EVS modded BDP-83 , or separate DAC ?

I suspect that a well designed modification will outperform either DAC you are considering.

Do your research into modders, and their customer's satisfaction.

I would speak to those folks that had the mod done and get their feedback. Very difficult on this forum to answer your question. A DAC vs a Mod has so many sides to it, I would have to know more about what you are ultimately trying to do.

As far as the DAC situation goes, get a money back guarantee if possible and try at least 3 different DACs before deciding. Its the best way to live with yourself since its ultimately your decision. In a Mod situation, it will be difficult but you should ask anyway.

Im not positive but isnt the MBBM a part of the basic mod?
put that money into a jensen cap at $75. Verify with Ric.

My experience with the BD83 and mods is this. I purchased the stock BP83 and though it sounded poorly at best at audio, is was/is great on video. Then the BDP83SE came out so I gave my 83 to Oppo who upgraded it to the SE version. Audio performance leaped almost in the league of my Neko D100 stand alone DAC. Being happy but never content with audio I gave my Oppo SE to Rick Schultz and for $250 made this a near reference level player IMHO. More mods can be performed and at the time, this made sense. Rick likes to perform mods in stages. He has a wealth of knowledge and will share what he knows willingly. He's also constantly tweaking his mods in an effort to make them better.

Standalone DAC's generally are in another league and work well depending upon the level of your system.
Good Luck

Go with the Audio-GD DAC any of theyre DAC,s are under priced and over built. I dont know why audiophiles refuse to embrace Audio-GD im guessing when they do the prices will quadrouple so I recommend the brand. I have there stuff and I have been and still am blown away by all of it everything is descrete and very under rated. Look you can upgrade dacs and they can go from transport to transport so in the long run it will a better bet to get an out board dac and modd it later than mod the transport which will wear out sooner due to moving parts and will be an almost dead technology in a couple of years due to the new computer audio and you can use a dac for the next best thing and thats all Im saying not that CD is horrible but that you may want a new toy and the outboard dac will be there for the upgrade as where the cd player will just be sold or put in a closet. But this is only in my opinion.