Oppo DV-983H

[Pyrrho]

I bought an Oppo DV-983H. It is as good as the hype about it. I think those who say it isn't worth $400 for a DVD player have probably never seen it in action. Here are links to a couple of reviews:

http://www.hometheaterhifi.com/cd-dvd-player-product-reviews/dvd-players/oppo-digital-dv-983h-dvd-player---a-secrets-dvd-benchmark-review.html

http://hometheater.about.com/od/dvdproductreviews/ig/OPPO-DV-983H-HQV-Test-Results/

The page at the second link contains many screen shots (be sure to read the text, as some blurriness is a result of camera issues, not the performance of the Oppo).

It is a nice step up from my Yamaha DVD-C750 upconverted via my Yamaha RX-V2700 for my Toshiba 42HL67U.

The Oppo makes regular DVDs look almost as good as HD. (For those of you who might need that explained, "almost as good as" means that it isn't as good as. But it almost is as good as.) And it looks better than some of the things I have seen broadcast as an HD signal that were evidently upconverted by the TV station. I cannot say that this player does a better job at upconverting than professional equipment, though, because I don't know what format the sources have been that I have seen upconverted for broadcast. But it seems that way.

It does a great job with PAL DVDs, and is easy to make region free. All one has to do is:

Press Setup.
Press "9210" in quick succession. A new window will appear.
Press "0". Your region is now multi-region.
Press Setup to Exit.

Unfortunately, I have no experience with any of the other Oppo players, so I can't tell you how much of a step up it is over them. I decided on this Oppo because I wanted to get the best performance out of my DVDs that I possibly could, and I am very happy with the results.

I think I may be spending some quality time with my new player, so I may not be back here for a while. It is fantastic. If you get a chance to see one, it is definitely worth checking out. Or, if $400 isn't a lot of money to you, just buy it. I doubt you will regret it.

 

[jamie2112]

How does it do playing cd's? I am looking for a dvd/cd player that is hi quality, possibly an "audiophile" cd player.

 

[satish536]

pyrrho

Mine is probably shipping out tomorrow.

I hope this does a good job with pal dvd's like you stated since im india ill be majorly watching pal dvd's.I plan to make it region free also.

Have you tried the usb port? How is the quality of divx videos are they also deinterlaced and scaled also?

Some people at avs have reported hdmi audio dropout issues, but i think firmware updates have helped.

I was rather lucky to find one considering theyre all out of stock since Anchor bay chip is in short supply, the grapevine says it might be around may before they get any in stock.

 

[mtrycrafts]

Some people at avs have reported hdmi audio dropout issues, but i think firmware updates have helped.
.

I would think that since this is a DVD player that HDMI audio has an easy solution, use the digital coax or optical out, no?

 

[satish536]

I would think that since this is a DVD player that HDMI audio has an easy solution, use the digital coax or optical out, no?

Ya but if i'm paying $400 for a player, i expect the given features to work optimally so it can save me the trouble of using two separate cables.

 

[obscbyclouds]

I would think that since this is a DVD player that HDMI audio has an easy solution, use the digital coax or optical out, no?

Unless you ever plan to throw a DVD-A or SACD in there.......

 

[satish536]

Unless you ever plan to throw a DVD-A or SACD in there.......

Good Point..

 

[supervij]

Actually, no. Among other features: "High-resolution multi-channel digital audio output through HDMI supporting CD, DVD-Audio, SACD, Dolby Digital and DTS sound tracks. (Requires compatible A/V receiver)"

In other words, the 983 should be able to pass SACD and DVD-A over HDMI. One cable passing everything. Sounds like a shiny idea to me.

cheers,
supervij

 

[allargon]

Actually, no. Among other features: "High-resolution multi-channel digital audio output through HDMI supporting CD, DVD-Audio, SACD, Dolby Digital and DTS sound tracks. (Requires compatible A/V receiver)"

In other words, the 983 should be able to pass SACD and DVD-A over HDMI. One cable passing everything. Sounds like a shiny idea to me.

cheers,
supervij

The whole point of HDMI 1.1/1.2 (for the most part) and its various a, b subversions was to offer SACD and DVD-A playback over HDMI including DSD.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hdmi#HDMI_1.2

 

[Pyrrho]

How does it do playing cd's? I am looking for a dvd/cd player that is hi quality, possibly an "audiophile" cd player.

It is a great CD player, SACD player, and DVD-Audio player.

 

[Pyrrho]

pyrrho

Mine is probably shipping out tomorrow.

I hope this does a good job with pal dvd's like you stated since im india ill be majorly watching pal dvd's.I plan to make it region free also.

Have you tried the usb port? How is the quality of divx videos are they also deinterlaced and scaled also?

Some people at avs have reported hdmi audio dropout issues, but i think firmware updates have helped.

I was rather lucky to find one considering theyre all out of stock since Anchor bay chip is in short supply, the grapevine says it might be around may before they get any in stock.

I have not used the USB port, nor have I played divx videos on it. I have had no trouble at all with the HDMI connection, and use it for both video and audio.

Judging from how it does with everything I have played on it (DVD, SACD, CD, DVD-Audio), I would be surprised if it did anything badly that they say it does.

As for them being out of stock, if one wants one, one should get on their waiting list. If I had waited for it to be advertised as being "in stock", I would probably still be waiting.

 

[Pyrrho]

Ya but if i'm paying $400 for a player, i expect the given features to work optimally so it can save me the trouble of using two separate cables.

I have had absolutely no problems at all with the HDMI connection. I use it for audio and video.

 

[satish536]

Hi,
I was wondering if the Oppo 983h apart from dvd's ..... also upscales divx, video files through usb flash drive to high resolution ?. I have some 720P Rips Of Blu Ray how would those be displayed...

Although the DVD player can upscale DivX and XviD media, there is no native support for decoding files which have a resolution larger than 720x480 pixels. Your 720p BD rips will not playback on this player.

Best Regards,
Customer Service
OPPO Digital, Inc.

 

[Pyrrho]

...

Some people at avs have reported hdmi audio dropout issues, but i think firmware updates have helped.
...

Did those people have some way of testing to see if their dropout issues were caused by what they connected the player to? I have heard of some receivers that don't properly handle audio via HDMI, and that could be their problem.

As I said already, I have had absolutely no problems whatsoever with the HDMI connection, which I use for audio and video (I would not bother with this player if I did not have at least the capability of using the video via HDMI).

 

[Biggiesized]

The only shortcoming of this player, and I mean the only, is that it cannot send the native DSD bitstream over HDMI. One of the OPPO reps explained that it wasn't an engineering oversight, but an engineering limitation on the AVSForum.

 

[satish536]

Modded 980H

For the purists out there, DV-980H modified. I hope the performance justifies the price.

http://switch-box.com/Oppo_DV980H_Modified.html

 

[Pyrrho]

For the purists out there, DV-980H modified. I hope the performance justifies the price.

http://switch-box.com/Oppo_DV980H_Modified.html

That seems crazy. The DV-980H can output all of the audio signals digitally via HDMI already. And, at that price, one could get the superior DV-983H, which can also output all of the audio signals digitally via HDMI (though with it the SACD is converted to PCM, just like the modified player at the link you provided).

I suppose if one has no HDMI inputs, but has compatible inputs for their modification, it might make some sense, but it might also be a good time to think of just upgrading one's other equipment to deal with HDMI.

 

[Pyrrho]

The only shortcoming of this player, and I mean the only, is that it cannot send the native DSD bitstream over HDMI. One of the OPPO reps explained that it wasn't an engineering oversight, but an engineering limitation on the AVSForum.

I don't think that is too serious of a problem. First of all, it is doubtful if one can hear a difference between DSD and DSD converted to PCM. (To test this, one would need to level match and listen "blind", something practically no one ever does, so we can safely say that most people who claim that they can hear a difference probably quite literally do not know what they are talking about.) And second, many processors convert all inputs to PCM for processing anyway (like for bass management, etc.), so even if a difference could be heard in some cases, it could not possibly be heard by many who imagine it matters.

Also, one could check with Oppo and see if the analog outputs use a converted signal (i.e., DSD to PCM to analog) or a DSD direct to analog conversion. If the latter, then one could just use the analog connection to avoid PCM conversion (assuming, of course, that one's processor does not convert the multichannel analog to PCM for processing anyway).

 

[tn001d]

I still havent seen any mention of the 983 vs Silcon Optix Reon chip based players (Toshiba XA2, Denon 2930/3930) in terms of video quality, especially with real world dvd watching.

 

[Pyrrho]

I still havent seen any mention of the 983 vs Silcon Optix Reon chip based players (Toshiba XA2, Denon 2930/3930) in terms of video quality, especially with real world dvd watching.

Unfortunately, I do not own any of those other players, so I cannot comment on their performance. You can, however, read reviews of a couple of them (as well as a bunch of other players) at (Warning: it is a large page that may take some time to load):

http://69.64.68.156/cgi-bin/shootout.cgi?function=search&articles=all

The Toshiba XA2 and the Denon 3930Cl are rated at 95 and 91, respectively, by the people at the Secrets of Home Theater and High Fidelity. You can read the reviews at the above link; both are supposed to be good players.