Oppo BDP-95 will take eSATA drive vs. Wyred4Sound DAC2

[KDinsmore]

I probably know the answer to this but here goes: Would the Oppo BDP-95 w/an eSATA drive be jitter city or not? I am getting the Wyred4Sound DAC2 but saw the specs on the Oppo. Fully balanced, torrodial power, plays SACD, FLAC. I was thinking I could put playback from the eSATA drive but. Let me know!

 

[wappinghigh]

I haven't heard their Oppo mods, but I have read the specs on their xtreme boards for the Oppo's. If you believe tests , they get jitter done into the sub 10 pico range with these mods..

 

[bachrocks]

Not a reply about the jitter of eSATA but a question of compatibility: I wonder if a hard drive enclosure such as Other World Computing's Mercury Elite-AL Pro Qx2, which can accommodate up to 4 hard drives, would be compatible with the Oppo-BDP95 through eSATA? If so, this really would be a great solution for a music server. The reviews of both are pretty positive.

 

http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/hard-drives/RAID/Desktop/

 

I'm not in any way connected to Oppo or OWC, just a guy looking for a good DAC/Music Server/storage combo.

 

thanks

 

[Mr.C]

The esata connection shouldn't create any jitter as it is just doing bulk file transfers to the Oppo. Jitter will be created within the Oppo if any is created.

 

[pacwin]

This would be interesting to find out. Typically when there is a port multiplier in the drive enclosure you only need a single E-sata connection to access the raid array, at leasst in PC operating systems. While direct attached storage appeals for performance it does limit you to having it near to the player so fan noise and disk drive vibration comes into the listening space. A networked drive with appropriate server software i.e NAS hidden in a cupboard or stairwell can be accessible from anywhere in the house and so long as you have Gigabit Ethernet or 300MB wireless this is fairly reliable as well.

 

[bachrocks]

At first, I thought NAS would be ideal, but when I consider that all of this is going in our small condominium, my slight timidity about dealing with things at the network level, and no real need for this to be networked (It's just as simple for me to unplug it from the Oppo and connect it to my computer whenever I wish to do file management); I found DAS to be a nice solution.

 

The reviews on the OWC are glowing. The Oppo seems to be a big hit. My only worry as I stated previously is I have no idea about connecting an e-SATA port multiplier (thanks for the correct term, pacwin)to the Oppo e-SATA port.

 

I must be one of the slowest shoppers as I've been researching my DAC purchase for soooo long, but here is something I'm really excited about as this combination represents a great value and solves my issues of storage, connectivity, redundancy, and especially, enabling beautiful music from my files.

 

Thanks!

 

[NickG]

Sorry, I don't get all the terms being used, but are you saying the Oppo can be used as a DAC when connected to a computer? I see that music on a USB storage device works (not sure how one might navigate the device to search for music), but I don't see how one might use it as a standalone DAC with itunes via a Mac. If it did that, I'd be with you, and be done with deciding on a DAC.

 

[bachrocks]

NickG, I don't think you can connect a computer to the Oppo, but you surely can connect external hard drives via USB or eSATA, and in the case of the OWC DAS, you could potentially attach up to 4 3TB hard drives for a whopping total of 12TBs, depending on how you configure RAID.

 

[Brand B]

I have several of the Al pro drives (a 2 bay and three 1 bays) and they are pretty decent. The 2 bay enclosure is not fanless though.

 

The single bay units are fanless, but there is still the very slight noise of the drive mechanism (motor and head seek servo) that is audible in a dead silent room.

 

The 2 bay os my household network backup drive, and its fans are audible through a closed closet door.

 

[wappinghigh]

I think the Oppos have huge potential as music servers...partic the nuforce editions with low jitter boards...

 

And I agree the estata/ DAS approach is real promising...as long as the DAS is fanless. I too would be interested in any member who has gone down this path

 

But with a bit of luck the Oppo can stream Flac (even 5.1) files as well as blu-ray audio. His would be icing on the cake. I cant wait to get an Oppo...I reckon they will be ideal attached to a listening area with a surround receiver set up....perhaps not as the premium streamer in the house (attached to the best stereo gear), but certainly a great solution for any surround sound setup enviroment... Like the Home theatre area...

 

wap

 

[RF Power]

I have had the DAC2 since march and the Oppo for just a couple of weeks. Prior to the Oppo I was using a PC as a music server with CMS5 or foobar2k to play back high res wav files- either from internal HDD or esata - via USB2 to the W4S dac2.

 

However, since the arrival of the Oppo BDP-95 I am now using HDD via esata and it sounds fantastic. I'm not sure if it's partly due to the linear power supply in the Oppo (I also use a linear psu on the HDD)or excellent all round implementation but there seems to be better resolution, ambience and soundstage. The end result is better whether via the Oppo stereo outputs or spdif to the W4S.

I spent some time A-B'ing the differences between the Oppo and the W4S and concluded that the W4S has slightly better (tighter) bass, but the mids and treble are perhaps 'slightly' more accurate from the Oppo (direct into the amp). However, the differences are minute and are appreciated better through longer term listening than a direct A-B. Neither the Oppo or the W4S present any harshness or grain and both present a detailed and expansive soundstage, but the Oppo wins out slightly in the projection of vocals and stage depth and the attack and decay of transients seems slightly more natural.

 

With SACD's I briefly compared it with my Marantz sa-11, and it sounds a bit different but is very close to being as good and much better than any universal player I have yet heard. Being able to select DSD processing is a big advantage I suspect.

 

The Oppo BDP-95 is therefore very very recommended - as a disc player and particularly as a music server. Apart from a very slight looseness in the bass I really can't fault it in any area.

 

Navigation via the remote is very easy and I like the pure music mode -- which allows you to turn off all video processing while you're playing music. When you consider that it's also a sota Blu-ray player, a very good RBCD player and also a very good SACD player, the asking RRP is really rediculous.

 

In terms of mods, you might be able to squeeze a bit more out of it with better voltage regulators + a few caps here and there. There's not much space to implement major psu mods but the stock performance is so good that just the inclusion of a good mains filter might be all you need. I will be doing this soon.

 

[trappy]

I'm interested to know how those of you who have used the eSATA port to stream FLACs, etc, found the experience. I assume the folders are browsed using the remote and TV screen? How big are the libraries you're using? I've read a few places that the browser doesn't like folders with much more than 1000 songs. Do you need change the way folders are set up on drive in order to make it (easily) usable?

 

Essentially I'm asking if the BDP-95 can really be used as a server or is it kind of a kluge and really only useful for small volumes?

 

Thanks

 

[Grey_Friar]

 

Trappy,

 

I think "kluge" would be a fair description of the Oppo BDP-95 media player interface...unless I am missing something. The remote does work well, but one has to have a monitor connected and then scroll through a linear list of albums or artists to find a particular track.

 

Nevertheless, I agree with "RF Power" that the resultant sound is outstanding. I refer to an earlier comment of mine in the C.A.P.S. thread:

http://www.computeraudiophile.com/content/Computer-Audiophile-Pocket-Server-CAPS?page=3

 

Regards