sns109
100+ Head-Fier
Finally had opportunity to listen to Okto Dac 8 stereo vs. 005, all listening with Statement preamp in chain. Right off pleasantly surprised by Okto, transparency and resolving powers were pretty much as expected, based on measurements and previous subjective reviews. Okto surpassed my expectations in regard to micro and macro dynamics. 005 power supply is positively heroic, Okto power supply relatively minimal. Okto tonality neutral, neither dark or bright sounding. Timbre also pretty damn natural, very similar to 005. Timbre is the one area of sq in 005 in which my estimations continue to evolve. After many more hours listening over several weeks I'm beginning to formulate overall gestalt of 005 as slightly less analog than previously thought. Much of early listening more analog based recordings, lately more digital masters mixed in. And so I'm at point where I'm still evolving on timbre. Should digital masters sound more analog than what I'm hearing? Analog masters sound wonderfully natural. Would a warmer dac make those recording sound overly warm and digital masters just right? I can see a Holo May KTE in my future.
Back to Okto, as previously mentioned transparency and resolution top notch. Better than my aural memory of Auralic Vega and at least as good as LKS 004. 005 just beats it out in the amount of low level information conveyed. I hear a bit more of recording venue, and other cues that make sound just that bit more true to life. Okto kind of smooths over that information, not in the sense of Vega which missed it altogether, but just a little more in background, makes it slightly more difficult to hear INTO the recording. The other area where the 005 beats out Okto is micro dynamics, 005 breaths a little more realistically, Okto sounds just that little bit less human. Still, I would say Okto deficiencies here are rather minor, in many systems you wouldn't be able to discern these differences. Okto really excels in transparency, neutral tonality and timbre, no complaints here, in fact some may hear Okto as being more natural than 005 as the extra low level information of 005 can sometimes make it sound more incisive than Okto. And so less natural recordings may sound slightly more natural than 005, sometimes higher resolving powers are not well served. I'm really surprised by macro dynamics along with depth and power of bass, reach of bass very similar to 005, sometimes sounds like subwoofer added to system. Amazing considering Okto's minimalist internals! I expected 005 to far surpass Okto here, superior power supply, parts quality and sheer weight of the two units, 005 probably weighs double the Okto, and that is not all in casing.
And so, my overall take is Okto is a killer dac, especially at $1500. This kind of sq previously cost many multiples of Okto, no brainer at this price. Many systems won't benefit from 005 greater resolving powers, or any other more resolving, and more costly dacs. I could easily live with Okto in my setup, as previously mentioned more resolving power isn't necessarily a good thing. Okto may be perfect balance between resolution and forgiving nature.
Back to Okto, as previously mentioned transparency and resolution top notch. Better than my aural memory of Auralic Vega and at least as good as LKS 004. 005 just beats it out in the amount of low level information conveyed. I hear a bit more of recording venue, and other cues that make sound just that bit more true to life. Okto kind of smooths over that information, not in the sense of Vega which missed it altogether, but just a little more in background, makes it slightly more difficult to hear INTO the recording. The other area where the 005 beats out Okto is micro dynamics, 005 breaths a little more realistically, Okto sounds just that little bit less human. Still, I would say Okto deficiencies here are rather minor, in many systems you wouldn't be able to discern these differences. Okto really excels in transparency, neutral tonality and timbre, no complaints here, in fact some may hear Okto as being more natural than 005 as the extra low level information of 005 can sometimes make it sound more incisive than Okto. And so less natural recordings may sound slightly more natural than 005, sometimes higher resolving powers are not well served. I'm really surprised by macro dynamics along with depth and power of bass, reach of bass very similar to 005, sometimes sounds like subwoofer added to system. Amazing considering Okto's minimalist internals! I expected 005 to far surpass Okto here, superior power supply, parts quality and sheer weight of the two units, 005 probably weighs double the Okto, and that is not all in casing.
And so, my overall take is Okto is a killer dac, especially at $1500. This kind of sq previously cost many multiples of Okto, no brainer at this price. Many systems won't benefit from 005 greater resolving powers, or any other more resolving, and more costly dacs. I could easily live with Okto in my setup, as previously mentioned more resolving power isn't necessarily a good thing. Okto may be perfect balance between resolution and forgiving nature.