Universal Players vs. Dedicated CD/SACD Players

I have been a fan of any CD or Universal player that has an output for an external DAC.
I don't play SACDs, just CDs. I have found that every couple of years the DACs get better, and as such the CDs sound better. So I guess I like the idea of swapping an external DAC or even swapping a board in a DAC to make the CDs sound better. Much like the Schiit Bifrost upgrades offered. When I added a Benchmark DAC to my older Sony CD player it was a big improvement in sound. Of course I try to get a spinner with the best transport and optical playback I can afford.

Like the OP, I had an Oppo 95 and just sold it after about 5 years.  It's a swiss army knife of a player, very flexible and can play just about anything off a thumb drive.  It sounds really good too with redbook cds.  

Personally though, I got tired of the long delay upon start up.  Since it's a blu ray player, it has to go through this arduous start up.  It won't start playing a previously inserted cd for close to 30 seconds.  

And if you want to scan through part of a song, it has this oddball method of playing a second of audio, then repeatedly skipping ahead 5 to 15 seconds(depending on how many times you press the scan button) to play another second.  No smooth scanning through to more easily get to the part of the song you want.  I found it difficult to work with.

On a whim, I bought an old used Marantz carousal player from '97 and compared it to the Oppo.  I was surprised that it came pretty close in performance, though Marantz has always made pretty good stuff, and this one was not an entry level model, the CD65SE.

The Oppo had a little more detail, but the Marantz was a little warmer.  I can't remember if the Oppo had a bigger soundstage.  It opened my eyes a little, because I would have thought that the Oppo would slay the old Marantz.

This had led me to believe that a dedicated cd/sacd player can be better than an all in one.  I'm now waiting for delivery of a used Nad C565BEE cd player.  I figure it should do better than the Marantz, it can at least play more file types and can operate as a DAC with a Wolfson chipset.  It retailed for $800 when new.  Oppo is good, but certainly not the be all end all.

I don't have experience with Oppo or auralic I am still using my beloved Classé Omega CD/HDCD/SACD player on a daily basis, it also does redbook like nothing else, when I do look at streamers I will upgrade my Magnum Dynalab Tuner to one of their top-of-the-line internet tuner/sreamers. There is no substitute for high-end quality!

Okay, you can put me solidly in the separates category.  As mentioned above, my Nad C365BEE came and I immediately dropped everything and spooled up some cds.  Wow, Nad makes some nice sounding gear.  It's got more of a 3D soundstage than the Oppo 95, with a nicer balance of warm and detailed.  One track stands out, a shimmering cymbal in which I'd never heard the individual drumstick strikes until now!  

And of course it easily bests the old Marantz.  The 365, which is not a current model, has 4 filters you can pick from for a different sound. It also has a 12v trigger, the Oppo for all of it's swiss army like functions, had neither of this.  Nor the optical input that allows the Nad to act as a DAC!  

I'm not sure how much of these items or the sound is contained in the current Nad C346BEE, but it's worth an audition just based on what the 365 can do.