OPPO or Pioneer Elite blu ray disc player

LeftCoast

Hi All

Just started thinking about getting a nicer bdp. Maybe seeing if I can get a good price on last years model of the Elite. Then I started wondering about the OPPO.

Thoughts?

chumlie

Oppo

danz1906

Oppo 95!

Toolfan66

Oppo!!

LeftCoast

Ok. coolio...Thanks, guys

ViperZ

Easily Oppo. 93 for HT+music, 95 if you are a real audio nut.

F1nut

BDP-05FD or 09 Elite for HT. Neither Pioneer nor Oppo for music.

WilliamM2

Yeah, those Pioneers were great 4 years ago. 2 minute disc loading time is a little sub par these days though.

F1nut

WilliamM2 wrote: »

Yeah, those Pioneers were great 4 years ago. 2 minute disc loading time is a little sub par these days though.

Still great today and firmware updates have cut down on the load time. Besides, if you can't wait a minute for a disc to load, you've got bigger issues.

leroyjr1

Oppo

WilliamM2

F1nut wrote: »

Still great today and firmware updates have cut down on the load time. Besides, if you can't wait a minute for a disc to load, you've got bigger issues.

Maybe, but I gave up on mine when they still hadn't straightened it out after a year of ownership. They may be okay players, but they are discontinued now, and there are better options.

BlueFox

I had the Oppo 83, and now have the Oppo 93. I absolutely love the picture and lossless BR sound. I never saw the Pioneer so I have no idea about them, but I suspect they are fine.

However, if I were going to buy a new BRP I would give the new Cambridge-Audio 751BD player a chance. I have been very happy with Cambridge-Audio in my two channel system, and their gear gives a great bang for the buck. In addition to BR performance they have added CD technology from their 840C CDP for audio CD and SACD playback. One negative is it does not have balanced two-channel out, only RCA.

http://www.audioadvisor.com/prodinfo.asp?number=CA751BD

Toolfan66

WilliamM2 wrote: »

Maybe, but I gave up on mine when they still hadn't straightened it out after a year of ownership. They may be okay players, but they are discontinued now, and there are better options.

For what you can pick up a BDP-51 BDP, BDP-05FD You would be hard pressed to find a better BDP for the price..

mantis

BlueFox wrote: »

I had the Oppo 83, and now have the Oppo 93. I absolutely love the picture and lossless BR sound. I never saw the Pioneer so I have no idea about them, but I suspect they are fine.

However, if I were going to buy a new BRP I would give the new Cambridge-Audio 751BD player a chance. I have been very happy with Cambridge-Audio in my two channel system, and their gear gives a great bang for the buck. In addition to BR performance they have added CD technology from their 840C CDP for audio CD and SACD playback. One negative is it does not have balanced two-channel out, only RCA.

http://www.audioadvisor.com/prodinfo.asp?number=CA751BD

Agreed.

mufsoman

Love my Pioneer BDP-320. Great AQ, VQ and upscaling. I would consider the 320 or Elite 23FD before the 51 or 05. Great value for the money.

cstmar01

I have a BDP-05FD, also owned the 09. The 09 was nice and was a good player as well for music. Was faster than the 05 for sure for loading. I still have the 05 as I have no need for 3D and works just great with everything I've put in. The load time doesn't bother me all that much.

I also have a PS3 in a bedroom I use mainly for blu ray. It is faster but thats about it. Normally I'm not bothered by waiting a little.

If you care about 3D and all that, get a newer Oppo. If not the Pio's are nice units and can be had for cheap.

Drenis

F1nut wrote: »

BDP-05FD or 09 Elite for HT. Neither Pioneer nor Oppo for music.

Can I ask why not? I've been eyeing a all-in-one BDP that has good DAC's built into the source for a Blu-Ray/CD player. The new Oppo 95 has some serious guts as does the Elite 05FD model (Less then the 09 hands down). I know I wouldn't want 2 components. Something we should stay away from with those selections?

AsSiMiLaTeD

Jesse's old school when it comes to 2 channel audio. He's probably right in that neither of those are reference quality, but most people probably don't have the gear to reproduce the difference between the higher end Oppo player and a $1K CDP.

tonyb

Drenis wrote: »

Can I ask why not? I've been eyeing a all-in-one BDP that has good DAC's built into the source for a Blu-Ray/CD player. The new Oppo 95 has some serious guts as does the Elite 05FD model (Less then the 09 hands down). I know I wouldn't want 2 components. Something we should stay away from with those selections?

Because Drenis, a dac chip isn't the only thing that determines the quality of the sound comming out the other end. You should know this by now. Marketeers these days are selling dac chips and resolution, but fail to emphasize the more important aspects of a piece of gear. An all in one solution is making compromises in a lot of componants within. The oppo does step up the game a bit and is probably enough for most people, as with some other bdp'ers, true....but I'd still take an old MF tri-vista, or Cary 300 cdp any day of the week. Jolida and Bada cdp's also. Sure, it's more coin and you have 2 pieces of gear over one, I do see the attraction to using a bdp for both. However, your still compromising on the sound quality and if it doesn't mean that much, rock it bro and be happy.
That said, I myself use a Pioneer universal player to spin cd's, better than alot of universals, but still not as good as a dedicated cdp of quality. Partly because the wife wanted an all in one solution at the time and the Pioneer was a good compromise. Still enjoy it, and has great sound quality, but now starting to stream everything and the cd's get little use. Before dropping coin on a universal player, maybe think about where your headed in your music storage,playing, in the future. Plenty of used excellent BDP's out there for 150 bones, and great cdp's for under 500. Or invest in a dac, sonos, and stream wirelessly all over the Casa.

Drenis

tonyb wrote: »

Because Drenis, a dac chip isn't the only thing that determines the quality of the sound comming out the other end. You should know this by now. Marketeers these days are selling dac chips and resolution, but fail to emphasize the more important aspects of a piece of gear. An all in one solution is making compromises in a lot of componants within. The oppo does step up the game a bit and is probably enough for most people, as with some other bdp'ers, true....but I'd still take an old MF tri-vista, or Cary 300 cdp any day of the week. Jolida and Bada cdp's also. Sure, it's more coin and you have 2 pieces of gear over one, I do see the attraction to using a bdp for both. However, your still compromising on the sound quality and if it doesn't mean that much, rock it bro and be happy.
That said, I myself use a Pioneer universal player to spin cd's, better than alot of universals, but still not as good as a dedicated cdp of quality. Partly because the wife wanted an all in one solution at the time and the Pioneer was a good compromise. Still enjoy it, and has great sound quality, but now starting to stream everything and the cd's get little use. Before dropping coin on a universal player, maybe think about where your headed in your music storage,playing, in the future. Plenty of used excellent BDP's out there for 150 bones, and great cdp's for under 500. Or invest in a dac, sonos, and stream wirelessly all over the Casa.

tony - I do, and am well aware of this. I'm looking at the future and what is going to work the best for me. My music collection is ALL digital. It's at the point now where I hate it. I wish everything was 320kbps or of flac uncompressed quality. However, I would like to grow my CD collection and get a dedicated BRP which is of good quality with better integrated DAC's to act as a CDP while maintaining the functionality of a BRP. Your right that in a perfect world or setup that to most, its preferred to have separate components. I just don't have the room or multiple/dedicated rigs. My rig serves as my music and HT setup. I know I'll be going in a different direction as far as what I built my HTPC for. While it has its place and serves well for some things, I am unhappy with what I got from it. So I guess the whole point of this is why those players would not be a good all-in-one solution. A DAC is coming eventually.

tonyb

Drenis wrote: »

So I guess the whole point of this is why those players would not be a good all-in-one solution. A DAC is coming eventually.

They can be Drenis, I think some here are still strictly in the seperates sound better camp. Which they do, don't mistake my words, but the gap is getting closer all the time. Many love the OPPO for just those reasons.

I too have just one system for HT and 2 channel, we are not so different, along with many here. My own journey of getting good sound from the computer has been aggravating to say the least and more expensive than I thought it would be. I guess my question to you is, if you see yourself in the near future playing downloaded music as a priority over cd's, then why opt for a universal player ?

ViperZ

tonyb wrote: »

They can be Drenis, I think some here are still strictly in the seperates sound better camp. Which they do, don't mistake my words, but the gap is getting closer all the time. Many love the OPPO for just those reasons.

I too have just one system for HT and 2 channel, we are not so different, along with many here. My own journey of getting good sound from the computer has been aggravating to say the least and more expensive than I thought it would be. I guess my question to you is, if you see yourself in the near future playing downloaded music as a priority over cd's, then why opt for a universal player ?

Because that player can play your downloaded music from either external hard drive or over the network without any hiccups (think Oppo)?

BlueFox

ViperZ wrote: »

Because that player can play your downloaded music from either external hard drive or over the network without any hiccups (think Oppo)?

That is a poor reason to buy a Bluray player. If you have music on a hard-drive it better be lossless, and then send it straight to the DAC, bypassing the BRP. If you stream music from the Internet it will be lossy, and only good for low level background music. A BR player with a decent analog section capable of playing music is good for CD, SACD, and maybe DVD-A. It can also be used as a digital transport for a DAC. In that case, a cheap BRP is probably just as good as an expensive BRP, since more than likely the transports will not be that audibly different. Streaming lossy music through a BRP is just wrong.

rlmacklin

The Oppo 95 is primarily designed for audiophiles
who prefer to use its excellent analog audio outputs rather than HDMI audio.

Oppo 95 plays music files from either eSATA or USB external hard drives.

Its ESS ES9018 Sabre DACs are reference quality.
Better yet the unit can be tube modded, etc.
by Dan Wright of ModWright Instruments. Highly recommended.

One Oppo 95 audio processing option will allow the tube mod
and the quadruply paralleled/"stacked" "stereo" DAC to be used
for both the 2-channel and also FL/FR of multi-channel material
such as SACDs, DVD-As, and blu-rays/DVD-Vs,
which is wonderful for a combined audio/home theater system.

playback

BlueFox wrote: »

That is a poor reason to buy a Bluray player. If you have music on a hard-drive it better be lossless, and then send it straight to the DAC, bypassing the BRP. If you stream music from the Internet it will be lossy, and only good for low level background music. A BR player with a decent analog section capable of playing music is good for CD, SACD, and maybe DVD-A. It can also be used as a digital transport for a DAC. In that case, a cheap BRP is probably just as good as an expensive BRP, since more than likely the transports will not be that audibly different. Streaming lossy music through a BRP is just wrong.

Might be the the perfect reason to get an Oppo 95, It does this at reference levels without the need of a separate dac! Through its analog outs every things hits those Ess Sabre dacs and wiether its something horrible sounding as Mp3 to something as glorious as 24/196 it shines. I've had the oppurtunity to try each wav, flac, pandora(just added)sacd, dvd audio and redbook. The 95 is the all in one solution and I at times cant believe it myself. If you need an example of its prowess, Reference Recordings Rachmanaoff's Symphonic dances will make a believer out of you via usb playback. I sold my Pioneer 51fd and Denon 5900 both of which were no slouch! the Pioneer not the most reliable of players an prone to unexpected frezzes had good musical ablities but I still went to the big Denon as a transport for music. The Oppo 95 replaced both, and took my playback up several notches. Cable it up well, put it on the top shelf and prepare yourself to enjoy your music in new ways. I.E reference levels.

tonyb

ViperZ wrote: »

Because that player can play your downloaded music from either external hard drive or over the network without any hiccups (think Oppo)?

Not the same as an outboard dac. What a piece does in the conversion process and it's analog outputs vary greatly. Just having a digital signal "hitting dac chips" is a piss poor way of looking at it, and wrong on many accounts.

chadam44

Oppo

cnh

Oppo is a great unit....but I'm not giving up my Pioneer yet. I figure that if I spend the two minutes it takes to load meditating it might catapult me to the "next" level! lol I think I'm on Version 1.72 at this point. Kudos to Pioneer for supporting such an old unit! It is also a decent CDP in that under $800 dollar category, very listenable. Is it as good as my Jolida Music Van? No, but it's not bad!

If I were buying a new BDP today, I'd think about an Oppo or the C.A. that mantis (Dan) has.

cnh