What electronic audio products you want tested most

[D!sco]

Dayton has a new line of DSP Amps ranging from fleawatt stereo setups to 4x100 watt amps. The market is clearly boomboxes, but I'd like to know if their signal quality is acceptable. It could be a great entry point into active systems.

Their stereo 50W amp interests me the most. It has the broadest applications for monitors and medium sensitivity bookshelf speakers.

 

[somebodyelse]

Dayton has a new line of DSP Amps ranging from fleawatt stereo setups to 4x100 watt amps. The market is clearly boomboxes, but I'd like to know if their signal quality is acceptable. It could be a great entry point into active systems.

Their stereo 50W amp interests me the most. It has the broadest applications for monitors and medium sensitivity bookshelf speakers.

They're a rebranding of Sure Electronics / Wondom's JAB series which may make it easier to find measurements. The only ones I've seen were a cursory set posted in a thread where it was considered for use in an active speaker. Not terrible, but not to the standard needed for that project. They're probably comparable to the amplification found in actives like the Kalis, JBL 30x series and so on given what we see on their boards in teardowns.

 

[D!sco]

They're a rebranding of Sure Electronics / Wondom's JAB series which may make it easier to find measurements. The only ones I've seen were a cursory set posted in a thread where it was considered for use in an active speaker. Not terrible, but not to the standard needed for that project. They're probably comparable to the amplification found in actives like the Kalis, JBL 30x series and so on given what we see on their boards in teardowns.

For boom boxes, clearly. The preamp module still seems interesting, but it’s not surprising they opted for efficiency and weight over quality and power handling.

Thanks for the link.

 

[liquidman101]

I'm intrigued by phono stages, and I don't think we have seen a really great one measured yet, would be good to see how good they can get.

DSP is essential and underdeveloped.

Things which drive speakers need more work, but do you need your complex load first?

Does anybody still use cd players? I still have a heap of cds I need to rip to a HD. I notice Amir doesn't review cd players?

 

[EJ3]

Does anybody still use cd players? I still have a heap of cds I need to rip to a HD. I notice Amir doesn't review cd players?

I was hoping to see some tested here. Almost everyone I know uses them. I currently use my oPPo 205 UDP & a SONY CDR to play my collection of CD's (which I add to on a regular basis) along with my LP's. I own some digital media and do NOT stream. Most people that I know (and I know more people than average) don't stream music (many do watch TV shows & some watch movies via streaming) but do own & buy both CD's & LP's. I don't watch TV but watch movies that I physically own on disk or borrow from the library (DVD, Blu Ray, 4K). Same for CD's. Yes, I'd like to do QUALITY "rips" (a word I hate for something that we used to call recording). Sorry, to me it insinuates "ripping off" of something you didn't pay for. (maybe because at one point so many people were doing just that). And 'recording' insinuates a more wholistic, loving approach & effort to transfer what you own to another format. That's just me.

 

[liquidman101]

I was hoping to see some tested here. Almost everyone I know uses them. I currently use my oPPo 205 UDP & a SONY CDR to play my collection of CD's (which I add to on a regular basis) along with my LP's. I own some digital media and do NOT stream. Most people that I know (and I know more people than average) don't stream music (many do watch TV shows & some watch movies via streaming) but do own & buy both CD's & LP's. I don't watch TV but watch movies that I physically own on disk or borrow from the library (DVD, Blu Ray, 4K). Same for CD's. Yes, I'd like to do QUALITY "rips" (a word I hate for something that we used to call recording). Sorry, to me it insinuates "ripping off" of something you didn't pay for. (maybe because at one point so many people were doing just that). And 'recording' insinuates a more wholistic, loving approach & effort to transfer what you own to another format. That's just me.

Thanks greatly for your reply. I agree on the whole 'ripping' term thing. I think I am like you as in I don't currently stream music. Not to say I won't in the future. I was thinking of getting one of the DACs recommended on the ASR site (maybe a Topping or Gustav) in order to get music from devices into passive (with amp) or powered speakers. The OPPO doesn't look too expensive for an audiophile level blu-ray player. Would it be overkill to have the oppo (which already has a DAC) hooked up to another DAC? Hope that's not a stupid Q. Thanks again.

 

[EJ3]

Thanks greatly for your reply. I agree on the whole 'ripping' term thing. I think I am like you as in I don't currently stream music. Not to say I won't in the future. I was thinking of getting one of the DACs recommended on the ASR site (maybe a Topping or Gustav) in order to get music from devices into passive (with amp) or powered speakers. The OPPO doesn't look too expensive for an audiophile level blu-ray player. Would it be overkill to have the oppo (which already has a DAC) hooked up to another DAC? Hope that's not a stupid Q. Thanks again.

I don't know, I have yet to try to use the DAC in the oPPo (or any other DAC). I've only used the oPPo to play silver disk media into my TV & stereo.

 

[EJ3]

Thanks greatly for your reply. I agree on the whole 'ripping' term thing. I think I am like you as in I don't currently stream music. Not to say I won't in the future. I was thinking of getting one of the DACs recommended on the ASR site (maybe a Topping or Gustav) in order to get music from devices into passive (with amp) or powered speakers. The OPPO doesn't look too expensive for an audiophile level blu-ray player. Would it be overkill to have the oppo (which already has a DAC) hooked up to another DAC? Hope that's not a stupid Q. Thanks again.

I don't see any reason that you wouldn't use the oPPo 205 UDP's DAC (and then have one less piece of gear to buy), it's in the range of being inaudible:
(As measured here by Amirm):

Review and Measurements of Oppo UDP-205 UHD Player​

• Thread starteramirm
• Start dateJul 7, 2018

[IMG alt="amirm"]https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/data/avatars/m/0/2.jpg?1477370459[/IMG]

amirm​

Founder/Admin​

Staff Member
CFO (Chief Fun Officer)
JoinedFeb 13, 2016Messages37,478Likes157,089LocationSeattle Area

• Jul 7, 2018

This is a review and detailed measurements of the Oppo UDP-205 UHD player's audio subsystem, specifically its DAC performance. It is on loan from a kind member. The retail price of UDP-205 used to be $1,300. Alas, Oppo has discontinued the unit so it is no longer for sale as a new unit. I see crazy prices like $4,000 now for them!

NOTE: My company is a dealer for Oppo. "Dealer" is a stretch of the term here as the discount for dealers will buy you a cup of tea and not the usual margins that exists for audio. But you should take this account in reading my review here.

There are probably hundreds of reviews of the Oppo UDP-205 out there. My focus here is only as a USB DAC to see how it compares to dedicated DACs. For this evaluation, I am testing its USB input and balanced analog outs. As a way of comparison, and as you see below, I also compared it to Schiit Yggdrasil DAC ($2,400), RME ADI-2 Pro (DAC version of which is $1,000), and Topping DX7s ($499).

The unit is quite heavy and massive in size. Easily three to four times larger and heavier than any other Blu-ray player.

The DAC portion sports the high-end ESS DAC chip, the ES9038PRO in dual configuration. The choice of DAC chip doesn't directly translate into good performance as it is abundantly easy to screw up its good performance. Let's get into measurements and see if that is the case here or not.

EDIT: for performance of unbalanced/RCA output, see: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...ts-of-oppo-udp-205-uhd-player.3660/post-88142

EDIT #2: Headphone output results here: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...ts-of-oppo-udp-205-uhd-player.3660/post-88149

Measurements
As usual, let's get a full snapshot of its performance in our dashboard:

Wow. These are exceedingly good numbers. 115 dB SINAD (signal over distortion and noise)? That is amazing.

As a way of reference, here is RME ADI-2 Pro with the same output level:

We see nearly 10 dB lower (SINAD) performance! The cause here is high third harmonic distortion. The suppression of harmonic distortion is quite significant in Oppo UDP-205.

On slightly negative side, we see sidebands around our main 1 kHz tone shows side-bands (spikes) around the 1 kHz tone in UDP-205. Fortunately these are heavily masked perceptually so not an audible concern.

Those distortion measurements directly translate to lower THD vs frequency for Oppo:

Just remarkable. Oppo UDP-205 easily beats all the others with ease.

IMD intermodulation distortion measurements mirror the same:

Jitter/Noise test shows the previously mentioned low-frequency components:

Absence of power supply components (all the way to the left) puts a smile on my face.

Alas, we see the same side-band spikes around our main tone. If we look back to our 1 kHz tone in our dashboard, we see the same tones at same amplitude. This means that they are NOT, let me repeat, NOT jitter. But rather, the reference voltage for the DAC is being modulated by that frequency. If this were jitter, its amplitude would be much reduced at 1 kHz versus 12 kHz. Translation: something is bleeding into the reference voltage of the DAC (which is used to create the output voltage). A bit of cleaning here would have rendered perfect output.

Finally let's look at our favorite graph, linearity:

As the notation says, the Oppo UDP-205 produces results that are at the threshold of what the measurement can show so it is perfect to 20 bits/120 bits. The RME ADI-2 Pro loses a bit here but its dedicated DAC version has this fixed. The Schiit Yggdrasil as mentioned in its review, remains non-competitive with tons of error here.

Conclusions
There is no getting around it: the Oppo UDP-205 nails the measurements and almost across the board beats its competitors. It delivered the best measured performance of any DAC I have tested to date! Of course it earns my strong recommendation.

With the exception of tiny bit of reference voltage modulation, the Oppo UDP-205 delivers performance that is quite a bit better than the next in line. This also demonstrates how good the ES9038Pro DAC chip is, when implemented correctly.

What a shame that Oppo is getting out of this business. I guess it is good and honorable to do so after produce such a superlative (audio) product.

As always, questions, comments, corrections, etc. are all welcome.

----
If you like this review, please consider donating funds for these types of hardware purchases using Patreon (https://www.patreon.com/audiosciencereview), or upgrading your membership here though Paypal (https://audiosciencereview.com/foru...eview-and-measurements.2164/page-3#post-59054).

Last edited: Jul 10, 2018
Amir
Founder, Audio Science Review
Founder, Madrona Digital
Contributing Editor, Widescreen Review Magazine
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[600_OHM]

The Douk U3 amp would be interesting. With the as-supplied NE5532 op-amp! Unless I missed it here.

I have one, so would find it fascinating from a subjective vs objective measurement standpoint.

The problem - the socket allows for easy op-amp rolling. If a review were to take place - ok fine - play the op amp game, BUT my wish would be if you were to test one, it would be with the NE5532 that *came with the unit* - not from some 100-in-one maker kit bag replacement submitted by a user.

Ie, emulate the consumer experience of getting one yourself first-hand.

 

[sofrep811]

I really really enjoy reviews of the products we know are snake oil but don’t have any quantifying data to support it.

Would love to see a side by side comparison of Yamaha’s A-S3200 vs Gryphon Diablo 300. Not expecting it but ya asked. I’d assume the Yamaha would be as good or better for $25K less.

​

 

[phoenixdogfan]

I'd like to see some reviews of surge protectors. I know any number of AC purifiers have been reviewed. But those products claim to be able to improve the sonic performance of audio systems by "cleaning and/or filtering and/or regenerating" AC line voltage--and their claims appear to be spurrious.

Rather, I'd like to see some treatment on the efficacy of devices designed to protect audio components from damage occassioned by unexpected AC line voltage surges. Specifically, I'd like to know if differing products provide varying levels of protection, how do they differ in design, and whether there is a sweet spot where price and level or protection provide a high value proposition.

While it seems like a rather mundane area to cover, the downside of not having such protection could be the loss of a sizable investment in audio electronics, and if there's a cost effective way to prevent the catastrophic loss of thousands of dollars worth of my valued gear, I'd certainly like to know about it.

 

[EJ3]

I'd like to see some reviews of surge protectors. I know any number of AC purifiers have been reviewed. But those products claim to be able to improve the sonic performance of audio systems by "cleaning and/or filtering and/or regenerating" AC line voltage--and their claims appear to be spurrious.

Rather, I'd like to see some treatment on the efficacy of devices designed to protect audio components from damage occassioned by unexpected AC line voltage surges. Specifically, I'd like to know if differing products provide varying levels of protection, how do they differ in design, and whether there is a sweet spot where price and level or protection provide a high value proposition.

While it seems like a rather mundane area to cover, the downside of not having such protection could be the loss of a sizable investment in audio electronics, and if there's a cost effective way to prevent the catastrophic loss of thousands of dollars worth of my valued gear, I'd certainly like to know about it.

It's the reason that I use UPS (uninterruptable power supplies) for my audio gear, TV, lights in every room, etc. [don't use it for your microwave]).

 

[deniall83]

Would definitely like to see some budget CD players reviewed. Rega Apollo, NAD C538, Rotel CD11, Tascam CD-200, Yamaha CD-S303 etc.

 

[Drengur]

The Sabaj a20a 2022 would be nice

 

[Mojo Warrior]

92.99US $ |SMSL A100 Stereo Digital Power Amplifier 80w*2 Class D MA12070 Bluetooth 5.0 RCA USB|Amplifier| - AliExpress

Smarter Shopping, Better Living! Aliexpress.com

www.aliexpress.com

SMSL A100 2.1 amplifier with Bluetooth $100 USD

 

[jtgofish]

MOD NAP 250 amplifier.These are based on design modifications/simplifications to the original Naim NAP 250 power amplifier by UK engineer and Naim expert Neil MCBride.This version uses a switch mode power supply.There is also a more expensive two box version using a lineal power supply.
Costs hardly anything and sounds really good.I much prefer it to the Class D Purifi amp I had on loan.

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwiU28TEob74AhVETWwGHbZeAT8QFnoECA4QAQ&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.aliexpress.com%2Fi%2F32924124733.html&usg=AOvVaw327g68cqxYTys4Z-wr4eCa

 

[Guestuser]

I'd love to see a new category of equipment for testing: Equalizers. There are many, many opinions in the audiophile community about equalizers adding distortion and coloration, and it would be very helpful to have some objective measurements of their performance. Not talking about software-based EQs, talking about hardware EQs. I don't necessarily want to see a comprehensive test of how well each EQ band works, I'm more interested in your standard tests for noise floor, distortion, etc. And for those EQs with a bypass mode, how well do they perform with and without bypass mode engaged.

 

[Glint]

power cables.

jk...

Chifi replicas of 'prestige' western circuits at a tenth the price would be interesting, but very morally ambiguous.

 

[randing]

I'd like to see an ESI MAYA44 eX PCIe audio interface reviewed. Using one in a dedicated Windows box for both Roon and Dirac, functioning like a MiniDSP Flex with an analog input for a turntable, four channels of analog output for stereo and a powered sub.

 

[chplus]

The Sabaj a20a 2022 would be nice

anxious to know as well!!!