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EVS modified Oppo 105D

I sent my Oppo 105D to Ric Schultz of EVS for his all out mod including his basic mod package, new low jitter clocks, an Audio Magic Pulse Gen ZX installed on AC input, J-fet buffer output stages installed on balanced and single ended stereo outputs and center channel out and new linear power supply.

The unit was well broken in before sending it to Ric. The modified player I received back is much improved in all areas including sound stage, detail, separation of instruments, etc. Blu ray video is sharper with better color saturation and depth.

I play 2 channel and multichannel SACD and DVD audio disks, red book disks, blu ray audio only and blu ray video. All are improved. I am hearing details in some disks for the first time - fingers sliding on guitar strings, very faint bells and cymbals, etc.

I feed my Epson 8700ub projector directly from the Oppo. Analog audio is fed from the Oppo to the single ended multi channel analog inputs of my modified Onkyo 5508 prepro. All processing is done in the Oppo as the prepro is used only as a multichannel analog preamp. Other digital sources are fed directly to the Oppo through its two HDMI inputs.

I use Dunlavy IVs for left and right front channels with a Dunlavy IVA for the center. All three Dunlavys are driven by Odyssey stratos glass ceiling monoblocks. I consider the Dunlavys to be the weakest link in my audio chain.

Check out Ric's web site at tweakaudio.com or just search for EVS Audio. He is very easy and interesting to talk with. He does custom modifications of Oppo players and other equipment and is developing a line of open baffle planar magnetic speaker kits.
hhop
boffellid
4 posts
 
see the pdf at
http://www.esstech.com/PDF/digital-vs-analog-volume-control.pdf
for a technical description of volume control in the Sabre DAC.
papaned
17 posts
 
If I understand this pdf correctly,it doesn't compare what happens when a 24- bit number from SACD is fed into the 32-bit Sabre DAC.
boffellid
4 posts
 
SACC is 1-bit encoded, I am not sure what happens to the signal in the DAC. As for 24-bit PCM (and 16-bit PCM CDs), the word length is simply padded with 0 to fill the extra bits. Nothing happens to the data: the trailing 0 simply mean that there is no data available for that portion of the signal amplitude (that would be the portion encoding the sounds with lowest volume). This padding process is performed by all DACs that operate with internal resolution higher than 16 bit, but it doesn't mean that the system is capable of operating at that level of signal-to-noise.
mribob
229 posts
 
Let me also add my praises for Ric's mods on the Oppo 105d. Based upon these glowing comments, I ordered an Oppo 105d, had it sent directly to Ric, and asked him to perform his basic mods, the balanced out upgrade, and new linear power supply. I've been running it now for 4 days. I am just enjoying listening to rebook playback now more than ever. Without the new unit fully broken in, I am hearing no digital glare or grunge, just pure, sweet sounding music, full of details, warmth, PRAT, great sound stage, full base, and great inner details. Ric made this whole thing easy; he was a delight to chat with, was happy to be honest about how I could get the most bang for my buck, kept me updated, and shipped it out promptly. If you have an Oppo, I urge you to try to these mods. The video picture on VUDU and BD playback are also phenomenal...even though I use this player for equal part music and vide. I agree with the glowing comments of the previous posters...and I usually don't write these glowing reviews....but I'm happy to in this case.
Thanks, Ric,
best, Bob
papaned
17 posts
 
Mribob;
Don't want to beat a dead horse, but if you still have the OPPO cover on, take it off and hear the improvement. Ric does all his testing and listening with the covers off. You can have a Lucite cover made to just sit on top.
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