Oppo Tunes Up Sonica – RMAF 2016

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At RMAF 2016 Oppo Digital let us all know they still have a few tricks up sleeve, and that company is much more than just a Blue-ray player manufacturer. Moving things even further into the home territory things continued to develop around a new wireless loudspeaker on display in their corner room at the Marriott Tech Center called the Sonica Grand.

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The new streaming speaker is a step up from the $299 Sonica currently available from the Oppo. While the Sonica employed 3 active drivers with two passive radiators, the Grand makes lovely music through 7 active drivers. Two of said drivers are planar magenetic ribbon tweeters, a technology that Oppo has been utilizing in its headphones for the past few years.

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Everything in the Sonica line harnesses the capability to tap into the Oppo’s Sonica control app which allows for Airplay, Wifi, Bluetooth and multi speaker control. Two of Oppo’s wireless loudspeakers can even be matched together for stereo playback configurations in larger rooms. File playback is very audiophile friendly with compatibility up to 24/192 in FLAC, WAV and Apple Lossless. The new Grand should start shipping by the end of the year for $699 (apparently the namesake refers to its sound, not its cost).

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For some, the new product resting quietly on the long end of the table in Room 2000 may hold even more dedicated interest. A new Sonica DAC is close to completion and includes a pretty serious digital audiophile bonus – streaming capabilities. Remote playback responsibilities take place from the same Sonica control app and the DAC itself will house some new ESS SABRE silicone for translation duties. The new decoder/streamer will house a 9038 PRO from the chip company and could possibly be one of the first to market with the new SABRE flagship processor.

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As with its headphone amplifier HA-1 ($1,119), the DAC is generous on the ins/outs and include balanced XLRs for those who prefer that route. Still a product in development, the new Sonica currently jives well with the HiFi streaming service Tidal and an agreement with Spotify is in the works. Downloaded files can still be played back via connected USB drive, NAS drives or network hosted options. Expect shipping to start near the end of the year for a impressive $799.

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Oppo’s portable DAC/Amp solution has seen a recent facelift as well. The new SE version sports an upgraded SABRE ES9028-Q2M chip with DSD256 and high resolution playback. The headphone amplifier inside the small guy is hybrid class A/B and works well with Mac, PC, iOS, and Android platforms. The USB connection can also serve as a charger for your phone while on the move. The HA-2 is available now for $299.

Not pictured at the show was the eagerly anticipated 4k updates to the Oppo’s line of Blue-ray players. I was able to squeeze a few details out of the team and we can expect something from the manufacturer in the coming calendar quarters to succeed the popular BDP line. The new offerings are name “UDP” and land around the $500 point for the 203 player and $1,200 for the audiophile/premium 205 disc spinner.

You can check out the full 360 experience from our Facebook interactive video in the embed below. Just click the image to get things started and then click and swipe to move the camera angle around.

More info: http://www.oppodigital.com/