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In Reply to: RE: This posted by mtrot on October 05, 2016 at 15:28:39
A ripped CD shouldn't sound any better; it should sound the same. EAC ripping software compares the ripped version with the original in an attempt to get bit-for-bit accuracy. It does a very good job. The advantage of playing CDs from your hard drive is convenience. They should sound exactly the same.
I used to use a computer streamer with FOOBAR2000 streaming software, which is free to download. I used a PC streamer for about a year before buying my Oppo BDP-105D, at which point I connected my external USB hard drives to my Oppo and played my digital music through the Oppo using my HDTV to display the music files. I liked that better than using my Toshiba PC notebook computer. Now, I still use my Oppo in addition to my TASCAM DA-3000 for DSD. I have around 1000 DSD albums. Most of them are not necessarily better sounding than much of my other digital music, but the good ones are significantly better sounding. Furthermore, I am now making all future recordings of vinyl to DSD-5.6MHz, which I think really sounds good.
I don't know about your old Oppo, but with my Oppo BDP-105D, it will send out DSD from SACDs only from its HDMI output. Otherwise, it converts SACD to 24/88.2 PCM and sends it out its coaxial and optical digital outputs. If your Oppo does the same, you need to find a DSD capable DAC with an HDMI input.
Good luck,
John Elison
Follow Ups:
John, the 83 won't even output a digital signal through the coax while playing SACDs. The only way to get the 24/88 is with an HDMI de-embedder.
The Mytek can't receive DSD data from the Oppo. You need the handshake and that means buying the licensing from Sony. I don't think Mytek hax done that.
PS Audio is going into beta testing on their new transport, based on the Oppo, it will output pure DSD to their two Directstream dacs, using an HDMI cable, but outputting I2S.
I don't think there are any dacs that will receive the DSD that don't require their transport. For example DCS, can do it with their components.
I have heard that Mietner had a transport that would output DSD and Sony sued him.
There are very few options when playing SACDs. A one box player, some HT receivers, and very, very expensive separate components, of the same company. PS Audio uses a HDMI cable but not the usual HDMI signal.
The newest Mytek might be a good choice, as it does MQA, but for DSD the OP would better off buying DSD downloads, unless he has a lot of SACDs. Oh, you can hack your Oppo to rip ISO files from SACDs, but we can't with the 83 series, different chip.
I think tbe OP should work on getting the two channel sound he wants, then if he wants we can help get him into PC audio, using decent software. Roon or JRiver or???
Thanks for this info!
"I think the OP should work on getting the two channel sound he wants, then if he wants we can help get him into PC audio, using decent software. Roon or JRiver or???"
OK, along that line, here's what I've been doing the last couple of days. The dealer I'm working with, in addition to the speakers, also sent me home with a Raven Audio Blackhawk Limited Edition integrated tube amp. He suggested that I might find that the internal DAC and analog output from my Oppo 83 might not be as bad as I think, once I connect it to one of his amps. So I connected the Oppo stereo outputs to input 1 on the Blackhawk. I also set the SACD output priority on the Oppo to STEREO. This resulted, for SACD, in the Oppo sending 88khz analog to the amp.
Well, after listening to a bunch of CDs and SACDs, I'd have to say that he was largely correct. Although I don't doubt that a quality external DAC would improve the situation, the audio quality using the Blackhawk is on a clearly higher level than the audio I get when listening to the Oppo through my Denon receiver, connected via HDMI, for both CDs and SACDs. The music produced was just beautiful, but at only 20 watts per channel, I'm not sure this amp would be the best choice for really cranking these speakers and trying to get prodigious bass out of them that they can offer.
I assume the superiority is largely due to the quality of the amp, since one would think the DACs in the Denon, being much newer than the Oppo, would be at least as good, if not better than those in the Oppo. The depth of the soundstage was impressive, and individual vocalists could easily be placed. The vocals were just incredibly clear and distinct.
One caveat is that I did pilfer a different set of speaker cables from my bedroom system, because the bi-wire ones I've been using in the front system would not connect that well to the Raven amp.
Thus, this experiment has convinced me that the level of audio quality I'm trying to achieve is not likely to occur when using an AVR based system. But one problem is that I don't think I really want to get into a tube amp situation, as it has been stated in this thread that maintaining tube amps can be expensive.
It doesn't look like there is going to be a good solution for multi-channel SACD and DVD-Audio, but perhaps a pre-amp with home theater bypass will be a next step, if I can figure out how that works.
"Thus, this experiment has convinced me that the level of audio quality I'm trying to achieve is not likely to occur when using an AVR based system." I thought so.
"But one problem is that I don't think I really want to get into a tube amp situation, as it has been stated in this thread that maintaining tube amps can be expensive." There are no free lunches.
> I connected the Oppo stereo outputs to input 1 on the Blackhawk. This resulted, for SACD, in the Oppo sending 88khz analog to the amp.
There is no such thing as 88-kHz analog. You're thinking of 24/88 digital. However, you are now using an analog connection, which is exactly what I suggested you should try first before buying anything new.
If you don't want to buy this tube amplifier, why don't you try connecting the Oppo's stereo outputs to an auxiliary input on your Denon amplifier? Have you tried that yet? You might find that you don't need to buy anything new. A friend of mine had the exact same problem you are having and when he discarded his HDMI connection in favor of an analog connection, he became completely happy with the sound of his Oppo BDP-103D.
Try it! You might like it!
Good luck,
John Elison
Yes, I think I'll try that. If the results are encouraging, I may also pick up an Oppo 105, which is supposed to have better analog output sound quality than the 83. Certainly a couple of cheaper experiments to try than buying high quality tube amps.
But, as Frihed89 points out, there is no "free lunch". The sound with the tube amp was just so good that I'll also keep looking into that as well.
this is a potential mismatch. Generally the output impedance of AV Receivers as preamps is on the high side (not good), and the single ended connection is not what the Krell is designed for anyway. To hear what the Krell can do, you have to use a better preamp setup, Krell and many other preamps for example can do AV passthrough so that the best input sources aren't watered down, and the power amps are properly driven.
> I think tbe OP should work on getting the two channel sound he wants, then if he wants we can help get him into PC audio,
> using decent software. Roon or JRiver or???I don't see the attraction for PC audio. I used one for a year and I thought it was a pain. I like my Oppo much better, which uses my HDTV to display files. I think I would also like an Auralic Altair using an iPad for display and control. I guess it's a preference thing. To each his own!
Best regards,
John Elison
Edits: 10/05/16
1. Ability to access single digital library from multiple systems using a range of different players
2. Additional playback capabilities not found with basic Oppo functionality
3. Internet radio access
BTW, A BDP-103 happens to be the player in one of five systems that accesses the central server. :)
What do you think the Aurilac is? A music specific PC.
Doesn't the Oppo have a very rudimentary file system? I have never liked having to use the HDTV to play DVD-As.
It will be nice if you get the Aurilac you won't need to.
I have an acoustic foam cover that is over the screen when playing music, so for me it is a pain.
The Auralic is an audio component that is permanently connected to a stereo system just like my Oppo BDP-105D. Personally, I didn't like a computer connected to my stereo. I don't mind the rudimentary file system of the Oppo. It works fine for my purposes because I organize my music on the flash drives I plug into my Oppo.
I think I clearly stated that it was my preference. To each his own!
Best regards,
John Elison
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