Thoughts on using the DAC in my oppo 205 with a CD Transport.


Hello,

I have been somewhat disappointed with the Redbook CD playback using my oppo 205. It's not that it always sounds bad, sometimes it actually sounds quite nice. I would say my biggest complaint is the lack of micro details, the light cymbal taps and other fine background sounds that make music so enjoyable. 

Since I can input a digital source to the oppo (Optical, Coaxial, or USB) and use the SABRE 32 DAC inside, I've been thinking of trying a CD Transport. Possibly the Audiolab 7000CDT. My system consists of the Simaudio Moon 600i integrated amp driving Focal L&R Utopia Be loudspeakers. 

My question is, would this arrangement provide me improved (and or) more detailed sound than I'm currently getting?

Thank you for your thoughts and knowledge!

Gary

gakman

Showing 3 responses by larsman

MSB, which is no slouch of a company, used to base their universal disc transports around the Oppo 103; they kept the loading tray and transport mechanism but took out the Oppo DAC and changed everything else, including a separate matched power supply. So yes, you'd likely want to keep the Oppo as a transport and upgrade yer DAC. 

@mihorn - I've got an MSB Analog DAC that I got used about 10 or so years ago. It was discontinued long ago, but when it was new, it was way more than $5000 with the matching MSB power supply, which you would definitely want to get with this. 

@mihorn - Hi, I was responding to this....

DAC Comparison. Vermeer2 ($20k). Denafrips Ares ($2k), COS D1V2 ($3k), MSB Analog DAC ($5k), APL HiFi DSD MR ($13k)