Oppo BDP-83 Universal Blu-ray Player Review

[termin8ted314]

I think im sold on the Oppo. I just read a review in home theater Mag.

 

[supervij]

Anybody else get a package in the mail from Oppo? I just got a call from my U.S. address -- where I'll be over the weekend -- that there's something in my mail from Oppo: an audio calibration disc! I didn't get all the details, but I think there may be high-resolution, multi-channel music on said disc as well! I'll scope out the details when I get there tomorrow.

How freakin' cool is Oppo?! First a free video calibration disc with purchase of their new BD player, and now a free audio calibration disc too! These guys are top notch. I can't imagine Sony, Toshiba, Denon or anyone else doing this for their customers!

cheers,
supervij

 

[j_garcia]

The package has the blue filter missing from the original video calibration disc as well as the audio calibration disc. It has codec tests, sweeps and calibration tones in a variety of formats as well as some very good sample audio/video tracks (the disc is from AIX)

 

[adk highlander]

Are we all going to get one of these? I got mine before the official release like you all did. I had mine delivered to my office so maybe it will go there.

 

[j_garcia]

I presume all of the Early Adopters will, not sure about those that bought after release. I happen to live near their office here, so I got mine 2 days ago.

 

[Ron Temple]

Hey, I haven't gotten mine yet...what give .

 

[j_garcia]

I picked up a region B film (Brotherhood of the Wolf) and did the region free firmware hack to be able to watch it. Since then all discs have worked fine, however last night I got Lions for Lambs from Netflix and it wouldn't play. Strange. Anyone else done the region hack? I figured it would be OK because I would be updating to the latest firmware in the near future.

 

[Christopher__BA]

I wish......

I wish my PS3 (40GB) had sacd, then I could send the signal over hdmi. I do have a Denon DVD player that sends SACD over analog.....and it does ok.
Since I'm wishing.....I wish 499 bucks would fall from the sky so I could get the new OPPO! I'd get rid of at least two components that clog my audio cabinet. Or, maybe someone on this forum has millions of dollars and could loan me $499? Anyone? Please?

 

[adk highlander]

I picked up a region B film (Brotherhood of the Wolf) and did the region free firmware hack to be able to watch it. Since then all discs have worked fine, however last night I got Lions for Lambs from Netflix and it wouldn't play. Strange. Anyone else done the region hack? I figured it would be OK because I would be updating to the latest firmware in the near future.

I've been on the fence with doing this. We have a disks we picked up when we are in Scotland but nothing that I have felt the need to do the hack. I had thought (from the little research I've done) that to hack this player as region free there was both a hardware and software fix. Could you PM me the site you got the info from? Where did you read doing he firmware update would wipe the region free hack?

 

[Rickster71]

Please turn to pg 55 of the OPPO 83 Manual.

Would anyone be so kind to educate me on what I might expect to hear from the Analog multi-channel outputs of my new OPPO BDP-83?

I was initially under the impression that I'd be able to hear some of the some of Blu-ray's high resolution formats while using the Analog multi-channel outputs.
Upon looking at pg.55 of the owners manual I think I'm mistaken.
It looks like I'll have to wait for the Emotiva pre-pro to arrive, to take advantage of HDMI and the best audio formats.

 

[adk highlander]

Rick Page 58 has a chart that shows it is possible to have the high res formats out of the multichannel analogs. You can only send LPCM so you need to do the processing in the player and it out via the multchannel outputs to your receiver. Your receiver will only ever say Multchannel or LPCM and will not have TrueHD or DTS Master.

Page 60 looks to have the settings layed out that you would need to use.

Multi-Channel Analog Audio to Receiver
If the player is connected to an A/V receiver through the 7.1ch or 5.1ch analog audio jacks using 8 or 6 RCA
cables (as described in “Method 5” on page 14), you can play all supported audio formats and listen to them
with your A/V receiver and surround sound systems. The following audio format setup options are
recommended:
o Secondary Audio: Off (or On if you need secondary audio)
o HDMI Audio: Off
o SACD Output: PCM or DSD (depending on your listening preference)
o Coaxial Optical Output: (any – not in use)
o LPCM Rate Limit: (any – not in use)
Also set Speaker Configuration in the “Audio Processing” menu:
• Set Down Mix to “7.1Ch” or “5.1Ch”.
• Set the speaker size and subwoofer properly according to your actual audio hardware. (see
page 61)
• Enable or select the multi-channel analog inputs on your receiver

 

[Ron Temple]

Rick Page 58 has a chart that shows it is possible to have the high res formats out of the multichannel analogs. You can only send LPCM so you need to do the processing in the player and it out via the multchannel outputs to your receiver. Your receiver will only ever say Multchannel or LPCM and will not have TrueHD or DTS Master.

Page 60 looks to have the settings layed out that you would need to use.

Yep, it works fine and the format will display on the player. Both John and I have older pre's and I couldn't be happier with the analog performance.

 

[DaleAV]

Would anyone be so kind to educate me on what I might expect to hear from the Analog multi-channel outputs of my new OPPO BDP-83?

I was initially under the impression that I'd be able to hear some of the some of Blu-ray's high resolution formats while using the Analog multi-channel outputs.
Upon looking at pg.55 of the owners manual I think I'm mistaken.
It looks like I'll have to wait for the Emotiva pre-pro to arrive, to take advantage of HDMI and the best audio formats.

You need to download the revised manual from the Oppo website and look at page 58. You will feel much better.

 

[Pyrrho]

I've been on the fence with doing this. We have a disks we picked up when we are in Scotland but nothing that I have felt the need to do the hack. I had thought (from the little research I've done) that to hack this player as region free there was both a hardware and software fix. Could you PM me the site you got the info from? Where did you read doing he firmware update would wipe the region free hack?

The hack involves the particular firmware:

http://www.codefreedvd.com/dvd_oppo_bdp83_multiregion_firmware.html

So if the firmware is updated, then you are probably deleting the old firmware that has the hack.

 

[j_garcia]

The hack involves the particular firmware:

http://www.codefreedvd.com/dvd_oppo_bdp83_multiregion_firmware.html

So if the firmware is updated, then you are probably deleting the old firmware that has the hack.

That is exactly the case. Codefree has a hack for the new version as well though. I haven't done it yet, since my firmware was 4.30.

I tried out a few other discs and got the same issue with playback though, so the hack is not 100%, meaning that most Region A discs would play but not all of them; while I had no problem playing the region B disc. I re-entered the code for Region A and it is working fine now. Most likely I will update my firmware to the latest Oppo version this week though, as I finally came across a DVD-A that stopped on one particular track and would not resume until I turned it off.

 

[adk highlander]

I presume all of the Early Adopters will, not sure about those that bought after release. I happen to live near their office here, so I got mine 2 days ago.

Hey, I haven't gotten mine yet...what give .

I got my audio calibration disk and blue lens filter today. Very nice of Oppo.

 

[celica]

The hack involves the particular firmware:

http://www.codefreedvd.com/dvd_oppo_bdp83_multiregion_firmware.html

So if the firmware is updated, then you are probably deleting the old firmware that has the hack.

Sorry but what is 'the hack'? I know about the firmware but the hack is what please?

 

[j_garcia]

Sorry but what is 'the hack'? I know about the firmware but the hack is what please?

The firmware at that link is not from Oppo and allows you to enter a code to make the player "region free". This could be done on all other Oppo models but so far has not been made available from Oppo on the BDP-83.

 

[Pyrrho]

Sorry but what is 'the hack'? I know about the firmware but the hack is what please?

The firmware is the hack. At that link, there is "third party" firmware that makes the player automatically region free for DVD playback, and selectably region free for BD playback. That is, one selects the region for BD when one needs to change the region, but with DVD, one simply puts in the disc and plays it without any concern for the region.

I should mention that using "third party" firmware (or hardware modifications) voids the warranty.

See:

http://www.avforums.com/forums/blu-ray-players/1020033-oppo-bdp-83-region-free-thread.html

 

[Pyrrho]

The firmware at that link is not from Oppo and allows you to enter a code to make the player "region free". This could be done on all other Oppo models but so far has not been made available from Oppo on the BDP-83.

Oppo has said that they never will make it region free, due to the people controlling the BD format. That is why I bought a Panasonic BD player instead, as I already had the Oppo DV-983H which does a fine job with everything other than BD that I need.

With their DVD players, one simply enters a code via the remote, and makes the players region free. One needs to remember the code if one updates the firmware, as it is no longer region free after firmware updates (at least, with my Oppo DV-983H it is that way). But the code can then be re-entered, just as one needs to recheck the settings one wants after firmware updates.

But with the Oppo BDP-83, the only way to make it region free is hardware modification or through non-Oppo approved firmware.