Oppo BDP-83 Universal Blu-ray Player - Update

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DaveHo

Audioholic
Can anyone with the BDP-83 comment on the SACD & redbook CD sound qualty using the analog outs? I currently have an Outlaw 990 pre/pro & use a Denon 2900 for SACD & DVD-A playback and am happy with that combination. It would be nice if I could get some more life out of the Outlaw rather than buying a new pre/pro simply for HDMI support.

-Dave
 
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DaleAV

Full Audioholic
May want to follow the parallel discussion on the Oppo at avs . They were getting into similar discussion on a larger scale.
 
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greggp2

Senior Audioholic
Can anyone who has the new Oppo Blu-ray tell me how detailed the Multi Channel Analog menu is for setting speaker distances, levels, bass management, etc? Are these calibrations available? I will be running analog connections into my Arcam AVR350 and want to be sure this player will allow me to calibrate these items.

Thanks.
 
rmk

rmk

Audioholic Chief
Can anyone who has the new Oppo Blu-ray tell me how detailed the Multi Channel Analog menu is for setting speaker distances, levels, bass management, etc? Are these calibrations available? I will be running analog connections into my Arcam AVR350 and want to be sure this player will allow me to calibrate these items.

Thanks.
When using the analog outs, the BDP-83 allows you to set the speaker size, distance (in pairs i.e. L/R, SR/SL) and trim. In terms of bass management, the bass crossover frequency is a fixed 80Hz.
 
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DaleAV

Full Audioholic
Sorry Dale, Dave had posted right before you
Not a problem, hope you find what you are looking for...this new player is really shaping up to be the 'one' for many folks.
I copied this from the other forum. I thought it put the new Oppo in perspective based on your needs and wants:

Question:
Is the new Oppo BD player for me?


If all you care about is:

1. Blu-ray -> no

2. Blu-ray + tech support -> maybe

3. Blu-ray + SD-DVD -> probably

4. Blu-ray + SD DVD + tech support -> you bet

5. Blu-ray + SD DVD + tech support + SACD/DVD-A -> no brainer, absolutely, jump on it
 
billy p

billy p

Audioholic Ninja
Just read the review and having owned Oppo in the past I don't believe that bass mgm is why people buy their products. IMO you'll never really dial in your sub and you'll lack the desired bass using analog IMO and that is why I opted for the receiver switch.
 
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greggp2

Senior Audioholic
I wouldn't be buying it for just bass management, as I've been eyeing this player for months. However, I want to be sure that it at least allows a subwoofer with a decent cross over for Multi-Channel output. I am getting an Arcam AVR350, and I am willing to bet that the Arcam AVR350 sounds much better than almost any competing AVR less maybe the top of the line Yamaha or Denon's which sell for over 5k...

The Arcam, which can be had for under $1,500 with warranty is a steal for the SQ you are getting. Multichannel audio via analog still sounds fantastic. Even HD Dolby and DTS gets converted to Analog at some point along the way to your speakers. Whether it is converted at the receiver/processor level or the the Blu-ray player level will not matter much if speaker management is capable at the player level.

In my case, I think it is very relevant.
 
rmk

rmk

Audioholic Chief
I wouldn't be buying it for just bass management, as I've been eyeing this player for months. However, I want to be sure that it at least allows a subwoofer with a decent cross over for Multi-Channel output. I am getting an Arcam AVR350, and I am willing to bet that the Arcam AVR350 sounds much better than almost any competing AVR less maybe the top of the line Yamaha or Denon's which sell for over 5k...

The Arcam, which can be had for under $1,500 with warranty is a steal for the SQ you are getting. Multichannel audio via analog still sounds fantastic. Even HD Dolby and DTS gets converted to Analog at some point along the way to your speakers. Whether it is converted at the receiver/processor level or the the Blu-ray player level will not matter much if speaker management is capable at the player level.

In my case, I think it is very relevant.
The Cirrus CS4382A DAC for Multi-Channel Analog is purported to be one of the better performing DAC’s (I’m not using it yet but will get it setup soon). You can decode the HD audio formats and use analog to your Arcam. You have BM although it is limited to 80Hz, speakers size and level setting capability and virtually all of the current owner reports are very positive ... Sounds like a good fit to me :)
 
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DaleAV

Full Audioholic
Just read the review and having owned Oppo in the past I don't believe that bass mgm is why people buy their products. IMO you'll never really dial in your sub and you'll lack the desired bass using analog IMO and that is why I opted for the receiver switch.
Basically, if you can set your system in the analog domain as it is set in the digital domain, it is a non-problem.

To do so:
1: Your receiver allows a selection for bass boost for MCH analog inputs.
2. 80Hz is a satisfactory x-over point for your speaker system.
2: You can dial in the same x-over point, delays and speaker sizes in the player.

Between the Arcam receiver and the Oppo player, all these conditions can be met.

There will no need for other intervention to enjoy lossless audio.
Others do it all the time with higher cross-over settings, not as desirable, but less of a drawback than it would be for 2ch listening, IMO. And if you are a true audiophile with full range front speakers, you may take the direct route and bypass
the sub anyway for 2ch audio. YMMV.
 
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DaleAV

Full Audioholic
Actually, I should have mentioned you can dial in x-over points in the Arcam from 40 to 130Hz. I was using 80Hz as a point of discussion with reference to the Oppo.
 
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greggp2

Senior Audioholic
Dale,

How do you like your Arcam? Have you compared it to any of the newer receivers out there? From everything I've read about it over the years, I'm expecting a major sonic improvement over the Rotel RSX-1056. Will I be disappointed? I should be gettng it this week sometime...
 
M

mnnc

Full Audioholic
So...let me get in on this. My pre/pro has 7.1 multich analog inputs...no hdmi although I don't care because it's a really good unit (Boston Acoustics...same as Outlaw 990 or Sherwood Newcastle) and I run my hdmi directly to pj. Anyways, if/when I connect the new Oppo via these analogs I would use the Oppo's bm rather than the pre/pro? Does the use of analogs bypass the prepro bm and utilizes the settings within the Oppo? I am not certain if the bm in my prepro is for analog and digital...hhmmm? I think when I am in setup mode with the prepro and listening to a multich cd via analogs and choose different xover settings like say between 80 or 60hz...it makes the change. I'll have to check that out again. My memory is fading. Is there any difference in sq between the 7.1 analogs or hdmi? And finally, just to be totally clear, I can receive the DD True HD and DTS MA through the new Oppo as it decodes/processes it before sending via the analog outs?
 
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greggp2

Senior Audioholic
So...let me get in on this. My pre/pro has 7.1 multich analog inputs...no hdmi although I don't care because it's a really good unit (Boston Acoustics...same as Outlaw 990 or Sherwood Newcastle) and I run my hdmi directly to pj. Anyways, if/when I connect the new Oppo via these analogs I would use the Oppo's bm rather than the pre/pro? Does the use of analogs bypass the prepro bm and utilizes the settings within the Oppo? I am not certain if the bm in my prepro is for analog and digital...hhmmm? I think when I am in setup mode with the prepro and listening to a multich cd via analogs and choose different xover settings like say between 80 or 60hz...it makes the change. I'll have to check that out again. My memory is fading. Is there any difference in sq between the 7.1 analogs or hdmi? And finally, just to be totally clear, I can receive the DD True HD and DTS MA through the new Oppo as it decodes/processes it before sending via the analog outs?
It is my understanding that when you run Multichannel inputs into a Pre/pro or receiver, that the player itself passes the signal directly through and to your speakers. Unless your receiver has a LFE option in your multi-channel, the player itself will be handling bass management. The Oppo is set at 80hz, so if your receiver/pre/pro doesn't allow BM of multi-channel, than the Oppo would take over..

With HDMI, the signal coming into a Pre/Pro is in a digital format. Until HDMI, Optical and Coax cables didn't allow enough information through to allow HD Audio. With HDMI it now does, but the signal is purely digital. The DACs in your Pre/Pro must then convert it to an Analog signal and out to your speakers.

With Multichannel, the player is already sending a pure Analog signal to your Pre-Pro, which basically puts it in a bypass mode and sends the signal out to your speakers. Some receivers allow you to do bass management by consolidating all 5.1 or 7.1 channels into one and sending an LFE into the sub to allow bass control. Others don't.

Bottom line though, is if you have a good Pre/Pro and don't care about video upscaling and video conversion, you can still get HD Audio with multichannel outputs, thereby alleviating the need to upgrade. Some people say that HDMI is better quality, but if you set up your BR player, or play with the bass management if your AVR or pre-pro allows it, there should be little to no difference.

I am actually getting an Arcam AVR350, due to the excellent sound quality of the unit. For the money, I don't believe that Yamaha, Denon and Onkyo can compete with the 2 channel stereo reproduction of the Arcam and I can still take advantage of the Blu-ray HD formats with the multichannel inputs. As far as HDMI inputs, the Arcam has 2, but they are straight video passthroughs. That's fine with me though. I can connect 2 devices into the Arcam and my TV has another 4. That leaves me with plenty of connections and my universal harmony touch screen remote will change the video inputs on my Tv..

All my TV signals are already digital and fairly high quality. If I want upscaling, I'll spend $500 and get an Anchor Bay DVDO, which does a much better job with its scaling than any receiver I've seen...
 
Rickster71

Rickster71

Audioholic Spartan
OPPO Blu-ray review?

Hello All,
Just wondering if there is an Audioholics review for the OPPO BDP-83 Blu-ray in works?
 
D

DaveHo

Audioholic
So...let me get in on this. My pre/pro has 7.1 multich analog inputs...no hdmi although I don't care because it's a really good unit (Boston Acoustics...same as Outlaw 990 or Sherwood Newcastle) and I run my hdmi directly to pj. Anyways, if/when I connect the new Oppo via these analogs I would use the Oppo's bm rather than the pre/pro? Does the use of analogs bypass the prepro bm and utilizes the settings within the Oppo? I am not certain if the bm in my prepro is for analog and digital...hhmmm? I think when I am in setup mode with the prepro and listening to a multich cd via analogs and choose different xover settings like say between 80 or 60hz...it makes the change. I'll have to check that out again. My memory is fading. Is there any difference in sq between the 7.1 analogs or hdmi? And finally, just to be totally clear, I can receive the DD True HD and DTS MA through the new Oppo as it decodes/processes it before sending via the analog outs?
I have an Outlaw 990. Unless you set all speakers to large & sub to on it will take the multi-ch analog inputs & convert them to digital to do bass management & time delay.

-Dave
 
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DaleAV

Full Audioholic
Good post, Gregg..but most a/v receivers do not have BM in the analog setups.

More critical is if they offer a 10db boost selection in sub level...as players typically are down 10db in bass level. The Arcam does, even though it has no other BM for analogs other than volume. Wording in the Arcam manual says the 'boost' is normally necessary for DVD-A playback...(written when HD codecs were still in being developed) but applies to most any player utilizing MCH analog outputs.

Good point, Dave Ho...and not all pro/rec work the same way.
 
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billy p

billy p

Audioholic Ninja
Hi Dale,

Good post, Gregg..but most a/v receivers do not have BM in the analog setups.

More critical is if they offer a 10db boost selection in sub level...as players typically are down 10db in bass level. The Arcam does, even though it has no other BM for analogs other than volume. Wording in the Arcam manual says the 'boost' is normally necessary for DVD-A playback...(written when HD codecs were still in being developed) but applies to most any player utilizing MCH analog outputs.

Good point, Dave Ho...and not all pro/rec work the same way.
I never understood the analog m/c argument until I decided to take the dip into BR and bought the panny bd55. It was hooked up to my Denon 3805 and while I agree the sound was excellent, it didn't give my any comfort knowing this bypassed my receivers processing ability. Heck... even with a 15db boost the analog IMO didn't have the same impact as when I watched the same disc in digital.
 
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