Using my Marantz pre-pro, I used both HDMI outputs anyway, and yes, Audio Only sounded somewhat smoother, with less haze and, consequently, greater resolution of very low-level signals. But the difference wasn't much. I think this implementation of low-jitter HDMI is a pyrrhic victory, especially for BD playback, and that most users will forgo the low-jitter audio merely out of convenience.
These days I play few discs, but when I do, my Manhattan system can handle only multichannel sources with analog outputs. Fortunately, the implementation of the Sabre Pro DACs in the UDP-205 is excellent. Not only can I use the Oppo's dedicated 7.1-channel analog outputs (RCA), which are fed by one of the DAC chips; The other DAC chip enhances multichannel performance by taking just the L/R output from the dedicated Stereo Audio Outs, unbalanced (RCA) or balanced (XLR). The stereo RCA outs worked just fine in this setup, and made the wiring and connections more coherent. I didn't hear a difference between them and the XLRs via 1m Kubala-Sosna interconnects.
I loved the UDP-205's sound through its analog outputs. That's important, because playing discs in the UDP-205 is how I determine whether to rip and keep the disc. The sound I got from the UDP-205 was honest, revealing the quality of the recording and the performance. It predicted what I could expect from the resulting file when I played it through the server with its much more expensive DACs.
In fact, the UDP-205 can subtly shape the sound to the user's taste with the choice of filter characteristics used in the conversion of digital to analog. On the Audio Processing page of the setup menu is an option called Filter Characteristics. I've listed the seven selections below, along with comments from Oppo and from AKM (footnote 3): Brick Wall ("Usually good for measurement results, not so good for listening"); Corrected Mini Phase Fast ("Low dispersion, Harmonic Sound"); Apodizing Fast ("Some listeners like this due to the elimination of so called 'pre-ringing'"); Mini Phase Slow ("Short Delay Slow Rolloff, Acoustic Tone"); Mini Phase Fast–"Default" ("Short Delay Sharp Rolloff, Acoustic Sound"); Linear Phase Slow ("Slow Rolloff, Traditional Tone"); Linear Phase Fast ("Sharp Rolloff, Traditional Sound").
According to AKM, Mini Phase Fast, the default filter, should "enhance bass sound," and it did—but I found the Apodizing Fast filter had less edge and so was more to my liking. Each of the others, with the possible exception of Brick Wall, had both positive and negative characteristics, and I can imagine that other listeners would make choices different from mine. However, I've played with filters before and have found them bewildering: Compulsive comparing does not lead to certainty. I advise you to choose two or three favorite tracks for your initial trials, listen, choose, live with your choice, and don't revisit the issue unless something changes in your room or system—or mind—that dictates you must.
Disc playback aside, the most attractive aspects of the Oppo UDP-205 involved its use as a multichannel music server and multichannel DAC—no other such integrated devices are near it in price. As a server, the UDP-205 was relatively swift at accessing attached USB drives and networked file storage. I ran playback from USB and NAS drives, by file, performer, genre, etc, on-screen with the remote or with the Oppo app on my iPad. The UDP-205 handled all file formats up through 24/192 and DSD64. Higher resolutions appeared as options but while the UDP-205 tried each track of a selected album in turn, it would play none of them. What it did play, through analog outputs, sounded as good in every way as the original discs, and in my view was more conducive to relaxed enjoyment.
Using the UDP-205 as a server, either HDMI output was equally successful, depending on the DACs in the target component. Of course, if you choose the Audio Only HDMI out, its black screen will prevent you from doing any onscreen browsing or playback. Fortunately, Oppo's iPad app for the 2XX players bypasses that roadblock, and turns the UDP-205 into a formidable multichannel music player.
As a $1299 DAC, the UDP-205 sits comfortably in the wide gap between miniDSP's PCM-only uDAC-8 ($299) and exaSound's e38 ($3839). Like those two, the Oppo can be accessed as a DAC via one of its USB inputs. The other two USB ports function when it's used as a music server/player via the built-in file interface or the iPad app. To use the UDP-205 purely as a DAC with a full-service music player such as Roon or JRiver Media Center, you must use either its HDMI or Ethernet connections. Both Roon and JRiver recognized the UDP-205 via its HDMI input, but as Roon doesn't support the UPnP/DLNA protocol required by Oppo, only JRiver worked with Ethernet, wired or wireless. If you prefer HDMI, I warn you: It was a bit flaky to configure with Roon or JRiver (I didn't try others), but it was doable.
Ethernet, however, worked with nary a bump. Within seconds of connecting the UDP-205 to my network, it appeared on JRiver's list of available network targets. I simply configured JRiver to send all files to the Oppo in their original formats, and bingo, I was playing multichannel PCM up to 24/192, and multichannel DSD64. I suspect that any player that supports UPnP/DLNA will also work. The sound was superb, and a real advance on the USB-connected miniDSP uDAC-8: cleaner and more dynamic, with greater bass extension. In comparison to the exaSound, the Oppo had punchier but equally transparent sound with solid bass, but the e38's sound was more subtle, smooth, and spacious. I ultimately prefer the exaSound, especially for long-term listening, but I could also make a case for the Oppo without overreaching.
Gapless playback is limited on USB and unavailable on Ethernet, but JRiver's intelligent buffering and the UDP-205's faster processing have reduced the lengths of these gaps, which in most cases were unnoticeable. With a Mahler symphony, in which portions of a single movement are in separate tracks/files, I heard a gap only when Mahler had left neither a break nor a sharp transition.
Oppo Digital's UDP-205 offers many features and a high quality of sound at a low price. I mostly prize it because it's the long-sought missing link: a high-resolution, DSD-capable, multichannel digital-to-analog converter for under $1500. But it's much more than that—it's also a quite good server/player and network bridge. Even if it didn't have a disc transport, I could recommend it.
Footnote 3: ESS does not provide descriptions of their filters, so Oppo publishes descriptions of equivalent filters from AKM, whose DAC chip is used in the Oppo UDP-203.
In fact, the UDP-205 can subtly shape the sound to the user's taste with the choice of filter characteristics used in the conversion of digital to analog. On the Audio Processing page of the setup menu is an option called Filter Characteristics. I've listed the seven selections below, along with comments from Oppo and from AKM (footnote 3): Brick Wall ("Usually good for measurement results, not so good for listening"); Corrected Mini Phase Fast ("Low dispersion, Harmonic Sound"); Apodizing Fast ("Some listeners like this due to the elimination of so called 'pre-ringing'"); Mini Phase Slow ("Short Delay Slow Rolloff, Acoustic Tone"); Mini Phase Fast–"Default" ("Short Delay Sharp Rolloff, Acoustic Sound"); Linear Phase Slow ("Slow Rolloff, Traditional Tone"); Linear Phase Fast ("Sharp Rolloff, Traditional Sound").
According to AKM, Mini Phase Fast, the default filter, should "enhance bass sound," and it did—but I found the Apodizing Fast filter had less edge and so was more to my liking. Each of the others, with the possible exception of Brick Wall, had both positive and negative characteristics, and I can imagine that other listeners would make choices different from mine. However, I've played with filters before and have found them bewildering: Compulsive comparing does not lead to certainty. I advise you to choose two or three favorite tracks for your initial trials, listen, choose, live with your choice, and don't revisit the issue unless something changes in your room or system—or mind—that dictates you must.
Disc playback aside, the most attractive aspects of the Oppo UDP-205 involved its use as a multichannel music server and multichannel DAC—no other such integrated devices are near it in price. As a server, the UDP-205 was relatively swift at accessing attached USB drives and networked file storage. I ran playback from USB and NAS drives, by file, performer, genre, etc, on-screen with the remote or with the Oppo app on my iPad. The UDP-205 handled all file formats up through 24/192 and DSD64. Higher resolutions appeared as options but while the UDP-205 tried each track of a selected album in turn, it would play none of them. What it did play, through analog outputs, sounded as good in every way as the original discs, and in my view was more conducive to relaxed enjoyment.
Footnote 3: ESS does not provide descriptions of their filters, so Oppo publishes descriptions of equivalent filters from AKM, whose DAC chip is used in the Oppo UDP-203.
