Oppo Sonica DAC

Tidal and Spotify are integrated into the Sonica app along with Internet Radio. Many of the others can be used with Airplay. Also the Sonica is fully wireless capable on it's own with no auxiliary gear.
 
Does anyone know if there is currently is a way to add MQA capability to the Oppo Sonica DAC?

I'm hoping that there will be a firmware update, but I'm not holding my breath.
 
The best you can do at the moment is to stream Tidal to the Oppo via usb using the Tidal app on your pc. This will do the first unfold in software. It’s going to take a firmware upgrade by Oppo in order to get the second unfold.
 
I would rather hope they fix the gapless bug first. How they could even offer a DAC/streamer in 2017 without fixing the gapless issue still amazes me. Seriously I would have even bought one already, if it didn't have that bug. I am still uncertain whether or not I would buy it, use it for a few months and then ship it out to Modwright, or just ship it straight to Modwright. My only other digital choice at the moment is the PS Audio Directstream DAC, which at $6k, completely blows the budget. (And I'm not even sure if I also need the PS Audio Digital Memory Player to go with it.)

I have less than zero interest in MQA, so that is not a deal killer. To each his/her own, YMMV, etc.
 
...Also how does this compare to the slightly more expensive Cambridge Audio CXN SQ-wise.

I've not be able to find a head-to-head comparison between the Sonica DAC and the Cambridge Audio CXN. Anybody listened to both?
 
The best you can do at the moment is to stream Tidal to the Oppo via usb using the Tidal app on your pc. This will do the first unfold in software. It’s going to take a firmware upgrade by Oppo in order to get the second unfold.
Thanks for answering my question!

I'm going to give that a try. :thumbsup:
 
I would rather hope they fix the gapless bug first. How they could even offer a DAC/streamer in 2017 without fixing the gapless issue still amazes me. Seriously I would have even bought one already, if it didn't have that bug. I am still uncertain whether or not I would buy it, use it for a few months and then ship it out to Modwright, or just ship it straight to Modwright. My only other digital choice at the moment is the PS Audio Directstream DAC, which at $6k, completely blows the budget. (And I'm not even sure if I also need the PS Audio Digital Memory Player to go with it.)

I have less than zero interest in MQA, so that is not a deal killer. To each his/her own, YMMV, etc.

Having been into audio for many years and listening primarily to records during that time, I've gotten very used to there being a couple of second gap between songs and that doesn't bother me in the least. I guess I'm a patient man.

What is important to me as an audiophile, is exploring each new bit of audio technology that purports to be an improvement and then deciding for myself if it is indeed so.

As you say, each to his own.
 
Having been into audio for many years and listening primarily to records during that time, I've gotten very used to there being a couple of second gap between songs and that doesn't bother me in the least. I guess I'm a patient man.

What is important to me as an audiophile, is exploring each new bit of audio technology that purports to be an improvement and then deciding for myself if it is indeed so.

As you say, each to his own.

For some, the gap is not about patience but the continuity of the music. Not all albums have silent transitions between their songs. King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard's album "Nonagon Infinity", for example, is designed that each track seamlessly transitions into the next one in a way that you could put the album on loop. Adding a gap between each track does ruin that affect. Additionally, live albums where maybe there is an applause could be annoying with the sound suddenly cutting out and then coming back in.
 
Having been into audio for many years and listening primarily to records during that time, I've gotten very used to there being a couple of second gap between songs and that doesn't bother me in the least. I guess I'm a patient man.
Today is a good example. I listened to classical nearly all day--the segues between tracks leave a nasty pause between them--the reverb trail of one movement is cut abruptly off before a pause, then resumes a second or two later, if not portions of the music.. Live albums have a break in the sound for a few seconds, often clipping off the beginning or ending of songs. Forget trying to listen to some of the Pat Metheny albums like Song X (20th Anniversary edition) which is tightly sequenced, or The Way Up which is a four-part suite that flows all together. The Phil Collins Face Value album has three tracks (which originally filled out Side 1 of the LP) that flowed together, and some Genesis songs continue without a gap, like "Home By The Sea"/"Second Home By The Sea." It throws continuity on many of my albums right out the window. For a few albums, I had to save them as a single WAV file so they would play back properly. For something as unmusical as an unwanted silent gap, it is a bug I don't care to tolerate any more than I have to.
 
When I read your post, I couldn't help but be reminded of this video.

In retrospect, if I'm spending $799 for a DAC and another $X amount for Modwright to do their magic to it, I expect it to work exactly as I need it to. I've listened to their excuses for my BDP-105 not getting a fix for its gapless bug over the network for years now, and it was never fixed. A "maybe in the future" (which in the past has meant "no") at $799 doesn't fly with me. This is 2018. Fix the damned gapless or go home. I'm done with them.
 
In retrospect, if I'm spending $799 for a DAC and another $X amount for Modwright to do their magic to it, I expect it to work exactly as I need it to. I've listened to their excuses for my BDP-105 not getting a fix for its gapless bug over the network for years now, and it was never fixed. A "maybe in the future" (which in the past has meant "no") at $799 doesn't fly with me. This is 2018. Fix the damned gapless or go home. I'm done with them.
Bye Bye
 
i have been told that although the Sonica and OPPO 205 are similar in DAC design, that the 205 has a better transformer and other parts that give it the edge in analog playback
 
I have the Sonica DAC. I haven’t seen many people say that the sound quality is lacking in any way. The DAC is $799, the Oppo player is around $1300. Decide what your budget can handle and go from there.
 
the Sonica purely as a DAC does not offer the same features as the OPPO 205 in a purely analog context. no selectable filters, headphone amp or EQ. sins of omission perhaps, this would have been EZ for OPPO to have included. a reply from OPPO regarding the sonic difference of the two units yielded this reply:
"We have not noticed or see a significant difference between the sound quality of the UDP-205 or the Sonica DAC."
semantics asside, in the end it is all subjective.
 
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I just read that Oppo has taken out of the SDAC sale on its website.

You can corroborate it, you will see a sign of "we are working for reforms or something like that ....

I bought the SDAC a few months ago and I must say that the sound is excellent. Difficult to find another product that delivers as much for 800 U $ S.

The issue of gapless is very difficult to understand, I have participated in other forums and opinions are found. The problem is the Oppo? Your firmware? Your hardware? o THE STREAMING SERVICES?

I tell you my experience: First I tried with Tidal and effectively the issue of the gapless is insufferable. I THINK THERE IS NOT A NORMAL PERSON who really likes music (that's why we spend on a dedicated DAC, no?) That does not get irritated by this DEFECT.
Tidal's version was proof. But in another forum they told me that Spotify plays gapless, in the Premium version. Take the promotion they do for a few months of it and it's true! There is in the application the possibility to select even if we want gapless or not!

So just finish the promotion I will subscribe in a definitive way.

I hope my experience serves them.

The other issue that has me intrigued is because Oppo did not take advantage of the double conversion D / A and A / D to provide a digital output through a USB port and thus be able to digitize vinyl with the high sound quality offered by SDAC.

I have written today to the technical support, if the answer is favorable, I will tell you, if not, forget it. CAN NOT DIGITALIZE VINYLOS. A SHAME .
 
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