https://www.oppodigital.com/sonica-dac/
they are saying better SQ than the 103/105 players, and they are highly regarded, so....
they are saying better SQ than the 103/105 players, and they are highly regarded, so....
Questioning the need for a DAC
https://www.oppodigital.com/sonica-dac/ they are saying better SQ than the 103/105 players, and they are highly regarded, so.... |
Sbank, The USB port circuitry on the Bifrost/Gungnir both utilize power from the computers USB port DAC's that use power from their own onboard power supply tend to perform so much better than those that use the power from the computers USB port simply because the power being supplied is so much cleaner that that supplied via the computers USB port So my listening test was as follows... 1. the Bifrost DAC was connected via its USB port to my computers USB port, then... 2. I connected the Vlink192 to my computers USB port, but connected it to the Bifrost with via a digital coax. #2 was clearly superior. Was I wrong to conclude that the USB implementation of the V-Link192 is superior to the that of the Bofrost/Gungnir? The V-link192 simply converts USB to Coax Digital - and if its USB interface was not superior wouldn't the sound be the same when played through the same DAC? Both interfaces were powered by the same power supply. The source USB interface on the computer did not change The only thing that changed was the USB interface from that on the Bifrost to completely circuitry of the Vlink192 What else could explain this? I stand by my findings until I am educated otherwise :-) |
I happen to think that the Oppo gear is really quite good and the 103D, with a bit of mods or even stock, is just very good. Oppo gear seems to be like Schiit gear, everybody likes it. It is grand that here are lots of $500-$1000 CD players around today that just sound wonderful. I am thinking that good DACs can improve the sound even more. It is amazing the sort of fine system one can cobble together for, say, a couple of grand, that will fill your room with great sounds. The new ELACs might be part of that kit. Cheers, Mark |
"On top of that, Sonica DAC is a high-resolution audio player and can decode files directly from a connected USB drive, network shares or NAS drives." From OPPO website . Does this mean a hard drive full of downloaded music will just be able to be plugged into the oppo ? What might the interface look like i wonder ? |
Hi @psickerson I’m not sure if all have it, but some Schiits have ASRC. Adaptive Sample Rate Conversion. Most of these processes work by throwing away the original data and recreating it. They map the data coming in to a (hopefully) much more jitter free clock and recreate it, but whether going from 44 to 96 or 96 to 96, the data is completely re-made and the concept of bit-perfect upsampling is thrown out the window. The Wyred4Sound Remedy works like this. It works rather nicely too. Almost all ASRC processes trade sample accuracy for timing accuracy. Schiit is unique AFAIK in using "closed form" ASRC, in which they keep all the original samples, while adding interpolated data attempting to gain the timing accuracy without loosing the bit-perfection of the original signal. . Google "closed form" and "Schiit" and you should find it. Even so I went with Mytek. :) Best, Erik P.S. Vendors often call ASRC something more cool sounding, like upsampling, resampling or, supreme de-jittering jitter jail. You have to read the details to find out if this is what they are doing. |