I had an Oppo 105D several years ago and thought its DAC was rather lack luster. The original Schiit Bifrost DAC I had sounded much better. Heck, in the end, I ended up running the 105D into the Parasound Halo P5 preamp I had at the time and used the DAC in it which sounded better than the 105D’s DAC.
Then again, the Oppo left a bad taste in my mouth since it would constantly crash and freeze up while streaming music, or even when loading or playing a disc or Blu-ray. And the fact that it couldn’t even stream gapless.
So the short answer to your question, the DSD will sound a LOT better.
I don’t have any direct experience with the OPPOs as stereo sources but the DS Sr. is the best DAC I have ever had in my systems.
Try to pick one up used and give it a whirl. Used prices are awfully reasonable for a DAC that still has one or more performance updates/upgrades waiting in the wings and they are still very easy to re-sell if not your cup of tea.
If you have half-way decent speakers (in terms of their ability to potentially reproduce a wide and deep sound stage and resolving “top end”), I really think the performance improvement wrought by the DS Sr. will startle you.
Have you pulled the trigger yet? Please let us know what you decide and, if you grab one, what your listening impressions are.
I found the same issue. I2S for PCM /DSD files & discs sounded the best where USB for the same files sounded a bit bright. Coax (for PCM only) on my rig sounded almost indistinguishable from I2S, but on some material, I2S edged it out.
When I listen to 5 channel music, the DSSr’s coax handles the L & R channels while the Center, L surround, & R surround are played through my Onkyo AVPreamp’s DAC. No delay issues either.
To update this thread. I picked up a modded Oppo Sonica Dac which was excellent and a step up from the OPPO 105.
I then ran across a good deal from a forum member here on a PSA DS Sr.
It is very impressive.
I tried a Bridge II in it, but there was little difference for me from using the OPPO 105 as an ethernet bridge.
I have picked up a MAtrix and trying out the i2S input with good results.
With the Matrix, are you streaming from a NAS? I don’t have a Matrix, but with my Synology NAS I can use their DS Audio iPad app and stream from the NAS via USB. Sound quality not quite up to my standards, but curious how it would sound with Matrix-I2S setup.
Right now I am using a Win 10 laptop > USB cable > Matrix > HDMI out > i2S DS Sr input.
Files are accessed from a attached SSD network drive.
I also stream over ethernet using an OPPO 105 as the network bridge inot the DS via Coax.
Going USB through the Matrix sounds a little better and it is not subtle. The Matrix is an interesting device. I found one used to try out and am going to keep it around.
If I get a dedicated ethernet bridge that uses USB to the DS dac I might try the Matrix in the signal path.
