This thread is for comparing audio likings between zidoo's and other players. It's purely subjective : I can compare : UHD3000 with OPPO 205 : I just started to experiment and test a bit with the UHD3000. For DV I still use an Oppo205 and for multichannel DSD I use an Exasound E28. I haven't really had time to judge the picture quality but music wise I have to say that the UHD3000 using the internal DAC sounds a bit more "aerial"...OK that's the audiophile esotheric mambojambo right there....to say "to my ears I do prefer the UDH3000" over the oppo 205. It still doesn't "sound as good to me" as the same DSD file played through roon over the exasound but for the UHD3000 (considering all the rest it does) I am really impressed so far
I only have the OPPO 203 and I am not using the 7.1 Analog outputs on that one as my AMP in fact uses the same AKM4458 DAC and sounds very similar. For those not familiar with OPPO: The 205 uses 2 SABRE 9028PRO DAC's one for 7.1CH and second one just for 2CH analog. Another product to compare UHD3000 with is the Pioneer UDP-LX800. This player uses a similar SOC as the OPPO's but has a even higher build quality 2CH DAC panel using 2x SABRE 9028 PRO chips (one per channel). The problem for me with the Pioneer is that the Music Player does not support SACD ISO and neither DVD-Audio when tried by me in practice. Nothing wrong with the HW build of UHD3000 for sure. I really like that player and have one on order. Functionality wise Music Player still has a way to go to match with OPPO 203/205 as-is today. It has all the potential to surpass it though.
The Oppo 205 uses 2 SABRE 8038 PRO, and not 8028 PRO. It's a long time since I had the Oppo 205, so won't be able to compare them now. The specs for the Oppo was good, but the sound was so so...
The OPPO chips are actually ES9038PRO, the Pioneer uses 2x ES9028PRO my mistake. Thanks for the correction. Strange about the sound with OPPO205. Must have done something wrong with the power and/or crystal circuitry. Sabre ESS chips are known to be extremely critical on those. The Pioneer UDP-LX800 DAC design always looked better to me but anyway Zidoo seems to have gotten it all right this time. These Sabre chips need to be supplied with multiple independently stabilized power feeds which can be seen clearly on the new Zidoo DAC panel. UHD3000 is using ES9068Q comparable with ES9038Q2M used by UHD2000 which specifications are slightly below ES9038PRO. This seems to influence AQ far less than the actual design using top class components around the actual DAC chip.
