Just wanted to add an update as to why the Oppo BDP 95 may sound better than the BDP 105. I found the following an another forum;
It appears that the difference in sound quality claimed by some is due to the way the
audio is allocated to the DAC(s). In the BDP-95, apparently in stereo mode all 8
channels in the DAC are used (4 for Left, 4 for right), but in the BDP-105, only two
channels in one of the DACs are utilized for stereo, with the rest dedicated to other
functions (headphone amp, I think, while the second DAC's 8 channels are dedicated
to 7 + 1 surround, if I remember correctly).
So from a design standpoint, it seems there's a lot more 'processor power' (for lack of
a more correct way to say it) devoted to stereo sound on the BDP-95 than with the
BDP-105.
I probably didn't explain what I was trying to say very well, the following comments
are supposed to be from an Oppo FAQ, but I couldn't find it on the Oppo website:
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Q: On the BDP-95 the ESS9018 DAC was stacked 4-DAC channels per stereo Left and
Right outputs channel. How are they configured on the BDP-105?
A: In the BDP-105's stereo board design, the 4 pairs of DACs in the ESS9018 DAC are
allocated as: 1 pair for the RCA outputs, 1 pair for the XLR outputs, and 2 pairs
stacked for the headphone amplifier.
https://forums.stevehoffman.tv/threads/oppo-bdp-95-vs-bdp-105-sound-quality-comparison.320632/ 2/1112/14/24, 5:06 PM rbbert
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Oppo BDP-95 vs. BDP-105 — Sound Quality Comparison? | Steve Hoffman Music Forums
Q: Does the lack of non-4+4 DAC stacking affect the audio performance?
A: During the initial design stage, OPPO simply continued the BDP-95 approach by
stacking 4 pairs of DAC for each Left and Right channel. However due to the
complexity brought in by the newly added headphone amp and USB DAC, OPPO
could not achieve an ideal PCB layout. The analog specifications became slightly
worse than the BDP-95 in this 4 stacked configuration. OPPO's audio engineers and
consultants analyzed the problem and made many experiments to further enhance the
quality of the analog output stage of the BDP-105. In the end, they decided that the
only way to ensure maximum performance was to separate the current-to-voltage
conversion stages for each output path. This change enables us to have a much cleaner
PCB layout which minimizes interference and crosstalk. It also eliminates the
possibility of the load on one output path affecting the other paths. The drawback is
that BDP-105 now loses the benefits of the thermal noise cancellation by stacking 4
DACs. The engineers were able to make up for that by designing an improved power
supply, optimizing the filter and drive stages, and beefing up the power and ground
paths.
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'67 Chevy, Jun 12, 2013