Budget DAC for Oppo VS. Orig. Rega Planet

I would have to also recommend going with a Channel Islands Audio VDA-2. That is what I ended up using with my Oppo DV-970 after trying several different DACs from MSB, DIYEDEN, California Audio Labs and Benchmark. The Oppo seems to need a high quality external DAC in order to hear an appreciable positive difference. Another thought is looking at one of the tube DACs by Pacific Valve & Electric Company at www.pacificvalve.us. Then you can tube roll to your liking. Or check out one of their less expensive solid state DACs that they rate well.

I went through the same process as you. I had a 970 and added a Bencmark DAC1 to it vs. modding the 970 or buying the Planet. The sound is beyond belief in presentation, musicality and involvement. My next step was to purchase a used original Planet to use as a transport, until hard times came and I was forced to sell the DAC. Incidentally, the 970 has a very good transport, one of its strengths.

To get the best sound from the 970 set the digital out to RAW (use PCM for movies), the speaker output to L&R (not stereo) and the upsampling to 96 khz (44 is to flat and forward and 192 has too much space with a light bass)and your good to go.

It’s over a decade later and need a DAC for my Bluesound Node 2i & Audiolab 6000 cdt in the $4-500 range or less.  Recommendations? Thanks!