Equipment Recommendations - The Home For New System and Upgrade Advice

MikeH said:
Hmm I’ve definitely seen ways to do it…oppo mod seems to be one…

OPPOMOD

Linear Power Module upgrade for OPPO and Cambridge Audio blu-ray players.
www.oppomod.com

And there are some external hdmi to I2S boxes too that seem to work with mixed results depending on your DAC. A converter box works with the Denafrips Terminator and might with the new ares since that has I2S.

Also when I said over HDMI, I meant using an HDMI cable and from the SACD player’s HDMI out. I know a conversion needs to happen somewhere to get I2S to work.
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yes but that’s adding a whole different conversion to the equation. The oppo mod one is supposedly very good but it’s not DIY unless you’re handy with a metal cutting tool and a soldering iron. The guy who makes it also does fitting service for it, plus a whole set of other audiophile upgrades, is in Singapore so shipping the oppo to and from adds. I’m really not sure how much I trust those cheap converter boxes, they strike me as a bit like the mass produced €10 DACs that work but aren’t really great. It also seems like a whole host of hassle to get a blu ray player, which isn’t engineered to make music sound great, be part of a hifi system. Also requires the receiving DAC to have I2S in, which not many do, and be outputting the correct protocol. PS Audio’s is the most common and most of the companies out of China/Singapore have adopted it but it seems that most of the other high end companies have used completely different pin output and input configurations.
 
Joe Mac said:
yes but that’s adding a whole different conversion to the equation. The oppo mod one is supposedly very good but it’s not DIY unless you’re handy with a metal cutting tool and a soldering iron. The guy who makes it also does fitting derive for it, plus a whole set of other audiophile upgrades, is in Singapore so shipping the oppo to and from adds. I’m really not sure how much I trust those cheap converter boxes, they strike me as a bit like the mass produced €10 DACs that work but aren’t really great. It also seems like a whole host of hassle to get a blu ray player, which isn’t engineered to make music sound great, be part of a hifi system. Also requires the receiving DAC to have I2S in, which not many do, and be the correct protocol.
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I go back and forth about getting an SACD player and saw one on eBay that has the Oppomod already done so that’s mostly why I was looking into it…it’s so stupid that DSD out isn’t available. I get it—they didn’t want people to pirate the DSD audio but people did anyway. And I read a lot about it so maybe I’m mixing stuff up, but seems like it’s a very expensive up front cost to license the ability to go DSD over I2S or HDMI with a DAC which is why most don’t include it.
 
MikeH said:
I go back and forth about getting an SACD player and saw one on eBay that has the Oppomod already done so that’s mostly why I was looking into it…it’s so stupid that DSD out isn’t available. I get it—they didn’t want people to pirate the DSD audio but people did anyway. And I read a lot about it so maybe I’m mixing stuff up, but seems like it’s a very expensive up front cost to license the ability to go DSD over I2S or HDMI with a DAC which is why most don’t include it.
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Exactly that. Plus lots of technological hoops to be sure to be sure. Honestly, unless you’re really money bags loaded SACD is only really an option as a player. Some of the marantz supposedly have very good DACs too. It’s still not cheap, the good ones are €3000, but it’s also not the €12000 a PS Audio separates would cost you or the “price only on enquiry” of the DCS and Emotivas of the world.

Equally for €1000-2000 you can get a really top quality CD transport that with a nice DAC will rip shreds off SACDs played through an entry level priced player from the 00s.

That’s before we get into how many SACDs are a hi res or even just CD PCM file in a DSD container or were just badly mastered because of when it came out. Barring a few exceptions only really the audiophile or special Japanese only ones are worth the effort and they are expensive.
 
Joe Mac said:
Exactly that. Plus lots of technological hoops to be sure to be sure. Honestly, unless you’re really money bags loaded SACD is only really an option as a player. Some of the marantz supposedly have very good DACs too. It’s still not cheap, the good ones are €3000, but it’s also not the €12000 a PS Audio separates would cost you or the “price only on enquiry” of the DCS and Emotivas of the world.

Equally for €1000-2000 you can get a really top quality CD transport that with a nice DAC will rip shreds off SACDs played through an entry level priced player from the 00s.

That’s before we get into how many SACDs are a hi res or even just CD PCM file in a DSD container or were just badly mastered because of when it came out. Barring a few exceptions only really the audiophile or special Japanese only ones are worth the effort and they are expensive.
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That’s the other part of the equation…the price of SACDs. They aren’t much cheaper than vinyl on many cases it seems. If I see an open box CD player that’s not too pricey I may give it a shot.

I waffle on whether I should just stick to streaming and CD rips or actually getting a transport. Vinyl is quickly approaching prices that even I don’t wanna spend haha.
 
MikeH said:
That’s the other part of the equation…the price of SACDs. They aren’t much cheaper than vinyl on many cases it seems. If I see an open box CD player that’s not too pricey I may give it a shot.

I waffle on whether I should just stick to streaming and CD rips or actually getting a transport. Vinyl is quickly approaching prices that even I don’t wanna spend haha.
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Yeah that’s why I got the CD transport and while I know I splurged on a very expensive one I’m so happy with it. From what I read that pro-ject RS2 one is really impressive for its price. They supposedly did a really good job in sourcing the right type of lens and drive mechanism and it’s a really nice small form factor. With your audiolab the matching cd transport would be tempting but I really do hate slot drive cd players.
 
Joe Mac said:
Yeah that’s why I got the CD transport and while I know I splurged on a very expensive one I’m so happy with it. From what I read that pro-ject RS2 one is really impressive for its price. They supposedly did a really good job in sourcing the right type of lens and drive mechanism and it’s a really nice small form factor. With your audiolab the matching cd transport would be tempting but I really do hate slot drive cd players.
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Was eyeing the leak and the Audiolab. For now, it would probably go in my office and not main system. The Audiolab has gone as low as $400USD which has been very tempting. But the slot drive made me second guess too
 
MikeH said:
I waffle on whether I should just stick to streaming and CD rips or actually getting a transport. Vinyl is quickly approaching prices that even I don’t wanna spend haha.
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While not an immediate need, this is fast becoming a reality for a lot of people, the cost of vinyl. The UD5007 works great, plays CDs and SACD's, I can stream with my DAC1 so I'm covered, but I will say, to me, my vinyl playback sounds miles better than discs or streams. Of course it could be the 5007, this is why I've also debated picking up a Lokius for CDs and streaming.

Streams I don't care too much about, it's for discovery and travel at most, my Spotify and Plex Amp/Server do a great job, discs, well, they're kind of becoming the replacement for overpriced pressings, plus, I can rip the discs to my server. Which brings us to the CD/SACD discussion, having the SACD capability at the moment, I can honestly say, it's nice to have the option, but not a necessity. So, I'm pretty sure I can improve my CD quality with a better player, so I'm leaning that way and forgoing the SACD option. I mean, you can find open box Marantz 30n SACD player for $2k, but that's still a lot of cheddar for a format you may or may not pursue due to costs as well, as you mentioned, SACDs aren't exactly cheap.

I'm biding my time at the moment, it really depends on what the vinyl trend brings my way based on the pressings and albums I'm looking for, I just know as of late I've opted to pick up the CD of certain albums because the vinyl pricing is way more than it should be. Of course it does reinforce the "Quality over quantity" mantra for vinyl, but now cost is making that prohibitive as well.

We'll see :)
 
AnthonyI said:
While not an immediate need, this is fast becoming a reality for a lot of people, the cost of vinyl. The UD5007 works great, plays CDs and SACD's, I can stream with my DAC1 so I'm covered, but I will say, to me, my vinyl playback sounds miles better than discs or streams. Of course it could be the 5007, this is why I've also debated picking up a Lokius for CDs and streaming.

Streams I don't care too much about, it's for discovery and travel at most, my Spotify and Plex Amp/Server do a great job, discs, well, they're kind of becoming the replacement for overpriced pressings, plus, I can rip the discs to my server. Which brings us to the CD/SACD discussion, having the SACD capability at the moment, I can honestly say, it's nice to have the option, but not a necessity. So, I'm pretty sure I can improve my CD quality with a better player, so I'm leaning that way and forgoing the SACD option. I mean, you can find open box Marantz 30n SACD player for $2k, but that's still a lot of cheddar for a format you may or may not pursue due to costs as well, as you mentioned, SACDs aren't exactly cheap.

I'm biding my time at the moment, it really depends on what the vinyl trend brings my way based on the pressings and albums I'm looking for, I just know as of late I've opted to pick up the CD of certain albums because the vinyl pricing is way more than it should be. Of course it does reinforce the "Quality over quantity" mantra for vinyl, but now cost is making that prohibitive as well.

We'll see :)
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Same and I’ve also kinda rediscovered a load of CDs I already owned and hadn’t got around to getting on vinyl. With vinyl prices being able to just use those and not buy them again. Plus all the audiophile ones are dual layer hybrid so even if you get a MoFi/AP one you can play it on a CD player and get the benefit of the better mastering.

I’ve seen PS Audio, who have gone all in on DSD say that it’s the recording/tape transfer where you get the biggest benefit from DSD. Most of that will follow through even once it’s mastered and converted for CD. There’s supposedly a gain, but much lesser, between the actual mediums themselves on the same equipment. On the flip side up sampling a PCM recording to DSD is almost pointless, might as well just make the CD as best you can.

I know i didn’t do it cheap but on well mastered CDs my CD rig is now frighteningly close to the vinyl one for everything bar the best OGs and audiophile pressings and I never thought that would be the case. The quality of the hybrid discs CD layer through it is also exponentially better than SACD layer through the old more entry level Sony SACD player I had.
 
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AnthonyI said:
While not an immediate need, this is fast becoming a reality for a lot of people, the cost of vinyl. The UD5007 works great, plays CDs and SACD's, I can stream with my DAC1 so I'm covered, but I will say, to me, my vinyl playback sounds miles better than discs or streams. Of course it could be the 5007, this is why I've also debated picking up a Lokius for CDs and streaming.

Streams I don't care too much about, it's for discovery and travel at most, my Spotify and Plex Amp/Server do a great job, discs, well, they're kind of becoming the replacement for overpriced pressings, plus, I can rip the discs to my server. Which brings us to the CD/SACD discussion, having the SACD capability at the moment, I can honestly say, it's nice to have the option, but not a necessity. So, I'm pretty sure I can improve my CD quality with a better player, so I'm leaning that way and forgoing the SACD option. I mean, you can find open box Marantz 30n SACD player for $2k, but that's still a lot of cheddar for a format you may or may not pursue due to costs as well, as you mentioned, SACDs aren't exactly cheap.

I'm biding my time at the moment, it really depends on what the vinyl trend brings my way based on the pressings and albums I'm looking for, I just know as of late I've opted to pick up the CD of certain albums because the vinyl pricing is way more than it should be. Of course it does reinforce the "Quality over quantity" mantra for vinyl, but now cost is making that prohibitive as well.

We'll see :)
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For me, I have vinyl for physical media. So I struggle to see when I’d go CD over streaming. I have access to the equivalent of what.cd which has loads of CD rips and Qobuz. I also have a charity record shop near me with tons of CDs all for $2 so I’ve gotten some there and ripped them to add to Roon. I’ve been hesitant to add a CD player for most of those reasons but SACD was intriguing if I could get DSD out. Don’t know that I want to invest a lot in it when I’m happy with my DAC/streaming combo
 
MikeH said:
For me, I have vinyl for physical media. So I struggle to see when I’d go CD over streaming. I have access to the equivalent of what.cd which has loads of CD rips and Qobuz. I also have a charity record shop near me with tons of CDs all for $2 so I’ve gotten some there and ripped them to add to Roon. I’ve been hesitant to add a CD player for most of those reasons but SACD was intriguing if I could get DSD out. Don’t know that I want to invest a lot in it when I’m happy with my DAC/streaming combo
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Just find a site and download the DSD SACD rips. Unless you’re going to go all in on SACDs and are rich it’s just too much effort.
 
MikeH said:
For me, I have vinyl for physical media. So I struggle to see when I’d go CD over streaming. I have access to the equivalent of what.cd which has loads of CD rips and Qobuz. I also have a charity record shop near me with tons of CDs all for $2 so I’ve gotten some there and ripped them to add to Roon. I’ve been hesitant to add a CD player for most of those reasons but SACD was intriguing if I could get DSD out. Don’t know that I want to invest a lot in it when I’m happy with my DAC/streaming combo
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My problem is I still like owning physical media, vinyl or CD.............might be due to my age, lol
 
Joe Mac said:
Same and I’ve also kinda rediscovered a load of CDs I already owned and hadn’t got around to getting on vinyl. With vinyl prices being able to just use those and not buy them again. Plus all the audiophile ones are dual layer hybrid so even if you get a MoFi/AP one you can play it on a CD player and get the benefit of the better mastering.

I’ve seen PS Audio, who have gone all in on DSD say that it’s the recording/tape transfer where you get the biggest benefit from DSD. Most of that will follow through even once it’s mastered and converted for CD. There’s supposedly a gain, but much lesser, between the actual mediums themselves on the same equipment. On the flip side up sampling a PCM recording to DSD is almost pointless, might as well just make the CD as best you can.

I know i didn’t do it cheap but on well mastered CDs my CD rig is now frighteningly close to the vinyl one for everything bar the best OGs and audiophile pressings and I never thought that would be the case. The quality of the hybrid discs CD layer through it is also exponentially better than SACD layer through the old more entry level Sony SACD player I had.
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That's the thing, I know I didn't opt for the "best" option when it comes to discs, but it's very good. I'm still ok with sticking to this set up for discs and adding the Lokius to fine tune the sound, again, I'm still vinyl first, but that brings us back to the current cost trends and part of me boils over when you read statistics that 50% of vinyl owners don't actually own a turntable, THIS is what's causing a lot of the price hikes in my opinion, that's a lot of people not caring about sound quality, so why should the manufacturer.
 
AnthonyI said:
My problem is I still like owning physical media, vinyl or CD.............might be due to my age, lol
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I actually think I’m the same I think it’s a mentality, but perhaps age and familiarity comes into it in older generations, who knows. I certainly have listened to loads of music by certain artists who I love, but hadn’t had on vinyl so had neglected, in the last 3 or 4 months. It’s been so liberating to my headspace too to just slice about half of my wantlist away because I had the CD or I had the rest of that artist on CD so I’ll just get the CD for that one too.

I don’t know if this is weird but I’m all in on streaming in the car and on the go but at home it just feels like it lacks a sort of tactility and experience. I also don’t have a separate home office and don’t work from home and I think Mike is 100% on both of those so I mean I can totally empathise with streaming from your computer through a decent small digital system in that scenario.
 
AnthonyI said:
My problem is I still like owning physical media, vinyl or CD.............might be due to my age, lol
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I’ve mostly talked myself out of CDs because I have the NUC and ability to download nearly any CD rip. doubt there’d be any difference between the FLAC rips and playing the physical disc. Plus not sure I have the physics space to start a CD collection 🤣
 
AnthonyI said:
That's the thing, I know I didn't opt for the "best" option when it comes to discs, but it's very good. I'm still ok with sticking to this set up for discs and adding the Lokius to fine tune the sound, again, I'm still vinyl first, but that brings us back to the current cost trends and part of me boils over when you read statistics that 50% of vinyl owners don't actually own a turntable, THIS is what's causing a lot of the price hikes in my opinion, that's a lot of people not caring about sound quality, so why should the manufacturer.
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There are a few factors but I think the major labels refusing to invest in infrastructure, like they do with CDs and used to have back in the day, and relying on placing their orders at independent pressing plants has gummed up the whole sector. While I can excuse them getting caught out 10 years ago it was obvious 5 years back that this was happening, wasn’t going away, and that planning and scaling was going to be necessary.
 
Joe Mac said:
I actually think I’m the same I think it’s a mentality, but perhaps age and familiarity comes into it in older generations, who knows. I certainly have listened to loads of music by certain artists who I love, but hadn’t had on vinyl so had neglected, in the last 3 or 4 months. It’s been so liberating to my headspace too to just slice about half of my wantlist away because I had the CD or I had the rest of that artist on CD so I’ll just get the CD for that one too.

I don’t know if this is weird but I’m all in on streaming in the car and on the go but at home it just feels like it lacks a sort of tactility and experience. I also don’t have a separate home office and don’t work from home and I think Mike is 100% on both of those so I mean I can totally empathise with streaming from your computer through a decent small digital system in that scenario.
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Agreed, I stream at home mostly during work and even then it depends on how involved the project is and if I have the time to go flip the vinyl, lol.

And that hits on part of it for me as well, with CD playback increasing, now I kind of want the sound quality to move up, as opposed to it being more of a filler format it looks like it might become a 50/50 situation in which I'd like better sound from my discs.
 
AnthonyI said:
Agreed, I stream at home mostly during work and even then it depends on how involved the project is and if I have the time to go flip the vinyl, lol.

And that hits on part of it for me as well, with CD playback increasing, now I kind of want the sound quality to move up, as opposed to it being more of a filler format it looks like it might become a 50/50 situation in which I'd like better sound from my discs.
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Yeah and that was the point I was at when I did what I did. Don’t regret it. That music is now as much a part of my collection as the vinyl and while it will never be quite the same I wanted to get it as near as I could. Plus a lot of it is by the nature of my age from the 90s and 00s and likely isn’t going to massively improved, if it is at all, by the vinyl format.
 
Joe Mac said:
Yeah and that was the point I was at when I did what I did. Don’t regret it. That music is now as much a part of my collection as the vinyl and while it will never be quite the same I wanted to get it as near as I could. Plus a lot of it is by the nature of my age from the 90s and 00s and likely isn’t going to massively improved, if it is at all, by the vinyl format.
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On the flip side, an actual transport might work if I can find one I like and isn't too expensive, because I do like the sound from the DAC1
 
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