JD1 Posted August 25, 2020 Share Posted August 25, 2020 Hi Guys Have an Oppo 105 Dac i run into a Musical Fidelity M6s pre. I use a hard drive with flac files plugged into the oppo and run the music into the pre amp via balanced cables. I have been wondering if I will get any improvement running through a laptop and Usb into the port in the back of the pre amp. To do it I have to get my wife's laptop and install jriver. Not a huge deal but I thought there may be someone that has an MF 6 and an oppo that has compared them. My mind tells me that the oppo will be the better of the two. The dac in the pre is the same as what's in most of their amps or so I was told. Any input or opinions greatly appreciated. Cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnL Posted August 25, 2020 Share Posted August 25, 2020 (edited) Give it a shot. Nothing to lose. The M6s DAC appears to upsample ALL inputs to 32/768 This may possibly also be the case with your M6s Pre. Why not try the asynchronous USB input of your OPPO 105 as well? Please let us know how things pan out as I also use a HDD with Flac files and have sometimes wondered about the SQ of my Oppo 205's asynchronous USB input but don't have a laptop to hook up with ATM. Edited August 25, 2020 by JohnL 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JD1 Posted August 25, 2020 Author Share Posted August 25, 2020 Thanks John The pre dac is the same as the integrated dac i am told. Will probably end up giving it a go out of curiosity. I have a good dac sitting there that I haven't tried. The tricky part is getting my wife's laptop and downloading the software for jriver without her knowing. You say the MF upsamples and that is something I don't think the Oppo does. Don't know if upsampling is spooky science or not but there are those that swear by it. I assume upsampling is the same as upscaling that people spend thousands on or is this different. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JD1 Posted August 26, 2020 Author Share Posted August 26, 2020 Hoping someone can help me here as I am a little bit technically inept at times. I downloaded JRiver and got my music library loaded. I then set the laptop up as best as I could to play through the Usb output. The line level output must be low as I had to have the amp up quite a bit higher to achieve the same volume as the oppo played through Xlr. I assume there is a setting in Jriver or settings on the computer to raise the output voltage. I would like to get the MF working to give it a fair go. It seemed to be a fair Dac but did lack the punch and warmth of the oppo. That may not be the best desciption but the sound was not as good even turned up. I am wondering if there is a loss of sound and dynamics with the lower line level. Cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snoopy8 Posted August 26, 2020 Share Posted August 26, 2020 Suggest getting a phone App to measure the loudness. You will then be able to use the same volume when doing the comparison. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
betty boop Posted August 26, 2020 Share Posted August 26, 2020 On 25/08/2020 at 3:40 PM, JD1 said: Have an Oppo 105 Dac i run into a Musical Fidelity M6s pre. I use a hard drive with flac files plugged into the oppo and run the music into the pre amp via balanced cables. this will be likely the difference... you have more signal via balance and likely sounding louder. all that said I am not sure the inbuilt usb dac on the m6 integrated though not rubbish, will compete with the full dac implementation with fully balanced output stage of the oppo 105. if have the oppo why not use it ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JD1 Posted August 26, 2020 Author Share Posted August 26, 2020 Thanks guys. Thought the balanced vs usb connection was part of the culprit. Just wanted to give the MF dac a go but also wanted to try to set up computer via usb in case I get a new dac and want to go via this setup. In a way I thought the MF had a bit more detail in the sound. Will have a better listen today. The oppo should by rights beat it. It does have a much more impressive sound and more dynamics. Unfortunately I have a set of ears these days that need a refurbish or something. Shame can't do to our ears what can be done to eyes. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
betty boop Posted August 26, 2020 Share Posted August 26, 2020 6 minutes ago, JD1 said: Thanks guys. Thought the balanced vs usb connection was part of the culprit. Just wanted to give the MF dac a go but also wanted to try to set up computer via usb in case I get a new dac and want to go via this setup. In a way I thought the MF had a bit more detail in the sound. Will have a better listen today. The oppo should by rights beat it. It does have a much more impressive sound and more dynamics. Unfortunately I have a set of ears these days that need a refurbish or something. Shame can't do to our ears what can be done to eyes. yeah i dont think the mf dac is going to be rubbish or anything. definitely worth comparisons to explore. and trust your ears honestly. if something sounds better to you, it sounds better, not much more about it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts