KeithL
Administrator
Posts: 9,938
|
Post by KeithL on Oct 12, 2014 13:19:28 GMT -5
Here's a suggestion - which everybody seems to have skimmed past here.....
The Sabre DAC - used by both the Oppo 95 and Oppo 105 - has a rather distinct sound. (People who like it usually say that it is "very detailed"; people who DON'T like it tend to use words like "etched". It's sort of how the ultraviolet-heavy light from certain LED flashlights tends to make the dirt in your carpet show up better. Sabres tend to emphasize high-frequency details - which is probably due to their digital filter choices, since their frequency response is really quite flat.) Personally, I actually rather like the way the Sabre DACs sound, but they definitely sound colored rather than accurate.
My suggestion is that, before you waste lots of time agonizing over whether to buy an Oppo 95 or an Oppo 105, you actually LISTEN to one of them, and make sure you like the way they sound in general - before you buy either. (The Oppo 95 and Oppo 105 sound quite similar; and the differences between the two of them are trivial compared to the difference between either of them and a more neutral player - like our ERC-3.) You're paying a lot of extra money to get those DACs, and not everybody likes them, so it's really a good idea to find out if YOU do.... If it turns out you like the DACs in your pre/pro better, and so end up using the digital output, then you could have saved a lot of money and got the exact same sound from the cheaper model. Of course, there are lots of other nice features that separate the 105 from the 103, so it really depends on whether you're buying it for the sound of the two-channel analog outputs, or for the other features.
|
|
|
Post by Perpendicular on Oct 12, 2014 13:38:33 GMT -5
Personally, I actually rather like the way the Sabre DACs sound, but they definitely sound colored rather than accurate. I don't know.....through my Stealth 6 Monitors...the BDP-105 sure sounds accurate to me with absolutely no coloration what-so-ever..
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Oct 12, 2014 13:47:31 GMT -5
Coloration is sometimes hard to identify unless you are listening to two devices side by side. I.e., I had no idea that my W4S DAC 2 USB input was so "colored" until I heard the FAT DAC.
=================================================================================================================================================
Good advice Keith. I never thought about using my cheaper Phillips CD player through my DAC. Worth a shot to try. Would have to continue with HDMI for SACD, and BD for now if that sounds ok.
|
|
|
Post by garbulky on Oct 12, 2014 17:15:05 GMT -5
|
|
|
Post by htinparadise on Oct 12, 2014 20:56:05 GMT -5
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Oct 12, 2014 21:48:27 GMT -5
You got it! It's such an awesome DAC with the dumbest name (Firestone Audio Tobby...what the heck is a Tobby?) I have ever heard of! I couldn't stand it any longer. I had to rename it something! So I started calling it the FAT. I think a couple of reviewers have made it their reference DAC. Another review was from a studio that now uses it as their reference. This is the review that got me interested in it btw: www.head-fi.org/t/664270/review-firestone-audio-tobby-dac Anyway, I am going to try my CDP through it, and then compare that to a FLAC file played through it to see if there is any difference!
|
|
|
Post by guzz46 on Oct 12, 2014 22:06:28 GMT -5
Ok, help me explore one other angle here. Has anyone compared a FLAC recording of a song vs the exact same song played on a CD played by the 105 vs 95? Is there be any difference there? I did on the 752, I spent about 45 minutes listening to the same few songs over and over, sometimes I thought there was an ever so slight advantage to the CD, and other times I thought there wasn't any difference at all, I gave up in the end, thinking if I'm struggling this much to tell a difference then there probably isn't a difference, so I would recommend ripping all you CD's to a hard drive for the convenience, the only CD's that definitely do sound better are HDCD's. I did the same test between flac and wav a couple of years ago on my BDP-93 NXE, at that time I thought there was a very slight advantage to wav, so I ripped all my collection to wav, but after finishing the recent CD to ripped CD comparison on the 752 I thought I would revisit the wav to flac comparison again, and this time I couldn't tell any difference at all.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Oct 12, 2014 23:32:25 GMT -5
Ok, help me explore one other angle here. Has anyone compared a FLAC recording of a song vs the exact same song played on a CD played by the 105 vs 95? Is there be any difference there? guzz46: I did on the 752, I have never heard this expressed before, but it makes sense with the advancements in computer audio and DACs. It lends a little more understanding in retrospect now when Mark (klinemj) expressed that after getting his DC-1 that he sorta wished he had not purchased the BDP-105. I think now he might have been referring indirectly to the difference (or, the little difference, if any) playing music from his computer>DC-1 vs disks from his Oppo. Geeze, I guess what is left to consider then is how much a person gives weight to the use of Oppo's DAC, the preference of physical media, a analog out capability for SACD, BD, etc.? Maybe I was about to go down a rabbit trail that I didn't need to travel? Maybe I should just be happy with what I have? In trying to find out just out just now if my S790 used the Qdeo chip, I found the following reviews. Maybe I should follow Keith's opinion on keeping it digital lol! (Expect for 2 channel. Still pursuing analog as much as possible there!). I guess when I take a second look at what I already own I should sit back for now anyway, and be content: forums.highdefdigest.com/blu-ray-hardware-general-discussion/126482-sony-s-top-line-bdp-s790-blu-ray-3d-player-home-theater-magazine-review.html “The best Blu-ray players I’ve used are the Oppo BDP-93 and BDP-95, and while the Sony BDP-S790 build quality is inferior to the Oppo’s its performance equals theirs in nearly every way. At only $250, it receives my highest recommendations.” www.sony.co.uk/electronics/blu-ray-disc-players/bdp-s790#reviews_awards_v2_defaultHi-Fi Sound and Vision Awards 2012 - "Sony S790 Blu ray Product of the Year (Oct. 19, 2012)"Anyway, thanks for your post guzz46 (and Keith)! What you've written has really influenced me to slow down and rethink my direction here.
|
|
|
Post by guzz46 on Oct 13, 2014 1:07:25 GMT -5
If my system was just a 2 channel system then I would of went in a different direction, I would of brought a good dac with volume control, one that can handle dsd, and play my music off a PC, or maybe something small like a Raspberry PI. But because I like movies and occasional multichannel music and concert blu-rays, and I only have one room, then it made sense to combine 2 channel and home theatre in the one room and use an all in one solution like the Oppo's or the Cambridge and go directly into my power amps.
|
|