OPPO Sonica DAC Network Player Review

William April 6, 2025

0 21 10 minutes read

The OPPO brand has been on everyone’s lips lately, and, what is characteristic, this is happening not only and not so much due to the efforts of advertisers, but rather due to the developers of the hardware. After all, they created the first Ultra HD Blu-ray player with Dolby Vision support, the UDP-203 remains the only ultra-high definition disc source on the home theater market. Oops, not the only one: a month ago, another brainchild of OPPO appeared – the UDP-205. However, today we will talk about a purely audio device, which does not have much in common with the above players. However, family traits will always appear somewhere, but first things first.

The hero of today’s test is the Sonica DAC network audio player. At least the manufacturer itself classifies it as belonging to this category of devices. It must be said that one of the strongest sides of OPPO equipment is its amazing versatility. Take the UDP-205 player, which plays almost all laser discs and high-res files (both audio and video) from network drives and plays them via USB at a very serious level. So, calling Sonica DAC simply a “network player”, the guys from OPPO were being modest. We have a combination of a network/USB player with an external DAC, a balanced preamplifier, and a network streamer armed with wireless interfaces and ADC functions. In a word, the wealth of functionality is in the style of its video relatives. But before we take on its detailed study, let’s conduct a traditional external inspection.

Design In Build Quality

So, we have a radically black (there is no silver finish) one, one would like to call a “brick”. With clear edges and laconic (especially considering the list of features) controls. Actually, at our service is a power button and two drums – an input and mode selector plus an electronic volume control.

The information display is quite large and easy to read. Monochrome OLED matrices are a strength, after all. And the interference from them is much less (if any) than from vacuum electroluminescent indicators, which are still beloved by some brands. A USB socket is nestled under the display – you can’t do without it.

Turning the black parallelepiped 180 degrees, the first thing we find is a set of balanced and unbalanced linear outputs. There is also a linear input, but only unbalanced. This is not without reason, but more details later. Digital switching is represented by a standard set of inputs “optics – coaxial – USB-B”, in addition, there is another standard USB port for connecting media and gigabit Ethernet.

The back panel is packed tightly, but the connectors are placed wisely, and the wires don’t interfere with each other.
Of the auxiliary connectors, we found a trigger input and output and a ground nut – it may be useful, for example, when connecting a turntable via the line input of a phono preamp.

The word “Sonica” in the name transparently hints at the device’s belonging to the multi-room ecosystem of the same name, which currently also includes a pair of active wireless speakers of different classes and different power. We talked about the younger model in detail here.

With the advent of Sonica DAC, fans of wireless installations now have the opportunity to integrate any analog source into them – even a turntable or a cassette deck. It is enough to connect such a device to the linear input, and the music from it, of course, after digitization in real time, can be listened to from Sonica speaker systems throughout the house.

The Source wheel not only spins but is also pressed to confirm the selected setting.
It is worth noting here that the signal fed to this input is digitized in any case, and therefore, it will not be possible to use our unit as a simple switch. Passage from input to output is possible, but only at the cost of double analog-to-digital and digital-to-analog conversion. This is why there are no input XLR connectors – what is the point of them if the content will be converted into a stream with a sampling frequency of maximum 48 kHz for subsequent sending to compact wireless acoustics?

By the way, one more subtle point: if the DAC is set to an active connection in a multi-room system, then all tracks, regardless of their source and original characteristics, will be played with a reduction in sampling frequency to 44.1 kHz or 48 kHz, so be careful.

On the other hand, the appearance of a serious source with a truly high-quality preamplification automatically transfers the Sonica family from the class of solutions for good background sound for living spaces to the rank of truly high-class music ecosystems. After all, from the same application installed on an Android or iOS gadget, you can now send music to a compact speaker by the bed and to a stereo system with a tube amplifier and floor-standing acoustics.

Music can be sent from smartphones to the DAC via Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, or a direct USB connection
Where to send is a separate topic. Sonica DAC can play music files from external network storage devices that support DLNA, from USB drives, receives streaming via AirPlay or Bluetooth, as well as digital streams generated by Sonica devices and applications on a Wi-Fi network. However, of the online music services, only Tidal is currently supported, and there is no Internet radio reception. There is only one way to get around this problem – connect your mobile gadget via Bluetooth and launch the corresponding application from another developer. This method is not the most convenient, especially considering that the device does not seem to support the aptX codec. At least, I was unable to activate it.

Supported Codecs

Sonica DAC shows its greatest, simply record-breaking omnivorousness in USB-DAC mode. In this case, it can digest PCM streams up to 32 bit/768 kHz — I wonder if such streams exist. DSD512, which are also supported, definitely exist, although the point of their existence is a topic for another article. S/PDIF accepts PCM signals up to 24 bit/192 kHz and DSD64 in DoP mode.

The display is not particularly bright, but it is very easy to read.
But the MQA format, the new brainchild of Meridian founder and one of the ideologists of digital audio, Bob Stewart, is not supported under any circumstances. And I want to believe that it is not so much a matter of trying to save on licensing fees, but rather a fundamental unwillingness to support an undertaking whose purpose, in my personal opinion, is not so much concern for guaranteed sound quality or reducing Internet traffic, but rather the construction of a commercial mechanism for extorting money at all stages of music creation and distribution. Those who are interested can read more about the criticism of MQA here and the praises here.

Controls

Now, about the controls. If we talk about the front panel, then in its simplicity – with one menu scrolling knob, the device is very close to the microwave oven that is in my kitchen. The problem is that even for a microwave oven, such laconism is not always convenient, and for the core of a multi-room system, it is simply ridiculous – not even all types of playback sources can be selected. What, a remote control? No, it does not exist in nature.

A narrow and deep case is a specific thing: it looks cool and saves space, but the connectors are a bit far to reach
But don’t be scared; Sonica DAC is very simple, easy, and convenient to operate — with the help of the same well-made Sonica application, installed, of course, on a smartphone or tablet. This option is impractical only in one case — if the DAC is somewhere close at hand on the table and is often used in tandem with headphones. But this scenario is impossible for Sonica DAC since it simply does not have a headphone amplifier. Why? I can’t imagine. After all, for example, the UDP-205 disc player, which has a similar audio path, does have one. And, by the way, it’s quite good. Sonica DAC’s ancestor, the HA–1 , also has one. But that one, however, is officially called a headphone amplifier and is not endowed with any network functionality. Nevertheless, it is built on a very similar topology and is even equipped with a high-level USB DAC. Only the chip in HA–1 is now of the previous generation — ESS ES9018. In Sonica DAC, its place was taken by the new ES9038PRO.

In short, buying both devices at the same time seems wasteful and strange to me, and the lack of a headphone amplifier is perhaps the only gap in the truly impressive versatility of the new device.

ES9038PRO Chip

And finally, about the music itself. As I just mentioned, the heart of the digital path is the ES9038PRO chip, which has become the leader of the new SabrePro family. It was presented by ESS Technology at the beginning of last year precisely to replace the Sabre32 Reference DACs used in the audiophile OPPO models of the previous generation – the HA-1 “ear” amplifier and the very successful BDP-105 Blu-ray player.

The power supply for digital and analog circuits is separate, with the power units being as far apart as possible
Like its predecessor, the ES9038PRO is based on a fully 32-bit proprietary HyperStream architecture, but the power supply circuits of different units (inputs/outputs, oversampling, and the DAC itself) are separated on the new crystal. A certain additional distortion reduction system, THD Compensation, is also used. All these measures helped achieve an extraordinary signal-to-noise ratio of over 140 dB and a noise suppression level (THD+N) of 122 dB. On the linear outputs of the device itself, these figures are slightly less cosmic but still impressive: >120 dB and –115 dB, respectively.

A toroidal transformer is more than a component today. It is a mandatory line in an advertising brochure and therefore a Must Have.
It turned out that I listened to the Sonica DAC on several very different setups, including a direct balanced connection to the active Dynaudio Excite X14A bookshelf speakers. Although this option limited the range and scale of the bass, it allowed me not to be distracted by the nuances of matching the speakers with the power amplifiers. The digital source was traditionally a MacBook Pro laptop with the Audirvana Plus software player, connected via a QED Reference USB cable. For variety, an Android smartphone, Sony Xperia Z5 Compact, was connected via an OTG adapter (and worked perfectly).

Sound Quality

The first thing to say about the sound is that it is there. In the sense that the system produces a balanced, harmonious, and musical sound. But the epithets “balanced” and “harmonious” can only be used for a well-warmed device; out of the box, it sounds rather harsh.

Sometimes, you come across DACs that, when listening to them, are very difficult to guess what chipset they are built on. As a rule, this happens when using tricky custom digital pre-filtering circuits, like Schiit, or implementing all the transformations on programmable FPGA matrices, like Chord Electronics.

However, Sonica DAC is the exact opposite. Behind its sound character, the “ears” of ESS Technology developments are visible. The new 8-channel Sabre SabrePro chips, which, by the way, OPPO was one of the first in the world to use, produce sound in a recognizable corporate style – sharp, clear, without the slightest veil and with excellent micro- and macrodynamics. Perhaps even a little bright in places.

And, as it turned out, in this sense, a thorough warm-up of the device is especially important. After it, a lot of small details in the sound are built into a more meaningful structure, and solidity and harmony are noticeably added. The sound becomes more comfortable without losing clarity of presentation and detail. This is very good since not every system (and the listener) can painlessly cope with a constant flow of subtle nuances and bright but slightly isolated images.

In addition, we have before us not just a USB DAC but a network universal, which will not always and not everywhere work in conjunction with a reference source and acoustics of the corresponding level. Moreover, in the precision accuracy of processing the most complex sound material, it is in any case difficult for it to compete with real “surgeons” like the multi-bit Schiit Gungnir.

However, the above does not at all cancel the fact that we have a high-class music device in front of us. With smooth, seamless reproduction across the entire range, a wide, well-built sound stage, and dynamic, well-developed bass. The dynamics, by the way, pleased even at high frequencies: Wagner lovers will appreciate the rumble of symphonic brass, which, even at extreme volume, does not turn into the noise of falling scrap metal for a second. And by the way, DSD playback deserves a special mention. On Esoteric Jazz releases, you can easily imagine, with your eyes closed, that you are listening to a good vinyl turntable. But for owners of the same Schiit, by the way, this pleasure is not available in principle.

As for the difference in sound on balanced and unbalanced outputs, it is small, but with the balanced connection, the volume of the music scene and the precision of detailing its smallest elements seemed to me a little more elaborate.

In a word, in my opinion, the device is a success. It is universal, plays great, and is able to successfully combine two separate galaxies in one system setup – lifestyle and hi-fi.