Oppo UDP - 205

@lancelock 

The thought of modifying the 205 crossed my mind as well. A few issues trouble me with that idea though. One, the warranty with Oppo is voided. Two, the expense to get the full mod I understand is between 2 and 3 grand. At that point, a new Shiit Yggy or Mytex Brooklyn DAC just makes more sense (to me). Third, I would be without the 205 for a month or longer while I await the modification. Lastly, there is always a chance (however small) a third-party modification could make things worse. 

Thank you Ozzy and Lance for your inputs.  How would you rate the analog out performance of the 205?  At least half as good as the Directstream or not even close? I am currently using a Parasound Halo integrated as a DAC/preamp (it has a build in ESS 9018) and I just ordered a Oppo 205, just wonder if this is going to be better?

@a25105 , I wished I could comment on the stock 205 but mine was sent direct to modding. The new ESS 9038 DAC chip is supposed to be superior to the older 9018 and from my experience having a modded 105, there is quite a difference. More analog like to me. 

If im ranking my DS DAC a perfect 10 then I would rank the modded 205 a 9. Ozzy also has very good points about the mods and I was lucky to get mine early enough to get a considerable discount.

@a25105, the UDP-205 sounds phenomenal. Trust me, and the scores of others on the AVS forum owners thread.

That said, I do take delight in knowing that while my system already sounds great (Oppo UDP-205 >> Musical Fidelity M6si >> Golden Ear Triton Reference), I can at least believe/hope (never know until you get there yourself) that it should only get better with an outboard DAC. What that DAC will be remains to be seen, and at such time I'll use the Oppo as transport.

By the way, there are six usable and one diagnostic digital filters that one can choose from. I've found the default Mini Phase Fast is best. Point though is the sound can be tweaked. XLR and RCA are the same, with the exception that XLR is +6db hotter.

I bought Oppo Sonica DAC couple months ago and as long as I use preamp and not the volume control of the DAC, it sounds very fine. Software is also very easy to use. I use Cat8 Ethernet cable into the DAC and that improved the performance by a magnitude.
i don't have 205 to compare.