I have all my music on a NAS device, and then use an Oppo 205 to stream audio directly to my amp. No preamp required. The Oppo 205 has a ES9038pro dac chip. The sound is amazing, and you can also use the Oppo in your home theater system to stream video. Also multiple types of physical media, including 4K Blu-ray.
Maybe a little pricey, but it sounds great. The Oppo 205 was discontinued back in 2018, but you can buy used for $2500-$3000 on eBay.
There¡¯s nothing else like it on the market for video streaming, and it will hold its own with audio streamers in that price range. The phone app, while outdated and a little clunky, still works well as a phone remote. The Oppo is great if you have a lot of DSD files, because it plays them natively.?
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On Dec 18, 2023, at 1:42?PM, SpongeSound <wm.edmiston@...> wrote:
?Want to play my digital music library through my reasonably costly system (Dq-10's, Dq1W sub and LP1 Xover) Hafler 500 amp and pondering the need for an outboard DAC to extract the best sound. Unsure of which one. Anyone out here using one and did you notice a real difference in sound quality vs just plugging into your computer or streaming via something like Plex?
Given the age and cost of the DQ-10's, I'm also wondering if spending more than a few hundred bucks on the DAC is even worth it given the limitations of the speakers themselves. The $249 Cambridge Audio DACMagic 100 seems like a nice little unit without breaking the bank....Not interested in a big dollar unit that won't produce any better sound through the 10's than a $250 unit
My music resides on a laptop so I suppose I'd need a pretty long cable to go from the living room or office to the DAC - is that how most use them?
