No, my budget is hardly in the DCS or upper MSB brand range of DACs, especially since the I need to be looking at an "all in one" MCH DAC/preamp processor. But my budget is well above that of AVRs and I've seen some surround sound posts in this section of the forum, so I'll assume in friendly territory.
For the 5.3 system I want to build, my plan was to have JRiver feed Blu Ray disc audio to this MCH DAC via USB. https://www.oktoresearch.com/dac8pro.htm
https://www.stereophile.com/content/okto-research-dac8-pro-da-processor
But like most DACs, the Okto’s balanced outputs only deliver ~ 4.1 volts, which KR found insufficient to drive his power amps (Benchmark AHB2, NAD C298) with DIRAC Live 3 enabled. Thus, all balanced outputs of this processor would need to supply a minimum of 10 volts/channel to offset DIRAC gain losses of almost 20db https://www.sowter.co.uk/decibels.php , as KR mentioned in his review of the Topping Pre90. https://www.stereophile.com/content/topping-pre90-line-preamplifier
Unfortunately, there are no 8-channel preamps available, either from audiophile or pro audio brands. KR's fix was to buy three Topping preamps, which as shown in Fig. 3 its balanced outputs deliver very low distortion, and which virtually continues decreasing well beyond 10 volts. https://www.stereophile.com/content/topping-pre90-line-preamplifier-measurements
But stacking three Pre90 preamps doesn't seem the most elegant solution, and KR mentioned that struggling with the Pre90's crappy remote is no fun.
So unless I find a reputable builder to affordably custom design a MCH preamp (any recommendations??), the only alternative would be a MCH processor with a DAC section at least as good, but ideally far better than the Okto, and with all balanced outputs delivering at least 10 or 12 volts/channel.
If yes, how likely could its own master volume/mute remote control allow reducing all balanced outputs to ~ 5 volts or less without any loss of resolution and perceptible dynamic range?
If yes, which model (s) would also have a pair of high quality potentiometers for selectively setting levels of the front and rear/side speakers-like the ones John Curl used for designing the JC-2 preamp
https://www.partsconnexion.com/tkd-potentiomters.html , which JA raved about going head to head against his Levinson 380S? https://www.stereophile.com/solidpreamps/308para/index.html See p. 10-11. https://parasound.com/pdfs/JC2Manual.pdf
Theta Digital are the only MCH processors I’m aware of which might have DAC sections at least equaling the Okto DAC 8 Pro, though I doubt its preamp performance would match that of the Parasound JC-2.
Please suggest brands/models.
Ideally, such processors would also be customizable, allowing omission of video and unbalanced connectivity, thereby minimizing final cost.
For the 5.3 system I want to build, my plan was to have JRiver feed Blu Ray disc audio to this MCH DAC via USB. https://www.oktoresearch.com/dac8pro.htm
https://www.stereophile.com/content/okto-research-dac8-pro-da-processor
But like most DACs, the Okto’s balanced outputs only deliver ~ 4.1 volts, which KR found insufficient to drive his power amps (Benchmark AHB2, NAD C298) with DIRAC Live 3 enabled. Thus, all balanced outputs of this processor would need to supply a minimum of 10 volts/channel to offset DIRAC gain losses of almost 20db https://www.sowter.co.uk/decibels.php , as KR mentioned in his review of the Topping Pre90. https://www.stereophile.com/content/topping-pre90-line-preamplifier
Unfortunately, there are no 8-channel preamps available, either from audiophile or pro audio brands. KR's fix was to buy three Topping preamps, which as shown in Fig. 3 its balanced outputs deliver very low distortion, and which virtually continues decreasing well beyond 10 volts. https://www.stereophile.com/content/topping-pre90-line-preamplifier-measurements
But stacking three Pre90 preamps doesn't seem the most elegant solution, and KR mentioned that struggling with the Pre90's crappy remote is no fun.
So unless I find a reputable builder to affordably custom design a MCH preamp (any recommendations??), the only alternative would be a MCH processor with a DAC section at least as good, but ideally far better than the Okto, and with all balanced outputs delivering at least 10 or 12 volts/channel.
If yes, how likely could its own master volume/mute remote control allow reducing all balanced outputs to ~ 5 volts or less without any loss of resolution and perceptible dynamic range?
If yes, which model (s) would also have a pair of high quality potentiometers for selectively setting levels of the front and rear/side speakers-like the ones John Curl used for designing the JC-2 preamp
https://www.partsconnexion.com/tkd-potentiomters.html , which JA raved about going head to head against his Levinson 380S? https://www.stereophile.com/solidpreamps/308para/index.html See p. 10-11. https://parasound.com/pdfs/JC2Manual.pdf
Theta Digital are the only MCH processors I’m aware of which might have DAC sections at least equaling the Okto DAC 8 Pro, though I doubt its preamp performance would match that of the Parasound JC-2.
Please suggest brands/models.
Ideally, such processors would also be customizable, allowing omission of video and unbalanced connectivity, thereby minimizing final cost.
