Oppo BDP-93 & BDP-95 Universal Blu-ray Player Measurements Report

[admin]

Oppo proved that they can build a better mouse trap with their new BDP-9x series of Blu-ray players. Both players exhibited benchmark audio performance while the BDP-95 exceeded those marks to the point where we were measuring the limits of our $40k Audio Precision HDMI analyzer. Our tests proved that the BDP-93 and BDP-95 Blu-ray players are everything so many other so called "high end" players wish they could be and much more. We haven't run across any higher priced players that can better the overall performance of the BDP-93, let alone the BDP-95. Both are handsomely finished, giving their high performance a classy look. But is the BDP-95 worth 2X the cost of the BDP-93? Read our assessment to find out….

Discuss "Oppo BDP-93 & BDP-95 Universal Blu-ray Player Measurements Report" here. Read the article.

Here is the full review of the Oppo BDP-93 player as well...

 

[ptalar]

Yes. I have to agree. I have the Oppo BDP-93 and it has been a great DVD Blue Ray Player. It is only limited by my 11 year old Yammy AVR Receiver. I did have the remote control issue once with the Oppo but it has not surfaced again since. It was a nice Xmas gift to get. It actually complements a Denon DVD 2910 in my system until I decide what to do with it. I will probably sell the 2910 and use the proceeds toward a new AVR receiver. I am considering the Yammy A3000. The 2095 Yammy still works great and sounds good but without HDMI interfaces its getting messy behind the scenes with all the wires going everywhere.

 

[FirstReflection]

Wow. Kudos to Oppo!

At $499, the BDP-93 is certainly not the cheapest Blu-ray player out there, but when it delivers truly reference quality playback, it seems like an absolute steal!

I sincerely doubt that in any double-blind listening test, any person would be able to tell the BDP-93 and BDP-95 apart just by listening to them. That said, I appreciate the sort of approach that Oppo took here: a sort of "if you had ANY doubt about the BDP-93...well...take a look at THIS!" It's encouraging to know that when Oppo puts out a "higher end" higher priced unit, there ARE some measureable differences. They aren't just stuffing their existing player into a fancier case and upping the price! They're also honest enough to say on their own website that if you're using the HDMI connection for audio there is NO REASON to pay more for the BDP-95 over the BDP-93.

So again, I sincerely doubt that those measured differences would actually be audible, but it's still nice to know that if you want to have ZERO doubt about the cleanliness of your analogue audio signal, the BDP-95 will deliver and you can go back to worrying about cable risers and "audio rocks" that improve your music through honest-to-goodness magic

$1000 is a good chunk of change to pay for a disc transport, but it's FAR from the highest priced units out there. If you're the type of person who's looking at a $3000 player, this ought to at least make you question what exactly you think you're getting for all that extra expense!

Great stuff!

Oh - and in regards to the remote issues. I only have anecdotal evidence, but I believe it is a combination of both a fairly weak IR signal coming from the remote itself as well as a somewhat insensitive IR receiver on the player. When I use my Harmony One - which doesn't output the strongest IR signal - I'll get occassional missed commands, much like the included remote. But when I use my MX500 - which outputs a VERY strong IR signal - I have zero issues. So the included remote clearly does not output as strong a signal as the MX500 (honestly, extremely few IR remotes do!), but my Harmony One is fine with most other components, so the IR receiver on the player would also seem partly to blame.

 

[PENG]

How quiet is the transport, can it be heard from say a couple of feet away?

 

[gene]

Stay tuned for our complete BDP-93 review which should publish in the next day or two and address operational and video performance...

 

[PENG]

Stay tuned for our complete review which should publish in the next day or two and address operational and video performance...

Thanks, I pre ordered the 95 but I am thinking if I should just go for the 93. May be the answer is in the full review, I can't wait!.

 

[kevon27]

"Anyone considering buying one of these new players with aftermarket modifications should instead save their hard earned dollars or put it to better use purchasing more Blu-ray discs to enjoy on these wonderful machines"

The reviewer is just asking for a beat down from Nu-Force with a statement like that..

 

[gene]

"Anyone considering buying one of these new players with aftermarket modifications should instead save their hard earned dollars or put it to better use purchasing more Blu-ray discs to enjoy on these wonderful machines"

The reviewer is just asking for a beat down from Nu-Force with a statement like that..

More like the other way around. Aftermarket mods to the BDP-95 are a complete waste of time and at best will make NO measurable difference but at worst can worsen the performance of the player. The only area I found that could use improved performance was analog bass management which cannot be done with aftermarket analog mods.

 

[PENG]

Apparently the 95 will be available this weekend. I am still not sure if I will end up with it or the 93. The $500 saving is really tempting. Are there really any other benefits other than the analogs (better DACs)? I know it has balanced outputs but that means nothing to me.

 

[wadejon]

Oppo BDP-93...

I have just purchased the BDP-93 with the upgraded multi region chip in it and I have to say it is worth every cent I have spent. I have owned various blue ray players from Sony to my most recent one before the Oppo a Panasonic DMP-BD 60, I would say there is no comparison the Oppo BDP-93 is just amazing and works really well with my new Yamaha RX-V2067 AV Receiver which I believe is also an amazing product that is all complimented by the amazing Orb audio Mod4 speaker system.
My recommendation is the BDP-93 if you don’t need the analog connectors!

 

[timbre8]

Oppo BDP-95 sacd problem help

I set up my BDP-95 a few days ago and measured it against a BDP-980 and a modded Denon 3910 (The Upgrade Co.). I was amazed at the info it was pulling, but it seemed to do this at the expense of other info on the disc. At the moment I'm using the analogue setting with a modded CJ PV10 and Rotel RB1070 amp. Cables are high end. In addition to info being lost in the background (some almost entirely gone), the bottom end is weak. I'm a huge fan of sacd and DVD-audio, but my heart dropped when I previewed Madman Across the Water on sacd (imho one of the cleanest, detailed sacds made). There's a chorus singing "Levon, Levon" at 42 seconds on this track that is completely gone, and the orchestrations are faint and pushed to the rear. Both are prominent on my other players in all formats. Granted there are other details brought out by the 95 that are fantastic, but I'm saddened that some are lacking, along with a sense of richness due to a weak bottom end. Could it be the player is defective and not reading properly, because I know this is not a problem with the disc mastering. I plan to purchase a new preamp with the best hdmi capabilities, but judging from the reviews I've read, I'm not sure this will correct the problem. The analog section should put forth EVERYTHING on the disc. Please give me some ideas. Thank you.

 

[darien87]

I stopped reading after I saw that you wasted money with The Upgrade Company.

 

[timbre8]

darien87 re upgrade co

Glad I got your feedback on the upgrade company. I didn't give it a favorable plug, and in fact have been screwed by the guy over the last four years after sending him a brand new deck to be modded, and re-modded and re-modded...with diminishing returns. I'll have to say, I was impressed by the first wiring; the dvd-audio was the most impressive sound I've EVER heard- incredible actually, but the red book lacked something. Then he called me a week after it returned to tell me he'd "forgotten to dampen the unit", and this adjustment would make it outstanding. When I got it back, the dvd-audio quality had degraded approx. 40%- the entire "in-the-studio" feel was gone, and bass response dropped as well. When I phoned him with this info, he copped a severe attitude, actually yelled at me, told me "it must be your ears" and hung up on me. A year passed and I received an email saying one of the capacitors he'd used on all his mods was defective, and he would repair this free of charge for all his customers, etc. I used this opportunity to make amends and see if the sound quality could be restored. No such luck. And not more than 2 weeks later, the unit would not read the majority of my discs, most likely because the delicate transport system was punished from repeated shipping. So I packed it away, bought the oppo 980 and used it for a couple of years. A few months ago, I heard he was offering a new upgrade for $300.00, and again, like a fool, I bought into it. I mentioned to him the problems with disc reading and explained the type of sound I hoped he could achieve with this last mod. He gave the same jive; comparing the mods with 40K equipment etc. Well folks, when the player arrived, it seemed like NOTHING was done!. Still wouldn't read most discs, and info not being picked up on discs it WOULD read. I called him and left a message, but to this day, no reply. My guess is that this man will put in quality parts on his first mod, then subsequently "mine" it if you're vulnerable enough to send it back to him. Just a guess.

 

[vask]

so, what's up with the BDP-95?

Hi, timbre8!

So, if I've got you right, the BDP-95 reveals some new for your experience depths of sound from your red book disks while degrading other sound details, which you get used to hear on you previous players? And the BDP-95 again, like the previous models, have not a good analog bass, is this true?

BTW, did you manage to replace your BDP-95 or this turned out a feature of the BDP-95?

If so, what would you recommend for quality CD, audio-DVD and SACD listening for ~ OPPO DBP-95 budget?

 

[PENG]

Hi, timbre8!

So, if I've got you right, the BDP-95 reveals some new for your experience depths of sound from your red book disks while degrading other sound details, which you get used to hear on you previous players? And the BDP-95 again, like the previous models, have not a good analog bass, is this true?

BTW, did you manage to replace your BDP-95 or this turned out a feature of the BDP-95?

If so, what would you recommend for quality CD, audio-DVD and SACD listening for ~ OPPO DBP-95 budget?

I have the 95, 3910, and other players. All unmodified, if they sound different to me it would be placebo at work, nothing more. If you don't believe in placebo effect, just google it. Now if you mod the thing, all bets are off and anything can sound different to anything else, depending on the mod. If I want better (fidelity) sound I would like to speakers, not expensive players or amps.............

 

[PENG]

Hi, timbre8!

So, if I've got you right, the BDP-95 reveals some new for your experience depths of sound from your red book disks while degrading other sound details, which you get used to hear on you previous players? And the BDP-95 again, like the previous models, have not a good analog bass, is this true?

BTW, did you manage to replace your BDP-95 or this turned out a feature of the BDP-95?

If so, what would you recommend for quality CD, audio-DVD and SACD listening for ~ OPPO DBP-95 budget?

I have the 95, 3910, and other players. All unmodified, if they sound different to me it would have been placebo at work, nothing more. If you don't believe in placebo effect, just google it. Now if you mod the thing, all bets are off and anything can sound different to anything else, depending on the mod. If I want better (fidelity) sound I would like to speakers, not expensive players or amps.............

 

[Ron-Davidson]

Oppo BDP-93 & BDP-95 Review

You really should of included the BDP-83 SE to compair with the BDP-95's Analog Audio output!

 

[Ronbro]

Blue Ray Players

I'm sure glad this web site is here...I have an older B stock Marantz SACD player that just doesn't seem to give me what I am wanting...a heck of allot more audio refinement.
I have an Integra receiver , Axiom M80 speakers & mostly Blue Jeans cables front to back w/ the exception of a Synergistic Research Coax Digital out from the Marantz....any other ideas or thoughts for improvement?
Thanx

 

[PENG]

I'm sure glad this web site is here...I have an older B stock Marantz SACD player that just doesn't seem to give me what I am wanting...a heck of allot more audio refinement.
I have an Integra receiver , Axiom M80 speakers & mostly Blue Jeans cables front to back w/ the exception of a Synergistic Research Coax Digital out from the Marantz....any other ideas or thoughts for improvement?
Thanx

May be the Marantz player is not the weakest link of your system. Also, the quality of the recording is often more important than the format. Try playing some know high quality discs and see if you get the results you are looking for. Again, it does not always have to be SACD or DVDA, a HQ CD could sound better than an average SACD.

 

[djreef]

Having come from a Denon DVD-3930ci as a source component, I'd be remiss to say I could hear a difference, though I think I can from a sq standpoint ;O. What sold me on the BDP-95 was the flexibilty of the unit, and the fact that I could finally ditch another link in the chain - my pre-amp.

DJ