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Oppo BDP-83SE or Sony SCD-XA5400ES?

Well somebody had to start this one. It may as well be me. I guess we're gonna have to base our selection on features, specs and reputation (at least as far as the Oppo is concerned). I'm mainly concerned with 2 channel analog playback with SACD and redbook. Anything else is just a bonus. The Sony has balanced outputs, is almost twice as heavy and build quality SEEMS better, has a 5 year warranty, ridiculous reviews and a the beginning of a cult-like following. The Oppo has a great rep, plays EVERYTHING, also ridiculous reviews (for every other model), ESS Sabre Ultra DACs (what does the Sony have??), seems to be upgradeable and WILL have a cult-like following. I cannot audition in my home. So I will be rolling the dice. Obviously you win whichever one you get. But which one would you go with and why?





sg69
jp1208
502 posts
 
Here is something that I found on the web.
The ES9016 Sabre32 Ultra DAC is the latest addition to the world’s highest performance and critically acclaimed Sabre32 DAC family. With ESS patented 32-bit HyperstreamTM DAC architecture and Time Domain Jitter Eliminator, the ES9016 SABRE32 Ultra DAC delivers spectacular music with an unsurpassed sound stage, with up to 128dB dynamic range and 0.0003% (-110dB) total harmonic distortion, and free from clock jitter common in digital audio systems.
So much for installing after market clocks which are pretty expensive and time consuming to do.

http://www.esstech.com/index.php?p=products_DAC
eric_stefko
13 posts
 
Buconero117 you stated
"oppo SE, Sony not even close now. The balance on Sony, in my opinion does not add anything. It the chips, chips etc. You need to get up to $10K plus to beat the oppo."

Did you actually hear both units or is this conjecture ? If you did here both can you identify the sound differences? I am looking a picking up a new digital source
magnumpi205
504 posts
 
Have heard both units.
Bought the Sony.
Best implementation of the Sabre Dac is in the the Wyred DAC that I heard at RMAF.
mooglie
101 posts
 
Magnumpi205, don't mean to threadjack, but could you elaborate on your views on the Wyred 4 Sound DAC? I'm really interested in this unit (I'm just a 2 CH guy). My current DAC uses a PCM1794.
sg69 OP
18 posts
 
Magnumpi205,

You heard the BDP83SE? I didn't think they were out long enough for anybody to A/B compare to anything. I figured the people that did get one were still burning them in. Haven't really seen any reviews from early adopters yet. What was your impressions of both and what swayed you to go with the Sony?
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