Oppo to wind down and cease manufacturing

[RichB]

The new stuff on the horizon includes:

• HDMI 2.1 - this is backward compatible so it should not be an issue but the Oppo HDMI In wont support it.
• eARC - that will come before HDMI 2.1 but again, I doubt there will be support.

DV Lite (for Sony) is currently getting certified and will be supported.
Some high-end processors are removing 7.1 inputs and that's understandable but I suspect most will supply 2-channel analog inputs for the folks with DACs.

- Rich

 

[sterling shoote]

I just pulled the trigger on a 203. I had the 980, the BDP-80, and currently the 103. They were all bullet-proof and also sold well on eBay. I'll be selling the 103 too. I don't have a 4K display so I've been holding off on this purchase, but I do want to get it before it's gone. An easy decision.

I suspect UHD Blu-ray will turn out to be the pinnacle of physical media, so this may be the last disc player I'll ever own. Someday, you won't be able to acquire new content on physical media at all, and the player will only be useful for legacy playback, like VCRs are now. At some point this player will die, and it may not even be worth replacing.

And one day, everything on the Planet will burn up.

 

[RichB]

... and we will send one baby to another planet who will have tremendous powers to be used for truth, justice and the American way...

- Rich

 

[Blue Dude]

And one day, everything on the Planet will burn up.

Yes, but before then, we'll have all of our atmospheric oxygen bound to silicon and all life will be extinguished. I doubt we'll have solved all of our issues with HDMI and HDCP by then though.

 

[PhilCohen]

I just pulled the trigger on a 203. I had the 980, the BDP-80, and currently the 103. They were all bullet-proof and also sold well on eBay. I'll be selling the 103 too. I don't have a 4K display so I've been holding off on this purchase, but I do want to get it before it's gone. An easy decision.

I suspect UHD Blu-ray will turn out to be the pinnacle of physical media, so this may be the last disc player I'll ever own. Someday, you won't be able to acquire new content on physical media at all, and the player will only be useful for legacy playback, like VCRs are now. At some point this player will die, and it may not even be worth replacing.

I bought a BDP-105D in 2005, though I also own a broken down BDP-83. Luckily, I held onto the BDP-83, and so I sent it out to Oppo today to get it repaired. On Tuesday, I ordered a UDP-205, and it's on the way to me. All of the units that I bought are hardware-modified "Region-Free" units. Now, I don't have to worry, that if my BDP-105D were to fail (and service not be available) that I would be unable to play roughly 1500 of my discs ever again. These include SACD's, DVD-Audio discs, DVD's containing foreign format video, my one "50Hz" Blu-ray disc, and more than 800 home-burned DVD-Audio discs.
When the day comes when I can no longer buy music in a format where I can permanently posess it, then I'm out of here. I'll keep on rockin' with all of the physical media that I've collected in the past 52 years. In fact, my 92-year old mom has speculated that I may not be able to play through my more than 2000 disc backlog of yet-to-be-played CD-R's during all of the remaining years of my life. She may be right. And I've got downloaded files from which I could burn(at least) another 500 discs. And I continue to buy manufactured CD's, DVD-Video, DVD-Audio & Blu-ray discs, SACD's (and occasional vinyl) and I'll continue to buy them as long as they are available.

 

[slipperybidness]

I bought a BDP-105D in 2005, though I also own a broken down BDP-83. Luckily, I held onto the BDP-83, and so I sent it out to Oppo today to get it repaired. On Tuesday, I ordered a UDP-205, and it's on the way to me. All of the units that I bought are hardware-modified "Region-Free" units. Now, I don't have to worry, that if my BDP-105D were to fail (and service not be available) that I would be unable to play roughly 1500 of my discs ever again. These include SACD's, DVD-Audio discs, DVD's containing foreign format video, my one "50Hz" Blu-ray disc, and more than 800 home-burned DVD-Audio discs.
When the day comes when I can no longer buy music in a format where I can permanently posess it, then I'm out of here. I'll keep on rockin' with all of the physical media that I've collected in the past 52 years. In fact, my 92-year old mom has speculated that I may not be able to play through my more than 2000 disc backlog of yet-to-be-played CD-R's during all of the remaining years of my life. She may be right. And I've got downloaded files from which I could burn(at least) another 500 discs. And I continue to buy manufactured CD's, DVD-Video, DVD-Audio & Blu-ray discs, SACD's (and occasional vinyl) and I'll continue to buy them as long as they are available.

So, Oppo will even still support Hardware Modified gear?

And, not a concern about it on their end?

That is a bit of an anomaly!

 

[slipperybidness]

Maybe we can still buy the Lexicons after Oppo is out!

 

[PhilCohen]

So, Oppo will even still support Hardware Modified gear?

And, not a concern about it on their end?

That is a bit of an anomaly!

But the problem is almost certainly the Laser, and has nothing to do with the modification. Playback failed suddenly while playing a music CD. Luckily, I was able to get the disc tray to open, and I got my disc out of the machine. The Minutes/Seconds display also failed. But, I got my money's worth. I got 7 years of good service (2008-2015)

 

[PhilCohen]

Oh, and as I discovered when I spoke to the company by telephone, the name is pronounced "Oh-Poe" with the emphasis on the first syllable.

 

[slipperybidness]

But the problem is almost certainly the Laser, and has nothing to do with the modification. Playback failed suddenly while playing a music CD. Luckily, I was able to get the disc tray to open, and I got my disc out of the machine. The Minutes/Seconds display also failed. But, I got my money's worth. I got 7 years of good service (2008-2015)

Yeah, but if it has a hardware mod, then clearly "someone has been poking around in there".

If it were me and my company, I would likely refuse any work if I knew my product had been modded after purchase, too much liability and headache. And....I'm OK with modding and voiding warranties on my own gear.

But, hey, if Oppo is good with it, then just another pat on the back for them.

 

[RichB]

So, Oppo will even still support Hardware Modified gear?

And, not a concern about it on their end?

That is a bit of an anomaly!

Normally, a company with an active product and goodwill might be bought by another company (there is always ATI). In this case, Oppo Electronics remains and it makes sense to keep supporting a product through the warranty, especially, if you are planning to enter the US phone market.

So, you get support and no sale.

- Rich

 

[gene]

After a stellar 14-year run, Oppo has announced that it will begin the process of ending manufacturing of new products. Customers needn’t worry, Oppo will continue to honor warranties and will even continue out-of-warranty repair while also providing periodic firmware updates for its current blu-ray players. Oppo was an exceptional AV company that truly cared about the quality of their products and serving their customers and are proving it even as they are winding down their business.

Discuss "Oppo Digital Bids Farewell, Ends US Manufacturing" here. Read the article.

 

[lovinthehd]

Will read Wayde's article, thanks. Been discussing the shutdown in this thread https://forums.audioholics.com/forums/threads/oppo-to-wind-down-and-cease-manufacturing.110906/page-3#post-1241450

 

[lovinthehd]

AH article on the subject https://www.audioholics.com/editorials/oppo-digital-bids-farewell-ends-us-manufacturing

 

[lovinthehd]

Yeah, but if it has a hardware mod, then clearly "someone has been poking around in there".

If it were me and my company, I would likely refuse any work if I knew my product had been modded after purchase, too much liability and headache. And....I'm OK with modding and voiding warranties on my own gear.

But, hey, if Oppo is good with it, then just another pat on the back for them.

Doesn't Oppo sell such region free units? Looks like Oppo is the seller of such on Amazon....

ps Like this 203 https://www.amazon.com/OPPO-UDP-203-Player-Region-From012345678/dp/B01N5QRALJ/ref=sr_1_3?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1522955876&sr=1-3&keywords=oppo

 

[lovinthehd]

Oh, and as I discovered when I spoke to the company by telephone, the name is pronounced "Oh-Poe" with the emphasis on the first syllable.

Dang, been mispronouncing it

 

[RichB]

Doesn't Oppo sell such region free units? Looks like Oppo is the seller of such on Amazon....

ps Like this 203 https://www.amazon.com/OPPO-UDP-203-Player-Region-From012345678/dp/B01N5QRALJ/ref=sr_1_3?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1522955876&sr=1-3&keywords=oppo

No, that is an aftermarket alteration that is sold by MULTISYSTEM-ELECTRONICS.
For DVD, you can download superdisk and play DVDs region free. I never found the need for BD.

- Rich

 

[lovinthehd]

No, that is an aftermarket alteration that is sold by MULTISYSTEM-ELECTRONICS.
For DVD, you can download superdisk and play DVDs region free. I never found the need for BD.

- Rich

Thanks for the clarification, was going by the link to Oppo at the top, didn't dig into it obviously Never had the need for out of region discs myself...

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

The Lexicon BD-30 was an exotic $3,500 universal DVD and Blu-ray player on the outside. But it was a pure $500 Oppo BDP-83 universal DVD and Blu-ray player on the inside.

I guess Harman Int never forgave AH for the original article, might as well rub it in anew again. Nothing to loose anyhow, Right?

 

[slipperybidness]

Thanks for the clarification, was going by the link to Oppo at the top, didn't dig into it obviously Never had the need for out of region discs myself...

It's a nice feature, especially if you are not native to the country you live in and want to watch some legacy discs that you already own.

Back in the day (days of DVD), region free was great to get to watch Anime that was not available in the USA, or if you wanted to watch anime or kung-fu with the original Chinese or Japanese audio and read the sub-titles (most purist will tell you that the US dubs suck, and sometimes they are right).

With modern streaming options and such, it just isn't a prime feature like it used to be.