[mlundy57]

What output connection is best for use out of the 103 for digital?

If I understand correctly, you are wanting to use the 103 to play CD's, SACD's, DVD-A's, Blu-Ray's, etc, stream music, or play files from a thumb drive or hard drive and have them processed by your external DAC.

In this case you would have to use either the Coaxial or Optical Digital outputs on the 103. These output a digital signal that your external DAC would convert to an analog signal which would then be sent to either a preamp or power amp. Of course your external DAC has to be able to accept one of these inputs. If your external DAC only has an asynchronous USB input you will need one of the converters mentioned earlier.

If you use the analog (RCA) outputs on the 103 the signal has already been processed by the 103's internal DAC and preamplifier. These outputs are intended to be connected to a power amp, not another DAC since the signal is no longer digital.

Does this answer your question?

Mike

[erniek]

Thanks Mike, It does answer partially, what about using the HDMI out digitally? Would that give better results?

[mlundy57]

Does your external DAC have an HDMI input?  None of my DAC's have HDMI inputs, only my AVR's do so I have never tried the Oppo's HDMI out to a DAC to know what it sounds like.

If your external DAC has an HDMI input you can experiment with the different types of inputs it has and see which one sounds best to you.

The types of connections you can use are going to depend on what inputs your external DAC has.

Mike

[vonnie123]

I vote for the 103. I have the 95, and it is only used for media disc play.  If you want to play flac files, pick up a 103 and grab a separate multi purpose renderer like Sonos Connect.  There are several choices, but Sonos is pretty easy to use and offers lots of nice streaming options.

Also, with respect to the 95, the DLNA media file system for playing flac files on the Oppo 95 is clunky at best.  It works, but it's not real user friendly.  If I were replacing mine today, I'd go with the 103 or 103 Darbee.