Oppo BDP-103 and BDP-105 Universal Blu-ray Players Preview

[mtrycrafts]

Bought one

I am more than impressed with their packaging.

The instruction manual is really something. Heavy bond cover AND the printing is not just plain ink BUT it is ENGRAVED !!!! two or three shades of gray.
Don't think I have ever seen this although I haven't bought any audio component that is 5 or 6 figures as that is where I might expect something like this.

The player itself comes in a black form fitting shopping bag, oppo logo front and back with handle straps all the way down the sides printed with thank you for helping the environment by reusing this shopping bag.

The foam cradle is also black. Just impressive.

 

[PENG]

I am more than impressed with their packaging.

The instruction manual is really something. Heavy bond cover AND the printing is not just plain ink BUT it is ENGRAVED !!!! two or three shades of gray.
Don't think I have ever seen this although I haven't bought any audio component that is 5 or 6 figures as that is where I might expect something like this.

The player itself comes in a black form fitting shopping bag, oppo logo front and back with handle straps all the way down the sides printed with thank you for helping the environment by reusing this shopping bag.

The foam cradle is also black. Just impressive.

My 95 came like that too, I never did use the shopping bag, still in the box with the box (also of nice quality) of accessories. Anyway, for some reasons, felt quite itchy, trade-in, or have two? is going to be a tough decision. Definitely don't need "black form fitting" shopping bags though..

 

[j_garcia]

Plastic bags are banned in our area, so you can't get them at grocery stores and you have to pay $0.10 a bag for paper. In other words, they are "encouraging" you to use reusable bags. I just used that soft bag to take the 83SE to and from Oppo for my front panel button repair.

 

[Adam]

Have any of you owners tried to make the 103 region free and/or play a PAL DVD?

Thanks!

 

[djreef]

Have any of you owners tried to make the 103 region free and/or play a PAL DVD?

Thanks!

Adam's having trouble viewing his Thai porn dvds.

DJ

 

[j_garcia]

Adam's having trouble viewing his Thai porn dvds.

DJ

C'mon, he just wants to be able to watch them upscaled to 4K

 

[Adam]

C'mon, he just wants to be able to watch them upscaled to 4K

Sometimes higher resolution is not a good thing.

But, yeah...

 

[j_garcia]

Yes, I believe I made that comment earlier. Plus the whole 2D to 3D conversion thing....

 

[Adam]

Yes, I believe I made that comment earlier. Plus the whole 2D to 3D conversion thing....

Sorry, I missed that. I must have been enjoying some spicy Thai...

 

[j_garcia]

FYI, the 105 is now available to everyone

I will be putting mine off because of a large, unexpected expense on the car last week.

 

[PENG]

FYI, the 105 is now available to everyone

I will be putting mine off because of a large, unexpected expense on the car last week.

Same here, for slightly different reasons. I am leaning on keeping the 95 while acquiring the 105 for use as a DAC downstairs, so I have to save up for a few more months.

 

[Kandiru]

C'mon, he just wants to be able to watch them upscaled to 4K

24k VPL-VW1000ES, lucky man!

Oh yeah , Adam is right about the pustules, condylomata, and other manifestations of E meets W flora
and fauna

 

[Kandiru]

Are there any professional reviews on the new Oppo? I just purchased the 103 and find the analogue output a tad soft in the bass compared to my MSB Link DAC (yeah who knew this thing woudl give me so much life). Does anyone think the 105 will be an improvement that a two channel person will find impressive?

If you into SACD analog out audio dictated by an inferior DAC in your pre/pro or receiver, a second hand 95 is superior to a 103 IMHO.

I too agree that Oppos are the highest quality electronics coming out of the Middle Kingdom these days, packaging makes you feel special too. Even the 980 is still in my basement, don't have the heart to get rid of it as a backup SACD player.

 

[djreef]

FYI, the 105 is now available to everyone

I will be putting mine off because of a large, unexpected expense on the car last week.

Ya, I'm gonna have to wait until next year, also due to unforeseen expenses at the first of the year. Plus I want to give them the opportunity to work out any bugs that might pop up btwn now and the time I get it (Mar-May period).

 

[Swerd]

As already noted, the new Oppo BDP 105 has a DAC that can work independently of the transport. This would allow it to work as a stand-alone DAC, supporting digital material via USB Class 2 audio.

With the dacs and analogue inputs, could you use this 105 as a dac for streaming from computer or sonos?

I guess they may only see benefits in implementing that feature on the 105 because of its higher end DAC. I have thought about this some more and am beginning to change my mind again, that the DAC feature won't really do much for me because more and more I am using my 95 to stream via DLNA or play from USB drives so it is kind of being used mainly like a DAC already. I can't think of how and why I would need a standalone DAC.

Some one (Jim Salk) has tried this, apparently with success. Read this link.

There are a reasonable number of great USB Class 2 Audio DACs available these days. But they tend to be expensive. Ayre makes one for about $2500. The Wavelength DAC I often use is $3500. My modified AVA DAC probably runs about $1900. If the Oppo BDP really is USB Class 2 Audio compliant, it would be quite reasonably priced at $1200. Plus, you get a great transport for Blu-ray, SACD, etc. thrown in on the deal! So it was worth investigating.

I tested the combination with a series of musical selections ranging from standard Redbook 16/44 to 24/96 and 24/192. All worked flawlessly and seamlessly. There were no clicks heard as the DAC switched from one format to another (which I have found with some other DACs).

The combination of the StreamPlayer and the Oppo BDP 105 has been playing continuously for about 24 hours now with absolutely no hickups. So, it appears that the 105 is indeed USB Class 2 Audio compliant and does not require special drivers with up-to-date Linux systems. This means it is a perfectly acceptable DAC for use with the StreamPlayer up to 24/192, just as I had hoped. This totally eliminates the need for a stand-alone DAC for music reproduction in my home theater. Nice.

For some background info, the StreamPlayer he mentions in the link is a product now sold by Salk, SalkStream Digital Music Systems.

 

[PENG]

As already noted, the new Oppo BDP 105 has a DAC that can work independently of the transport. This would allow it to work as a stand-alone DAC, supporting digital material via USB Class 2 audio.



Some one (Jim Salk) has tried this, apparently with success. Read this link.
For some background info, the StreamPlayer he mentions in the link is a product now sold by Salk, SalkStream Digital Music Systems.

Thanks for the link but now you got me a little confused, I am quite sure my 95 can play 24/192 via the USB or even stream from my desktop except that for the latter it cannot be in FLAC format. So I am not really sure what he talked about needing USB class 2 audio, unless the 95 is class 2 audio? When I have some time I am going to find out, right now I am thinking that even my Sony 590 can do 24/192 via USB. Either way, it is going to be a tough decision on whether to trade-in on just buy the 105.

 

[djreef]

Thanks for the link but now you got me a little confused, I am quite sure my 95 can play 24/192 via the USB or even stream from my desktop except that for the latter it cannot be in FLAC format. So I am not really sure what he talked about needing USB class 2 audio, unless the 95 is class 2 audio? When I have some time I am going to find out, right now I am thinking that even my Sony 590 can do 24/192 via USB. Either way, it is going to be a tough decision on whether to trade-in on just buy the 105.

I'm going to have to because the MacBook Pro (my music server) only digital outputs optical, through the headphone jack.

DJ

 

[Swerd]

Thanks for the link but now you got me a little confused, I am quite sure my 95 can play 24/192 via the USB or even stream from my desktop except that for the latter it cannot be in FLAC format. So I am not really sure what he talked about needing USB class 2 audio, unless the 95 is class 2 audio? When I have some time I am going to find out, right now I am thinking that even my Sony 590 can do 24/192 via USB. Either way, it is going to be a tough decision on whether to trade-in on just buy the 105.

I knew none of this before the other day, but more info came up in newer posts in that link. See post #14:

The BDP-95 has 2 - USB 2.0 Type A downstream ports that are used for connecting USB storage drives, but does not have a Type B upstream port that can accept a USB audio stream to be used as a DAC.

The BDP-105 has 3 - USB 2.0 Type A downstream ports and adds a Type B upstream port with asynchronous USB input to function as a DAC.

The confusion about whether the BDP-105 was USB Audio Class 2 compliant (not to be confused with the USB 2.0 High-Speed 480Mb/s transfer rate) came from the BDP-105 support page where it stated for Windows computers to install the downloaded Windows driver and to

Select the BDP-105 as your sound output device by setting "Control Panel -> Hardware and Sound -> Sound -> Playback" to "OPPO USB Audio Device 2.0"

but then also stated that

Currently there is no software driver available for Windows 8 or Linux computers

which made it sound like a proprietary driver was needed for USB Audio Class 2 compatibility. At first Jim Salk could not get his Linux-based SalkStream player to play, but subsequently after updating with the latest ALSA driver (Advanced Linux Sound Architecture) it worked fine without needing any proprietary drivers.

 

[djreef]

I knew none of this before the other day, but more info came up in newer posts in that link. See post #14:

Unfortunately, that doesn't do me any good. The MacBook Pro only digital outputs through an optical/headphone port, which my 95 can't do anything with. So down the upgrade path we go...

DJ

 

[PENG]

I knew none of this before the other day, but more info came up in newer posts in that link. See post #14:

I still find those posts confusing. I can stream via Ethernet from my desktop wave files at 24/192 or play from a USB hard drive or USB thumb drive also at 24/192. The only difference is, with the USB drives, it plays FLAC files of up to 24/192 as well but via Ethernet streaming it won't play FLAC. Either way I am using the analog outputs of the 95 so the 95 is doing the D to A conversion and therefore to me it is functioning like a DAC in a sense and the way I am using it. I just don't know what the deal JS is talking about even though I am sure he is right and I am just missing the point. I can't write to Jim so may be I should email Oppo for clarification.