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Oppo 105 D vs. DAC-transport combination.

To my great dismay, the more I listen, I’m finding my Oppo 105 is outperforming a very well thought of DAC and transport combination for which I paid 3x the price.  Basically the sound stage is wider and better defined.
Both the DAC and transport are less than a year old.  I thought I was upgrading.
Played by itself, the DAC-transport combo sounds great.  Until I compare it to the Oppo. 
I can’t understand it!
128x128rvpiano
audioconnection
1,271 posts
 
Shardone
 Have you done a direct comparison?
Meter reader has nothing to do with its performance
Its op amps in the Benchmark Vs discrete devices in the Ayre
 If you listen you will switch I promise you its ugly but truth
 Listen to RCA Heifetz/Munch Boston/ violin hardest thing to do and the Ayre's finesse will be obvious with overtones all intact and you will thank me.
Best ,
 JohnnyR
noble100's avatar
noble100
2,419 posts
 

     Mahler123 stated:
"@melm Sorry the Oppo 105 didn’t come close to sounding like your vinyl.  Perhaps if Oppo had figured out a way to compress their dynamic range, add speed instability and most importantly simulate the sound of frying bacon superimposed on the music, then they would still be making players."

    I don't believe mahler123 deserves to be called 'an ignorant fool' for his insightful and quite humorous comment. 
     Listening to music emanating from a dead quiet background is a  quality that I would think and hope we all can appreciate as a significant contributor to excellent sound quality in our systems.
     
Tim
rvpiano's avatar
rvpiano OP
2,654 posts
 
Interestingly, when I stream Tidal through the Gumby DAC, it sounds a lot better than streaming through the Oppo, even though the opposite is true with CDs.
rvpiano's avatar
rvpiano OP
2,654 posts
 
CDs through the Oppo though sound better than the same CD performances through Tidal.
rvpiano's avatar
rvpiano OP
2,654 posts
 
If you hear a lot of noise with clean records, you probably need a new turntable/cartridge setup. My records generally play with little or no background noise.
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