I bought the Oppo Sonica DAC after reading Amir's review, and shortly after, the company stopped making it.
I mainly use it for streaming music. I initially used Spotify and had zero problems, but then I read that Tidal had "audiophile" quality (higher bitrate in data transmission) and switched. At first, it worked well, but then it started having connection problems and eventually stopped connecting altogether. I went back to Spotify, unfortunately, because, to my ears of a few years ago, it did indeed have better audio quality and a library more geared towards lovers of good music and sound quality.
I'll be 76 in May. I mention this because my ears have a limit of around 12,000 Hz, according to tests I conducted with Audacity. Not too bad compared to other people, and the AI even congratulated me!
I'm very happy with the performance of the DAC in the Oppo Sonica, the ESS ES9038PRO SABRE. At first, I used it connected to a Pioneer DV 535 DVD player, which read all my CDs without problems, including the re-recorded ones, regardless of the quality of the blank CD used. But it started having problems with the display. Although basic, as is often the case with DVD players, since everything is visible on the screen, it only activated after a few minutes of being turned on, as it "warmed up." I tried to fix , but in the attempt, the contacts of a flex cable that connected to the CD carriage were damaged, and it died completely. Bad idea. At that time, my budget didn't allow me to buy a quality replacement, and besides, DVD players were starting to become scarce. I found a Philco DVP 500, of Chinese origin and assembled here.
It worked for a while to watch movies and play music, until the Optoma projector exploded - literally - I abandoned the home theater system and gave the Yamaha RXV-520 receiver to my daughter.
So the generic Philco player became used exclusively for music, and only as a "transport" because it has Toslink and coaxial outputs. It reads RW re-recorded discs, but if the CD used isn't high quality, it refuses to play. Thanks to that experience, I started investigating and learned that some CDs don't have the original layers of materials as they were when Sony-Phillips invented them. Over the years, they've been manufactured without them, with a minimal film that doesn't refract the bits properly for some laser readers.
But that's not the main problem. It's also very slow in all its functions when used with the CD player. It's exasperating. You want to skip from one track to another, you press the button, and you have to wait several seconds (four or five, without exaggeration) before it finally finds it.... Like the Pioneer, it doesn't have a decent display; you can only see which track is playing if you get very close. Maybe I miss the display of the vintage Technics SLPG300? It was so well-designed, I still have it and use it on another system! The thing is, I definitely want to buy a dedicated CD player, and yes, use it as a transport, taking advantage of the Oppo's excellent DAC. I don't think I'll be able to hear any difference in sound quality compared to the generic/cheap Philco, but I want a "normal" display and solid construction, so I found the NAD C 538. The reviews are good, the price is practically the same whether I buy it here in local pesos or the equivalent in US dollars if I order it from Amazon or some other supplier abroad... $780 USD is the final price! But I want to treat myself; I think
"at this point in the game " I deserve it. I'll see what WAF says... I'd like to read opinions and advice on this. Any kind will be welcome. Will it be worth the expense? Will I get any extra features in the SQ or just a clear display with the necessary information? What I am sure of (I think, is that right?) is that it will be a pleasure to operate, and it won't make me hesitate: Did it take the order? Is the CR battery dead? Will I have to get up from the chair and get a little closer?
A solid CD player worthy of serious consideration
www.whathifi.com
Perhaps I should have put this somewhere else... well, where? Can someone move it?
