cable at the same time as the new DAC. I've had it a while (a Chinese Nordost Silver knock-off) and it's really short but with the new DAC I was able to move some things around and make it work, so I was excited to try it. Seems to have been a mistake. I just went back to my DH Labs AES cable and *poof*, the ear fatigue issue is gone. Honestly, the Okto now sounds more like the Yggy than different. I would not yet say it's better, but it may very well may be eventually. The volume control on the Okto is a very useful feature for me (volume knob on the McIntosh headphone amp is hair-trigger, to say the least) so it definitely earns some points there. Other cable probably just needs more burn-in time. Like I said, it was already improving last night and I suspect the DAC was, too.

I would reserve judgement until you have 250 hours on it.  In my experience, almost all new gear needs to break in.  Similarly, used gear will often benefit from 2-4 days of continuous play (particularly solid state) to settle in.

The volume control turned out to be what tipped the Okto over the Yggdrasil. There’s very little difference in sound between them. If anything, the Yggy may have a touch more warmth, but it’s not enough of a difference to get me to forgo the volume control, so I’ve already sold the Yggy. To be clear, if you have a Yggy Less-Is-More DAC and like/love it the way I did mine, and have no need for a volume control then I would not make the change.

Both of these are excellent DACs that punch way above their price points, so it’s hard to go wrong with either. I just finally snagged a pair of my dream headphones (HifiMan Susvara) at a great price so I’ll soon have an even better window into the sound of the Okto, but I’m not worried that I won’t like what I hear. If it were a house you’d say it has great "bones", meaning it’s just fundamentally good. It’s entirely possible still that the sound of the Okto will eventually surpass the Yggy completely, but I honestly don’t expect that to happen. I have enough hours on it now that anything more than a very subtle change would be improbable.

I'm Glad I have discovered this model, the dimensions are a little increased to the dimensions I see as ideal, but that is not a deal breaker.

The versatility is very attractive, the reports on the SQ are very encouraging and I have now discovered one for as a Six Month used item for euro 840.

The used value combined with the other positives certainly makes this a Shortlist Model.