The Octave DAC is hard to beat, but the source is actually more important. There are two things to consider:
1) drive the Octave with a lower jitter source like Off-Ramp 5, Diverter HR or Synergistic
2) sell it and use a Wired 4 Sound DAC2 driven with I2S from an Off-Ramp 5 - this is a world class sound
Other than that, consider more expensive DACs that enable you to eliminate your preamp. The steps to good digital sound are:
1) reduce source jitter
2) eliminate or reduce the effects of digital filtering in the DAC
3) eliminate active preamp and drive the amps directly
4) couple to the amps directly using a good transformer and balanced cables
Steve N.
Empirical Audio
1) drive the Octave with a lower jitter source like Off-Ramp 5, Diverter HR or Synergistic
2) sell it and use a Wired 4 Sound DAC2 driven with I2S from an Off-Ramp 5 - this is a world class sound
Other than that, consider more expensive DACs that enable you to eliminate your preamp. The steps to good digital sound are:
1) reduce source jitter
2) eliminate or reduce the effects of digital filtering in the DAC
3) eliminate active preamp and drive the amps directly
4) couple to the amps directly using a good transformer and balanced cables
Steve N.
Empirical Audio