Hello Art of Sound world!

[Coris]

Introducing myself...
I am, looking (for long time now) for the best sound, as many other as well. Never enough satisfied with the hardware I could find on market, I tried my ways of doing, modifying the devices for the best possible sound and performances. I can say that I am specialised (or I know very well) the Oppo company audio/video devices. Well, Oppo has stopped now their business in this field. but the (very good hardware based) devices are still in function out there, and it will be for many years as well. Also another big names in this hardware media field are using almost the same functioning principle for their produced devices.
As in the beginning my improvements (mods) it consisted mostly on improvisations, I decided to proceed much more professional. I design or redesign myself the necessary modules (functional sections) for my improvements. Here bellow are some exemple about my work. I intend here to show off my work for those interested, being open to discussions and even critics.

Fully improved Oppo 203 (XLR stereo outputs)


Post DAC (Sabre Pro) output module


Fully upgraded multi-channel stage on UHD 205 (all XLR outputs)


Sonica DAC fully upgraded


Linear power supply for all Oppo players models

[walpurgis]

Hello Coris. Welcome to AOS.

Oppo players have some popularity here, so the aftermarket upgrades may be of interest.

If you want to advertise or sell through the forum, you would need a trade account and you would need to contact Marco the site owner for this.


Enjoy the forum,
Geoff.

[Macca]

Hi Coris, welcome to the forum.

Interesting mods, look forward to seeing them in more detail.

[Coris]

Hello Coris. Welcome to AOS.

Oppo players have some popularity here, so the aftermarket upgrades may be of interest.

If you want to advertise or sell through the forum, you would need a trade account and you would need to contact Marco the site owner for this.


Enjoy the forum,
Geoff.

Hello Geoff
Thanks for your welcome words. Well, my welcome post it is not meant as advertising. I only wanted making known about my preoccupations in the field, as about my (many years) work. I am not intending selling through this forum, but the ones who may be interested in more details, can very well join the thread or contact me by personal messages.
My intention about my presence in this forum, is opening discussions with the interested ones, about the upgrades fields, exchange experiences, and results, making known about the particular (individual) efforts for the best sound, out of the existing devices out there.

[Light Dependant Resistor]

Hi Coris
Welcome to the forum. That is an interesting approach to the complexities of a disc player. A marriage of surface mount ,
TO220 , various combinations of coupling using transformers but as I see mainly capacitive. It looks you designing pcb's to
do additional regulation and filtering, unsure of what the philosophy or approach is ?

Looking forward to your contributions to topics.

Cheers / Chris

[Coris]

Well, indeed it is quite a complexity/diversity of components in my pictured devices... My concept is that the coupling capacities are not a good thing, and in general the caps in signal path is not something I would like to have/use... In the pictures above the caps are used mostly for filtering/decoupling reasons. And for such "job" the caps are very recommended (in y opinion).
Indeed, I have designed all the modules I use in my improvements, for the precise purposes and functionalities in all that complexity. There is a little bit difficult talking in general in this field, but if one may focus on one particular aspect, then I will be happy going into details.
About powering and regulation, my approach is using analogue/linear power supplies type. This way of powering it have a huge benefit for the digital stages performances, and outputted signals quality. Mainly advantage is dramatically lowering the overall noise level into the whole system. This is actually and manly one of my concepts: powering the digital stages in these (pictured above) devices, from a linear PSU. Another approach I use in my upgrades, is very large filtering capacities, which it get my LPS closer to a battery like power source.
The common approach to the devices pictured here is the use of a linear power supply for the digital stage of the system. Another common approach is about the clock system and its powering mode. As I consider the battery as the cleanest power source, I use a such powering for my unified clock systems, as an improvement of the original (cheaper) approach: more or less low noise regulator.
The cumulative result of all these and other improvement approaches it lead to a dramatic increasing in device performances, as a much higher end signal quality.

[Macca]

Power supplies and power supplies. I also came to the conclusion a long time back that this was the make or break aspect of digital sound. The big advantage of digital is the low noise floor, so what's the point if you are going to have all the power supply noise - and even worse the modulated noise, draining into the sound? I'd like to get a listen to what you've done here, shame you are all the way over in Norway.

[Light Dependant Resistor]

Well, indeed it is quite a complexity/diversity of components in my pictured devices... My concept is that the coupling capacities are not a good thing, and in general the caps in signal path is not something I would like to have/use... In the pictures above the caps are used mostly for filtering/decoupling reasons. And for such "job" the caps are very recommended (in y opinion).
Indeed, I have designed all the modules I use in my improvements, for the precise purposes and functionalities in all that complexity. There is a little bit difficult talking in general in this field, but if one may focus on one particular aspect, then I will be happy going into details.
About powering and regulation, my approach is using analogue/linear power supplies type. This way of powering it have a huge benefit for the digital stages performances, and outputted signals quality. Mainly advantage is dramatically lowering the overall noise level into the whole system. This is actually and manly one of my concepts: powering the digital stages in these (pictured above) devices, from a linear PSU. Another approach I use in my upgrades, is very large filtering capacities, which it get my LPS closer to a battery like power source.
The common approach to the devices pictured here is the use of a linear power supply for the digital stage of the system. Another common approach is about the clock system and its powering mode. As I consider the battery as the cleanest power source, I use a such powering for my unified clock systems, as an improvement of the original (cheaper) approach: more or less low noise regulator.
The cumulative result of all these and other improvement approaches it lead to a dramatic increasing in device performances, as a much higher end signal quality.

Hi Coris
With capacitors they of course work well in unison with inductors when placed in power supplies. Ideally get the ripple of your supply
very low at one location, rather than repeating with capacitors what the power supply initially provided and is providing.
A capacitance multiplier that uses the current gain of a semiconductor (hfe) to in effect multiply the capacitance at the base or gate
of a transistor or fet or mosfet. is a great circuit for using effectively more capacitance at areas normally allocated as much smaller values of
capacitance bypassing. Maybe you are using such techniques already.

[Light Dependant Resistor]

Well, indeed it is quite a complexity/diversity of components in my pictured devices... My concept is that the coupling capacities are not a good thing, and in general the caps in signal path is not something I would like to have/use... In the pictures above the caps are used mostly for filtering/decoupling reasons. And for such "job" the caps are very recommended (in y opinion).
Indeed, I have designed all the modules I use in my improvements, for the precise purposes and functionalities in all that complexity. There is a little bit difficult talking in general in this field, but if one may focus on one particular aspect, then I will be happy going into details.
About powering and regulation, my approach is using analogue/linear power supplies type. This way of powering it have a huge benefit for the digital stages performances, and outputted signals quality. Mainly advantage is dramatically lowering the overall noise level into the whole system. This is actually and manly one of my concepts: powering the digital stages in these (pictured above) devices, from a linear PSU. Another approach I use in my upgrades, is very large filtering capacities, which it get my LPS closer to a battery like power source.
The common approach to the devices pictured here is the use of a linear power supply for the digital stage of the system. Another common approach is about the clock system and its powering mode. As I consider the battery as the cleanest power source, I use a such powering for my unified clock systems, as an improvement of the original (cheaper) approach: more or less low noise regulator.
The cumulative result of all these and other improvement approaches it lead to a dramatic increasing in device performances, as a much higher end signal quality.

Hi Coris
With capacitors they of course work well in unison with inductors when placed in power supplies. Ideally get the ripple of your supply
very low at one location, rather than repeating with capacitors what the power supply initially provided and is providing.
A capacitance multiplier that uses the current gain of a semiconductor (hfe) to in effect multiply the capacitance at the base or gate
of a transistor or fet or mosfet. is a great circuit for using effectively more capacitance at areas normally allocated as much smaller values of
capacitance bypassing. Maybe you are using such techniques already.

[Coris]

Power supplies and power supplies. I also came to the conclusion a long time back that this was the make or break aspect of digital sound. The big advantage of digital is the low noise floor, so what's the point if you are going to have all the power supply noise - and even worse the modulated noise, draining into the sound? I'd like to get a listen to what you've done here, shame you are all the way over in Norway.

Well, I am not feeling that it may be a shame as I live way over in Norway, but I can agree that it could be an inconvenient when about listening experience exchanges...
Linear power supply powering a digital system it may seems a paradox, when about noise floor. First of all, the digital system it is very noisy by its nature and way of functioning (switching mode). So, a quiet power supply in a such noisy environment it may looks like a nonsense. Well it is not just like this. A switching mode PSU it is very energy efficient, it need little place, is cheap and do not generate heat (for enough lower power). The big issue of a SMPS is its very high HF noise level delivered over the DC component. It can reach many hundred mV. A quiet SMPS is very expensive, and it still generate HF noises, as complete filtering it is not possible. So, that whole HF noises over the DC component are injected into the already noisy digital system. Worse, the interaction in between the HF generated by the SMPS and the residual noises of the digital system it produce another new HF radiations. Very large spectre of noises, and quite high levels spread all over. Filtering and shielding it help somehow, but it will never prevent a such large HF spectre. The result is an dramatic increasing of the overall noise level into the whole system. Everything it become more dramatic, when about such HF large spectre noises it reach the power pin of the oscillators, which are meant to clock the digital system components. Another good way for negative influences for the digital processing.
Well, when about replacing the SMPS with a linear PSU, all this HF noise amount coming out of a SMPS it disappear. The linear PSU it cannot generate HF noises at the levels the SMPS does. Virtually the LPS is fully quiet, comparing it with the digital system it is connected to.
In this simple way, one get rid of a very important HF noise amount injected into the whole digital stage. It is a clue heaving the quiet possible linear PSU powering a digital system? No! The biggest improvement for the digital processing is the simple replacement (SMPS by LPS type) and elimination of the PSU as source for HF noises. The overall noise level is dramatically lowered in the whole device in this simple way.
One may know that a linear PSU it become itself noisy when it is connected to a digital system. This is because digital noises injections is both back and forth. However, and as overall appreciation, it occur an important decreasing of the noise levels into the digital system, when the SMPS is removed, and replaced by a LPS. Based on this approach (and measurements), I decided to use the LPS in upgrading the audio/video devices digital stages. Well, this is not always possible, but when and where it is possible it is a big clue doing so...