OPPO 103 VE 105.....

thanks freemand for the additional info.....

Completely agree with Freemand. For me, I'll take a 103D with a good DAC. The 105D is pretty decent on its own, but it won't hold up to a 103D with a good DAC.

Hello Freemand, The OP wanted to know about a single player NOT a transport with external DAC setup. ALSO, the Oppo 105's internal Sabre Dac chipset IS what sets it apart from other players in this price range, YOU DONT NEED A EXTERNAL DAC its that good! is my point.

The trouble with using an external DAC with the 103 is DSD, very few DACs can accept it via HDMI without unwanted conversions of some kind or other

IIRC, I was told by Oppo that only the 105D asymmetrical USB can take DSD downloads should computer audio become an interest. Caveat: I have a 95, 105, and bought a new 105D in case I choose to download music from a Mac Mini I bought for that purpose but haven't used.