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A DAC for the Oppo 105

I haven't played discs a lot lately. I am and have always been a vinyl-dominate listener, and really got a CD player for the vinyl desert that began in the late 80's and really only abated in the 2010's. I found plenty of vinyl in those years, but these days, it pretty much automatic that there will be a vinyl release of almost all of the albums in which I am interested. 

So, because I am a music lover, and format is less important than the music, I did manage to get a pretty big CD collection - counting box sets, I am probably around 1500. I have burned maybe 400-500 of them onto a server, and that works great (I stream Qobuz, too and that is a great place to try out new things. Wonderful!) The idea that i would ever rip all of my CD collection into this server is a fantasy - I really doubt I will do this. So...

When I play a disc directly from the Oppo, I find myself distracted by elements of the sound that I don't care for - it can be a bit thin, unsaturated, a little fatiguing. When I play that same recording through the ripped file that goes from my Small Green Computer server, to the Sonore Optical Rendu, to my Ayre QB-9 Twenty DAC, it is much more as I like it. I assume most of this is because I prefer the Ayre DAC to the DAC built into the Oppo. Sadly, the Ayre DAC is USB only, and I can't take the Oppo digits and send them to the Ayre.

But since I am a realist, and will not rip my full CD collection, I am wondering if there is a relatively inexpensive DAC that I could use to improve the Oppo. That machine is getting old and DAC technology seems to be the end of the digital chain that improves the most, the most often. 

Any suggestions for an affordable upgrade to the DAC built into the Oppo?

Thanks,

David

dtorc
yyzsantabarbara
4,829 posts
 

Look at my posts on the D.BOB. I use this with a low end OPPO and either a great Schitt Yggi+ DAC or a good Benchmark DAC3B. Many other DACs will work. Now the beauty of this solution is that DSD and PCM are output from the HDMI cable coming out of the OPPO. The D.BOB takes that in and converts to USB, which then goes into the DAC. 

There is a review on Stereophile for this device. I paid under $700 for mine. 

aldnorab
172 posts
 

I have the Oppo BDP 105 hooked to an Ayre Codex DAC. This should have a similar sound to your Ayre DAC. The toslink input plays 24/192 from the Oppo with ease. I use a very good toslink glass cable. The DH Labs Glass Master. This is a very detailed cable - not the normal toslink dreck. 

Codex has both toslink and USB inputs and single ended and balanced outputs. I use balanced out. The Codex reproduces greater detail, larger soundstage, and has more body. It eliminates the synthetic sound of the Oppo DAC. Codex runs little over $2k new and about $1,200 used. 

I have the Oppo 105 and Aurender N200 hooked to the Ayre. It is easy to switch between the two inputs. I also plan to use the headphone amp with my grell OAE1 headphones. Even though they are 32 ohms the efficiency is low and, in single ended mode, the Ayre designed Pono player struggles a little.

Thanks,

aldnorab 

 

jafant's avatar
jafant
19,679 posts
 

jl35

Nice upgrade. I would like to add a Primare CD32 to my system.

 

Happy Listening!

yyzsantabarbara
4,829 posts
 

I made a mistake on my D.BOB post. It is SPDIF that goes into the DAC from the D.BOB, not USB.

dtorc OP
41 posts
 

Thank you to the second wave of contributors. I wish the D.BOB did output USB! Oh well...

I think that a used Codec could be an interesting approach. I seem to like the Ayre house sound. I've always understood (like it was a given) that Toslink was a lesser thing compared to a 75ohm connector. Was that a myth, too?

The possibility that the Oppo fails as a transport never occurred to me. I suppose that can be at the pickup, or in the SPDIF output. I've never used it as a transport only. Though others here have had some success using it as a transport.

Again, thank you for all the sharing...

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