Oppo sonica

[PuritéAudio 1,344]

Benchmark have the measurements which corroborate their designs, the snake oil cable salesman has nothing, just ‘belief’.

Keith 

[TheFlash 3,344]

2 minutes ago, PuritéAudio said:

Benchmark have the measurements which corroborate their designs, the snake oil cable salesman has nothing, just ‘belief’.

Keith 

Ah yes, measurements of course. Measurements can't lie and are all that matters. No sales patter required as the truth speaks for itself. I get it.

[PuritéAudio 1,344]

Components are defined by their measurements, that’s why your ATCs sound better than Zu’s/Devore etc etc etc.

Keith

[TheFlash 3,344]

1 hour ago, PuritéAudio said:

Components are defined by their measurements, that’s why your ATCs sound better than Zu’s/Devore etc etc etc.

Keith

I've never heard Zu's but I've read enough to know I don't want to! My ATC's are definitely good enough...

[Bokke 126]

2 hours ago, TheFlash said:

Their paper is well-argued and makes the case convincingly, so I don't doubt it. But let me clear why I'm making that "agenda" point: if I shared a similarly well-written paper by someone who made and sold aftermarket linear PSU's, I'd quite rightly expect you and others to point out their agenda ("they would say that wouldn't they", etc) exactly like you would if I shared an article by a cable manufacturer setting out their case for using unobtainium.

Having an agenda doesn't invaliate the point someone makes but it is useful to be aware of it lest we mistake such claims for objective, independent, peer-reviewed science.

Benchmark used the linear power supplies in Thier older models and changed to the switch mode

So they don't have an agenda

Benchmark are an no nonsense type of company. I'll add that their new range of the lowest noise floor/distortion available also so give you good food for thought.

Very unlike the typical so called audiophile type companies that abound.

You should give them a go as they are a great match for ATC actives.

ATC are also a no nonsense type company also.

Edited January 9, 2019 by Bokke

[TheFlash 3,344]

18 minutes ago, Bokke said:

Benchmark used the linear power supplies in Thier older models and changed to the switch mode

So they don't have an agenda

Benchmark are an no nonsense type of company. I'll add that their new range of the lowest noise floor/distortion available also so give you good food for thought.

Very unlike the typical so called audiophile type companies that abound.

You should give them a go as they are a great match for ATC actives.

ATC are also a no nonsense type company also.

Noted with thanks. I think you or Keith might have suggested that not all SMPS are the same, that a "well-designed" SMPS is fine; it would appear this is one. Maybe they're all super duper and the difference I heard when I replaced two SMPS with linear was a complete figment of my imagination. I will continue to hate wall warts with a vengeance, whatever!

[greybeard 5,564]

On ‎04‎/‎01‎/‎2019 at 23:33, bencat said:

but not my favourite (sorry Colin)

No offence taken Andrew. I was astounded anyone found such a modest system, best in show, speakers the size of a shoe box, a 40 year old amp, and of course the aforementioned oppo sonica dac, it must have been the addition of Eddies Sub, that did it 

[MrSammy 29]

3 hours ago, TheFlash said:

Noted with thanks. I think you or Keith might have suggested that not all SMPS are the same, that a "well-designed" SMPS is fine; it would appear this is one. Maybe they're all super duper and the difference I heard when I replaced two SMPS with linear was a complete figment of my imagination. I will continue to hate wall warts with a vengeance, whatever!

One of Chord Electronics' major selling points was that they had very good Switched Mode Powersupplies and their amps were built around this. Not everyone likes the sound of their amps but they are designed around the fact the SMP gives a very good clean stable output notwithstanding any junk it may be pushing out onto the mains for everything else to pick up.

[Bokke 126]

23 hours ago, TheFlash said:

Noted with thanks. I think you or Keith might have suggested that not all SMPS are the same, that a "well-designed" SMPS is fine; it would appear this is one. Maybe they're all super duper and the difference I heard when I replaced two SMPS with linear was a complete figment of my imagination. I will continue to hate wall warts with a vengeance, whatever!

Ja I agree and have also been tricked into hearing differences that did not really exist in the past.

The mind is a powerful tool and misuse can be dangerous to the bank balance😂😂

[Juancho 134]

On 09/01/2019 at 13:05, greybeard said:

No offence taken Andrew. I was astounded anyone found such a modest system, best in show, speakers the size of a shoe box, a 40 year old amp, and of course the aforementioned oppo sonica dac, it must have been the addition of Eddies Sub, that did it 

I awarded it that status based on sheer musical enjoyment not on bling or its use of exotic cables, mains conditioners/regenerators, use of grounding boxes, lack of SMPS power supplies or use of NFB. FFS I didn't even know what was in that nondescript amplifier box......Sorry  

[TheFlash 3,344]

6 hours ago, Bokke said:

Ja I agree and have also been tricked into hearing differences that did not really exist in the past.

The mind is a powerful tool and misuse can be dangerous to the bank balance😂😂

You realise of course that I don’t really believe I was tricked by mind games at all, that the difference was audible and an improvement. But I’m not going to try to convince you because you don’t have my ears! Strength through diversity, and all that... 👍

[Trouble and strife 3]

Having received this information the Oppo Sonica has the best of both worlds with linear and switched power supplies 🤩

The Sonica DAC uses a linear power supply for the analogue audio and a switch mode power supply for the digital/control. 

As part of the signature upgrade we replace the monolithic linear regulators with discrete, ultra-low noise types. 

The signature upgrade includes the replacement of several different capacitors, including power supply and analogue stage. 

[bencat 2,256]

16 hours ago, Juancho said:

I awarded it that status based on sheer musical enjoyment not on bling or its use of exotic cables, mains conditioners/regenerators, use of grounding boxes, lack of SMPS power supplies or use of NFB. FFS I didn't even know what was in that nondescript amplifier box......Sorry  

Juancho I was not making any bad comments on the system or your choice I fully agree it produced a very fine sound and I am not that interested in exotic cable or much of the other frippery that can be found . What mattters is the final sound and there were one or two systems that on the night I heard them were more to my tastes.

[JamieMcC 592]

Recent post on the diyaudio site on Sonica

https://www.diyaudio.com/forums/digital-source/300692-oppo-udp-series-players-203-205-discussions-upgrades-modifications-64.html

"Oppo Sonica DAC/streamer modification

---

Although not a player in the usual sense, the Oppo Sonica is in fact a very capable streamer. Also, it shares most of its digital and analogue circuitry with the Oppo UDP-205 (in fact, it looks as if the 205 circuitry was based on the Sonica, which was released prior to the 205).

Originally, I was looking for a replacement for my JLTI modded Oppo 105, primarily to capitalise on the developments in DAC technology, and I was actually looking at the 205 (with mods). However, when I realised that the 205 had no apps at all and was not going to get any, I decided that this was not the way to go (I have no 4K equipment and do not plan to get any for now, so I don't need that feature).

Instead, I decided to keep my 105 and try it out with an external DAC. I subsequently tried some never DACs in the EUR 1500 range, connecting my 105 via coax. This enabled me to have both the 105 and the DACs I was testing connected to my system at the same time for easy comparison.

During the testing, it turned out that Joe's mods to the 105 did a really good job (I already knew that ), as I didn't really get any improvements. Some areas might be better on the DACs, while other were better on the 105, but there were no overall improvements.

Clearly, I was either going to pay a lot more for a DAC that would give me some real improvements - or do something else ...

Now, I have been following this thread since its inception, and it has become clear to me that Coris has a very good grip on modifying Oppo gear, so why not go with a Sonica DAC and get Coris to modify it along the same lines as his UDP-205 mods?

I contacted Coris to hear if he would be able to make modifications to a Sonica DAC, and his answer was 'yes'. I then started looking into how to get a Sonica DAC, which turned out not to be that easy, as this was just after Oppo had announced that they were pulling out of the audio market.

Furtunately, it turned that the local Oppo importer here in Denmark still had some left, so I managed to get one. After picking it up from the retailer, I went home and hooked it up to my system, connecting via coax to my 105 and tried it out to an impression on how it sounded before sending if off for modification. Again, the setup enabled me to compare directly to my 105.

The Oppo Sonica DAC is/was priced at around EUR 950, somewhat cheaper than the other stuff I tried, but overall there (again) wasn't much difference when comparing with my 105, but the Sonica was just as good. I tried out the 105/Sonica combination for a week or so, and then sent off the Sonica to Coris for modification.

Coris and I had agreed that this would be an all-out modification, involving PSU, digital and analogue stages. Since this was the first time Coris was going to do a Sonica modification, I had also told him that this was not a rush job - rather I would go for the right solution, if we ran into any issues.

We did - as it turned out that the PSU module that Coris had developed for the UDP players would not fit in the Sonica. However, Coris is serious about what he does, so instead of just creating a one-off solution for the PSU in my Sonica, he developed a new PSU board that can be used in both the players and the Sonica. And as far as I understand, the new PSU board even incorporates some improvements over the old one

During the whole process, Coris kept me updated on progress and even sent photos of various steps - great service!

After a few other minor setbacks (we had to wait for some components at one point), the day came when the Sonica was ready for final testing in Coris' system. Everything tested fine, and he actually told me that the modified Sonica was a notch better than his modified UDP-205!

Wow! Now I could hardly wait to get the Sonica back into my system! Fortunately, that happened not so long after, and I got everything hooked up the same as before and sat down to listen.

RIGHT - something had definitely happened since I listened to the stock Sonica!

There were overall improvements in clarity all across the board, improved top end extension and smoothness, improved low end extension and weight, and the already good space/soundstage was improved even further. And then there is an improvement that I do not really know how to describe, but let's call it 'plasticity'. It is the ability of the Sonica to show each performer standing out against the background and to describe the space around the performers. Obviously, this is most evident on good recordings, but on those, this ability can almost transform the recordings!

I have had my modified Sonica for around a month now, and I am thoroughly happy about the modifications done and how my Sonica sounds

Thank you to Coris for creating such wonderful music!"

[Trouble and strife 3]

Has any one on here had any dealings with Cori's or used his services before?