OKTO DAC8 Pro - DSD to DOP encoding issue

My OKTO DAC8 Pro is running firmware 1.42. I've previously only used the USB input via Windows running Roon (no issues) and an attempt at using my MicroRendu with it as well but with the MicroRendu i get all kinds of buzzing at random times through different channels and i've reported it to the OKTO team who have promised to send a firmware update for me to test - although they did say v1.42 shouldn't have the issues i'm experiencing.

I just received my VanityPro and have it being fed by an X800m2 player via the audio HDMI out from the player to the HDMI in on the VanityPro. I then have AES connecting the VanityPro to the OKTO DAC. SACDs play fine when converting to PCM, but as soon as i select the DSD to DOP encoding option to "on", i get static noise through the channels (picture of the audio meters attached). The OKTO display never indicates DSD over DOP - it always says PCM and the play/pause symbol seems locked in place (i.e. it doesn't change whether i'm playing music or not). As soon as i go back to PCM conversion mode again the music plays on. I've reached out JVB and OKTO but posting here in case there are any shared experiences with similar issues, especially with OKTO DACs?

James

Hi James,
Thank you for your question.
To be honest, I don't know enough about the OKTO DAC to be able to comment on the buzzing issues with Sonore devices. If it is related to the DPLL setting of the ESS dac chip inside the OKTO, that should be easy to solve by a firmware update.

As for the DoP playback issue, I assume that you are playing an SACD (or DSD track) from the Sony player and you wish to send DoP encoded DSD data into the OKTO for raw DSD playback (well, it gets converted into PCM inside the ESS anyway). In the DoP format the upper 8 bits are semi-static DoP markers and lower 16 bits are the DSD data. When not detected and decoded properly, you get low level noise. The photo of the indicators looks OK, showing the PCM interpretation of the DoP streams.

There are several ways to diagnose the issue.
1. Check with OKTO that the DAC8 PRO can playback DoP through XLR inputs. In their specs it seems that it can play DoP only via USB, when the DoP decoding is done in the USB Audio interface of the DAC8.
2. I can link our test DoP wav file you can play from the Sony directly into the DAC8 to see if the DoP works on DAC8 without the VanityPRO in the chain.
3. Same as 2 with the VanityPRO in the chain.

This should give a good understanding of what's going on.
Please keep us posted.

Best Regards,
Pavel

Thanks, Pavel. I'm sure you're correct about DoP not being supported via the AES input. Reading the OKTO manual again it does sound like that would be the case - i should have questioned it! I'm still waiting for OKTO to send me the firmware update in hopes that it fixes the MicroRendu issues via the USB input of the OKTO.

One other issue has arisen and it is probably another issue with the OKTO rather than the VanityPro but i'll mention it in case anyone else has encountered something similar. The X800m2 player i'm using is region-free, so i'm hoping to play PAL DVDs in the X800m2 through the VanityPro and then into the DAC8Pro for surround sound. However, every PAL DVD i've inserted so far gives me distortion through the left and right channels that seems to be at the maximum levels of the audio meters in the VanityPro. The Menu screen of the PAL DVDs play as normal, so the visuals look ok, but the OKTO display flickers madly between play and pause at a very fast speed while the loud distortion comes through the L&R channels. I'm hoping OKTO sends the firmware update soon to see if that fixes it. Will report back once that happens!

James



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/08/2023 03:12AM by Jimrod.