Oppo BDP-95 as a pure two channel audio source?

I have considerable experience with the BDP-95 as a 2 channel source. It has been in my system against a host of DAC's including Eastern Electric Minimax, NAD M51,BDP83se modded, Metrum Octave, Tranquility and others.

The way I used the BDP-95 ultimately was run an HDMI cable to the NAD. This gave me a I2S interface and was quite good.

I've moved on to higher ground (still have the 95 for SACD duty) and now I'm comparing a Mac mini fed by a Kora power supply to a CAPs server fed by the same Kora power supply but with a USB card that re-clocks and performs some other magic. This plays in a different league and it should given the $2K NAD and the $$ power supply server combo.

The Oppo is a wonderful machine in my opinion. The DAC is good, on par with the Minimax and a few others I played it against but to be honest it was apples to oranges. Depending upon setup the Oppo had a narrow soundstage but a solid central image whereas the EE had a wider soundstage with greater separation but singers also got diffuse. With the EE tube employed it softened too much in my system. Yet in other systems (last night I heard that same EE in a different system) and it showed a very solid image and was better with the tube employed.

So DAC's seem to play different in different systems. Shouldn't be surprised but I was.

So what do you do. I've been fortunate to be able to audition many DAC's and setups in my system with the baseline being the Oppo. The Oppo was the cheaper of the routes I had but it was certainly great until I discovered the outboard DAC's and the magic they can possess. In the end, your pocket book will decide.

One thing I hated about the Oppo was its interface. I use an outboard hard drive to stream my library. If Oppo came up with a good interface, it wouldn't even be fair considering how good for the money this player is.

Probably more information you wanted to know. As usual, my 2 cents worth.

Fair enough. The Oppo 95, in my home, does double duty as a 3D blu-ray player as well as an SACD player, then, formally, as an I2S transport to my NAD M51. Remember, I stream files from a USB hard drive.

So, as a dedicated 2 channel CD player, compared to a Bryston, I don't have an answer for that as I never compared the two. What I wouldn't do is buy the Oppo in exchange for the Bryston. My gut feeling is that you'd be trading an apple for orange as a CD player and, the Bryston, compared to the Oppo and its Sabre32 dacs may not be to your liking. It's that system synergy thing. DAC's will drive you crazy with their individually nuanced signatures, but put some clean power and reclocking devices in front of them, you're in different territory. At least in my experience.

This weekend we're looking to compare 3 pretty cool solutions to playing music. I've listened to 2 of them and I've found them very special. Mac mini/Kora PS vs CAPs server/SoTM USB card is crazy good. Another interesting but poorly designed server that supposed to be very good too will be put up against these two excellent sources.

If in the SF Bay Area, you'd be welcome to have a listen.

The Oppo will lag far behind these solutions in terms of interface, sound quality and expandability. But the Oppo is simple to use, plays SACD's, you don't need a computer science degree to set it up and is about ~30% cheaper.

Good thread good knowledge. Rower30 I agree with the fact that SCAD is a superior format but my experience now is that 44.1 can sound damn close. SACD off the Oppo is excellent. And its limitation may be the Oppo. I haven't listened to an reference quality SACD player in a reference system so I can't comment beyond the fact that Sony, in its blind wisdom, has chosen to shut off a goodly portion of the audiophile world. More and more folks I see are going the music server route. That leaves out Sony and its SACD format.

Playing with DACs and servers of many types I come to realize that digital audio even at the 44.1 redbook format can sound equal or better than my pretty good vinyl rig. This at a reasonable cost! The downside is that it isn't easy. I've been using the BDP-95 as a benchmark as both a native CD, SACD player and as a transport to outboard DACs of many flavors. I think I mentioned this that generally speaking, the outboard DACs were better and better still when they could take advantage of the I2S bus such as the Oppo-NAD M51 combo. That was really good. But the Mac mini Cora PS was amazing. Warm and detailed, solid soundstage, I really was surprised as it was not subtle. But that's the cost of an outboard power supply and a Mac mini and some software. The PC version we built was equally amazing, more detail, less warmth and it utilized the Cora power supply. But the .02 cent wall wart cord fed the computer. It was ugly. So I soldered a VH-Audio power cable directly to the mother board fed from the PS. I know it's not topical but I felt compelled to add this little bit of information as the difference is sound quality was substantial, far exceeding anything from any source I've heard to date. I can't get out of my room.

I've been fortunate to have passionate audio friends with better ears than I and the means to rotate equipment like nobody's business. So I benefit with being able to listen, with them, a good number of sources. I'm hopeful today, we'll have a shootout between the mini, the PC and a purpose built Cora server.

My 2 cents is that I would stick with the Bryston, an excellent player, unless you decide to go an entirely different route such as computer audio, which is a bit painful.

I'll add to rower30's wisdom, I've turned to computer audio many times, Squeezebox, Transporter, PS Audio Perfectwave, and often I looked at my turntable as an easy means to play music. No fuss just drop the needle and listen. And it sounds great to boot. Even my what I thought worn out albums from the 60's and 70's were revived once I actually cleaned them.

On the flip side, now that I've dialed in the computer and software headache, having my library, my entire library ready to play through my IPAD, my iPhone, and even my iTouch, not to mention the keyboard in my room is very cool. Not just that but while I'm scrolling through my library, creating playlists or rating songs I can dig into whatever artist bio I'm listening too. Hell even my 2.5 YO knows JRemote and plays his music. Crazy.

Now, in my "dialed in" setup, it sounds a little better than my turntable. Not an easy feet given it's a VPI Scoutmaster mated to a very good cart.

Jayh31 nails it too. Good discussion.