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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
old_ears's avatar
old_ears
49 posts
 

BTW, the Denifrips USB port from a new MacBook Pro can also provide just as good sounding Hi-res binaural downloaded files as the I2s CD/Blueray connection.  The Pontus handles all the buffering/oversampling and re-clocking functions you need regardless of source...sounds notably better than e.g great CD quality streams from RadioParadise.

jimmy2615
436 posts
 

Just out of curiosity, have you tried your Sonore to the Oppo using the USB cable?  That would be a good way to see if there is a difference between the transport in the Oppo vs just its own DAC.  I just tried this myself.  I also have Sonore stuff.  I compared a CD playing in my Denon DCD A-110 to the same file ripped onto my hard drive into the Oppo via USB.  The Oppo still has a bit drier sound, could be harsh on some systems.  But I think it sounds better than playing the same CD through the Oppo.  

old_ears's avatar
old_ears
49 posts
 

OP, I was just reading up on Ayre products...pretty nice/expensive.  I guess the essence of my posts is that an I2s input port on a DAC will usually provide a step up in sound quality over USB/SPIDF/AES connections...YMMV.

aldnorab
171 posts
 

@dtorc like usual it depends. For one it depends on the quality of the tos transmitter and receiver. Oppo and Ayre both have great ones. Many won't pass 24/192 reliably. They don't have enough bandwidth. Oppo/Ayre does it well.

A top toslink cable is required. The best use real glass fibers - not plastic. Top rated optical cables tend to be DH Labs, Wire World, and Lifatec. Optical cables have a big advantage over spdif. They break the ground connection between components and can't transmit electrical noise. 

I asked Charley Hansen (R.I.P.) why Ayre didn't make a DAC with RCA spdif. He wasn't a fan. At all. Felt if USB source was noisy that well done optical gave the isolation advantage. Like everything Ayre does there are reasons they offered optical instead of spdif.

I also like the Ayre sound. No one else has the tweaked Ayre filter. 

Good luck,

aldnorab 

vdotman's avatar
vdotman
140 posts
 

I’ve had the Oppo 105 for years and although it is not at the level of my current digital rig, I never found it to sound thin or fatiguing. Perhaps not as transparent as something better, but still a good sounding multi format machine. I had a Marantz K1 Ruby for SACD play, and it did sound great, but sold it and kept the Oppo for both its sound quality and versatility. If you can find one with relatively low miles at a fair price you can’t go wrong, even given its age. Some things simply stand the test of time. Sure wish I had bought a 205 when they were still in production. Who knew how that would play out.

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