Usability of Oppo BDP-93 without a monitor?

@bondmanp Exactly what I wanted to know, thanks. 

rebbi - With HDCD, the decoder is in the DAC.  So, if you use the Oppo analog outputs, you will get the full benefit of HDCD encoding.  If you use digital out, with an external DAC, you will lose some of the benefits of HDCD encoding, unless your external DAC can decode HDCDs.  But most people who know about these things say that even with non-HDCD decoding, HDCDs can sound better than standard Red Book CDs, all else being equal, of course.  Something to do with the 20 bit depth of HDCD vs. the 16 bit depth spec of Red Book, IIRC. 

One thing to note is that many HDCDs are not labelled as such, but playing them in a player with HDCD decoding and an HDCD indicator lamp, like the Oppo 93, will reveal that.

@stfoth - 
Makes sense, thanks!

I do have one other question about this unit. If you choose to use an external DAC, do you lose the ability to play SACD’s or HDCD’s? In other words, I’m not clear where the circuitry to decode those formats "lives." Right now I have a Musical Fidelity M1 DAC, so I’m trying to figure out if I use that external DAC whether it will mess up the functionality of these other disk formats. Hope that question makes sense. Thank you!

I never had the 93, but I had one of the older, cheaper models, and it was quite respectable on SACD and HDCD, as well as audio DAD, which is one of my favorite formats.  I just used it as a DVD player, but connected it to my audio system just to play SACDs.  Never used it with a DAC, but I've always owned good CD players for serious listening.  But I think you'll be surprised at how good the Oppos are, especially if you aren't listening side-by-side with something better.  As a matter of fact, my DVD player just broke and I was thinking of buying the new Oppo 205.  

@stfoth and @chayro 

Thanks a lot for the feedback. I am wondering how you found the sound quality on this unit. I don't have any SACD's at this point but I do have a few HDCD's and having a "universal" player would open up some more possibilities. Were you guys using this unit with an outboard DAC or with the internal electronics? Thanks again!

I've owned other Oppos, and there are so many potential settings, you will at least need a monitor to set it up.  After that, I see know reason you can't unplug the monitor and use it for audio.