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Oppo Sonica USB DAC and Streamer Review

Saidera

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That goes for pretty much anything that measures well and doesn't impress those subjective guys out there. My English is bad.

I prefer accuracy over 'musicality', especially going towards 'professional audio' beyond 'high end audio'.

It's one perspective. And many words I use are really hard to use, they're very ill-defined.
 

BDWoody

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That goes for pretty much anything that measures well and doesn't impress those subjective guys out there.

Considering that most subjective types don't perform controlled listening tests, what they end up being impressed by is the price, looks...whatever else, because if they did their comparisons blind they'd be lost, not knowing what they were supposed to like or be impressed by.

Same with DSD and/or stupid high sample rates, magic cables, power conditioners, and all the rest.
 

trl

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Billy Budapest

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The state of relying on the DAC chip is just a state where one star player is put into a small team in a competition where teamwork is important. With such an unbalanced composition, it will be difficult to beat the strong in competitions where teamwork is important. Design teamwork is important for DAC design. As a result, the superiority of the DAC chip appears only when it can support the star player (high-end DAC chip) firmly and bring out the ability.

The most typical example these days is the Oppo Sonica DAC. It is the cheapest DAC using ES9038. This is a DAC that uses the highest spec IC, but it is not the highest quality DAC. Of course, this product is not bad from the price, but it is not the quality that can be claimed as a high-end sound. Therefore, it is a fact that it does not become a prominent product with a one-chip principle. However, it was a great leap from the conventional product HA1. The internal design is also evolving.

In the first place, it is a mistake to position this product as high-end. Actually, I thought that this product was a very well-developed product that targeted the masses in the first place, which was quite contrary to the high-end orientation. I think the mission and purpose of Sonica DAC is to be the ultimate mediocre sound that does not stand out.

I have no intention of disinclining Sonica DAC, but rather see it as a threat. This What Hi-Fi? review says "It's not fun to hear," but I thought that was what Oppo was aiming for!

Is Oppo digital an American company?

The definitive information is that Sonica DAC's Oppo digital head office is in the US, development is in the US, and manufacturing is in China. However, it was originally established by the Chinese company BBK.

The information so far is confirmed information, and the following are personal opinions. The other question is where is the current status as a "middle man"? It looks like a gray zone with no definitive information. Although it is true that the corporation is in the United States, it is said that the relationship with Oppo in China is unknown even when looking at Wikipedia.

Personally, I think there is an important reason for that. Recently, South Korean astell & kern are using German brands, but it seems that the number of Asian companies actively using Western brands is increasing. So it's only speculation, but I think Oppo Digital has the same strategy. If the reality is that even in China, it is an American company with a corporation in the United States, so it is true that it is advantageous in terms of image strategy.

With Oppo's careful and accurate marketing ability, it is not strange to make business decisions around that. The fact that the HA1 internal design has a Chinese atmosphere also supports the reason why I thought so. It's the sense of component selection and the layout. In Sonica, the internal design evolved in the same direction as Gustard in the same direction (changed from a stuffed type to a generous layout), so there is a trend of design know-how and technology propagation in the Chinese-speaking world.

Oppo is the North American branch of BBK Electronics of China, a consumer electronics giant with 12,000 employees worldwide. So Oppo is a new name, but the company and the technology behind it are pretty important.

OPPO Digital is a US-based office of BBK Electronics, a giant Chinese market leader and personal label OEM for companies such as Denon, NEC and BOSE, based in Mountain View, California. BBK Electronics, a manufacturer of all kinds of electronic devices, is a market leader in China and aims to expand globally and create OPPO Digital, the arm of North America.

The possibility of mass audio in Oppo

Oppo was at the same level as domestic production when it was HA1. The color was strong in the high range, the band balance was very poor, and it was a typical flashy sound. However, with Sonica DAC, such drawbacks have been largely eliminated, and it is at a level at which a strange sound is not heard at first glance. I feel that this is getting closer to the direction of contemporary trends since Mojo & Hugo.

Stagnation that clings to the current situation is the same as decline. Because the times are constantly evolving and changing.

I think Sonica DAC is a product that won't compete forever for garage makers, but I think oppo products should be regarded as a threat by manufacturers targeting masses like domestic giants. In order to win this product, it is necessary to have a higher level of basic quality and a high level of musicality at the same cost.

The biggest feature is that it is ES9038 and that it uses the best class low noise product called ADM7151 for the power supply IC. This is a complete Chinese advantage, as domestic majors tend to avoid such costly ICs. This sounds like a really good sound.

However, I also heard the sound of this product, but it is not bad, but it is a sound that does not come out unexpectedly. There is nothing to overwhelm anything. Is it possible to think of a design that is too common sense? Perhaps they seem to be pursuing theoretically good things, but everything is too common sense and nothing more. It's possible that a solid design made the product less impressive.

What is lacking may be some kind of deviation from the high end, confident judgments in sound making and deciding, deliberately unconventional design, or something out of the ordinary. It is conceivable that this is why they lack persuasiveness and communication with others. It's the same as saying that music played exactly according to sheet music is not always great.

However, I thought this was an ideal position for a mass-produced product called Oppo. It is possible that they are more aware of their mission than we audiophiles expect and are well aware of the importance of not overdoing it.

In the high end, as I have introduced so far, penetrating or protruding something creates a musical direction and raises the cost, but on such a line it tends to be biased in a specific direction. As a result, it is selling well, so it has succeeded as a result. It seems that this is a very good product for the mass market.

It's a pretty boring product for enthusiasts, but it's the ideal price for the masses, with prices that anyone can afford, and moderateness that doesn't depend on taste. Surely the perfect square in the top area analogy might be just as boring as the exact music, but at least this is what the finished audiophile puts in his ideal path. It is not such a product. It's a product that ordinary people who don't have get it. I'm sure those users still don't know the ideal sound they want. Most high-end products that are sharp for such people are still not desirable.

Sonica DAC may be such a product that you can enjoy a sound that is one rank better than the major products in the same price range. Now this can be achieved with Sonata HD Pro. Music played exactly according to sheet music is not always great, but for the masses - it is!
I have to disagree about your assessment of the sound quality of the Oppo Sonica DAC. It sounds excellent and remains in the top tier of all DACs you can buy—although you can’t buy it new anymore.

All DACs over a certain level of performance sound pretty much the same—or more accurately, they sound the same as any measurable differences are below the human threshold of hearing. You can’t go wrong with any of them. The biggest differentiator is not their sound, but their feature set.
 

Billy Budapest

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Considering that most subjective types don't perform controlled listening tests, what they end up being impressed by is the price, looks...whatever else, because if they did their comparisons blind they'd be lost, not knowing what they were supposed to like or be impressed by.

Same with DSD and/or stupid high sample rates, magic cables, power conditioners, and all the rest.
Agree +100.
 

Billy Budapest

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That goes for pretty much anything that measures well and doesn't impress those subjective guys out there. My English is bad.

I prefer accuracy over 'musicality', especially going towards 'professional audio' beyond 'high end audio'.

It's one perspective. And many words I use are really hard to use, they're very ill-defined.
Your English is fine!
 

Flo

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The Sonica is one great DAC and despite its age, it is able to beat many modern DACs in performance.

Thanks for this review Amirm. Are you able to say if the performance of this device is as good when using the RCA input? That would make it even more attractive considering the very few affordable DACs with RCA available on the market even today.
 

trl

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trl

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Not sure I follow you, sorry, but here's what I got from @Archimago's blog:

XLR_24-96_Summary.png

"[...] despite the improvements over regular RCA, these differences are extremely small and it would be ridiculous for me to claim that I can hear any difference".
 

MakeMineVinyl

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Hi trl, thanks for the link! Seems that its RCA input is average though, going through ADC first.
You're talking about the auxiliary analog input, right? Yes the analog input does go through a to d conversion and is included more as a convenience.
 

Flo

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Not sure I follow you, sorry, but here's what I got from @Archimago's blog:

XLR_24-96_Summary.png

"[...] despite the improvements over regular RCA, these differences are extremely small and it would be ridiculous for me to claim that I can hear any difference".


But then this follows:
1615460632312.png



Besides that I don't understand why he is using a digital source to test this RCA input. To me it is more likely to be used to plug older devices in, isn't it? And why not using XLR outputs for this measurement like for the others, is it not possible when using RCA input?

Obviously I am no expert at all, just trying to understand but getting a bit confused here...
 

MakeMineVinyl

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But then this follows:
View attachment 117561


Besides that I don't understand why he is using a digital source to test this RCA input. To me it is more likely to be used to plug older devices in, isn't it? And why not using XLR outputs for this measurement like for the others, is it not possible when using RCA input?

Obviously I am no expert at all, just trying to understand but getting a bit confused here...
When you mention "RCA input" I think there is confusion because there is a coaxial digital input which uses a single RCA jack. Those who are not familiar with the Sonica DAC may not know that it has an aux analog input on a pair of RCA jacks.
 

Flo

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Oh yes, my bad, I meant RCA analog (AUX) input, no Toslink.
 

devopsprodude

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No, they are a Chinese company.
It's complicated. California based arm of the Chinese brand, so a little of both.

I still have PM-3 and an older BR player (no longer use it much though). Great stuff. Sad day when they decided to end this side business.
 

devopsprodude

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Actually, Beats first separated itself from Monster and contracted with HTC to do manufacturing. They saw the writing on the wall about Monster and wanted out. A year or two later, Apple bought Beats.
Saw the writing on the wall? That's a very polite way of saying that Dr. Dre and Jimmy Iovine completely screwed the Lees over. That Noel Lee had it coming after years of snake oil sales, doesn't change the fact that Monster Cable was royally taken for a ride. Dre and Iovine don't deserve the billions they made from Beats.
 

JSmith

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The Sonica is one great DAC and despite its age, it is able to beat many modern DACs in performance.
An example if I may of how silly WhatHiFi is;

https://www.whathifi.com/au/oppo/sonica-dac/review
  • Lacks dynamic subtlety and overall excitement
  • Clearer, more precise, more rhythmically adept rivals
Ultimately, the rather spiritless sound coupled with the high price tag doesn’t bode well. That’s a shame, as the Oppo Sonica DAC was full of potential. Its streaming credentials tick all the right boxes, and the good quality DAC chip promised much.

But you can get far more exciting, insightful sound elsewhere, and for less money. Call it a DAC or a streamer, the Oppo’s price and dynamics leave us disappointed.

You measure a near perfect DAC... they give it 3/5 stars. :facepalm:

Where are your measurements WhatHiFi, or did Oppo not pay you enough or at all?

Rock on ASR. :)



JSmith
 

glucenag

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FFS this ticks all my boxes at a crazy low price point ... and I was soo excited but then it no longer sells :-(

Anyone selling, pm me ;-)
 

gsp1971

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"... rather spiritless sound" and "... you can get far more exciting, insightful sound elsewhere ..."

Spiritless sound and insightful sound. This is exactly the sort of ambiguous nonsense that I detest in reviews without measurements.

Prove it for Christ's sake! Prove the sound is spiritless! Whose ears have made that judgement?
 
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