I have an intent to buy an Oppo-205 - anybody have any thoughts?

[Ralf11]

For:

- apparently has high SQ

- cleans up box clutter on my stereo cabinet; seems versatile

- not super spendy

 

Against:

- cannot directly receive AirPlay

- can't trick it into ripping my SACDs

- cannot play HDCDs (AFAIK)

 

I am interested in other considerations, thoughts, etc. - pro or con.

 

Thanks!

[beerandmusic]

2 minutes ago, Ralf11 said:

For:

- apparently has high SQ

- cleans up box clutter on my stereo cabinet; seems versatile

- not super spendy

 

Against:

- cannot directly receive AirPlay

- can't trick it into ripping my SACDs

- cannot play HDCDs (AFAIK)

 

I am interested in other considerations, thoughts, etc. - pro or con.

 

Thanks!

 

the biggest issue for me is no gapless dsd over ethernet....but i am still considering the sonica regardless of that.

 

I don't need the transport (have marantz ud7007)

 

I don't think you can really go wrong though...hard to find better bang for the buck...nothing I am aware of offers more for less.

 

I could care less about airplay or anything apple.

 

Curiosity, what do you mean by no HDCD?  I know it does SACD?

[semente]

What he says. 

[Ralf11]

HDCD has a thread on here - it added something to regular CD ( lower noise?  better highs?) and is commonly used on Grateful Dead and neil young releases, as well as many others; now defunct

[GUTB]

It’s inferior as an audiophile DAC, but it’s pretty good as a consumer A/V product.

 

As a SACD and general disc player it doesn’t remotely compare to high-end disc players — but good luck finding a native DSD capable SACD player at anywhere near the price. SACD transports don’t exist outside of proprietary interfaces so if you want a real high quality SACD player your stuck with the likes of Esoteric, Luxman, etc — which are also better DACs, but that quality costs.

 

 

 

 

[beerandmusic]

15 minutes ago, GUTB said:

It’s inferior as an audiophile DAC

 

What is your analysis based on? 

 

Objectively it is superior not inferior (measures extremely well) to others in it's price point...subjectively inferior is only a subjective opinion and not deserving of any merit....

 

It doesn't have external interconnects or noise polluted usb interface to it's internal dac.

 

 

 

[beancounter]

In the same price neighborhood, I by far prefer the Marantz and Teac SACD spinners. The Oppo is really far down my list for SQ, I'm really surprised at the attention it gets.

 

I have a Marantz SA8004, but I bought a Pioneer to rip my SACD's and will go with a Teac dual mono UD-301 DSD DAC for a while. 

 

Heard a couple of ModWright Oppos at AXPONA over the years, really liked them, but they're really not Oppo anymore.

[beerandmusic]

10 minutes ago, beancounter said:

In the same price neighborhood, I by far prefer the Marantz and Teac SACD spinners. The Oppo is really far down my list for SQ, I'm really surprised at the attention it gets.

 

I have a Marantz SA8004, but I bought a Pioneer to rip my SACD's and will go with a Teac dual mono UD-301 DSD DAC for a while. 

 

Heard a couple of ModWright Oppos at AXPONA over the years, really liked them, but they're really not Oppo anymore.

 

I have read the marantz tansport is better than the oppo and which is why I bought one (ud7007).  I have never heard the oppos for comparative purposes.  If I have any interest in the oppo, it is because of the ES9038 and it's DSD capabilities....(the ud7007 doesn't do native dsd over DLNA).

 

I also recently bought a marantz (SR5012) for it's DSD capabilities, and have an issue, which i am still researching (another subject)....I continue to keep my options open, but definitely looking at the OPPO.

 

I had (but sold) the TEAC NT503, which i was generally content with.

 

At some point, i will likely sell tons of my current gear and buy something else...continuing to dabble until then.....crap, 2 more packages showed up today....i wish i could just make up my mind, and be done with all of this madness.....

[GUTB]

43 minutes ago, beerandmusic said:

 

I have read the marantz tansport is better than the oppo and which is why I bought one (ud7007).  I have never heard the oppos for comparative purposes.  If I have any interest in the oppo, it is because of the ES9038 and it's DSD capabilities....(the ud7007 doesn't do native dsd over DLNA).

 

I also recently bought a marantz (SR5012) for it's DSD capabilities, and have an issue, which i am still researching (another subject)....I continue to keep my options open, but definitely looking at the OPPO.

 

I had (but sold) the TEAC NT503, which i was generally content with.

 

At some point, i will likely sell tons of my current gear and buy something else...continuing to dabble until then.....crap, 2 more packages showed up today....i wish i could just make up my mind, and be done with all of this madness.....

 

You have to break out of the consumer gear bracket.

 

You just have to do it.

 

Technics, Sony, TEAC, Yamaha etc are getting back into high end audio. You don’t have to bother with small boutique brands if you don’t want to. You won’t find their reference products at Best Buy, but they help bring scale and sales networks into the game. I listened to the TAD (Pioneer subsidiary) Evolution One at CAF — seriously, no need for Magicos, YGs, Wilsons, etc...sound was basically flawless. Would live happily forever with them.

[Norton]

I guess the answer to your question partly lies in what you want the Oppo for and what your budget is.

 

if you want a competent SACD player that's also a multi channel DSD DAC, network player, 4K home theatre component, DLNA renderer etc, then it's pretty much the only game in town AFAIK. If you just want a stereo DAC then maybe it can be bettered at the price, but then again I was struck recently by how good my  Oppo 105 sounds simply as a USB DAC fed by HQP (up and downsampling everything to 24/192)  or by my Bryston BDP, compared to its own file player capabilities.

 

I also have an Esoteric K07x.  Used as a stereo SACD player or DAC, the Esoteric is certainly better than the Oppo, it's a noticeably  quieter and more refined presentation, but whether it's vastly better is a matter of opinion.  I'd describe it more as a significant incremental improvement.

[beerandmusic]

45 minutes ago, GUTB said:

 

You have to break out of the consumer gear bracket.

 

You just have to do it.

 

Technics, Sony, TEAC, Yamaha etc are getting back into high end audio. You don’t have to bother with small boutique brands if you don’t want to. You won’t find their reference products at Best Buy, but they help bring scale and sales networks into the game. I listened to the TAD (Pioneer subsidiary) Evolution One at CAF — seriously, no need for Magicos, YGs, Wilsons, etc...sound was basically flawless. Would live happily forever with them.

 

I try ALL stuff...

I think big names "bad rap" is not always justified....  I have a tendency to believe that a large team of engineers with large financial backing are perfectly capable of creating fine products.

 

9 minutes ago, Norton said:

I was struck recently by how good my  Oppo 105 sounds simply as a USB DAC fed by HQP (up and downsampling everything to 24/192) 

 

 

I am satisfied with my SACD capabilities with my UD7007...but, I too, have found HQP (or even audiogate or jriver doing dsd over ethernet) sounds very good. 

 

I am mainly looking for a ethernet/dac in one box...e.g. sonica as one of many options....I don't think there is a less expensive option?....the lumina D1 at twice the price is also in consideration.

 

Ralf's desires may be totally different than mine...my main interest is native dsd over ethernet.

 

[Ralf11]

39 minutes ago, Norton said:

... I was struck recently by how good my  Oppo 105 sounds simply as a USB DAC ...

 

I also have an Esoteric K07x.  Used as a stereo SACD player or DAC, the Esoteric is certainly better than the Oppo, it's a noticeably  quieter and more refined presentation, but whether it's vastly better is a matter of opinion.  I'd describe it more as a significant incremental improvement.

 

 

That's a comparison to your 105, right?

 

Have you heard the 205?

[beerandmusic]

13 hours ago, Ralf11 said:

 

 

That's a comparison to your 105, right?

 

Have you heard the 205?

If he was surprised how good the 105 is, I am sure he would be equally surprised how good the 205 is...don't think he has tried 205 or he would have stated...but I will let him answer

 

I think a lot of the major brands get a bad rap simply because major brands don't use the same marketing concepts that boutique shops use....rag magz reviewers are not unbiased...one recently retired professional reviewer admitted he is able to be "more free with his opinions" since his retirement.

 

Major brands can almost always give you more bang for your buck than boutique shops, and i would suggest you get what you pay for more often with major brands than boutique shops...e.g. they don't need as large profit margins to stay in business because of volume.

 

[Norton]

13 hours ago, Ralf11 said:

 

 

That's a comparison to your 105, right?

 

Have you heard the 205?

Yes, my  comparisons are with the 105.  I haven't heard the 205 but I doubt it's inferior SQ- wise.  Of course if you want to rip SACDs and play HDCD then maybe an old stock or s/h 105D might be better?

[GUTB]

Ultimately its a consumer product. It won't nor can it compete with audiophile gear on SQ grounds -- components, topology, voicing, skill level, etc, an OPPO isn't going to compete.

 

Now you may not care that much about SQ -- you care enough to get something better, but not enough to sacrifice price and/or features for it.

[mav52]

Firmware updates in Sept added: Added the Gapless Playback , Added support for Roon. The UDP-203 and UDP-205 are now Roon Ready network players.  And in a Beta release now is support for MQA.

[beancounter]

2 hours ago, beerandmusic said:

If he was surprised how good the 105 is, I am sure he would be equally surprised how good the 205 is...don't think he has tried 205 or he would have stated...but I will let him answer

 

I think a lot of the major brands get a bad rap simply because major brands don't use the same marketing concepts that boutique shops use....rag magz reviewers are not unbiased...one recently retired professional reviewer admitted he is able to be "more free with his opinions" since his retirement.

 

Major brands can almost always give you more bang for your buck than boutique shops, and i would suggest you get what you pay for more often with major brands than boutique shops...e.g. they don't need as large profit margins to stay in business because of volume.

 

 

The major brands get a bad rap because they made dreck for so long - and for the most part still do.  It didn't earn the generic "black plastic crap" moniker just because it's black and plastic.

 

There are major brands that are making good gear, sometimes great gear.  I have recently purchased Marantz and Teac.  But you really have to listen, and do your homework.  The majors too often make a fundamentally good product and then ruin it with lazy or cheap compromises and shortcuts (from which sprouts the 'mods' cottage industry). 

 

I would be impressed if the Oppo was simply a USB DAC with good multichannel analog signal output at its price point - without any other features.  Add a spinner, decent video playback? Compromises and cheap-outs. 

 

Sound Quality, Features, Price.  At this level, pick any two, you typically can't have all three.  

 

In short, LISTEN to the majors' better gear, but watch out for where the corporate bean counters have tread

 

[beerandmusic]

1 hour ago, mav52 said:

Firmware updates in Sept added: Added the Gapless Playback , Added support for Roon. The UDP-203 and UDP-205 are now Roon Ready network players.  And in a Beta release now is support for MQA.

thanks for this information, what about for the sonica?

[mav52]

11 minutes ago, beerandmusic said:

thanks for this information, what about for the sonica?

Nothing for the Sonica  https://www.oppodigital.com/sonica-dac/sonica-dac-Firmware.aspx

 

Maybe updates will come later on for the Sonica.

[GUTB]

The Ayre QX-5 Twenty is on a different planet.

 

The Cary DMC-600 has a disc player and is also enormously more capable.

 

Then there of course the Simaudio streamers.

 

We’re not even talking about Luxmans, Esoterics, Mark Levinsons, etc.

 

An Oppo isn’t even fit to be mentioned in the same sentence as those listed above.

 

 

[davide256]

Its not worth it to buy a stock 105 or a 205 if you are an audiophile. There are much better ways to spend that same money for greater musical enjoyment... unless your secret plan is to pay for the Modwright upgrade. 

[Ralf11]

davide, what other items did you compare the 205 with?

[beancounter]

28 minutes ago, GUTB said:

The Ayre QX-5 Twenty is on a different planet.

 

The Cary DMC-600 has a disc player and is also enormously more capable.

 

Then there of course the Simaudio streamers.

 

We’re not even talking about Luxmans, Esoterics, Mark Levinsons, etc.

 

An Oppo isn’t even fit to be mentioned in the same sentence as those listed above.

 

 

Uh, no kidding... but I doubt the OP would be contemplating an Oppo if these were within reach.

 

Any suggestions around that price point?

[Ralf11]

IF I can find a good test or even a listening comparison, I'd be more tempted...

 

Has Stereophile or Abs. Sound done one?

[beancounter]

TAS did a review of the 105D back in March.