To DAC or not to DAC?

IF the dealer is a long time relationship to you, and you have bought stuff there for years....
Ask the dealer for a LOAN of what he recommends. If he cannot allow you a free loan to try at home... for say five days? Then he is just selling stuff.
Mu long time dealer, who suggested to me, out of the blue, That I take home a Marantx SA-10 SACD player to try.. OK I did. I decided to buy one.
SO if the dealer thinks it’s like THE THING you need. Why is he not handing it to you asking you to try it out? Does he not know you? is he new to being a Dealer? If like he does not have one in store that he uses to demo....
Ask if he will let you buy it (if he can’t for some reason loan it to you) And guarantee a 100% refund (NOT store credit) if you do not like it?
If he is so sure you will love it, then he will take the chance. If he is ’just selling you something’ ... then he will not.

Isn't there a DAC chip in your Oppo player?

Both the Oppo and the MB100 have a DAC in them. The one in the Oppo 205 is pretty good. I’m not familiar with the MB100.  An external DAC may provide an improvement in sound quality.

I use an Auralic Vega DAC instead of the internal DACs in my Oppo 203 and Blue Sound Node 2. I’m very happy with the sound quality. I think it’s very close to being on par with my Marantz KI-Pearl CD Player.

Will the difference you experience be night and day? Probably not. Will the investment be worth the difference in sound quality? Only you can make that call.

Can you get a loaner from the dealer and compare so that you can decide for yourself whether it’s a worthwhile investment?

Yes Yes Yes!!!! Go with a non oversampling DAC, and you will never turn back.

To state the obvious, the primary goal of a DAC is to make digital files sound analogue. Which ever DAC, CD player, streamer, etc... does this effectively is, in my mind, doing what's expected. Which then brings in to question the characteristic qualities of the DAC, i.e. detail, color or neutrality of tone, depth and width of sound stage, and so on.

I agree with Elizabeth that an actually listening test of the component connected to your personal hifi is optimal however, you still might be able to tell a lot by listening to it at the store.

What I cannot understand are the price tags on current DAC's given that they're all over the place. I'm still happy with my Ayre QB 9 DSD DAC (with tweaks) even though it's antiquated and it retailed for $3,500.00 new. A reference DAC in today's market, from what I can tell, could retail for as high as $20,000.00 or as low as $1,500.00.The question being, will the high priced DAC produce a better analogue sound than the low priced DAC?