Oppo 205 4K UHD Player

[baconbrain]

baconbrain - Thanks for taking the time to try all of this.  To me this offers some interesting conclusions.  The first is perhaps no surprise, and that is that a 2017 model Oppo is significantly better than a few years old budget / mid price Pioneer equivalent.  If I compare my Pioneer BDP-450 playing CD versus the same CD ripped via mR / Mutec the difference is immediately obvious, the Pioneer is a clear step down.   I am however quite impressed by how close you put the Oppo via  XLR to the mR / Mutec, that indicates that the Oppo is perhaps better than some might think.  OK, the Oppo is hardly a budget priced item, but when you consider that it is a 4K Blu ray player, SACD player, CD player, surround sound decoder etc., the fact it is anywhere close to the mR / Mutec playing CD / redbook is I think pretty remarkable.  It looks like @zdenes has reached a slightly different conclusion, but then again he was using the SOtM SMS-200 Ultra, which may well be what it making the difference in that case.

Your mention of HQPlayer gives me a prompt too.  I have had trying HQPlayer on my 'to do' list for a long time now but have never tried it to date.  The good news is that it is now very close to the top of my 'to do' list.  I did want to get the mR V2.5 software running, then HQPlayer would have been next up.  Unfortunately the V2.5 update did not work on my mR.  Apparently Sonore have solved this issue, I have just received my replacement V2.5 micro SD card, so assuming this works OK, trying HQPlayer moves to the top of the list.

As for Octaviars advising that his trusty Pioneer Kuru lasted 'nearly 10 years', this got me thinking, just how old is my second (and seemingly indestructible) Panasonic Plasma?  I actually could not remember, but a quick check revealed that it is just over 9 year old.......    and if that one dies I will be going 4K OLED, time will tell....

Really no extra effort because it was something I wanted to compare anyway. You just provided me with that extra bit of motivation to sit down and do it.  

You really have to try HQplayer. Together with my mR it makes an almost "magical" difference. It is as if the two components were made for each other. Honestly, I have never heard such a dramatic increase in SQ while investing so little.

I took the plunge and purchased a 4k Panasonic last year but must admit that it is nowhere near the 4k OLED displays. Perhaps in another year or 2 ....