Oppo BDP-80 first thoughts

Polkitup2 · February 2010

I bought this unit primarily for occasional multi-channel SACD and DVD-Audio as I already have a PS3 and Samsung BD-P1600 for Blu-ray. I just set it up this morning and thought I share my initial thoughts.

The unit was nicely packaged coming in a sturdy box with a cloth sleeve covering the unit. The unit has some heft to it giving it more of a sturdy feel than my Samsung BD-P1600. The unit itsled is plane looking with a standard small display. Set-up was simple via an on-screen display. I hooked it up to ethernet and it went out and found the latest firmware and applied it without issue. My only pet peeve with the unit itself is the flimsy CD tray. Every time it opens and closes it sounds like it my be for the last time. The unit has a detachable power cord and runs quiet as there is no fan.

I was able to hook it up via HDMI to my Onkyo TX-SR707 receiver which I am happy to report is capable of doing DSD over HDMI for SACD. The sound quality was decent but I am not sure it was as good as my previous Outlaw Audio 1070 and Denon 3910 multi-channel setup using analog cables. I don't spend much time doing critical listening to multi-channel stuff so it will work just fine for me.

I also compared the two channel performance of the Oppo to my Marantz SA-8001 SACD player and Musical Fidleity A1 CD Pro. Well no big surprise here, the Oppo performed respectably, but was simply not in the same class as the Marantz and Musical Fidelity. For example listening to Julia Fischer play the violin, the Oppo just didn't convey the fullness and tone of the violin nearly as well as the Marantz.

Next let's look at Blu-ray performance. Here the unit performed quite well when pitted against my PS3 slim, and Samsung BD-P1600. I'm not much of a videophile, and to tell you there truth all three performed well, but the Oppo wins here. In a few of the Blu-rays I watched there were some scenes that simply had more of that "looking through a window" quality than I saw on the PS3 or Samsung. So even though I didn't plan on using this as my primary Blu-ray player, now it is.

Another nice perk with the Oppo is load time which was about 20% faster for Blu-ray disks. Ironman took 51 seconds to from the time I hit close until the main menu showed. This took just over a minute with the Samsung. SACD load times were about 30% faster than my Marantz taking about 8 seconds for a typically SACD. The on-screen display is nice for SACDs showing the CD name and track information.

Overall it does what I ask of it for multi-channel audio over HDMI and I ended up with a better Blu-ray player so I am quite happy with the unit.

Slinger182 · February 2010

Very nice review. I'm probably getting the 80 when I get my tax return.

Sherardp · February 2010

Excellent review bro. I'm thinking of where to install one if I buy it. I'm sure it would pair nicely with the Panny plasma I purchased. I wasn't expecting them to come out so fast with this model.

Bernal · February 2010

http://www.polkaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?t=86535

packetjones · February 2010

Thanks fro the quick review. I am looknig to pick one of these up soon. It will be my first BDP and i am pretty excited about it. I like that it will do SACD and DVDA. this is the reason i am going with this over some of the cheaper BDP's out there.

digitalvideo · February 2010

Polkitup2 wrote: »

I bought this unit primarily for occasional multi-channel SACD and DVD-Audio as I already have a PS3 and Samsung BD-P1600 for Blu-ray. I just set it up this morning and thought I share my initial thoughts.

The unit was nicely packaged coming in a sturdy box with a cloth sleeve covering the unit. The unit has some heft to it giving it more of a sturdy feel than my Samsung BD-P1600. The unit itsled is plane looking with a standard small display. Set-up was simple via an on-screen display. I hooked it up to ethernet and it went out and found the latest firmware and applied it without issue. My only pet peeve with the unit itself is the flimsy CD tray. Every time it opens and closes it sounds like it my be for the last time. The unit has a detachable power cord and runs quiet as there is no fan.

I was able to hook it up via HDMI to my Onkyo TX-SR707 receiver which I am happy to report is capable of doing DSD over HDMI for SACD. The sound quality was decent but I am not sure it was as good as my previous Outlaw Audio 1070 and Denon 3910 multi-channel setup using analog cables. I don't spend much time doing critical listening to multi-channel stuff so it will work just fine for me.

I also compared the two channel performance of the Oppo to my Marantz SA-8001 SACD player and Musical Fidleity A1 CD Pro. Well no big surprise here, the Oppo performed respectably, but was simply not in the same class as the Marantz and Musical Fidelity. For example listening to Julia Fischer play the violin, the Oppo just didn't convey the fullness and tone of the violin nearly as well as the Marantz.

Next let's look at Blu-ray performance. Here the unit performed quite well when pitted against my PS3 slim, and Samsung BD-P1600. I'm not much of a videophile, and to tell you there truth all three performed well, but the Oppo wins here. In a few of the Blu-rays I watched there were some scenes that simply had more of that "looking through a window" quality than I saw on the PS3 or Samsung. So even though I didn't plan on using this as my primary Blu-ray player, now it is.

Another nice perk with the Oppo is load time which was about 20% faster for Blu-ray disks. Ironman took 51 seconds to from the time I hit close until the main menu showed. This took just over a minute with the Samsung. SACD load times were about 30% faster than my Marantz taking about 8 seconds for a typically SACD. The on-screen display is nice for SACDs showing the CD name and track information.

Overall it does what I ask of it for multi-channel audio over HDMI and I ended up with a better Blu-ray player so I am quite happy with the unit.

Have you seen or heard the Oppo Special Edition upgraded by Nuforce? It's built more for audiophiles 2 channel performance.

http://www.nuforce.com/hi/

Polkitup2 · February 2010

Looks interesting....

leroyjr1 · February 2010

Nice review.

kuntasensei · February 2010

Nice writeup. Something I want to mention though: When passing DSD to Onkyo receivers, they show as 44k on the AVR. Decoding in the Oppo itself sends it as 88k PCM. I'm not sure what the deal is there, and I only hear a very slight difference between both methods, but I'm letting my BDP-83 send SACD as PCM to my Onkyo TX-NR1007 for that very reason. You might try PCM instead of DSD and see if you notice a difference. Secrets' review of the BDP-83 seemed to indicate that there was less noise when using PCM for SACD instead of DSD, so there's a possibility that the BDP-80 could have the same issue.

Polkitup2 · February 2010

When I toggle between DSD and PCM on the BDP-80, I noticed a difference. The DSD mode sounds better. On my TX-SR707 DSD mode does not show the sample rate.

kuntasensei · February 2010

Could just be an issue with the 1007, which does show the rate on-screen if you hit display. Still, go with what sounds best to you.

mantis · February 2010

Cool , it seems like a nice Blu ray player. Congrads. I'm thinking of getting the 83.

Polkitup2 · February 2010

kuntasensei wrote: »

Nice writeup. Something I want to mention though: When passing DSD to Onkyo receivers, they show as 44k on the AVR. Decoding in the Oppo itself sends it as 88k PCM. I'm not sure what the deal is there, and I only hear a very slight difference between both methods, but I'm letting my BDP-83 send SACD as PCM to my Onkyo TX-NR1007 for that very reason. You might try PCM instead of DSD and see if you notice a difference. Secrets' review of the BDP-83 seemed to indicate that there was less noise when using PCM for SACD instead of DSD, so there's a possibility that the BDP-80 could have the same issue.

I found the following response from Oppo on another forum regarding the 44K that is shown on receivers for DSD over HDMI...

This is not an error. According to the HDMI 1.2a specifications, the indicated sample frequency on the receiver will be 44.1kHz. As pulled from the documentation:

"For One Bit Audio streams, the value indicated by the SF bits shall equal the ACR fS value. For Super Audio CD, the SF bits are typically set to 0, 1, 0, to indicate a Sample Frequency of 2.8224MSamples/s (i.e. 64*44.1kHz)."

This is due to 8-channels of audio being available through HDMI at 8 bits per channel at 44.1KHz. The end bandwidth is 2.8224Mbits/second, which equates to 2.8224M 1-bit audio.

Best Regards,

Customer Service
OPPO Digital, Inc.
2629B Terminal Blvd.
Mountain View, CA 94043
Service@oppodigital.com
Tel: 650-961-1118
Fax: 650-961-1119

Demiurge · February 2010

Is the BDP-83 worth the price over this BDP-80?

I am definitely buying one or the other...in fact I was about to pull the trigger on the BDP-83 just now when I came across this thread. If I can save myself $200 that I can put into my new AVR instead....I would rather do that.

It doesn't take a lot to satisfy me, but I will always spend more for a certain level of quality. Oppo seems to make nice stuff whether its their lower end or their higher end. I'll be replacing the PS3 with either of these.

vc69 · February 2010

Demi,

It comes down to a couple things really. 1) Are you going to be doing a lot of upconverting of SD DVD's and if so, 2) Is superior quality of upscaling worth the price differential?

The -83 has reference grade scaling and de-interlacing of SD DVD. If BD playback is your primary concern, the -80 should be quite satisfactory.

Hope that helps.

Polkitup2 · February 2010

If you don't need the DVD upconverison, dedicated 2 channel outputs, or DSD output over analog, the BDP-80 should work for you. For Blu Ray and SACD over HDMI both units are the same from everything I've read.

http://www.oppodigital.com/blu-ray-bdp-80/blu-ray-BDP-80-Compare.aspx

Demiurge · February 2010

I have probably 400 DVDs, which I know to some isn't much, but to me its a lot. I stopped buying them 2 years ago unless its a must own for me and that goes for Blu-Rays, too. Now, I simply rent everything through Netflix which is entirely more cost effective since I realized 3/4ths + of the DVDs I was buying were not worth owning.

I do, however, have a lot of SD DVDs that I would likely go back and watch. I have not been going out to re-buy stuff save for a few must owns.

I have done some more reading and it seems like the 83 is probably the way to go.

I'm still going to wait for a few more opinions like yours (thank you) to seal the deal.

Ron Temple · February 2010

Build quality is better on the 83 which doesn't have the most robust tray anyway...I'd assume the 80's tray is on the same order as the 971,980 and 981 DVD players...work fine, but you wonder when they are going to break (never happened to me). DVD PQ will definitely be better, so will SQ over the analog outputs. The 83 might be faster...

Demiurge · February 2010

Looks like its gonna be the Oppo BDP-83 for me. Now I just have to make a decision on the new AVR.

digitalvideo · February 2010

Demiurge wrote: »

Looks like its gonna be the Oppo BDP-83 for me. Now I just have to make a decision on the new AVR.

Go with the Pioneer Elite SC05 or SC07. I have the SC05 and love it. It's more than powerful enough to power my 7.1 surround system in a 27x27 room with over 9 foot tall ceilings. The Pioneer Elite recievers seem to be the favored a/v's on here too. I have it connected to a Sunfire amp so that blows the roof off.

Demiurge · February 2010

I bought the Pioneer Elite SC-25 this morning for a hair over $1K. I have a Pioneer Elite AVR currently and I like it a lot. The only problem is it didn't have any HDMI ports on it.

I also just ordered the Oppo BDP-83, too. Gonna be fartin' in silk next week.

Ron Temple · February 2010

I keep looking at the SC-25 as a better pre/pro solution than a dedicated...at least for me...if any of my old amps go down, I'll at least be able to keep the rig going with those ICE amps.

kuntasensei · February 2010

Demiurge wrote: »

I bought the Pioneer Elite SC-25 this morning for a hair over $1K. I have a Pioneer Elite AVR currently and I like it a lot. The only problem is it didn't have any HDMI ports on it.

I also just ordered the Oppo BDP-83, too. Gonna be fartin' in silk next week.

Oh, man... you're gonna be like Rahm Emanuel "f#%king retarded" happy with that pairing!

Demiurge · February 2010

I keep looking at the SC-25 as a better pre/pro solution than a dedicated...at least for me...if any of my old amps go down, I'll at least be able to keep the rig going with those ICE amps.

I didn't check because it doesn't matter much to me as I have a decent 5-Channel amp (won't be utilizing 7.1 right off the bat), but can the SC-25 handle driving the LSi line with relative ease?

Demiurge · February 2010

kuntasensei wrote: »

Oh, man... you're gonna be like Rahm Emanuel "f#%king retarded" happy with that pairing!

haha...I hope so!

Demiurge · February 2010

Oppo has some fast shipping. Nice to see it get out first thing in the morning. :cool:

AsSiMiLaTeD · March 2010

Demi, did you ever get your new gear up and running, what do you think?

Demiurge · March 2010

AsSiMiLaTeD wrote: »

Demi, did you ever get your new gear up and running, what do you think?

Yes, thanks for asking! I really like the SC-25 Pioneer paired with the Oppo. The Oppo player was a great move for both Blu-Ray, SD-DVD, and music playback.

My gear is still all in my living room presently. I'm redoing my basement which needs to be wired for speakers and HDMI, painted, and then carpeted before I start moving the gear down there.

I'll have pics when that finally happens.

Anyways....strongly recommend the Oppo players if you have the little extra to spend on them. They're worth it.

polkatese · April 2010

Hey Demi, are you done with your basement? have you tried out Oppo's SACD/DVD-A prowess?

I ordered mine and in transit via Modwright. I won't get it until the last week of this month. Hopefully I am not too lazy to do the shootout with my modded SACD1000. Key selling point for me is (other than its rave review) its universality. Hope it doesn't disappoint.

Oppo BDP-80 first thoughts

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