Oppo 105 or PS Audio PWD Mk2

Hegeifman,

I do not want to appear to be a total dunce; and certainly know the difference between a DAC and a CD player.

The problem is the listening experience for me requires that I get to hold an album or jewel case so that I can read about the artist to which I am listening.

Depending on who you talk to, the CD is dead. I personally do not believe that for a minute. However, I am interested in understanding if a good DAC could be a better choice for me than a new cd player.

Trouble is the DACs seem to be associated with some sort of computerized hi rez source and the review is more about all that s**t rather than describing how the DAC really sounds.

I mentioned the Oppo and the PS Auduio units because they both seem to have good reviews and are two different approaches.

What I really want to know is if there is a good DAC out there that is sonically equal to or better than $5K CD players from Ayre, Ayon, ARC, etc.

Another question is whether the PS Audio DAC really needs a great trasport if the fancy lens and native X is so great.

Dspr: i can relate to enjoying reading about the artist/album while listening. depending on the controller used to run the psa bridge, i've found just as much if not more to read with J River mc18 on my ipad3. countless photo's and histories are a click away (in or outside j river via the web). and all on a nice hi res screen.

i think the pwd (1&2) sounds slightly better with the pwt then the bridge. it's not evident 100% of the time comparing redbook cd's but is (to my ears) with hi res wav burned to dvd. it's such a small difference, i still use the bridge 85-90% of the time. pwt is only used for critical listening...something i rarely do anymore.

i think the pwdmk2 can "sound as good" as many of the much higher priced dacs and/or cd players out today...if it's matched to your liking via supporting cast. it lets the music out beautifully with little/no signature of its own imho. it's very sensitive to tweaks too. more so then any piece of gear i've ever owned. cables (pc and ic), power supple, vibration all leave their "signatures" on the pwd very easily....not to mention the stereo components themselves (and even fuses for gods sake lol)

i have no doubt you can achieve the sound you like with the pwd. you might need to play around with your set-up a bit to get there.

have heard alot of good things about the oppo. from what i understand...it's a steal of a deal that sounds great. yet to hear one so i really can't comment.

good luck

Dsper - Reading your concerns, I think that the Oppo 105 w/ Modwright mods, as suggested by Charles, is a very strong choice.

If sound quality and convenience is important to you, then go computer and
DAC. They simply sound better when implemented correctly and carefully.
CD players and transports cannot match the sound of a well set up
computer based front end.

I have heard a slew of great, well respected, well reviewed DAC's and CD
players/transports in my system, in the end here is where computer based
audio wins every time...

- not as flat sounding as a transport/CD player
- more depth and dimension with well executed computer based audio
- helps your speakers disappear with music just playing in air before you

I use my IPad as a remote and can play any song, any album, with a
simple touch of my finger. My goodness this is so nice. All my CD's are put
away and I never have to look for one again. Plus, it sounds better!

Oh yes, the audio world is changing and buckle up as great stuff is here
and coming. I was a big doubter just three months ago of this whole
computer based audio thing. I broke out of my fear and ignorance and
learned first hand how a DAC and computer based audio is in fact the
future. It really does sound better, but like setting up a great turntable and
LP based front end - everything really matters for best sound in computer
audio.

In terms of a dac sounding better then those players you mention. It's not the DAC that is most important. It is import however. Yes, many DAC's sound as good as those players. The real sonic breakthrough is losing the transport in the CD player. This is limiting the sound quality. Oh my, what is possible with a well implemented computer as your transport.

I use this...

- 2009 Mac Mini with all music played from an SSD hard drive
- after market power supply for the Mini as the switching one is awful
- Mountain Lion and processor optimization steps for music play back
- Amarra and the version Steve at Empirical suggests (read his site)

Many other ways to do it better then a CD player or CD transport. My DAC is the April Music Eximus DP1 and I use the USB. Killer sound!