oppo 205 vs sepearate DAC or CD player.. should I bother?
I am currently using an Oppo 205 as my digital source, and I primarily listen from classic Rock to heavier music. Sound Garden, NIN etc.
Are differences in these recordings even worth going for a stand alone CD player or DAC?
I recently picked up a ML 326S pre, and I am tempted to look for a used 390S to match. The 512 is way out of the budget. I am thinking 2-3k.
System is listed under my systems.
thanks.
Brian
Lowering jitter is always a good thing for digital. This is the main thing that impacts SQ. The only way to improve this is to mod the transport or add a Synchro-Mesh reclocker to the Oppo and a good DAC. The separate transport/DAC will allow you to get the lowest jitter. Here is the jitter from a typical Oppo: https://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=154408.0 8psec is very difficult to achieve, even with the clock inside the transport and using the analog outs. Steve N. Empirical Audio |
@audioengr Generally speaking; Do most high end one box transports/dacs (such as Esoteric; EMM Labs) running just analog outs have far less jitter than a a stock Oppo to an external dac? Won't the stock Oppo just transfer that jitter via SPDIF to the DAC? One would need a high end to strip the jitter when it reaches the Dac? |
Which Oppo 205 digital output you plan to use? SPDIF or HDMI? Please note that Oppo 205 SPDIF output is 'scaled' to 48k when playing Blu-Ray or SACD high-res audio, and that's only for 2 channel. Also, there's no DSD output through SPDIF. PCM is limited to 192k when playing from USB media. IMHO, you need more than your budget to have an external DAC better than Oppo 205 built-in DAC, and the external DAC must have HDMI input, something like Bryston BDA-3 (just an example, not recommendation). |
@audioengr Generally speaking; Do most high end one box transports/dacs (such as Esoteric; EMM Labs) running just analog outs have far less jitter than a stock Oppo to an external dac?Yes, unless you insert a reclocker like a Synchro-Mesh. One would need a high end to strip the jitter when it reaches the Dac? Some DACs will reclock internally and reduce the jitter, but the effectiveness of these is mixed. You are basically listening to a Master Clock inside the DAC that you have no control over. You don't know how much jitter you are getting. At least with an external reclocker, you know how much jitter you are feeding the DAC and you can reduce it as much as you like by upgrading coax cables and power supplies. You also have the huge advantage of galvanic isolation of the reclocker. If the DAC is galvanically isolated, this can add jitter. Not so in the external reclocker. Steve N. Empirical Audio |
The ML mods were similar to my standard Transport mods: 1) replace the Master Clock with a better oscillator and supporting circuits 2) improve power to the Master Clock circuits 3) redesign the S/PDIF output stage so that it is fast and precisely matched to 75 ohms output impedance If you want a really good S/PDIF cable: https://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=155017.0
High-performance S/DIF cables are BNC-BNC cables with RCA adapters as needed. RCA connectors can never properly terminate 75 ohm coax cables. Steve N. Empirical Audio |
