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OPPO 105 as a streaming source/transport only

Ok, so here's the deal. I have an OPPO 105 that is approximately 5-6 years old, I bought it new. I now use it for movie night(rarely) and as a transport and streamer to my Wyred4sound DAC 2V2 SE. I mostly stream Tidal for music. My question for all you digital gurus is this, with my wireless router to the OPPO am I losing sound quality? I would have an approximate 45' run of hard wire from the router if I was to go direct. If I wanted to experience notable sound quality gains. What would you do/buy for said gains? Yes I know get a turntable, that's not really for me at this time. Thanks!
mizike
tomcy6's avatar
tomcy6
2,598 posts
 
Generally, a wired connection is preferred to wifi. But if you’re not having problems with dropouts, etc. I’m not sure wiring would give you a major boost.

Play a CD through your DAC and then the same album from Tidal through your DAC.  The streamed version should sound as good as the CD.  If it doesn't, a wired connection should help.  If it does, start saving up for a DAC upgrade, or whatever else you might want to upgrade.  


michaela
314 posts
 
I am curious if running your Oppo to a separate DAC resulted in significant improvement in sound compared to the onboard DAC in the Oppo. I’m in a similar situation. Thanks,

Mike
mizike OP
107 posts
 
I believe it is better but only slightly, but as they say everything matters in the end. Enough little things add up to great sound. I was just looking for another little thing.I'm thinking I just need a much better source, like maybe a PS audio Direct Stream DAC & memory player or something on that level or higher. Just a lot of money to step up.
michaela
314 posts
 
Thanks Mizike that’s about what I expected. We always have to ask ourselves how much we are willing to pay to achieve gains. I have a Modwright Oppo 105 so the sound quality is very good for now lol
melm
1,082 posts
 
I also have an Oppo 105. I stream my rips from a NAS to a very simple laptop running JRiver and then directly to my separate LKS DAC. The Oppo is not involved. For a while I used wifi between my router and the laptop. To hardwire I would have to do some drilling. So I bought a very long inexpensive cat5 cable to see how the hardwire compared. It was a subtle but clear winner. I drilled and used a much shorter cat6 and never looked back. Though easy to make a splitter I let the wifi run the Oppo and out to the LKS where the audio I get from youtube, Netflix or digitalconcerthall is not so special in the first place.

Whether you would achieve the same result with your set-up is another question. But 50 feet of cheap cable can cost only about $5 delivered. Why not try it and see?

@michaela
No comparison between the Oppo and my separate DAC.  I suspect the same for the OP and his W4S.
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