The sound it was indeed a surprise even for me, as I am used already with the Oppo players Sabre DAC Pro sound (after improvements). The first I noticed it is the very obvious dynamics increasing, then the very wide sound scene, and the accentuated presence of the voices (in front of the speakers line). Nice depth and volume of the field as well. I can say that it is a better sounding DAC, than what I got from Oppo last model player family. I do not know yet why, because the DAC chip is the same, as my post DAC stage is the same as well (but I have a assumption...).
What is bad for the Sonica design, and this it cannot be modified, is the DAC output channels allocation. From the 4 output pairs of SabrePro DAC, Oppo designers decided using only two. The rest of the two are grounded, and not mapped at all. So, I tied together the only two available. Even thought used only half of its output capabilities, the ESS9038Pro in Sonica it sounds first of all, very dynamic.
A possible explanation for this stupid design, it may be that, that Oppo haven`t available or did not want (or did not known how to do it) redesigning a new post DAC circuit for 9038Pro. This last ESS DAC version it need a particularly output stage, when using more than one pair output channels, connected together. They used the same basic design as in the 105/205 players.
However, my upgraded Sonica it sounds just wonderful. As it should actually in my (own) opinion...