Oppo DV971H DVD Player as good as Denon?

[Bodymechanic]

Hiyas,

Anyone able to say yet is the Oppo DV971H DVD Player is anywhere near the quality of a Denon 2910 or other DVD players in this price range? I see some hype about this dvd player in the forums, etc., but would like to know a) Will there be a AUdioholics.com review inthe near future or b) has anyone compared this Oppo to something that's already been established as a high quality player?

Look HERE

Best Regards

 

[Johnny Canuck]

no SACD or DVD Audio. Other than that the specs look great.

 

[brian32672]

Clint will be posting on his finds soon. He has one just about in for testing.
I think the Oppo will do DVD-A, I'm pretty sure it has the analog hook-ups for this.
However I will wait for Clint's review...

Also a note, this item is firmware upgradeable, so even in the future it can add support for other formats...

 

[racquetman]

I think the Oppo will do DVD-A, I'm pretty sure it has the analog hook-ups for

Negative two-niner. No DVD-A or SACD. I thought I also remember no progressive scan through component (only DVI), but I could be wrong on that. Definitely not wrong on the DVD-A/SACD thing, unless Audioholics is wrong

http://www.audioholics.com/ces/CEStransports/OppoDV971HDVDplayer.php

 

[Thunder18]

But it is upconverting.
It also pretty much spanked every dvd player in the Secrets of Home Theater and High Fidelity Magazine review. Here's the link:

http://www.hometheaterhifi.com/cgi-bin/shootout.cgi?function=search&articles=122

 

[brian32672]

unless Audioholics is wrong

Audiholics may be wrong. Also that was at Jan 7 2005. Audioholics did not also mention that these are available with this player...
"Plays DivX® 5, DivX® 4, DivX® 3, and DivX® VOD video content"

Also listed is DVD video and DVD Audio...
"Functions:
DVD Video/Audio, Divx/MPEG4, VCD, SVCD, CD, HDCD, WMA, DVDR/RW, CD-R/RW, Kodak Picture "

As well, remeber it is upgradeable....

My player as well does not indicate DVD-Audio but I have tried it, and it does work. Also has the full set-up menu like the Oppo as well for the DVD-A selection, for processing that signal, with speaker size, distance, level, etc.. built into the DVD player...

Here is a link straight to the Oppo player..
http://www.oppodigital.com/

 

[brian32672]

Here are the last 2 major upgrades and it is quite impressive what firmware upgrades can do...

LIST
Major Firmware Release June 29, 2005

Fixed shimmering that bothered certain percentage of the user population
Added Off option for Sharpness
Improved audio/video synchronization
Added five Audio Delay options to suit various receiver systems. Options include 10ms, 20ms, 30ms, 40ms, and 50 ms.
Added On/Off options for Faroudja “CCS” (Cross Color Suppression)
Added On/Off options for Faroudja “TrueLife” enhancement
Added On/Off options for Angle icon
Added support for 540p DVI resolution
Added a toggle between the silvered-colored remote and the new black-colored remote by pressing and hold the STOP key on the front panel of the OPPO player for 3 second and then release. The firmware is default to support the silver-colored remote.

Major Firmware Release April 13, 2005

Fixed pixel cropping
Improved Y/C delays via DVI and component outputs
Corrected the mislabeled Sharpness/Contrast/Brightness control options. Added Saturation control as an option.
Corrected PAL 720p and 1080i output at 50Hz instead of 60Hz

This release added the following new features:

Supports multiple aspect ratios for DivX AVI files, including: 720x480, 720x576, 704x480 704x576, 352x240 and 352x288
Automatically closes the tray when pressing the POWER button on the player unit to power off
Enabled DTS decoding through analog connection in addition to digital connection
Zoom and Angle on-screen-displays are set to disappear after 5 seconds. The “Pause” is set to stay on screen to remind the user of the pause mode, based on the user input.
Adds more zoom options: 1.2x, 1.3x, 1.5x, 2.5x, and 3.5x, in addition to the original 2x, 3x, 4x, ½x, 1/3x & ¼x options. This allows letterbox to fill the screen with a non-anamorphic widescreen DVD.
Pressing the Backward key skips to the beginning of the chapter; pressing it again skips to the beginning of the previous chapter.
Adds Saturation control as an option.
Memorizes previous DVI setting in TV “Auto” mode in addition to in NTSC and Pal modes

This release changed the following default setting:

Changed the default setting of Subwoofer to 'off" on the Speaker Setup Page.

 

[racquetman]

My player as well does not indicate DVD-Audio but I have tried it, and it does work. Also has the full set-up menu like the Oppo as well for the DVD-A selection, for processing that signal, with speaker size, distance, level, etc.. built into the DVD player...

Brian,

I don't think your player is giving you a DVD-audio output if it doesn't say it plays it. Your player has the bass management setup options because it can decode DD and DTS if you need it to. You are likely hearing the dolby digital output from a DVD-audio disc, not the advanced resolution track.

 

[brian32672]

Negative two-niner. No DVD-A or SACD. I thought I also remember no progressive scan through component (only DVI), but I could be wrong on that. Definitely not wrong on the DVD-A/SACD thing, unless Audioholics is wrong

http://www.audioholics.com/ces/CEStransports/OppoDV971HDVDplayer.php

I am also pretty sure it will do progressive out of component. I did read the manual, but that was awhile ago. However, I still can not recommend this player over mine of the NeuNeo HVD-2081 which as stated it will also DVD-Audio. But does not totally confirm this on their site. Once again, it to can do upgrades. I have done one, and it was quite easy
Link below for older 2081....
http://www.neuneo.com/body/product/hvd2081-out/feature.asp

 

[brian32672]

Brian,

I don't think your player is giving you a DVD-audio output if it doesn't say it plays it.

Once again, don't go by this statement. Look at all the upgrades alone were done on the Oppo (and those were last 2 upgrades, both after 1/7/05), It clearly a year ago did not state on player that it could do DVD-Audio (if you have older player, it will not state this on the player, but will work with DVD-A, as long as the firmware upgrades are on it), but now site has been updated to say that it can.

 

[racquetman]

Once again, don't go by this statement. Look at all the upgrades alone were done on the Oppo (and those were last 2 upgrades, both after 1/7/05), It clearly a year ago did not state on player that it could do DVD-Audio (if you have older player, it will not state this on the player, but will work with DVD-A, as long as the firmware upgrades are on it), but now site has been updated to say that it can.

Well, their website says (in not so good english) that their HD DVD players won't play DVD-A or SACD.

I was talking about your player by the way .

http://www.neodigits.com/esupport/index.php?_a=knowledgebase&_j=questiondetails&_i=34

 

[brian32672]

Well, their website says (in not so good english) that their HD DVD players won't play DVD-A or SACD.

Hmm, I'll have to recontact customer support. This was the last firmware upgrade I had used... Trust me it did a lot more than what the had stated on the site, I had even some extra options as well in the OSD.

Latest HVD2081 firmware (V5) and upgrade instructions
This firmware release main fixed below issues:

1)Digital audio incompatible(no sound) issue with certain AV receiver model has been fixed.

2)If you turn off the digital audio output, audio from HDMI is enabled. If you turn on the digital audio output, audio from HDMI will be disabled. This fixed HDMI audio issue in the previous firmware version.


Please notice firmware upgrade has certain risk, please follow the upgrade instruction carefully and make sure the power will not lose during the upgrade progress.

Upgrade Instructions:

Get the latest firmware from below link:
http://www.neodigits.com/download/2081_V5_rev.zip

1)Unzip the firmware zip file, it contains two files ("ROM.BIN" and "ROMV2.2.0.4183.IMG"). Put the two files on a CD-R/RW or DVD-R/+R/RW.

2) Put the disc into your DVD player, you will see message show up on TV screen asking if you want to proceed the upgrade, press "enter" on the remote control to confirm the upgrade.

3) It will take 2-3 min's to perform the upgrade ( DO NOT POWER OFF THE PLAYER DURING UPGRADING).

4) After the upgrade is finished ( when the status show 100%), switch off the player ( by using the power switch in the back of the player ) and then switch on the player.

5) The menu will be all in Chinese now. Just move the menu to the bottom option and press "right" button to enter the option to change all the sub option back to English.

 

[racquetman]

Hmm, I'll have to recontact customer support. This was the last firmware upgrade I had used... Trust me it did a lot more than what the had stated on the site, I had even some extra options as well in the OSD.

Do you have a button on your DVD player remote that tells you what audio is being played? On my Denon I can hit the display button when playing a DVD-Audio disc and it tells me what I'm hearing (96 khz, 24 bit, 6 channel for example). This is how I verify that I'm hearing the advanced resolution tracks.

 

[brian32672]

Do you have a button on your DVD player remote that tells you what audio is being played? On my Denon I can hit the display button when playing a DVD-Audio disc and it tells me what I'm hearing (96 khz, 24 bit, 6 channel for example). This is how I verify that I'm hearing the advanced resolution tracks.

Yes I do, and yes it has that resolution... When I get around to it, I will post a screenshot.

EDIT:: I am house sitting at the moment (because of animals).
Waiting for mom to get back from Georgia. So I can get back to my condo...

 

[WndrBr3d]

I listen to DVD-Audio on my Oppo, so I can say for sure it'll play the LPCM tracks, not just DD or DTS.

 

[brian32672]

I listen to DVD-Audio on my Oppo, so I can say for sure it'll play the LPCM tracks, not just DD or DTS.

This is 150% what I am getting at. Thanks WndrBr....
Also a year ago, the site never even stated anything about DVD-A.
And the player I am assuming you have does not have a SACD or DVD-A logo on it???

 

[Johnny Canuck]

I emailed both OPPo and Neu neu (sp??) ..both said they do not play SACD or DVD-A.

I have posted this before. Look at the Yamaha DVD S657 if you want a great cheap universal player. Why isn't everyone talking about this?????? I paid $229!! Plays EVERYTHING!! and it's a Yamaha!