External DAC For Oppo 105 At What Cost?

Very entertaining thread! :-)

Hi Ric. ;-)

Mitch, I've owned the stock Oppo 105 and found its sound acceptable but not stellar. If you have CD7 you probably will be disappointed by a stock 105.

Adding an external DAC will get you computer audio capability, but the 105 is not a great red book CD transport either. Again it's acceptable but not stellar, I've compared it to Theta/CEC etc. And I found the 105's SPDIF output is actually 48kHz instead of 44.1kHz. The conversion from 44.1 to 48 is never a good thing!

On DVD and Bluray, the 105's SPDIF output is also 48kHz, I called Oppo to verify, no, it doesn't give you 24/96 unless it's via HDMI.

So, 44.1 becomes 48, 96/192 also becomes 48, the 105 as a disc transport is useless for audiophiles.

So my suggestion is either modify the 105 to the highest level, or go for a high-end DAC and leave the 105 intact for home theater duties.

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Yingtonggao, thank you for posting your comments. Very informative.
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This is a good thread and I do not want to derail it but have to ask a question that I have posted before and not received an answer.

Would the folks who have paid for the Modwright modification tell me what I am going to hear "better" or "more" for the roughly $2K investment?

I have enough ear to tell the difference between tubes and no tubes. Is that the only difference or what else?

I have actually sent a email to Modwright asking the same question and never received a response.

It is a genuine question because the straight Oppo 105 was a good improvement in my system - more detail and more analog like sound while maintaining the musicality.

Any well thought out dac in the $2k range will beat a modded player
9 out of 10 times ,just like separates you can fit much more digital hardware under the hood and companies like eXasound have completely isolated
Seperate power supplies to give even more isolation,and you can buy
An outstanding aftermarket powersupply for $400 or under that really
Improve the unit even further in every respect.i have had at least 10 dacs in the last 10 years,finally with DSD you are able to honestly
Compete with the best of vinyl
Myself want the best bang for the buck am leaning towards the eXasound E20 with optional 82fs Femto second which is a 1,000 times more then a pico second and for roughly $100 ,where msb wants $1000s which is insane, this and a bigger power supply ,are a great combination,and the only dac to do 4x DSD to date.future proof .