Guest Sime Posted May 16, 2017 Share Posted May 16, 2017 @powerav even if the Panasonic is better, the 205 is better than my old 752 and is better built than the Panasonic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
powerav Posted May 16, 2017 Share Posted May 16, 2017 (edited) 23 minutes ago, Sime said: @powerav even if the Panasonic is better, the 205 is better than my old 752 and is better built than the Panasonic. I don't know,I don't have one. Just reading that people are saying that the 4K on the Panasonic is better but then they buy the Oppo. Maybe the 203 wasn't set up right. Edited May 16, 2017 by powerav Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Sime Posted May 16, 2017 Share Posted May 16, 2017 @powerav and, from simply for looks only, to 205 wins, it looks hella nice in my stack. @:) al congrats mate, look forward to your thoughts, just DO NOT play cd's on it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
powerav Posted May 16, 2017 Share Posted May 16, 2017 49 minutes ago, Sime said: and, from simply for looks only, to 205 wins, it looks hella nice in my stack. I agree with this as it looks exactly like the Integra gear. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
betty boop Posted May 16, 2017 Author Share Posted May 16, 2017 59 minutes ago, Sime said: @:) al congrats mate, look forward to your thoughts, just DO NOT play cd's on it thanks sime, probably like with the 203 take me month or so to put through paces, especially the analog side of the 205 which will explore further. CD ? oh i'll likely compare it to a range of players from $400 20+ year old relic of a player to mid level current tech cyrus ($2300 - same price as 205) to my $8-$9k luxman ... why not :D but yeah initially mostly need to reacquaint myself with oppo again. Did some base setup last night, do a bit more in-depth today. likely just watch a movie or two to start with. wont be jumping to any conclusions.... so dont expect much from me for a while... especially given the amount of stuff there is to explore on the thing Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AudioGeek Posted May 17, 2017 Share Posted May 17, 2017 Nice one Al. Generally with oppo most prefer xlr out over rca as its "louder". My parents have a stock 105 and i have a jlti version. The difference is substantial. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blybo Posted May 17, 2017 Share Posted May 17, 2017 I took @gonefishing999's comment to mean that although it will play CD's, as any bluray player will, that playback SQ is better with ripped redbook material, although that is also dependent on how good the rip is . Most will rip using a multi format PC drive anyway... He should have also made it clear he hasn't used a 205 and was only talking about experience with older models. Both the 203 and 205 have brand new optical assemblies so can't be directly compared to the 105 or 95. I had a 203 but returned it due to the buggy nature of the thing with audio drop outs and half baked firmware, I hope they get it right eventually. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blybo Posted May 17, 2017 Share Posted May 17, 2017 4 hours ago, powerav said: I don't know,I don't have one. Just reading that people are saying that the 4K on the Panasonic is better but then they buy the Oppo. Maybe the 203 wasn't set up right. Maybe the firmware was crap and has been improved since. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Sime Posted May 17, 2017 Share Posted May 17, 2017 1 hour ago, AudioGeek said: Nice one Al. Generally with oppo most prefer xlr out over rca as its "louder". My parents have a stock 105 and i have a jlti version. The difference is substantial. From what I've heard so far, the levels between RCA and XLR aren't much different. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rantan Posted May 17, 2017 Share Posted May 17, 2017 25 minutes ago, blybo said: Both the 203 and 205 have brand new optical assemblies so can't be directly compared to the 105 or 95. I had a 203 but returned it due to the buggy nature of the thing with audio drop outs and half baked firmware, I hope they get it right eventually. If I may ask, what were the bugs you experienced in the 203? If I buy one ( 205 ) I intend to use it primarily for audio disc replay. Were the bugs related to that or was it something else? Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TerryO Posted May 17, 2017 Share Posted May 17, 2017 (edited) 12 hours ago, Sime said: @Addicted to music on my days off I'll see if the 205 can run both simultaneously and see if there's a difference. Yes you can have both RCA and XLR connected up and switch between the two back and forth simultaneously, that is what I was commenting on yesterday and for us yes the XLR's were a positive improvement over the RCA's even taking into account the volume variation between the two types of cables. This was through a MF M6i amplifier. Just a shame the PrimaLuna amp only has RCA connections as that will be the primary amp for the system. Watched the Leonard Cohen live in Dublin DVD last night on the 205 using the second HDMI cable for audio and was mightily impressed listening to it in 7.1 surround sound (yes I know I am a heathen) even though all speakers were driven only by the Yamaha RXA 3060 HT amp which struggles a bit with the VA Concert Grand speakers. Before purchasing the 205 I compared it to the 203 and a $3000 Primare CD player all in the same rack in a store in Canberra, for my ears the 205 delivered a much more enjoyable sq than either other player. But I accept others might not accept my findings, each to their own ears. cheers Terry Edited May 17, 2017 by TerryO 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blybo Posted May 17, 2017 Share Posted May 17, 2017 3 minutes ago, rantan said: If I may ask, what were the bugs you experienced in the 203? If I buy one ( 205 ) I intend to use it primarily for audio disc replay. Were the bugs related to that or was it something else? Thanks Didn't even try a CD. I had it in my dedicated HT room for UHD playback and found the home screen wouldn't even work out of the box, had to change the colour space. Also had random audio drop outs and occasional video drop out. Many had similar experiences with the 203 and i know of a few people on here that returned theirs, as I did. Hopefully it is all firmware related and sorted now. I was surprised to see @:) al had bought the 205 after returning a 203, he will be able to compare the 2. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jventer Posted May 17, 2017 Share Posted May 17, 2017 Looking forward to comparisons with other "proper" dacs, so far we have the 2qute, what about others? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Sime Posted May 17, 2017 Share Posted May 17, 2017 26 minutes ago, Jventer said: Looking forward to comparisons with other "proper" dacs, so far we have the 2qute, what about others? Ditto that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TerryO Posted May 17, 2017 Share Posted May 17, 2017 (edited) I tried back to back the 2Qute along with the PS Audio NuWave Dac, the MF MX-Dac and a Rotel Dac in my system about a month ago teamed up with the 203 and M6i and was disappointed in the results. Then I sampled the PrimaLuna Integrated HP amp alongside them, again at the same time. The PrimaLuna stayed and the Dacs went back. I must say now the M6i with the 205 sounds pretty damn good, early days still but right now the M6i and 205 with XLR's are giving the PrimaLuna a bit of a run for its money. Out of the various Dac's I actually liked the MF MX-Dac the most in my system, if I had to chose between the 203 with the MX-Dac and 205 on its own, the 205 wins hands down. But as I said earlier, each to their own ears. cheers Terry Edited May 17, 2017 by TerryO 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wizardofoz Posted May 17, 2017 Share Posted May 17, 2017 This is the same DAC chipset as in the OPPO Sonica DAC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
powerav Posted May 17, 2017 Share Posted May 17, 2017 Makes me miss the Sonica one that they pulled off the shelves here, the audio performance of the 205 but without the disc part. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeteD Posted May 17, 2017 Share Posted May 17, 2017 19 hours ago, powerav said: Makes me miss the Sonica one that they pulled off the shelves here, the audio performance of the 205 but without the disc part. Yeah, the Sonica DAC was probably going to be a perfect fit for me. I've already told my sad story about selling the 105 after ordering the Sonica... Now I've got a Cambridge CXN and it ticks all of the boxes and sounds great. I love the inbuilt Internet Radio and also the ease of which I can cast Pandora and Spotify from the iPad. With the 205 I would have to add a Chromcast Ultra and then use the Android phone to cast the streaming apps - I think I read somewhere that iPad and Chromecast don't play together well. I am at the stage where I probably don't even care anymore about how good (or how much better than the CXN) the 205 sounds. Unlike some others, I am not keen to keep throwing money at this game until I find the perfect solution. Unless the reviews strongly indicate that the 205 is a quantum leap in sound quality over and above the 105, I'll hang onto the CXN for a couple of years or so and keep an eye out for the next big thing in the $2K price range to hit the street. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
powerav Posted May 17, 2017 Share Posted May 17, 2017 26 minutes ago, PeteD said: I am at the stage where I probably don't even care anymore about how good (or how much better than the CXN) the 205 sounds. Unlike some others, I am not keen to keep throwing money at this Same here, I'm very happy with my Aries Mini, problay just need a DAC to slightly improve, not worth playing the keep up with the Joneses game. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
betty boop Posted May 18, 2017 Author Share Posted May 18, 2017 2 hours ago, PeteD said: Yeah, the Sonica DAC was probably going to be a perfect fit for me. I've already told my sad story about selling the 105 after ordering the Sonica... Now I've got a Cambridge CXN and it ticks all of the boxes and sounds great. I love the inbuilt Internet Radio and also the ease of which I can cast Pandora and Spotify from the iPad. With the 205 I would have to add a Chromcast Ultra and then use the Android phone to cast the streaming apps - I think I read somewhere that iPad and Chromecast don't play together well. I am at the stage where I probably don't even care anymore about how good (or how much better than the CXN) the 205 sounds. Unlike some others, I am not keen to keep throwing money at this game until I find the perfect solution. Unless the reviews strongly indicate that the 205 is a quantum leap in sound quality over and above the 105, I'll hang onto the CXN for a couple of years or so and keep an eye out for the next big thing in the $2K price range to hit the street. Pete it might be worth checking in with T smith over on avs, as I noted his post below today and he might be able to provide some perspective having owned the cxn, 203 and 205 Quote I'd recommend going through this thread as well as the anticipation thread as this question has been asked numerous times with feedback from various members including myself. I purchased the 203 mainly for 4k as I used a Cambridge CXN Network player to stream my music but with any new toy we have to try out all the functionality even if we don't plan on using it. The 203 is a pretty good player on its own that I think most people would be very happy with but the dedicated stereo out on the 205 and top of the line DAC was too much for me to pass up so I ordered it and sold my 203 in less than a day then sold my Cambridge. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk and not to suggest what is right for him is right for you. these are quite complex units and there is quite some possibility you will prefer one or other for your own reasons 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Sime Posted May 19, 2017 Share Posted May 19, 2017 (edited) Well at least when using this machine as a DAC with the input selector on optical, it dosnt suffer the usual HDMI handshake issues that it will do if listening to a cd with the tv off. Edited May 19, 2017 by Sime Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
betty boop Posted May 19, 2017 Author Share Posted May 19, 2017 22 minutes ago, Sime said: Well at least when using this machine as a DAC with the input selector on optical, it dosnt suffer the usual HDMI handshake issues that it will do if listening to a cd with the tv off. one way around this was to make sure for cd listening you setup another input just for that. and make sure its set as analog only i.e. no hdmi no digital outs nothing put them all to off. thats how I remember it. but will explore myself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Sime Posted May 19, 2017 Share Posted May 19, 2017 1 hour ago, al said: one way around this was to make sure for cd listening you setup another input just for that. What do you mean by this? I'm not, as you'll prolly guess, using HDMI out for cd, but XLR, but I still have the 205 hooked up to HDMI. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Sime Posted May 19, 2017 Share Posted May 19, 2017 And I wish I still had my Audeze LCD 2 headphones, I'd like to try the 205's headphone out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Sime Posted May 19, 2017 Share Posted May 19, 2017 Are these two things circled the ESS DAC's? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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