I guess I will throw down my Oppo mod experience.
Truth is I have owned just about every Oppo machine worth owning since nearly 2005 I believe. About 5 or 6 in between.
Obviously back then the big thing was Oppo's video performance and price more than anything else as they did truly out perform anything on the big screen from Sony to Pioneer elite, or even ridiculous 12,000 dollar players by the niche' guys like KRELL.
However, of course then Oppo realized near perfect video over the years brought in fans from Audio as well.
All their machines simply sound "Ok".
But now with the Universal capabilities on the BDP 105 [I owned], and the BDP 103D [I also own now] we found just about an all in one box that can perform just about everything needed, but not quite up to the "High end" audio standards you get from the best sounding digital.
I finally decided that honestly for me the 103D actually sounded as good for the most part of the 105 with what I was using. I had a fully balanced system at the time using the 105 and of course everything ran XLR. But later with a preamp change found the 103d to actually perform just as solid overall via RCA with a little "Tube Magic" inserted into the system.
Long story short I did upgrade the BDP 103D to a full linear power supply, using :
Nichicon ESR Capacitors
Schottkey Barrier Diodes
Wima & Tantalum Capacitors
And I added an entirely dedicated 2 channel DAC basically copying the Architecture of the now famed "Gustard X20" DAC using the 8 parallel ESS chips etc... same used in the Bdp 105 as well.
DAC 100 MHz TCXO Upgrade
8 Schottky Barrier Diodes
Direct Coupled Stereo Outputs
Burr Brown 627 opamps
2.5 ppm Crystal Oscillator
Improves Audio & Video
Draws Power From LPM Module
Side notes - Power supply definitely added something interesting to the mix as with this new Linear power supply I no longer get hangups on shutdown of the machine as I use to. Might be due to having all circuits dedicated to their own power regulation vs. sharing it. Not sure.
- DAC is closer sounding to the BDP 105, and actually cutting out all those extra un-used multichannel chips seems to have give the DAC much better sense of "Ease" very analog sounding, but also as a warning it cut the BDP 103's overall output down about -3 db...Which in my case was perfect because the 103 always ran a little hot with overblown digital recordings whether from the transport, or high Res files direct.
It gave much better volume control as well with far smaller increments to allow better adjustment. Generally I like to run it in "Fixed" anyway and now since its not so forward with the digital character from the original DAC the 3 db cut works great on any standard system. Seems to eliminate a lot of noise etc...
The BASS... The 103 definitely had a "One tone" bass, and it was very HEAVY in general, the new 2 - channel DAC gives quite a bit more finess for sure across the spectrum, with very good detail, never calling attention to any frequency band... A lot like my excellent turntable and cartridge combo.
So in the end Modded machines simply lose value, and or don't appeal, but in this case it worked out very well. As for Outboard DACS I did try a couple within reason that cost up to 1000.00 new, and used on the market... Honestly they all failed to impress doing A-B tests with the 103 which I would hook up to one input on the stereo pre direct being able to A-B on the fly and you could hear the difference immediately. So with most outboard USB dacs, it was best to just leave the 103 alone because the money is better spent else where.
Final Note- in the end this setup definitely outperforms any thing close to the BDP 105, or 103. In fact for some strange reason after getting Oppos latest firmware, and having this installed the machine runs smooth, and better across apps as well, which this machine was always a little quirky.
Also, this is the first time I have used Pure SILVER shielded interconnects to full success as with any digital in the past I have found them to more or less highlight too much, making the sound either very etched, or very dry. Not now, its got perfect tonal balance. Oh and with the custom power board you can easily experiment with all the exotic "Super" fuses now. I happen to have a couple of the 80 to 100 dollar 2 amp varieties on hand that go in this power supply, there are subtle changes, but then again I never found fuses to have a large effect on front end gear anyway, mostly just large power amps and the occasional enhancement in a preamp.
