Okto DAC 8 Stereo (Shout-out)

@milpai I'm happy to report back my experience once I've had to time to properly evaluate it.

I've never heard of this unit until this thread, but at that price and with those reviews I felt it worth a try, so I just ordered one. I dearly love my Yggdrasil LiM so we'll see if this thing can outshine it. Ordered the custom output voltage, too.

I just heard from the Okto folks. Said my unit should ship within 1 to 2 weeks, despite them showing as "in stock" at the time of purchase. It's entirely possible that the delay is because I also ordered the custom output voltage and someone has to physically make the modification. I did see something when I checked out that said "4 in stock" or "4 left" when I purchased late Sat night

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.

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.

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.

Currently, no, but we're about to get started on a new house with a dedicated media room. BUT, I'm using some pretty good headphones (HE1000 V2) and the Susvara's I have coming are fantastic headphones that normally retail for $6K, so I don't think I'm missing much, if anything.

I have an Oppo, too. I've done some upgrades on it (power supply and stabilizer plate) and I still find it a bit "meh" for playing SACD's. I've never used it as a DAC only but it would seem to not stand a chance against either the Okto or the Yggy. I could, of course, be wrong.