O1 Headphone AMP/DAC ===> Octavart
Apr 22, 2008 at 1:05 AM Post #76 of 136
Not to add more fuel to the fire but at $199 the Ocatvart w/ the amp/dac is the best bargain I know off at this moment.
biggrin.gif
The amp for $99 is just unreal.
 
Apr 22, 2008 at 1:16 AM Post #78 of 136
Quote:

Originally Posted by mrarroyo /img/forum/go_quote.gif
Not to add more fuel to the fire but at $199 the Ocatvart w/ the amp/dac is the best bargain I know off at this moment.
biggrin.gif
The amp for $99 is just unreal.


Where is it for that price?
 
Apr 22, 2008 at 6:31 AM Post #81 of 136
Quote:

Originally Posted by mrarroyo /img/forum/go_quote.gif
Not to add more fuel to the fire but at $199 the Ocatvart w/ the amp/dac is the best bargain I know off at this moment.
biggrin.gif
The amp for $99 is just unreal.


Ah, the power of capitalism.......

........ and cheap Chinese labor
frown.gif
 
Apr 22, 2008 at 6:49 AM Post #82 of 136
I need another amp like I need a hole in my head. Why are they dumping these on clearance? So tempted, just to not miss out, but I have no idea what I would do with it.
 
Apr 22, 2008 at 6:53 AM Post #83 of 136
i just ordered the o1 amp with dac. i have a dell coming in next week with just a integrated sound card. should i get a emu0404, stick with the integrated sound card, or buy a bluegears b-enspire?
 
Apr 22, 2008 at 7:05 AM Post #84 of 136
Quote:

Originally Posted by rukawa11 /img/forum/go_quote.gif
i just ordered the o1 amp with dac. i have a dell coming in next week with just a integrated sound card. should i get a emu0404, stick with the integrated sound card, or buy a bluegears b-enspire?


You just need to get digital signal to the O1 so it can convert it and amplify it. Assuming that the integrated sound doesn't have optical out, your best bet is to get one of those USB to optical converters that have been mentioned to get digital sound out of your dell.

I don't see the point of buying a $200 0404 just to carry a digital signal to another $200 DAC and AMP
 
Apr 22, 2008 at 7:20 AM Post #85 of 136
I'd bet Head-Direct is updating the Octavart in some way and needs to get rid of the last batch of older ones. I bought the Minibox-E from them when it went on sale. I think I got one of the last ones before they stopped shipping for a few weeks. Then they came out with the Minibox E+ and upped the price again. I probably would have waited a bit had I known...

It also could just be a good sale to get people to notice the Octavart. Either way, its still seems like a really good deal.

I'm actually debating between the Octavart and the Yulong DAH1. I like the Yulong's better DAC Chip and the potentially good amp section.

I also like all the connections of the DAH1 and the source select button (preamp). Its much more useful with more equipment. But I don't like how each time the DAH1 is powered up, it forgets the last source and volume settings.

But there's only one real review on Head-Fi about the DAH1. At least HiFlight, Mrarroyo and Boomana all agree the Octavart sounds great. That's worth a lot. Oh yeah, the Yulong is $350 with shipping on ebay. There's really too many choices in this price range...

Does anyone else have any more thoughts on Octavart vs. Yulong DAH1?
 
Apr 22, 2008 at 9:25 AM Post #86 of 136
Quote:

Originally Posted by rukawa11 /img/forum/go_quote.gif
i just ordered the o1 amp with dac. i have a dell coming in next week with just a integrated sound card. should i get a emu0404, stick with the integrated sound card, or buy a bluegears b-enspire?


what dell model? it may already have optical/coax out.
 
Apr 22, 2008 at 3:40 PM Post #87 of 136
inspiron 530, i'm pretty sure it doesnt, it says this Audio: Six back-panel connectors for line-in, line-out, microphone, rear surround, side surround, two front-panel connectors for headphones/microphone, integrated 7.1 channel sound . so basically i should just get the Behringer UCA202 U-control? i kinda wanted to try the dolby headphone feature in the enspire, but i'm assuming i don't need it if i already have a dac/amp and don't really game but i do watch movies.
 
Apr 22, 2008 at 4:10 PM Post #88 of 136
Quote:

Originally Posted by Sludig /img/forum/go_quote.gif
Ouh yeahhh!! My Ocatavart is here, only three days to Europe!!! This morning I can try it and his sound is amazing..
cool.gif



you are trying this on a d2000 right? i'm pretty set on buying the d2000, but am still thinking about an akg701 and senn hd600. What other headphones do you have and how do they compare,
 
Apr 22, 2008 at 9:09 PM Post #89 of 136
i think this all depends on your needs. if you'll also need analog audio out for music from your PC, i would get a good soundcard instead.

i have the b-enspirer. it's nice, but there are certainly better cards out there for analog out (think Auzentech or ASUS). it has a good DAC, but not so good opamps, so the O1 should be better in this regard. the biggest selling point of the lower end CMI-8788 based cards is that they support Dolby Digital Live and DTS Connect, but this won't benefit you since the card only has 1 spdif out anyway.

also, i think mine may may have broken all of a sudden (need to do some more testing though).

i can't remember if it can perform Dolby headphone processing and then send that signal out via SPDIF (at work now). anyway, this is just a novelty that you'll soon forget once you are enjoying the good sound of your O1 DAC (hopefully, anyway!) so i wouldn't worry about it.

if you don't need good quality analog out, the Behringer is certainly an option, as is something like this PC Link USB/SPDIF Adapter which has both optical and coax out. the other route to go is to pick up a cheap soundcard with optical and/or coax spdif out, like the Diamond XtremeSound 7.1.

sorry if i'm confusing the situation even more. there certainly are a lot of options out there, which makes this stuff fun! it all comes down to your current and future needs.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Users who are viewing this thread

Total: 3 (members: 0, guests: 3)
Back
Top