[WarrenMmm]

Having heard the fine implementation of Delta Sigma DACs in the Oppo 205, and the staggering improvement in the same Oppo 205 after pre-DAC, clocking and post-DAC mods by CustomAnalogue.com (JLTi), I can say that D-S DACs need a lot of work to bring out their best. But having said that, their best turns out to be spectacularly wonderful.

 

[bfreedma]

Having heard the fine implementation of Delta Sigma DACs in the Oppo 205, and the staggering improvement in the same Oppo 205 after pre-DAC, clocking and post-DAC mods by CustomAnalogue.com (JLTi), I can say that D-S DACs need a lot of work to bring out their best. But having said that, their best turns out to be spectacularly wonderful.

Yet another example of taking already inaudible “problems” and allegedly making them “more inaudible”.

Many claims on that page, but not a single measurement. My favorite is the claim they found a mode in the ESS DAC that “ESS may not even be aware of”. Come on...

 

[sonitus mirus]

Yet another example of taking already inaudible “problems” and allegedly making them “more inaudible”.

Many claims on that page, but not a single measurement. My favorite is the claim they found a mode in the ESS DAC that “ESS may not even be aware of”. Come on...

I was thinking the same thing. Without any measurements, how does the manufacturer even know they are making any audible improvements? I'm guessing it is all about specification sheets for each of the components, and while the overall measured performance is more than likely to be technically better, without even a base to work with, how can any potential enhancement be verified?

If there are any noticeable differences in sound, I'd be more concerned that something was wrong.

 

[bigshot]

Is the DAC in the Oppo 205 different than the one in the HA-1? They were both designed around the same time and for the same basic purpose.

 

[bfreedma]

Is the DAC in the Oppo 205 different than the one in the HA-1? They were both designed around the same time and for the same basic purpose.

The 205's DAC is an ES9038PRO DAC
The HA-1 DAC is an ES9018

Slightly different USB input capabilities as well:

205: USB Audio: up to 2ch/768kHz PCM, up to 2ch/2.8224MHz/5.6448MHz/11.2896MHz/22.5792 MHz (native mode only) DSD.
HA-1: up to 2ch/384kHz PCM up to 2.8224 MHz (DSD64), 5.6448 MHz (DSD128), 11.2896 MHz (DSD256, native mode only)

 

[bigshot]

Well my HA-1 doesn’t sound any different than any other stuff I own.

 

[bfreedma]

Well my HA-1 doesn’t sound any different than any other stuff I own.

You didn’t ask if there were audible differences.

But you’re welcome for my Googling of the answer to the question you did ask...

 

[WarrenMmm]

Yet another example of taking already inaudible “problems” and allegedly making them “more inaudible”.

Many claims on that page, but not a single measurement. My favorite is the claim they found a mode in the ESS DAC that “ESS may not even be aware of”. Come on...

So you put measurements on your sales pages???? Get real. Mr Rasmussen LOVES to give measurements. Get into a conversation about them and it will never end. But the page you mention is already far too technical for what it's meant to be.

 

[bigshot]

I was trying to figure out if it was the same guts inside before I offered an opinion on it. Based on the serial numbers, I think they are the same, just with added AV features on the blu-ray player.

 

[bfreedma]

So you put measurements on your sales pages???? Get real. Mr Rasmussen LOVES to give measurements. Get into a conversation about them and it will never end. But the page you mention is already far too technical for what it's meant to be.

If you’re going to make claims about a product that’s already audibly transparent, I’m going to need more than flowery prose to consider an additional $4000Aud on an “upgrade”. Sorry, but unless you can produce something tangible, I don’t see any reason to believe there is any performance advantage audible to humans.

The whole page reeks of sales BS. It’s carefully written to draw in audiophiles without actually offering a single pice of hard evidence.

If you can supply something, happy to discuss it further.

 

[bfreedma]

I was trying to figure out if it was the same guts inside before I offered an opinion on it. Based on the serial numbers, I think they are the same, just with added AV features on the blu-ray player.

Not sure if that was a reply to my post. If so, there are clearly differences in the internals as the two devices don’t use the same DAC chip.

Both are probably audibly transparent, but the 205 supports higher res input (for anyone that might be important to).

 

[bigshot]

Looking at the model numbers, it appears that they are in the same series. I've seen Wolfson DACs numbered like that where they are the same DAC, just with different features. It may be the sampling rate difference is just to make it compatible with all the video formats. The one in the HA-1 might also be capable of that, but there are no common 2 channel audio formats that would call for it.

 

[bfreedma]

Looking at the model numbers, it appears that they are in the same series. I've seen Wolfson DACs numbered like that where they are the same DAC, just with different features. It may be the sampling rate difference is just to make it compatible with all the video formats. The one in the HA-1 might also be capable of that, but there are no common 2 channel audio formats that would call for it.

Same family, but several years apart in release and some different capabilities including built in filters in the 9038

http://www.esstech.com/index.php/en...ile-dacs/classic-sabre-8-channel-dacs/es9018/

http://www.esstech.com/index.php/en...ers/audiophile-dacs/sabre-pro-dacs/es9038pro/

 

[chaos215bar2]

The whole page reeks of sales BS. It’s carefully written to draw in audiophiles without actually offering a single pice of hard evidence.

I have no stake in this one way or another, but I do have to agree with this statement. I read about half way through the sales page, and I see plenty of technical-sounding sales language telling me how great all the upgrades are, but very little actual technical information explaining what the benefits are.

 

[bigshot]

Same family, but several years apart in release and some different capabilities including built in filters in the 9038

Ah. OK. Then there is at least a theoretical reason for them to sound different. I know it's highly unlikely that they do, but I was seeing if I could eliminate even the slightest possibility completely.