What's the bottom line on Oppo 980 for CD playback

No, it will not satisfy as a cdp if that is its only purpose for the same price as a cdp.

Oppo may be better than an aging tubed cdp, but it never was as good as any other decent cdp I compared it with. The most recent cdp I used was the Consonance 120 Linear cdp, that can be bought used for $550, and the comparison was not close as far as musicality, detail, and naturalness. The Oppo has uninvolving for redbook cd playback for me.

Magfan,

Yes the Oppos are great for video and so-so for audio. Using a basic RG-6 video/digital cable from your 981s coax output to your 840s coax input will improve your 2 channel movie audio. You already know the 840 has a great DAC so you may as well use it for 2 channel movies.

Ckung,
If you click on "system" you can see what equipment I use now and have in the past.

I use the Oppo as a transport and use a Benchmark DAC feeding a tube amp. The Benchmark is very revealing but not harsh. The tube amp is not soft and romantic and more SS sounding. I chose the Benchmark because of the volume control.

PS Audio DACs are smoother sounding and may compliment your Bryston amp better. This is only a guess as I never have used these products.

I went the DAC route as I want to get a BluRay player in the future and use it for movies and music. The DAC allows me to do this w/o compromising the sound.

Ckung,

I do use the 970 as a transport, but started out using it as a stand alone unit for 1 year. When I bought it, the 970 and 980 were both available similtaneously. I bought the 970 because the Absolute sound said the 970 was better sounding and the 980 was a bit harsher. Since the 970 is not available the A-sound now recommends the 980 as they only recommend current products.

At the time I owned the 970 I also owned the Consonance CD120 Linear cdp at $995 USD. The Consonance was vastly better. My previous cdp, the Cary 308 was also better by a large margine. You will notice the difference in finese, soundstage, and elegance of presentation. But the Oppo does get most thing correct, just after using it for a while I noticed a roughness that bothered me.

I since sold the Consonance a bought the Benchmark DAC to use with the Oppo. I went the DAC route because I can use its analogue volume output direct into a tube amp and upgrade the source later. I will upgrade the Oppo sometime to a better DVD or BluRay player.

If using the Oppo with an outboard DAC use the Raw digital output setting, as the PCM setting does use some of the internal digital soundfield processing. With the PCM output > DAC it sounds like a $900 cdp, but with Raw output > DAC it sound much much better, maybe a $1.5k-2k cdp.

I hope this helps clarify my uses of the Oppo 970.

Dart6,
I'm glad you love your modded Oppo. I considered a modded Oppo for some time, but in the final analysis I chose an outboard DAC because I'm not locked into one player. I have the option to change transports and still have world class sound. I ultimately will be getting a BluRay player for movies and with my Benchmark DAC still have great sound.