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Separate DAC or continue using the Oppo UDP-205

Hello,

  I have all my music on a hard drive in FLAC.
I am a using Sonos Connect, Optically connected to the Oppo. From the Oppo (RCA'S out) to a Primaluna Dialogue     Preamp. The Amps are 2 Primaluna HP's. Martin Logan Theos speakers. I have rolled mostly all the tubes, and absolutely love the sound. Family and friends also love the sound.

 My question is, Should I continue going through the Oppo, or should I get a separate DAC? Nothing to crazy in price.
I have seen these things go for thousands, and thats fine if you can swing it. I was thinking around a $1000.
But, would it change the sound or would it pretty much be the same? In other words, is the Oppo that good at what it does?

 Since we are always tweaking our systems to make them sound better, I thought I would ask all of you first, before calling the salesman. I also have thought about  getting a turntable. But I gave away all my albums many years ago.
Buying a turntable, buying albums, taking care of all that stuff. Not really what I had in mind. I would like to keep it fun, and simple.

  Thanks
loganfan
big_greg
6,623 posts
 
I'm not sure how or why you're using the sonos instead of connecting the hard drive to the oppo and connecting the oppo to the primaluna.

I haven't heard the DAC in the 205, but have a 203 and 105D and used to have their headphone amp/dac. They have pretty good DACs. To me they are more "digital" sounding and less detailed than some others. 

A MHDT Orchid is a little more than your budget, but will sound less digital and will be detailed and neutral. To me, that would be a nice upgrade. It won't make a night and day difference, but will be easier to listen to and more "natural" sounding. 

I have a W4S DAC 2 and it is my least favorite of all the ones I've owned. 

Try getting the sonos out of the chain and see how you like the sound. If you still think you might want to upgrade, what do you hope to get from the upgrade? 
loganfan OP
29 posts
 
Thanks for the fast responses,

 I have tried connecting the hard drive straight to the Oppo, It would not work. Maybe because the hard rive is set up on a MAC ?

Thanks
samlucas091
24 posts
 
Logan, 
The dac is solid, the output stage could use some improvement. I would suggest a Modwright "truth mod" if you wanted to take the player up a few levels in sound. 

Sam
melm
1,074 posts
 
The DAC chip in the Oppo is very good.  However the DAC implementation in the Oppo cannot compare to many modern separate DACs.  There has been a whole industry built up just to make the Oppo DAC sound better.  But you can do far better for your money and have much more flexibility with a separate DAC.

As for which DAC, 20 people will recommend 20 different ones.
nekoaudio's avatar
nekoaudio
489 posts
 
If you like the way the OPPO UDP-205 DAC sounds, and you're not looking for a change, I wouldn't recommend trying too hard to better it. Yes, there are people who don't like the way it sounds and so either mod it or would prefer a different DAC. Or prefer the sound of a different DAC more, while still liking the OPPO. But you should figure out that part for yourself by listening to some things.

For connecting a USB hard disk directly, it needs to be FAT, FAT32, exFAT, or NTFS. You can check what format your hard disk is in by using the Disk Utility application on your Mac. Alternatively, if you have network connectivity for the UDP-205, you could ask your Mac to export the hard disk as a file share. Or consider using a Dante network connection to send optical over Ethernet if you think the Sonos Connect digital transfer and output isn't working well for you.
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