Add an external DAC. Make my Oppo UDP-205 a true top player


I am not sold on my Oppo UDP-205 audio reproduction.  .  It plays all formats, but audio needs improvement.   Looking for audiophiles that have felt the same a bought a DAC..  Which one did you buy.  What works really well?
dcaudio
I have a small room for video so I made that system compact and 2 channel. In addition to a 65 inch OLED panel hanging on the wall, I use a UDP 205 going straight into JBL 705P monitors on stands via XLR. Results are very impressive. I also have an NAD M-10 in the big system in my living room and a Bluesound Vault 2i in the TV room. Everything is tied together by CAT 8 ethernet cabling. 
Naturally I wonder, at times, about what might be achieved by upgrading the DAC in the TV room beyond what OPPO has provided but, since I'm very impressed by sound I'm getting and I feel no need this late in life to chase SOTA, I never get past musing.
Try those little JBLs if you have a 205. I think you'll be shocked to find out what you are sitting on from OPPO.
Take a look at the Lampizator Amber 3 DAC or read some posts on Audiogon and reviews in general.  I am using this DAC with my Oppo 205 for redbook CDs and for Tidal/Roon streaming via the Nucleus+.  To my ears it is the best DAC within a reasonable price point.
Hello,
I am not sure if this is helpful but here is what I am doing. I have an Oppo 203 (not a 205) and use it for movies only.

For two channel audio, I use a Rega Apollo with an external DAC. I have tried a bunch of DACs and my NAD M51 DAC is superb. I will not replace it.

Slightly different story with the Rega Apollo, which I use as transport. It is highly sensitive to sound wave sand it skips if the volume is loud. The Rega service mgr says it is because it has less error correction and tries to be bit-perfect. I am not sure that makes sense as error correction and buffering should, in theory, get the bits back.
I certainly recommend an external DAC and mine happens to be the NAD M51.
PS - I use it in fixed mode. I am considering using it as a preamp and bypassing my Musical Fidelity A308cr preamp.
Stay safe friends - all I have is music now - which is not bad.


@dcaudio- I am also in a similar situation like you and I am looking for a good DAC to connect to Oppo 205. I am trying to find out how good Oppo 205 is as a transport. Does anyone have any feedback/opinion on this? One of my shortlisted DACs is Bricasti and they support ethernet connectivity for playing music from hard drives/network. Does anyone have a preference of playing music over network/ethernet against using a transport? I would appreciate your feedback.