I didn't realize you were joking, but I don't get the part about 16 year old technology. (actually its more than 16 years. something like 18-20. I had my 850 in 1997.)
Here's a list of features that the Wadia has over the Oppo.
-Transport. There's just no comparison. The transport alone is worth more than the Oppo itself.
-The analog stage. Fully balanced, 0 negative feedback, parts quality.
-The designers. Wadia and a few others practicly wrote the book on high end digital playback. I'm not saying that Oppo doesn't have good designers. They do. But guys like Steve Huntly are in another league.
-Volume control. It comes in 2 parts. First is the digital volume control that you actually adjust while listening. The second is global gain settings. There's a series of dip switches you can set to raise or lower the overall gain. This allows you to keep the volume as close to 100 as you can. Also, if you're dealing with components that are sensitive to gain, such as very efficient speakers, you can have issues like gain related noise/hissing, or an overly sensitive volume control.
-Its impervious to external vibrations. (case and feet design).
-Most of what's going into the Oppo is video related. For a player that sells for around $500, how much money went into sound quality? It can't be that much.
I'm sure I could come up with a few more examples, but this should do. Put these players side by side, and there will be no doubt as to the difference in SQ.
Here's a list of features that the Wadia has over the Oppo.
-Transport. There's just no comparison. The transport alone is worth more than the Oppo itself.
-The analog stage. Fully balanced, 0 negative feedback, parts quality.
-The designers. Wadia and a few others practicly wrote the book on high end digital playback. I'm not saying that Oppo doesn't have good designers. They do. But guys like Steve Huntly are in another league.
-Volume control. It comes in 2 parts. First is the digital volume control that you actually adjust while listening. The second is global gain settings. There's a series of dip switches you can set to raise or lower the overall gain. This allows you to keep the volume as close to 100 as you can. Also, if you're dealing with components that are sensitive to gain, such as very efficient speakers, you can have issues like gain related noise/hissing, or an overly sensitive volume control.
-Its impervious to external vibrations. (case and feet design).
-Most of what's going into the Oppo is video related. For a player that sells for around $500, how much money went into sound quality? It can't be that much.
I'm sure I could come up with a few more examples, but this should do. Put these players side by side, and there will be no doubt as to the difference in SQ.