Oppo digital transport

My small add-in board listens in on the digital words sent to the onboard DAC chip. It resamples everything using a low-jitter clock oscillator. I have it configured to convert everything to 24/96 PCM sample rate. Everything means 44.1 CD, SACD, and all sample rates of DVD-Audio. It also bypasses the silly restrictions on the player's digital output connectors. Now I can listen to SACD and DVD-A using my high end DAC.

No need to spend thousands on a digital transport. It would be nice to be able to use the Stereophile lab test gear on the output.

The board has two low-jitter oscillators, a 27MHz osc for the Oppo DVD chip and the Cirrus Logic resampler chip, and a 24.7MHz osc for the Cirrus Logic SPDIF chip.

See the complete explanation in this long thread at DIY Audio dot com:

www dot diyaudio dot com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=95972

May 8, 2007 - 7:04am

CECE

Offline

Last seen: 4 years 5 months ago

Joined: Sep 17 2005 - 8:16am

Re: Oppo digital transport

Canvert SACD/DSD to PCM? Why would that be any good? Then run that back through a PCM DAC. sounds like a dopey concept? I'll stick to listening to SACD/DSD converted to analog on my SACd players. Sound great. Will you be recording the DSD onto an LP for further "enhancements"? EMMLABS is UPSAMPLING standard DSD/DACD to over 5Mghz, your mod downgrades SACD back to PCM 44.1 Somebody is going backwards and it's not EMMLABS

May 8, 2007 - 7:56am

rossl

Offline

Last seen: Never ago

Joined: May 8 2007 - 6:00am

Re: Oppo digital transport

The MediaTek MT1389 DVD chip in the Oppo converts the DSD from SACDs to 24 bit/88.1K

My main complaint with SACD is that it is analog only. I send the PCM from the Oppo unit to a Behringer 24/96 DSP equalizer that corrects for speakers and the room reflections. Then send it to a high end DAC. Correcting for room reflections with a DSP is the best thing since sliced bread.

Analog equalizers are garbage. I threw mine away a long time ago. I don't want a player with analog out. This thread is about digital transport.

Obviously, DSD heads aren't even going to consider it, so I won't try to convince you how good it sounds. But it does sound much better than redbook 44.1

May 9, 2007 - 3:37am

CECE

Offline

Last seen: 4 years 5 months ago

Joined: Sep 17 2005 - 8:16am

Re: Oppo digital transport

Why do certain reviewers think ANALOG is the only way to go in these digital times?

May 9, 2007 - 3:39am

CECE

Offline

Last seen: 4 years 5 months ago

Joined: Sep 17 2005 - 8:16am

Re: Oppo digital transport

But without all the signal gyrations, SACD sounds better than Cd coming right out of an SACD player. Why convert, revert, invert divert, subvert?

May 9, 2007 - 5:52am

rossl

Offline

Last seen: Never ago

Joined: May 8 2007 - 6:00am

Re: Oppo digital transport

Quote:
But without all the signal gyrations, SACD sounds better than Cd coming right out of an SACD player. Why convert, revert, invert divert, subvert?

SACDs comprise about 1% of my collection of music on optical discs.

I'm not willing to spend $$ thousands on a SACD player that does not have a digital output.

In my opinion, the lack of digital output is what has made SACD into a currently dead format.

I'm not an industry expert, but you can go back to the September issue and re-read the comments of Bob from Meridian on the silly things that have transpired on the way to getting us some new hi-resolution formats for our listening pleasure.

Now here is another one of my opinions and feel free to ignore me as you see fit:

DSD converted digitally to 24/96 PCM sounds good to me, so I call into question the original premise advertised by SONY back when SACD was introduced.

The SACD people claimed something was wrong with PCM and we needed a new digital delivery format that was more analog-like. Bullocks! Sony needed a way to sell people multi-thousand dollar players and expensive discs that cannot be copied.

SACDs sound good because they are mastered carefully and have a high digital bitrate. Nothing wrong with high-bitrate and well-mastered PCM, in my outspoken opinion.

May 9, 2007 - 8:16am

CECE

Offline

Last seen: 4 years 5 months ago

Joined: Sep 17 2005 - 8:16am

Re: Oppo digital transport

Nope, actually Philips invented it with Sony. DSD is more than just a high bitrate format. SACD is so superior to CD, audible on any playback system, not just megabuck ones or ones with good AC lines. SACD players are no included in a lot of DVD palyers some universal players are well under $1000. Sound great. www.emmlabs.com expensive ones, but interesting stuff. DSD makes the stuff come alive, even the hybrid CD layer sounds so much better than teh standard CD version of teh stuff. Your setup doesn't sound logical. There is no digital out on SACD/DSD it protects the companies that own the songs...otherwise there would be the closest thing yet to a perfect copy of the original masters. They came up with the no digital out, I'm sure to appease the music companies. Maybe one day there will be DSD recorders, that can copy SACD? Tascam unit records in DSD but it won't record copy SACD in DSD. Must be those legal thangs involved in big money in formats. Up converting side converting moving back to this and that...DSD SACD sounds better than any method you try. No matter how much you try to manipulate CD, DSD sounds better. It's a better format How much did you put into all this ckt gyration on a $150 SACD player anyway, shoulda' just put it into a better player if you think spending some more would sound better.

May 9, 2007 - 11:42am

rossl

Offline

Last seen: Never ago

Joined: May 8 2007 - 6:00am

Re: Oppo digital transport

Quote:
... How much did you put into all this ckt gyration on a $150 SACD player anyway, shoulda' just put it into a better player if you think spending some more would sound better.

It allows for 24-bit output of DVD-Audio and HDCD also. Your SACD player can't do that.

May 9, 2007 - 5:14pm

CECE

Offline

Last seen: 4 years 5 months ago

Joined: Sep 17 2005 - 8:16am

Re: Oppo digital transport

Still don't get it, you down sample SACD to PCM, then play it through a high end CD DAC? I still don't get it. How did you decode DSD convert it to PCM. you built a DSD decoder? Then you should have just sent that DSD digital out? But then you DA that with what? Ouch, my head hurts. And you also converteed DVD-A into Cd PCM....then you upsample it through this better sounding DAC? Two high rez formats that sound great already, sound better by being transformed into CD? I'm baffled...HDCD? What is that? If that was anything then DSD wasn't needed?

May 9, 2007 - 5:18pm

#10

rossl

Offline

Last seen: Never ago

Joined: May 8 2007 - 6:00am

Re: Oppo digital transport

No wonder you're baffled. You are clueless.

I'm not downsampling or converting anything to CD.

I warned in the first post that it was not for the technically challenged.

May 10, 2007 - 5:39am

#11

CECE

Offline

Last seen: 4 years 5 months ago

Joined: Sep 17 2005 - 8:16am

Re: Oppo digital transport

Yup, that's me.........I meant PCM not CD. Technically challenged, hearing impaired, musically deficient.

June 29, 2007 - 1:47am

#12

puntloos

Offline

Last seen: Never ago

Joined: May 23 2007 - 5:12pm

Re: Oppo digital transport

Ross is extracting original 96/24 (what about 192/24) data off the high def sources (SACD/DVD-A) and sending that to the digital out. (for use in external high def DA convertors like the benchmark DAC1). Mind you, DVD-A/SACD spec dictates that these HD signals should not be sent out digitally (for copyright reasons)

One question though: it is said (in another topic here) that the Oppo 970 simply allows unlimited spdif anyway. True?

June 29, 2007 - 4:18am

#13

59mga

Offline

Last seen: 4 years 5 months ago

Joined: Jun 21 2006 - 6:52am

Re: Oppo digital transport

I am sooo far behind the times just call me antiquated.
The sound produced by the loudspeaker...analog or digital?
Or can it be either, depending on the electronics?

June 29, 2007 - 5:21am

#14

CECE

Offline

Last seen: 4 years 5 months ago

Joined: Sep 17 2005 - 8:16am

Re: Oppo digital transport

How do your ears function, when they get info from the speakers?

Search form

You are here