Thanks for the insights very much. Some years ago, I was at the CA Audio show and the particular vendors were using a Bricasti DAC, selling for $5K-$6K. They also had a Jolida Tube DAC which they were able to switch back and forth with the Bricasti DAC. After a couple of minutes of switching back and forth, I looked that the fellow doing the demo and simply shrugged my shoulders... they both sounded the same to me. He heard the same thing I heard and agree the Jolida was quite good.
I figure others are right that if i move up the food chain of DACs, I will hear a difference... whether that difference is better or not is subjective. The cost of such a DAC is out of my sensible budget for audio gear. What amazes me it that I hear absolutely no difference with or without my CIA DAC in the path. There is not one aspect the music that is different with the DAC in the path. Literally, the sound is indistinguishable to my 64 year old hear. How swapping my McCormack amp for my Pass Labs amp yields sonic difference that I could spent a long time describing. Same thing with tube rolling... the differences are immediate and often very dramatic.
I am going to audition the modestly-priced Denafrips AresDAC in my system soon to see if it creates the sort of sonic wonders that devotees of external DAC's are hearing. If not, I conclude that I will be happy living with the sound of the Oppo sans DAC. Thanks again for the comments.
I figure others are right that if i move up the food chain of DACs, I will hear a difference... whether that difference is better or not is subjective. The cost of such a DAC is out of my sensible budget for audio gear. What amazes me it that I hear absolutely no difference with or without my CIA DAC in the path. There is not one aspect the music that is different with the DAC in the path. Literally, the sound is indistinguishable to my 64 year old hear. How swapping my McCormack amp for my Pass Labs amp yields sonic difference that I could spent a long time describing. Same thing with tube rolling... the differences are immediate and often very dramatic.
I am going to audition the modestly-priced Denafrips AresDAC in my system soon to see if it creates the sort of sonic wonders that devotees of external DAC's are hearing. If not, I conclude that I will be happy living with the sound of the Oppo sans DAC. Thanks again for the comments.