Upgrade to Oppo?

Thanks soix, it does help.  I can always upgrade to a better transport in the future.  I am considering streaming also.  Perhaps buying a budget DAC/streamer combo just to get started.  Honestly, the DAC purchase has been difficult.  I'm going to have to just pull the trigger on something soon.  The Mac air is just not cutting it for SQ.

Going with an external DAC is the smart move IMO. That’s where most of the innovation and improvements are taking place, and if you ever decide to get into streaming — which I finally did recently, and with unlimited access to the huge Qobuz library I have discovered worlds of awesome new music I’d likely never have heard otherwise — you’ll just need a streamer or computer to be on your way. CDs seem kinda silly to me after starting to stream music (unless of course the music isn’t available on your streaming service) — kinda like having EZPass makes digging for change to throw in a basket seem absolutely absurd.

To answer your question, connecting the digital output from your Rega to an external DAC with a digital cable is all you need to do for the setup to work, and the DAC in the Rega will automatically be out of the loop. Hope this helps.

Thanks all.  Yes, I do like to buy local used whenever possible.  Budget about $4 - $500 but a new CD player not a necessity.  If the Oppo 95 is not really an upgrade from the Planet then I may just buy it for the living room as mentioned.  I am also in the market for a dac.  I could pick one up and see how it plays out with the Planet.  

Question:  How does one know if the external dac will override the dac in the Planet?  

I'm not sure it would be much of an upgrade, although I'm not familiar with the Planet.  I had an Apollo R and have owned the BDP-95.  While the Oppo x5 players have good DACS, I'm not crazy about their sound, they sound more "digital" than many.  I've owned Oppo BDP-95, 103, 105D, HA-1, and UPD-203, so I obviously like them, but not my first choice for music.  I found much better headphone amps than the HA-1 and have sold the HA-1, the 95, and the 103.  The 105D and 203 are mainly for movies.  I never compared the Apollo to the 95 in the same system, but my sense about the Apollo was that it had a more organic sound.  The fan in the BDP-95 was never an issue for me and I had it in my bedroom, maybe 4-6 feet from my bed.

He did say that the Oppo was available near him....was part of the motivation....

What’s your budget? A lot of CDP’s out there that are better than any stock Oppo, including the 205 which I own. I prefer my Cambridge 851C over my UDP 205. For what used Oppo’s are going for these days, for the money you can do better.

If your Rega is still playing I’d maybe start with a stand-alone DAC then pick up a Cambridge CXC transport as an example. I haven’t heard a Denafrips Ares DAC yet but it’s getting a lot of great press and it’s a reasonable place to start. 

I have a BDP-95 and was lucky enough to get a UDP-205 when they were produced.

As much as I like my 205 in my main system, I enjoy the difference the 95 made in my living room system 10x more.

I replaced a few hundred dollar Sony blu ray player. The sound with the 95 just gained much more authority. More solid, well defined bass....better timing all around, detail and believability.

Do note....the 95 has a rear fan for cooling. If you can hear the disc spinning on your Planet, you may hear the fan on the 95 too (upside....the fan allows for minimal space required on top).

Going to a 105 eliminates fan and adds a headphone jack.

If 2-channel music is all you need, then invest in a good CD/SACD player than an Oppo. You will need either a 105/205 as a real upgrade.

the 95 is a really excellent player--it presents a lot more detail than my pretty good rotel and arcam cdps; you can also use it to play flac files through a usb drive. it's an older piece, so i wouldn't pay a super-premium for it, but it's pretty impressive.