OPPO UDP-203 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray Disc Player Preview

gene

gene

Audioholics Master Chief
Administrator
After a quick peek of OPPO's UDP-203 at CEDIA we were chomping at the bit for more information on this 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray player. Well it's finally here; The OPPO UDP-203 will be available in early Spring 2017 for $549. A great price for ANY 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray player, but with a name like OPPO you can bet it will be great.

Read on for more in depth information on this awesome new 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray player from OPPO to see if it should be on your post Christmas list.


Read: OPPO UDP-203 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray Disc Player Preview
 
S

sterling shoote

Audioholic Field Marshall
Oppo has already sold out of their initial offering which they posted about two weeks ago. I suspect the unsuspecting beta testers who ordered these first units will post some reviews soon and maybe we'll get some meaningful insights about what sort of experience we can expect from this player.
 
B

Blackbird

Audiophyte
I already have one :) And my first impressions... really better video and sound quality with comparison to my BDP-103D (not just in 4K).
But I have a problems with subtitles in mkv files. In maybe 50% of my movie library I can´t show hard inserted subtitles (not in separate *.srt file) :-( My old Oppo doesn´t have any problems with it. On other side, subtitles in separate file are better supported then before.
And I hoped for support dolby atmos from mkv files, but it´s still not possible. There is no problem with Atmos Blu-ray with bitstream setup.
 
G

George Louis

Audiophyte
Has anyone compared the Oppo's BPD-203 video image performance to the Panasonic DMP-UB900 that's the best 4K, 2K, and Blu-ray 3D player I've tested? I've found the DMP-UB900 to be better than the Philips, that's not as good as the Samsung UBD-8500, that's not a good as the Microsoft Xbox One S that's not as good as the Panasonic DMP-UB900 video image performance? I have the Panasonic and the Oppo BDP-203 on order to compare for myself.

Respectfully submitted,

George S. Louis
AudioGeorge
 
D

dmusoke

Audioholic Intern
Are you going to perform any detailed audio tests on the UDP-203 like you did for the BDP-103?

- David
 
G

George Louis

Audiophyte
Dear David,

I've never been that impressed with the audio of Oppo players including the BDP-105D and so far their audio default polarity plays approximately 92% of all tracks on approximately 92% of CDs and DVDs and Blu-rays in inverted polarity. The BDP-205 is supposed to use an upgraded over the ESS Saber DAC that's in the Oppo 105D. But Oppo told me that the AKM DAC in the Oppo BDP-203 is better than the older version of the ESS DAC but not as good as the updated version that's going to be in the Oppo BDP-205.

Best regards,

George S. Louis
Phone: 619-401-9876
 
D

dmusoke

Audioholic Intern
Dear David,

I've never been that impressed with the audio of Oppo players including the BDP-105D and so far their audio default polarity plays approximately 92% of all tracks on approximately 92% of CDs and DVDs and Blu-rays in inverted polarity. The BDP-205 is supposed to use an upgraded over the ESS Saber DAC that's in the Oppo 105D. But Oppo told me that the AKM DAC in the Oppo BDP-203 is better than the older version of the ESS DAC but not as good as the updated version that's going to be in the Oppo BDP-205.

Best regards,

George S. Louis
Phone: 619-401-9876
Thanks George...
I've never heard of the polarity problems you alluded to. Surely OPPO or other technical reviewers would have found this out and brought it out in the open. Also these phase inversions would be readily audible, I would think.

Do you have a credible source for these claims? I'd like to dig further into this issue if proven true.

Thx,
David
 
gene

gene

Audioholics Master Chief
Administrator
Has anyone compared the Oppo's BPD-203 video image performance to the Panasonic DMP-UB900 that's the best 4K, 2K, and Blu-ray 3D player I've tested? I've found the DMP-UB900 to be better than the Philips, that's not as good as the Samsung UBD-8500, that's not a good as the Microsoft Xbox One S that's not as good as the Panasonic DMP-UB900 video image performance? I have the Panasonic and the Oppo BDP-203 on order to compare for myself.

Respectfully submitted,

George S. Louis
AudioGeorge
I have a BDP-105D and a Marantz UD7007 and both have excellent analog audio performance, especially via their balanced outputs. The Oppo offers 180 deg phase inversion if you need it but absolute polarity is inaudible so it's really a moot point as long as both channels are in the same relative phase with respect to each other.
 
D

dmusoke

Audioholic Intern
Gene, what you said is true but the poster (George) said "...their (Oppo) audio default polarity plays approximately 92% of all tracks on approximately 92% of CDs and DVDs and Blu-rays in inverted polarity."

The 92% figure is what surprised me the most. He seems to say that 92% of all CDs/DVDs/BD's are played in inverted polarity by the Oppo, as though it magically 'flips' the polarity, regardless of what its menu setting says.
 
The Chukker

The Chukker

Full Audioholic
Hey Gene, was wondering if you could answer this for me. I was an early adopter of the BDP-105 and I just love it...except for one thing. Right out the box I used the BDP-105 as my pre/pro and used the analog outputs to connect directly to my Emotiva amps. Unfortunately there isn't any dedicated subwoofer options for CD playback when speakers are set to large/full range on the BDP-105 like I got when using a Denon receiver. With the Denon I could run my speakers full range in that scenario but also have the added oomph of my dedicated subs during CD playback which sounded amazing in Pure Direct. Will there be better sub out options with this latest generation of Oppo players? I really don't want to have to spring for a receiver or dedicated pre/pro like Emotiva's XMC-1 if I don't have to.
 
Stanton

Stanton

Audioholics Contributing Writer
Has anyone compared the Oppo's BPD-203 video image performance to the Panasonic DMP-UB900 that's the best 4K, 2K, and Blu-ray 3D player I've tested? I've found the DMP-UB900 to be better than the Philips, that's not as good as the Samsung UBD-8500, that's not a good as the Microsoft Xbox One S that's not as good as the Panasonic DMP-UB900 video image performance? I have the Panasonic and the Oppo BDP-203 on order to compare for myself.

Respectfully submitted,

George S. Louis
AudioGeorge
If I'm reading your comparisons correctly, you have found the Panasonic DMP-UB900 the best (of the UHD players) so far: I totally agree. I'm not going to check out the Oppo...because I've been so happy with the Panny that I'm not interested in going through the whole "debug" experience (again) when I've got something that works well.
 
M

Mikehd

Audiophyte
I have an Lg signature oled UHD tv and a maranz pre amp AV8802A and i also have the panasonic Ub900 UHD 4k bluray player and i have had the Oppo 203 4k bluray player for a few weeks , i had my cousin come over who also has the panasonic , ran both through my pre amp , then ran both through the HDMi on the tv. The 203 picture quality was much sharper and colors much more vibrant me cousin were in aww, 203 was a little better in upscaling also , looking forward to the 203 dolby vision capability's once that happens its game over, panasonic isn't able to uprade to dolby vision . So we compared the sound , with my pre amp having a 32 bit akm processor and the Oppo 203 has a 32 bit processor also , sound stage was fantastic , the panasonic was good but not great we played some DVD audio disc, Super CD 's some of my High quality apple files that are un compressed also sounded fantastic , the panasonic Can't play any of these . Though the panasonic is a good UHD 4k bluray payer , i have it boxed up for my son to pick up and enjoy, will be getting an Oppo 205 in a few months the 203 will be going in the bedroom .
 
H

HT Tweeker

Enthusiast
So disappointed they didn't include the revolutionary Darbee processing on these models, maybe there will be a 203D coming.....
 
M

Mikehd

Audiophyte
So disappointed they didn't include the revolutionary Darbee processing on these models, maybe there will be a 203D coming.....
You know companies are going to make or release something with all the goods the first time around , they will release the 203 and 205 without Darbee, then wait 6 months and release the Darbee edition of both to see if they can get you to double dip, Disney and apple are famous for it .
 
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