oppo 103 setup

voltz

I have a Oppo 103 & a Nad T-758 AVR...and I had the oppo setting on SACD's set to auto and finaly notice that when playing a Hybrid SACD in 5.1 it was just doing PCM, So I change it to DSD and lost all sounds from it.

then I noticed a message saying if the Receiver cant decode DSD it will be muted.

So I found that I had to run 6 analog cables from the OPPO103 to my AVR and set the NAD source 2 audio to analog 7.1 and now I'm finally really hear my SACD's in 5.1 DSD surround.

Now I can truly enjoy Pink Floyd's "DSOTM" & WYWH" SACD's in 5.1 DSD surround glory

Just sending the signal through the HDMI didn't work as the NAD tried to decode everything.

ROHfan

voltz wrote: »

I have a Oppo 103 & a Nad T-758 AVR...and I had the oppo setting on SACD's set to auto and finaly notice that when playing a Hybrid SACD in 5.1 it was just doing PCM, So I change it to DSD and lost all sounds from it.

then I noticed a message saying if the Receiver cant decode DSD it will be muted.

So I found that I had to run 6 analog cables from the OPPO103 to my AVR and set the NAD source 2 audio to analog 7.1 and now I'm finally really hear my SACD's in 5.1 DSD surround.

Now I can truly enjoy Pink Floyd's "DSOTM" & WYWH" SACD's in 5.1 DSD surround glory

Just sending the signal through the HDMI didn't work as the NAD tried to decode everything.

Good to hear you're enjoying SACD playback.

When I had the Onk 818 I used to send DSD out from the second HDMI output on my Oppo 103. Sound was very sweet, indeed, and the Onk recognized the format. I have yet to play with SACDs through my Marantz avr but I'm thinking I'll probably go with 5.1 analogs out from the Oppo to the avr's analog inputs.

voltz

It took me awhile to figure it out, though convert to pcm sound pretty good just was missing something. And there are some excellent Hybrid SACD that do 5.1 nicely!

ROHfan

My first SACD was Danny Elfman's "Serenada Schizophrana." It was the most realistic orchestra recording I've ever heard. And quite dynamic, to boot!

voltz

You do know I bought that one too because you talked me into it. I really do like it also ...I'm off tomorrow with dentist & Doctor appointments, so I will have to listen to it then.

ROHfan

What are friends for?

footwedge

Does the avr analog connection allow LFE output?

tonyb

if they have 5.1 connections, yes. that's what the ".1" means in 5.1. Mind you not all avr's have them, but the oppo in question does.

footwedge

tonyb wrote: »

if they have 5.1 connections, yes. that's what the ".1" means in 5.1. Mind you not all avr's have them, but the oppo in question does.

Do you mean bdp in lieu of avr?

tonyb

footwedge wrote: »

Does the avr analog connection allow LFE output?

This is what I was answering....said nothing about using a BDP in lieu of a receiver. What was the question again ? lol

voltz

Yes the LFE works, that is why I had to use 6 cables (1 for the sub out) but most of the time I still have the audio signal going via HDMI as I can quickly change for analog audio input to HDMI audio input.

footwedge

tonyb wrote: »

. Mind you not all avr's have them, but the oppo in question does.

Then is an oppo an avr? Lol

Just want to make sure if I buy a dac that I will get bass with the analog connection between the sc27 and bdp 103 because I currently have lsi 7s and I also want the dac to control the conversion.

I want to stay with 2 channel. So, I would need 3 analog rca's - 1 for the sub and 2 for the fronts and connected: bdp103 sw-out >sc27 sw-in and keep the sub connected to the lfe jack.

Edited, forgot the dac, I know it should be between the oppo and sc27. So would I need 3 more rca's?

tonyb

The Oppo is a bluray player.

Why do you need another dac ? You make your analog connections from the Oppo to the Receiver, this allows you to use the dacs in the Oppo when using it's analog outputs.

footwedge

tonyb wrote: »

The Oppo is a bluray player.

Why do you need another dac ? You make your analog connections from the Oppo to the Receiver, this allows you to use the dacs in the Oppo when using it's analog outputs.

Thought the W4S2, your Cary and other dacs were better than the 103 for conversion. Is this not the case?


If i were to add a w4s between the oppo and sc27, the connection line diagram would look like: oppo 103 usb out > w4s usb in > analog to sc27 multi channel in front L&R. Where's the sub connection from the w4s to the sc27?

footwedge

voltz wrote: »

Yes the LFE works, that is why I had to use 6 cables (1 for the sub out) but most of the time I still have the audio signal going via HDMI as I can quickly change for analog audio input to HDMI audio input.

For my information, why would someone want to have the ability to change between analog and HDMI audio inputs?

tonyb

It all depends, the Oppo has a pretty decent dac in it. Your LSI7's I don't think would be able to discern too much difference. Dacs don't have subwoofer outputs, they are mostly 2 channel. Even the SC27 has a decent dac in it too.

If your going to buy the Oppo, I wouldn't buy another dac until first you see how you like the sound running into your receiver using the dac in the Oppo first.

Or, if this is just for music, buy the dac, run a USB cable to it and analog outs to the receiver. However, there is no .1 or dedicated subwoofer channel with external dacs. Your bass management and crossover settings in the receiver will send the appropriate signal to it's respected places....but no dedicated .1.

I would also check your manual in the receiver, as some only allow bass management in the digital domain, not by analog inputs.

footwedge

tonyb wrote: »

It all depends, the Oppo has a pretty decent dac in it. Your LSI7's I don't think would be able to discern too much difference. Dacs don't have subwoofer outputs, they are mostly 2 channel. Even the SC27 has a decent dac in it too.

If your going to buy the Oppo, I wouldn't buy another dac until first you see how you like the sound running into your receiver using the dac in the Oppo first.

Or, if this is just for music, buy the dac, run a USB cable to it and analog outs to the receiver. However, there is no .1 or dedicated subwoofer channel with external dacs. Your bass management and crossover settings in the receiver will send the appropriate signal to it's respected places....but no dedicated .1.

I would also check your manual in the receiver, as some only allow bass management in the digital domain, not by analog inputs.

tonyb wrote: »

It all depends, the Oppo has a pretty decent dac in it. Your LSI7's I don't think would be able to discern too much difference. Dacs don't have subwoofer outputs, they are mostly 2 channel. Even the SC27 has a decent dac in it too.

If your going to buy the Oppo, I wouldn't buy another dac until first you see how you like the sound running into your receiver using the dac in the Oppo first.

Or, if this is just for music, buy the dac, run a USB cable to it and analog outs to the receiver. However, there is no .1 or dedicated subwoofer channel with external dacs. Your bass management and crossover settings in the receiver will send the appropriate signal to it's respected places....but no dedicated .1.

I would also check your manual in the receiver, as some only allow bass management in the digital domain, not by analog inputs.

Currently, I have the oppo connected via HDMI to the sc27. In this case, will the sc27 dac handle the conversions?

Been out of the music area since cassette tapes went out. I do not have extra rca's and don't want to buy any just for experimenting purposes. So the question is: which connection will sound better? or easier, which connection would you recommend?

voltz

FW the only reason to switched between HDMI & Analog is because the Headphones do not work with it in analog...and others spend a lot of time listen to it with headphones, so I keep it on HDMI for them and when I want to use it I switched back, as it only take a second to have my AVR go into setup and change the audio to analog from HDMI, then when I'm done I change it back.
When I use Analog I'm using the DAC on the OPPO103 which is better then the DAC in my NAD T-758 AVR. (in my opinion).

steveinaz

I run an Oppo 103 thru a benchmark DAC via coax using flac files from a connected usb hard drive. Love it.

voltz

Steve....so the usb hard drive is plug into the oppo103? and it plays the flac files that are sent to the Benchmark for better sound over the oppo dac?

footwedge

Steve, how are the albums/songs selected for play? Are they visual on a outer monitor or tv screen?

steveinaz

voltz wrote: »

Steve....so the usb hard drive is plug into the oppo103? and it plays the flac files that are sent to the Benchmark for better sound over the oppo dac?

Yes sir. Not to mention a likely better analog output stage on the BM DAC.

steveinaz

footwedge wrote: »

Steve, how are the albums/songs selected for play? Are they visual on a outer monitor or tv screen?

Via the HDMI connection to my plasma. There's a GUI on the oppo for artist/album/song selection, etc. as well as a "play" screen. There's also an app, but I haven't tried the app yet.

On the Oppo "Home" screen, just select the "music" icon. Any attached usb devices will be listed, to pick from. Select your artist/album/song, and away you go.

I use the Oppo as my "do everything" transport. CD/SACD/files/DVD/BluRay..etc,etc..this is the beauty of a good external DAC; it becomes your musical "hub" of sorts.

tonyb

footwedge wrote: »

Currently, I have the oppo connected via HDMI to the sc27. In this case, will the sc27 dac handle the conversions?

Been out of the music area since cassette tapes went out. I do not have extra rca's and don't want to buy any just for experimenting purposes. So the question is: which connection will sound better? or easier, which connection would you recommend?

Well, if you don't want to buy any RCA cables, you answered your own question. When you use a digital connection, your using the device at the end to do the conversions, in your case the receiver. Use analog RCA cables out of the OPPO if you want that to do the conversion. Which sounds better will be up to you, and the quality of the cables you buy.

I would think the Oppo might sound better but that's just my opinion.

footwedge

This sounds like what I want to do. What kind of hard drive do you use, HDD or SS? Is the oppo MAC compatible?

voltz

Sounds like a Nice Setup Steve, I've always heard good things about their DAC's but their out of my budget plans. I mainly went to using the 103's DAC for DSD compatibility and found I like it over the NAD's AVR.

I use my Marantz SACD players DAC for my 2 channel DAC and play my DSD & HiRez files and Aflac's from my PC to it using JRiver media player. though I don't do it very much as I prefer to spin some Vinyl most of the time.

FW -> Steve has the usb drive plugged into the 103 so he does not use a PC or mac for that setup. If he was going to use a PC or MAC to play the music he would send it to the Benchmark DAC and skip the 103 completely.

footwedge

voltz wrote: »

FW -> Steve has the usb drive plugged into the 103 so he does not use a PC or mac for that setup. If he was going to use a PC or MAC to play the music he would send it to the Benchmark DAC and skip the 103 completely.

Normally USB drives have to be formatted for mac use and I think Steve would have to connect this drive to a PC or Mac to load the music. Is there some other way?

voltz

Ah I never used a mac, and didn't even think about something like that and I've mainly only used thumb drives that seem to be plug in play.

steveinaz

My USB external HDD is conneted to the Oppo. They recommend "powered" external drives so I'm using a Western Dig "My Book" drive that has its own ac adapter. It powers on/off automatically, when I turn the Oppo on/off. Flac files were burned to the drive originally for use with my Squeezebox Touch.

I could also stream via wireless, but I wanted to get away from depending on my network for music. I much prefer the direct connection method.

24/96 and 24/192 files are stellar.

footwedge

tonyb wrote: »

Well, if you don't want to buy any RCA cables, you answered your own question. When you use a digital connection, your using the device at the end to do the conversions, in your case the receiver. Use analog RCA cables out of the OPPO if you want that to do the conversion. Which sounds better will be up to you, and the quality of the cables you buy.

I would think the Oppo might sound better but that's just my opinion.

Thanks for the clarification on which device controls with a digital and analog connection. Still reading the sc 27 manual to determine if I will have base with a dac added between using the analogs out of the dac.

steveinaz

Think of it this way; if you're using a digital out connection (on any equipment), you are bypassing the equipments built-in DAC and analog output section.

FWIW, IMO you'd have to buy a pretty darn good external DAC to outdo the Oppo's built-in DAC.