Personal confuser Audio which aspect has the greatest impact on SQ?


Hello all,

it usually goes with out saying that ‘everything’ in the audio system makes a difference in sound quality. as we all know, Everything Matters.

PC audio has metriculated into new vistas which now and then beg for more digital hardware such as, NAS, servers, ethernet renderers, USB converters, bridges, additional clocks, dual clocks, dual DACs (one per ch), and outboard power sups for many of these listed gizmos to boot.

even the media management and or streaming software seems to have its own influenece on the sonic presentation.

so lets try to sort out where the REAL money needs to go in the digital turn table arrangement, if indeed there has been significant changes in your opinion.

i read yesterday that the error correction used in iTunes is a very poor idea on that theme and it can in fact degrade the ripped product dramatically as it averages out multiple errors rather than addressing them individually, thus destroying or severely degrading the end result of your ripped cD.

as well, in the digital signal path we were concerned with pico seconds of jitter or distortion, degrading the sound quality, now we are faced with worrying about even smaller ’portions of these same pico second’ anomolies.

furthermore, there are the cabling and interfaces which must be connected so the signal can be found, accepted, and converted to analog, USB, AES, BNC, SPDIF, HDMI, I2s, Ethernet, and TOS..

at times even the overall lengths of the digital cables became quite impactful.

and we all know the dAC has been for darn near ever, either the ONLY link, or the most crucial link in this equation, but has it now been upstaged or set aside in its import for the quality of sound being produced?

IOW, has the bridge, renderer, power supply or cable tech become so improved the DAC is no longer the primary vital, highest priority ingredient for achieving better sound quality?

or….

Are the aforementioned digital ‘incidentals’ or accessories far less significant factors in achieving improved audio quality and the DAC still remains the most important key to obtaining great sound??

many thanks
blindjim
That’s interesting.  However, I am thinking that will only work if you intend to use the DAC of the 203.  I would prefer to use my Bryston DAC.  It seems weird that 
one could have Audirvana on the pc, have the Oppo use it to find music, then instead of play it through the Oppo pass it to another DAC, thereby adding what seems to be an unnecessary link.
  I could try this, but frankly I am not that interested, as I am just starting to to enjoy the sound of my Bryston BDP3 as a transport, which is an order of magnitude better than the Oppo, the PCwith Audirvana, or Bluesound.

well, a bridge is a bridge is a bridge, at times.


some very likely are better than others… but if it is all one has, and they wish to get file playback from PC or NAS, use a mobile device as the remote/controller,  and not use USB…. well there you are with a LAN connection over ethernet or wy Fy to the ‘bridge’ instead, if a late model Oppo is handy.


use DLNA protocol to fuel the Oppo du jour, via the analog outs or   feed the ??? DAC via digital interfaces and or HDMI


grab the A+ remote for $10 off the app store and you can sit in the sweet spot  and control playback, with or without a dAC.


to date… regardless which conduit I’ve used to get access and playback of files from a NAS or hard drive, ie., Hiface, RME sound card, Lynx Sound card, M Audio SC,or even a mediocre UsB sound card to feed the ??? DAC, each time, depending on the quality of the ??? interface device, the sound quality either was made different or in fact escalated respective to the gizmo between the files and the dAC.


in the end, as you said, you will run what you feel is the best route to the best sQ. regardless. and that is what this past time is indeed all about.


until another ‘approach’ and its funding arrives, it is what it is.




OK. it works. its easier than it looks too.

the only steps I took were to open A+ and inside Preferences>Audio System tab, select what ever Oppo is populated in the list of audio output device options.

there were 3 in my list.

I then opened the a+ remote on a mobile unit and accessed the A+ remote app.

chose a playlist and tapped on a file. violin!!

nothing had to be addressed in the 203 settings for instant playback. FLAC AAC, ALAC and more files were played without issue.

it could not be much easier. playback appeared thru the only output connected to the Oppo 203, HDMI.

all components are on Wy Fy.

Oppo sup says ALL outputs are hot.

the a+ app did not see the 203 as a MQA compatible gizmo though

it did see DSD as an option too though it could be configured to convert the signal to PCM if desired.

Groovy.. . no immediate need to drop $$$ into some interface converter.