[jparkhur]

What do I do....  Oppo 105 as Dac and use a hard drive, or do I use DB Audio Dac and Hard drive?  Benefits/None? Some?

JP

[roscoeiii]

Tough to say since the 105 has not been released yet.

From what I have read about the Sabre chip (and heard in a Sabre based W4S DAC2), I think the two would be fairly different sounding. But much lies in the implementation.

A friend whose audio opinion I trust said that he found his Sabre-based Oppo (83SE, I think) overly bright. But sometimes that is what you pay for extra detail retireval.

I have really enjoyed my dB Labs Tranquility. Did not feel like a step down from the Weiss DAC2 (pro version of their $5000 Minerva with identical internals).

[chip]

what about a Peachtree's DAC-iT and mac mini?

[HAL]

JP,
The Oppo 105 will work directly with the HD.

The dB Audio Labs USB DAC will need a music server and drive.  If you already have a music server that might make the decision different.