New Oppo 103 & 105 Q&A Interview

Why waste a good USB async with a crappy DAC?

Because some people do not have infinite money. The DAC is the 103 might be better than many people might have separately. I guess I would ask why have the 105 when you could get a dcs setup?

Why 105? Because the dCS doesn't play multi channel SACDs, nor DVDA nor Blurays.

The 103 is primarily designed as a digital transport so the DACs used in the design (and the analog subsystem) aren't great to start with.

It does have the HDMI inputs so it can upscale lower quality video sources to 4k using it's good 4k video subsystem. That IMHO makes sense if you have a good 4K chipset and a 4K display (which I expect is the only reason you'd upgrade from a 93 to 103.

Adding async USB to the 103 is a superfluous component that adds to the cost of materials but isn't particularly useful for what it is used for.

So if someone has $500 to invest in a BluRay, CD, SACD player and a usb DAC, what would you suggest that would be the equivalent of a 103 with a aysnc usb?

There isn't one.

But is there really a large target market for a mediocre DAC with async USB connection?

But the better DACs in the 105? That would benefit from the async USB connection. It's why Oppo has 2 models in their line up. They used to have 3: 80, 83, 83SE and FWIW, I thought the 80 made the 83 redundant.