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oppo's volume control

Any Oppo owners out there who have tried routing them directly to a power amp using their volume controls instead of a separate preamp or integrated? Would like to know how that has worked for those who have tried it.
anjowin
georgehifi's avatar
georgehifi
10,312 posts
 
I don't know which Oppo you have, but direct to the poweramp/s will be the most transparent/dynamic sound you will get, if the Oppo you have has it's analogue volume control before it's output buffer. Or if it has a digital domain volume control then you should use it within the top third of it's full output as not to chance "bit stripping"
If you don't like this uncoloured sound then an active preamp may give the colouration that suits you, but that's going to be a bit of a hit and miss merry go round to find a preamp that suits what your colouration preference is.

Cheers George
runnin
397 posts
 
Oppos do not have an analog volume control. My experience with the 103 straight to amp was mixed. Oppo has said that the unit is designed to have an avr or preamp between it and the amp.

My experience with the Oppo 95, which IS designed to run straight to an amp, was much better. I do prefer a preamp in the mix, however. Others may prefer it straight to amp, it depends on your preferences and speaker characteristics I'd say.
elevick
2,638 posts
 
I tried this with my 103. This is a digital volume. I ran it into my Mac 7106. Transparent-Yes. The sound was better through a preamp. An analogue volume sounded better and most preamps have some gain which can make a tremendous difference.
rlwainwright
1,904 posts
 
The newer Oppo units (BDP-93/95/103/105) all process the volume at 32 bits internally in the DAC chip(s). This means that you can safely attenuate the volume quite a bit without losing any bits.

I have a BDP-93 which I connected directly to my amp when I had to send my processor in for repairs. This setup worked great and sounded terrific. Go for it, you have nothing to lose...

-RW-
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