Using Oppo dv981hd as a preamp

samnor

Anyone use their oppo dv981hd as a preamp to a power amplifier (using the multichannel outs)... It appears to be possible according to some of the oppo reviews... just wondering if someone did an a/b comparison with or without another dedicated preamp in the path. how does the oppo itself sound (bright, warm etc) when paired with an amp like parasound hca 1500 or an ati 1502 or adcom

comfortablycurt

As long as it has it's own volume control, you can use it as a preamp.

I used my Cambridge Audio DVD89 as a preamp with my Adcom 545 for a short time, running my SDA 2A's. It sounded pretty good, but things got MUCH better when I added a 2 channel pre to the mix.

DaveHo

I believe the Oppo does volume control in the digital domain. That usually results in poor sound quality at anything other than full volume.

vc69

DaveHo wrote: »

I believe the Oppo does volume control in the digital domain. That usually results in poor sound quality at anything other than full volume.

Zackly

comfortablycurt

DaveHo wrote: »

I believe the Oppo does volume control in the digital domain. That usually results in poor sound quality at anything other than full volume.

Agreed 100%.

There are some higher end players that can work quite well as a preamp, but generally speaking it isn't an ideal setup.

By lowering the volume on the CDP, you're lowering the CDP's output voltage and basically degrading the signal. CD's were designed to be output at a higher level.

If you can, get a preamp. I've never heard that Oppo, but I can say with nearly absolute certainty that it would sound better with a dedicated preamp in the mix.

samnor

The oppo does have trim levels for each channel in the audio setup (OSD)... What I read from the http://www.prillaman.net/oppo981_review.html review was that

" Player menu settings like bass management, speaker distance, channel trim, and audio delay are irrelevent to the digital output because the player does not alter the data at all. "

So it would definitely apply to the analog outputs is what I am assuming from the above.

So I would assume I can adjust the trims for the left and right channels.. Basically, if I dont want to fry my speakers, I assume I should turn down the amp level (if possible) and adjust the trims to compensate... I noticed some of the emotiva or other amps dont seem to even have adjustable gains... how do you deal with that? just set the oppo master volume all the way down and then ramp up till the desired SPL?
appreciate all the input...

samnor

Curt, yes, I do plan to get a preamp.. Just right now, the budget is a little tight so I wanted to see the benefits of adding a plain amp to the mix. I have an extremely basic onkyo avr which doesnt have preouts so I am forced to use the oppo as a pseudo-preamp.. agreed that its not ideal but I am trying my best to work with what I have...

the other issue with the preamp is that I would very much like an hdmi capable preamp to take inputs from bluray etc and also do onboard decoding of dts-hd,etc... Its counter to the music part but I would like to get one preamp that is somewhat future proof and handles both HT and music.

I know folks claim that lpcm from the bluray player would sound nearly as good as if the preamp did the decoding but we're throwing more stages, conversions etc into the mix and I'd like to get the best possible sound.

IF you guys have good preamp suggestions on the above lines, I am all ears...
Thanks...