[kitaoji]

Instead of working (as I should be), I took time today to compare the Corda Opera to my system, which consists of a Stello DA100 and a Mapletree HD150. I switched between USB DACs on foobar, and connected the Mapletree (a GE 12BH7A and GE 5751) to the Opera's pre-amp out.

I'm not a fan of crossfeed in general, as I feel that it muffles and dulls the music. I'm also a bit biased against the PCM1794 D/A chip that was present in the Opera.

Here are some notes:
-Opera headphone out vs. preamp out (to Mapletree)
This, I felt was the weakest part of the amp. The preamp on the Opera made my warm Mapletree somewhat lifeless and feeling as if the highs were rolled off.

The headphone out on the Opera however, is very nicely implemented, and I found it a very nice match with K701s. Very smooth (polished?), and it reveals the details, but there isn't anything too unpleasant with the details. One could argue that the Opera is forgiving, but not warm and gooey.

-Opera DAC vs. Stello DA100, through the Opera's headphone out
I've heard the PCM1794 chip on granodemostasa's VDA-2 and a PCM1798 on BESAudio's Icarus, and in both cases I've found the sound too thin for my tastes. The Opera's soundstage is wider than that of the Stello's, but the Stello's imaging is more 3-dimensional and has a deeper bass extension. The Opera DAC brought out the midranges (even more on my K701s), but I heard more of the lower-end through the Stello. Therefore I find the Opera's DAC to be somewhat boring.

That said, I don't find the Opera to be bad in any way (with the exception of the pre-amp out, that is.) I would seriously consider the Opera's amp (the analog out version) as a contender for a well done solid-state amplifier, as I really liked the Stello feeding into the Opera.