The logic is this: the HDMI output is set to either do a multi-channel decode, or the RAW bitstream. For DVD-Audio and SACD, their set priorities supersede standard decoding properties. So, when you have set DVD-Audio priority to DVD-Audio, the HDMI is set to do a multi-channel decode in order to take advantage of the hi-resolution DVD-Audio track. Unfortunately, this also means that the manual selection DD and DTS tracks will also be decoded by the DVD player, rather than passed to the receiver.

I haven't tried playing a 2 channel DVD-A and likely never will. Why would you if the disc is 5.1?

Because I find I prefer the remastered original mix?

I would say however that you would not get a sub with PPCM in stereo mode if there is no subwoofer channel specifically mixed in the 5.1 mix unless the unit does something different when a stereo only signal is present.

A player should send bass to the sub from any channels set to small, when subwoofer is set to ON, in its menues.

And this is in fact what I reported happening, when I extensively tested the bass management of the 45a in a hometheaterforum.com post some years back. The exception was an EMI 4.0 DVD-A.

http://www.hometheaterforum.com/htf/showthread.php?p=1315817&highlight=Harvest#post1315817

I never used stereo with DVD-A in the 45a either. Never. Zero times.

:rolleyes:

I am hearing a huge difference which isn't even comparable to the 45a. I had a friend over that pretty much joins me every weekend for 4-5 hours of listening. He could not believe how open the soundstage was and how crisp and clear the Oppo was compared to our listening before on the 45a. More bass as well and a better top end.

Well, if you are comparing analog output of both, then i would guess it's most likely down to different configuration settings (channel level, distance, speaker size) and/or things like crossover filter slopes. As simple a thing as different channel output levels (which can be set in the player) can result in big apparnt difference...but it would be incorrect to say that it's due to one player being better than the other, in that case. If I recall correctly, the 'default' channel level setting of the 45a is actually its "+6dB" setting -- that may not be the case in the Oppo.

Have you tried something like using an SPL meter near one of the speakers, to compare the output using one player versus another for the same disc?

If you're using HDMI audio for one, versus analog for the other, then the differene would be in the settings in the AVR versus the player.

And of course there's always the placebo effect.

I have the Pioneer Elite VSX-84TXSi and the Oppo 970. You cannot deinterlace and upscale 480i sent through HDMI with Pioneer's implementation of the Faroudja scaler. I just pass-through 1080i from the Oppo through the Pioneer and to my 1080p display, which handles de-interlacing correctly anyway. The Pioneer's scaler isn't anything special, so I'm sure the Oppo's deinterlacing performance is just fine if you use 720p. In fact, I find the receiver's scaler to mishandle reds in its processing of 480i and 480p component video sources.

So to answer your question concisely, you would not be wasting your money by purchasing the Oppo 970. Also, the Pioneer handles the Oppo's DVD-A and SACD signals sent as LPCM just fine.

excellent. thank you.

Well, if you are comparing analog output of both, then i would guess it's most likely down to different configuration settings (channel level, distance, speaker size) and/or things like crossover filter slopes. As simple a thing as different channel output levels (which can be set in the player) can result in big apparnt difference...but it would be incorrect to say that it's due to one player being better than the other, in that case. If I recall correctly, the 'default' channel level setting of the 45a is actually its "+6dB" setting -- that may not be the case in the Oppo.

Have you tried something like using an SPL meter near one of the speakers, to compare the output using one player versus another for the same disc?

If you're using HDMI audio for one, versus analog for the other, then the differene would be in the settings in the AVR versus the player.

And of course there's always the placebo effect.

So you are saying that one can't be better than the other because both use exactly the same configuration and design and all the same components and parts set up with the same schematics? Unlikely. I set this unit up with as much care (distance settings etc) as I did with the Pioneer and the Oppo sounds much better. Period. No placebo. As I said, I can get rid of the Oppo to family members and have the cash back that I spent on it and continue with the Pioneer. After listening to the Oppo I wouldn't dream of making that mistake. Just a question, do you have an Oppo970?

So you are saying that one can't be better than the other because both use exactly the same configuration and design and all the same components and parts set up with the same schematics? Unlikely.

But that's not what I'm saying. I said nothing about components, parts or schematics. But since you've brought them up, can you show what those differences are, and more importantly that they *are* likely to make an audible difference?

Rather than vaguely-specified things which hypothetically make an difference (e.g.. 'components'), I brought up specific user-configurable menu settings , like 'channel level' and delay, or ones that aren't configurable in these players, like crossover frequency and slopes, which can result in easily measurable output level differences in the single-digit dB range...one can safely assume those to be audible.

If there is a real difference you're hearing , then the issue is whether it's due to somthing the user *can* change in the players, or something you *can't*
'Channel level' would be an example of the former, crossover characteristics an example of the latter (though if you compare *digital* output and let an outboad
unit apply the SAME crossover charactersitics to both, you have worked around that difference. The DV45a, unfortunatley, does not allow digital output of SACD or DVD-A sources -- which is why I got rid of mine.).


I set this unit up with as much care (distance settings etc) as I did with the Pioneer and the Oppo sounds much better. Period. No placebo.

Your certainty is unwarranted, based on your evidence so far.

As I said, I can get rid of the Oppo to family members and have the cash back that I spent on it and continue with the Pioneer. After listening to the Oppo I wouldn't dream of making that mistake. Just a question, do you have an Oppo970?

Yes. And a Yamaha S2500, and I used to have DV-45a, and before that, a Toshiba universal player. I make no claims about which intrinsically sounds better than the other.

But that's not what I'm saying. I said nothing about components, parts or schematics. But since you've brought them up, can you show what those differences are, and more importantly that they *are* likely to make an audible difference?

Rather than vaguely-specified things which hypothetically make an difference (e.g.. 'components'), I brought up specific user-configurable menu settings , like 'channel level' and delay, or ones that aren't configurable in these players, like crossover frequency and slopes, which can result in easily measurable output level differences in the single-digit dB range...one can safely assume those to be audible.

If there is a real difference you're hearing , then the issue is whether it's due to somthing the user *can* change in the players, or something you *can't*
'Channel level' would be an example of the former, crossover characteristics an example of the latter (though if you compare *digital* output and let an outboad
unit apply the SAME crossover charactersitics to both, you have worked around that difference. The DV45a, unfortunatley, does not allow digital output of SACD or DVD-A sources -- which is why I got rid of mine.).




Your certainty is unwarranted, based on your evidence so far.



Yes. And a Yamaha S2500, and I used to have DV-45a, and before that, a Toshiba universal player. I make no claims about which intrinsically sounds better than the other.


Well you have certainly typed a lot Sully. You know I have seen enough of your posts on other forums to know what your take is on equipment differences. It's a kind of do all these tests and then present hard evidence to me. Well I'm not a CSI investigator nor an electronics tester. I am a music lover and I have a few hours each day among all the other things going on in my life to listen to music. I am not going to spend it doing tests for you. When I connected the Oppo and took as much care as I did with my Pioneer in the setup procedure (ie-used what was presented to me in the units setup menu), the conclusion was that I noticed a difference that was very pleasing to my ears when compared to my experience with the same discs on the 45a. I don't have to prove myself to you nor do I have to provide evidence of the superiority of one player over another. That is not my calling in life. Take my postings for what they are. I am someone that has had many pieces of equipment and gone through many formats over the past 40 years since I became aware of music and the differences in sound quality. I am just giving my opinion of what I hear. And frankly I don't care about your stand that "more evidence has to be provided."

Well you have certainly typed a lot Sully. You know I have seen enough of your posts on other forums to know what your take is on equipment differences. It's a kind of do all these tests and then present hard evidence to me. Well I'm not a CSI investigator nor an electronics tester. I am a music lover and I have a few hours each day among all the other things going on in my life to listen to music. I am not going to spend it doing tests for you. When I connected the Oppo and took as much care as I did with my Pioneer in the setup procedure (ie-used what was presented to me in the units setup menu), the conclusion was that I noticed a difference that was very pleasing to my ears when compared to my experience with the same discs on the 45a. I don't have to prove myself to you nor do I have to provide evidence of the superiority of one player over another. That is not my calling in life. Take my postings for what they are. I am someone that has had many pieces of equipment and gone through many formats over the past 40 years since I became aware of music and the differences in sound quality. I am just giving my opinion of what I hear. And frankly I don't care about your stand that "more evidence has to be provided."

Apparently he wants everyone elses opinions peer reviewed but not his. Like you said, a lot of typing and a complete waste of bandwidth.

I am wondering why the 1.85:1 aspect ratio movies that used to fill my SXRD on my old all-in-one Sony Dream System DVD/Receiver now have thin black bars on the top and bottom with the Oppo (both players as I'm currently deciding which one to keep).

I thought the "enhanced for widescreen TV's" message on a lot of these discs enabled them to fill the 16:9 aspect ratio (I know that 1.85:1 normally would not fill).

Is there going to be a fix from Oppo on this in a future firmware...possibly with the vertical squeeze?

Thanks for any answers you may provide.

Actually, I would tend to say that the Oppo is doing it right and the old Sony may have been playing fast and loose with the video. "Enhanced for widescreen TV's" generally refers to anamorphic transfers, but that if they preserve the original aspect ratio when mastering the disc (as they should do), a 1.85:1 movie still needs thin bars at the top and bottom to fit on a 16:9 (or 1.78:1) display even with an anamorphic transfer.

I guess I should have put "anamorphic" in my original question, since that IS the issue. I thought that the DVD's usually expand the image just enough to fill a widescreen TV...I mean that's what I've seen on my PS2, 360, and the Sony Dream System.

What gives?

Well you have certainly typed a lot Sully. You know I have seen enough of your posts on other forums to know what your take is on equipment differences. It's a kind of do all these tests and then present hard evidence to me. Well I'm not a CSI investigator nor an electronics tester. I am a music lover and I have a few hours each day among all the other things going on in my life to listen to music. I am not going to spend it doing tests for you. When I connected the Oppo and took as much care as I did with my Pioneer in the setup procedure (ie-used what was presented to me in the units setup menu), the conclusion was that I noticed a difference that was very pleasing to my ears when compared to my experience with the same discs on the 45a. I don't have to prove myself to you nor do I have to provide evidence of the superiority of one player over another. That is not my calling in life. Take my postings for what they are. I am someone that has had many pieces of equipment and gone through many formats over the past 40 years since I became aware of music and the differences in sound quality. I am just giving my opinion of what I hear. And frankly I don't care about your stand that "more evidence has to be provided."
I second that, Guy R.

krabapple, people in the forum are free to express opinions based on their experience of using a particular equipment (970HD in this thread). I value these and that's why I read posts in this forum. Can you please stop posting here and there out of your obsession with debunking every statement that something sounds better than something else? I understand your point more than enough. But it seems to become annoying to people here. I think most of people are wise enough to tell snake oil in their audio hobby. Please don't make this valuable thread get off the track.

I guess I should have put "anamorphic" in my original question, since that IS the issue. I thought that the DVD's usually expand the image just enough to fill a widescreen TV...I mean that's what I've seen on my PS2, 360, and the Sony Dream System.

What gives?

Simple.

Sony also owns a movie studio.

Actors and actresses are temperamental.

Profitable businesses find inexpensive ways to keep their employees happy.

Vertical stretching of an image makes people look thin.

:D :D

I guess I should have put "anamorphic" in my original question, since that IS the issue. I thought that the DVD's usually expand the image just enough to fill a widescreen TV...I mean that's what I've seen on my PS2, 360, and the Sony Dream System.

What gives?

The DV-970HD slightly underscans at the upscaled resolutions. When using 480i or 480p there is no issue with vertical compression.

I keep reading about this, but I couldn't detect any vertical squeeze when looking at some of the Avia's anamorphic test patterns, and movies.Round objects usually the give away for me if there is a squeeze, or distorsion on the picture. Yes I run 1080i into my Sami DLP.

I keep reading about this, but I couldn't detect any vertical squeeze when looking at some of the Avia's anamorphic test patterns, and movies.Round objects usually the give away for me if there is a squeeze, or distorsion on the picture. Yes I run 1080i into my Sami DLP.

It's clearly there. Switch back and forth between 480p and 720p/1080i and you'll see it.

I've been using the Oppo beta firmware fix which does a nice job of correcting the problem. However, it does show signficant horizontal resolution loss on test patterns. But, on "real life" material it doesn't seem too bad.

It's clearly there. Switch back and forth between 480p and 720p/1080i and you'll see it.

I've been using the Oppo beta firmware fix which does a nice job of correcting the problem. However, it does show signficant horizontal resolution loss on test patterns. But, on "real life" material it doesn't seem too bad.

Any chance of Oppo being able to fix this issue, Neuromancer?

And David, where can I get this beta firmware? Will I risk damaging the player if I load an older firmware, and back and forth? Also, if I use said firmware, are there other changes that need to be made in the menu (i.e. adjusting brightness down to studio levels)?

Thanks!

Thanks for your reply "thewarm". I guess I'll just have to pick up a PAL disc and see what works and what doesn't.

Any chance of Oppo being able to fix this issue, Neuromancer?

And David, where can I get this beta firmware? Will I risk damaging the player if I load an older firmware, and back and forth? Also, if I use said firmware, are there other changes that need to be made in the menu (i.e. adjusting brightness down to studio levels)?

Thanks!

This firmware should be released shortly. It's the same fix that Sony used on the H75 player (both players share same chipset). It will probably be released as an optional firmware since some may not want resolution loss.

Any chance of Oppo being able to fix this issue, Neuromancer?

OPPO is not yet happy with the results. As DavidHir said, there is noticeable horizontal detail loss on test patterns that are not "evident" during normal film playback.

Likely OPPO will release it as an optional firmware (loss of detail is a bigger no-no than compression).

I second that, Guy R.

krabapple, people in the forum are free to express opinions based on their experience of using a particular equipment (970HD in this thread). I value these and that's why I read posts in this forum. Can you please stop posting here and there out of your obsession with debunking every statement that something sounds better than something else? I understand your point more than enough. But it seems to become annoying to people here. I think most of people are wise enough to tell snake oil in their audio hobby. Please don't make this valuable thread get off the track.


Have you ever though about *why* you value such opinions, Jay?

I'm assuming people come here (AV Science Forum) wanting to get accurate *information* as much (or more ) than they want to get *opinions*. Because *opinions* can be based on poor observations, poor understanding of facts, or poor reasoning. That's why I think it's important to lay out the facts and reasoning and observations behind one's *opinions*.

And I think you vastly overestimate how well people can tell 'snake oil ' from not, in the audio hobby -- indeed the hobby is famous for how suscpetible it is to such nonsense. I think you vastly *underestimate* how well the average reader looking for information here on AVSforum understands the possible problems with claims like Guy's.

This isn't even about snake oil -- that implies someone trying to deceive or sell someone. Oppo doesn't claim their SACD audio performance outdoes that of the Pioneer. Guy isn't trying to deceive someone. So it's not about detecting 'snake oil', it's about claims that might *seem* reasonable to both the claimant and the reader, but which runs the chance of being erroneous. How is one to know whether the Oppo is likely to sound better playing SACD than some other player? The evidence provided by Guy *can't* tell you.

The many, many people who go 'opinion gathering' on the Internet, often don't realize this. That's because the paradigm in audio 'reviewing' , professional as well as amateur, is still little changed from 'I could tell right away that my new (X) sounded so much better than my old one -- even my wife could hear it!' Things like the details of setup, possible intrinsic vs. user-chosen causes of difference, etc, don't tend to get discussed in depth -- i.e., ther reasons *why* there might be a real difference.

I'm happy to have my own posts 'peer reviewed' btw. I am *always* ready to agree that an opinion of sound that comes only from 'sighted' comparison evidence might be based on imagination. I would *never* say that 'it's not placebo. Period.' without some sort of slam-dunk reason. In fact, I rarely write about the sound 'quality' of electronic gear in anything but general terms, and I can't recall ever raving about how much better one DVD player sounded than another. I tend to post more about what a piece of gear *does* or *doesn't* do, in concrete terms -- what functions it offers, what options, and how it implements them (see my inquiries to Oppo about the details of the 970's SACD handling, on this thread).

And hey folks, if you don't like my posts -- that's what the *ignore* function is for.

Hey, you can listen to what I am saying or not. I don't really give a rats ass. I just know that I am enjoying the output from the Oppo and I'm not hooking up the 45a again. That's my choice. And I am not hiding behind a made up name when I state my opinions. I'm Guy Robinson. There, now I think I will go back to other forums that don't raise my blood pressure.

I've read as much as possible from this thread, and I still find myself having a few questions concerning the 970's capabilities.

USB media must be formatted FAT16 or FAT32 to be used with the 970's USB 1.1 port, correct ?

The 970's USB 1.1 port is barely fast enough to play out Xvid/Divx files, but could occasionally stutter ?

The above mentioned FATxx requirement pretty much rules out using an iPod as USB storage with the 970, correct ?

Do any of the 4 flash card formats have any advantages for use with the 970 ? Specifically in playing Xvid/Divx files ? Would an 1-2GB SD card be fine for this purpose ?

Hey, you can listen to what I am saying or not. I don't really give a rats ass. I just know that I am enjoying the output from the Oppo and I'm not hooking up the 45a again. That's my choice. And I am not hiding behind a made up name when I state my opinions. I'm Guy Robinson. There, now I think I will go back to other forums that don't raise my blood pressure.


dear new member guyrobinson (formerly GuyR),

I'm Steven Sullivan aka, ssully on quadrophonic quad. The same one mentioned on QQ as 'fighting the good fight' when I defended Elliot Scheiner's mixes on another AVSforum thread.

No one's 'hiding'.

I recieved my 970HD today and hooked it up about an hour ago. I have it coupled with an Olevia LT37HVS lcd. First impression, WOW! My dvd's have never looked this good. Straight out of the box this thing is wonderful.

USB media must be formatted FAT16 or FAT32 to be used with the 970's USB 1.1 port, correct ?
The USB device must be FAT16 or FAT32 based. The DVD player will only natively read FAT16.
The 970's USB 1.1 port is barely fast enough to play out Xvid/Divx files, but could occasionally stutter ?
That is correct. The USB interface is performing under specifications, so even the lowerst of bitrate films will stutter.
Do any of the 4 flash card formats have any advantages for use with the 970 ? Specifically in playing Xvid/Divx files ? Would an 1-2GB SD card be fine for this purpose ?
Because the USB and the Card Reader interface are the same, there is no advantage to using a memory card versus that of a USB device.

dear new member guyrobinson (formerly GuyR),

I'm Steven Sullivan aka, ssully on quadrophonic quad. The same one mentioned on QQ as 'fighting the good fight' when I defended Elliot Scheiner's mixes on another AVSforum thread.

No one's 'hiding'.

So I set up 2 logons. I forgot I had the other one it had been so long since I used it. The "guyrobinson" one has been around since 2002 apparently."GuyR", "guyrobinson" pretty much the same thing. I did call you Sully in my original post to you. I know who you are. I also defended ES on that other thread as well. I wasn't talking about you not having your name in your login. I was just saying that the views I was putting forth were on my name. QQ is definately a different place to be. A haven for MC lovers like you and I.

Come now you to. Don't make me have to pull a modorator in here.

Now kiss and make up.

Come now you to. Don't make me have to pull a modorator in here.

Now kiss and make up.

Hey. I'm happy as a pig in sh__ with this player. That's all that matters. He was just expressing his views and I was doing the same thing. That's okay. We live in a free society......so far......

Hey Neuromancer, any idea on an ETA for the firmware with the 970HD? I'm going to return the 971H (the left shift on my XBR1 is just too much) and since I don't notice all that much of a difference, will keep the 970. I just hope the resolution/vertical squeeze fix is out soon.

Of course all that being said, I will look strongly at the non-DVI successor to the 971H :)

That is correct. The USB interface is performing under specifications, so even the lowerst of bitrate films will stutter.

OK, so I have a question about this. There has been considerable discussion in this and other forums about the Philips DVP5960, which is a Mediatek-based machine with a USB1.1 port. Many people have reported smooth performance from flash drives and external drives on that machine, though sometimes they need to reformat, provide external power, or upgrade to a faster drive to get it.
The question is, do the Philips owners just have relatively low standard of success, or does that machine implement the port better somehow than does the Oppo? (I know a couple of Oppo owners also have the Philips - maybe one of them is listening and can offer a comment?) - DR

Hooked up my 970 yesterday and am more than pleased. It came with the latest firmware from September 22 so no issues there.

Running HDMI to my Toshiba 34HFX84 and I have both set to 1080i. I toggled through sending all four different resolutions from the 970 to the Toshiba and 1080i is noticably better. I guess that must mean the player is doing a better job than the display ??

Took a few minutes and ran DVE to recalibrate the HDMI input on the display and check speaker levels with a soundmeter. Audio seems quite a bit clearer running from my Onkyo receiver.

Really enjoyed watching Sin City last night. I too have the underscan issue but it is not a major distraction so I'll leave it alone. Hopefully Oppo comes up with a fix that doesn't compromise other areas of video quality. If they don't I'm still pleased.

Hey Neuromancer, any idea on an ETA for the firmware with the 970HD?

No ETA. Still internal at the moment.

The question is, do the Philips owners just have relatively low standard of success, or does that machine implement the port better somehow than does the Oppo? (I know a couple of Oppo owners also have the Philips - maybe one of them is listening and can offer a comment?) - DR

It is underperforming. Likely they can increase the bus speed to be at least useable for the average DivX encode, but so far there has been no alterations by OPPO in this regard.

Well, I joined to the 970 club. I feed a SP 4805 854 x 480 over component. Best PQ than my old cheap player...but two issues:
1-480i do not pass BTB
2-480p/720p has a vertical pixel cropping on both sides.

How could I fix these problems? I havethe lastest firmware 3A-0916-

I have a basic question. I'm new to the OPPO line (where have I been!) and I am looking for a new DVD player. My current TV only has component input for Hi-Def (plus composite and S-video for standard def). I also have a Barco 1208 projector that I would like to use with whatever I purchase. It's only high bandwidth input is component as well.

So my question is, is the 970HD the model I should get? I would like to use a scaler somewhere down the road with the Barco and I believe the 970 is recommended when using a scaler? I wish it were available in black!

Thanks in advance. Bud

Really enjoyed watching Sin City last night. I too have the underscan issue but it is not a major distraction so I'll leave it alone. Hopefully Oppo comes up with a fix that doesn't compromise other areas of video quality. If they don't I'm still pleased.

I don't like the underscan/compression issue, but once you start watching the movie, I don't really even notice it too badly. As mentioned earlier, I'm using a beta firmware fix for it, and it's pretty hard to notice the horizontal resolution loss with it which shows up on test patterns. I've been A/B'ing the 970 against a demo Denon 3930CI to look for areas in film where it would be noticable, but it's been difficult to do in all honesty. On a side note, you'd be surprised at how well the 970 actually holds its own against the 3930 on film-based material via 1080i HDMI.

I have a basic question. I'm new to the OPPO line (where have I been!) and I am looking for a new DVD player. My current TV only has component input for Hi-Def (plus composite and S-video for standard def). I also have a Barco 1208 projector that I would like to use with whatever I purchase. It's only high bandwidth input is component as well.
If you need component based upconversion, then you will have to purchase the DV-970HD, as the OPDV971H does not support component based upconversion.
So my question is, is the 970HD the model I should get? I would like to use a scaler somewhere down the road with the Barco and I believe the 970 is recommended when using a scaler? I wish it were available in black!
The DV-970HD is best designed for a scaler, as it can send a scaling unit a pure digital (HDMI) signal for processing with minimal interference on behalf of the the player.

I briefly read up on the differences between the 970 & the 971 from the Oppo website.

Questions;
1. Which is the newer model? I assume the 971 is, but with the DVI out, one would think the other model is.
2. Is there really a PQ difference between the two chipsets? Not something you can measure on a test bench, but in the real world.
3. Just what exactly is this mystery "All-in-one video processing chip"? Proprietary to Oppo?
4. In Oppos' comparision, there is a note regarding using them with DLPs'' and it states that the 971 needs "careful calibration", while the 970 does not. What's up with that?

1. The OPDV971H is the older model. It is nearly 2 years old.
2. The OPDV971H will have a more "film like" image (smoother picture), whereas the DV-970HD will produce a sharper, more "digital like" image.
3. It is a MTK solution.
4. DLPs naturally macroblock enhance. For this reason, you do not want to mate a DLP with another device that also macroblock enhances (ie. The OPDV971H)

If you need component based upconversion, then you will have to purchase the DV-970HD,

Note the that 970HD will not upconvert over component on copy-protected DVDs (which most commercial releases are).

Note the that 970HD will not upconvert over component on copy-protected DVDs (which most commercial releases are).

Unless the hack is used.

Which is, of course, easily found in this forum.

Has the latest firmware resolved the Anthem D2 HDMI 1.1 compatbility issues? Sorry for not going back but this thread is out of control, 2500 replies! :eek:

Thanks for your opinions and inputs. I ordered the 970 today.... now to find the upconvert over component hack......

Thanks!

It is a MTK solution. I assume that is the actual manufacture of these players? DLPs naturally macroblock enhance. For this reason, you do not want to mate a DLP with another device that also macroblock enhances Ok, thrill me, I know what macroblocking is, but what exactly is "macroblock enhance"?? :confused:

5. Other than the "film look" why would one want the older 971 over the 970?

BTW, thanks for the quick reply.

I assume that is the actual manufacture of these players? Ok, thrill me, I know what macroblocking is, but what exactly is "macroblock enhance"?? :confused:

To the best of my knowledge the term originated with the problem caused by the Faroudja FLI23xx chips where DVD players using the chip either created macroblocking or increased it with DVD's that didn't result in noticeable macroblocking when using players with other chips. With this term, enhance doesn't mean make better, it means make worse. Displays using the chip don't seem to show the problem, only players using the chip. Someone more technical will have to explain why but I believe Faroudja should have fixed it by now.

Chris

5. Other than the "film look" why would one want the older 971 over the 970?


The 971 uses superior Faroudja deinterlacing and scaling instead of MTK. Faroudja will produce a smoother image with fewer artifacts and jaggies -- however, it will not produce as "sharp" of an image as a result. It will also "catch" more mastering flaws or errors on discs. In addition, Faroudja offers better support for PAL. However, the 970 will not macroblock.

DLPs naturally macroblock enhance.
Does this apply only to rear projection DLP TVs? According to what I read, it seems so, but I'm not sure. How about front DLP projectors like Optoma?

Hello all:

I am a long time lurker, and you all on avs forum have helped me a great deal in picking out my system. I have recently purchased all components for my media room based on information gathered from these forums. However, I cannot get SACD to play over HDMI in surround format. I have an OPPO 970 and a Pioneer Elite 82. I think I have properly set up the Oppo to output the SACD in multi-speaker format. I can hear nothing. Could someone please tell me how to get the receiver to play SACD in surround. Thank you all for all the info you have given me thusfar. Thanks in advance for your help here.

I assume that is the actual manufacture of these players?

No, MTK (MediaTek) is the designed of the de-interlacing and scaling chipset. OPPO has a manufacturing partner that actually puts the units together. MTK is just a hardware solution.

Does this apply only to rear projection DLP TVs? According to what I read, it seems so, but I'm not sure. How about front DLP projectors like Optoma?

It mainly applies to RPTV DLP displays. I have an Optoma H78 that required very little calibration to make the OPDV971H shine. The Samsung RPTV DLP we have at work took some major tweaking (thanks GSB) before it would produce a good picture.

Hello all:

I am a long time lurker, and you all on avs forum have helped me a great deal in picking out my system. I have recently purchased all components for my media room based on information gathered from these forums. However, I cannot get SACD to play over HDMI in surround format. I have an OPPO 970 and a Pioneer Elite 82. I think I have properly set up the Oppo to output the SACD in multi-speaker format. I can hear nothing. Could someone please tell me how to get the receiver to play SACD in surround. Thank you all for all the info you have given me thusfar. Thanks in advance for your help here.

I think this is actually a limitation of the Pioneer Elite VSX-82TXS. Try using the multi-channel analog outputs of the DV-970HD instead.

Thank you Neuromancer:

I hope this is not the case, but I will try it if all else fails. SACD playback is one of the reasons I choose OPPO 970 and Pioneer 82. By the way, I love the dvd playback through both. Thanks again Neruro, your intelligent posts are always worth reading.

Datou

I remember reading a while back that the VSX-82TXS did not support multi-channel audio through the HDMI input, which is sorta required for SACD and DVD-Audio discs. I could be mistaken, though.

The 82 and 84 TXS are HDMI 1.2-compliant, according to the manual (p 50, footnote), which should be sufficient to pass any currently-available multichannel source -- it even allows native passage of SACD, which 1.1 did not (DSD had to be converted to PCM first). Of course, the player will also have to be 1.2 compliant to pass SACD this way.

http://www.pioneerelectronics.com/vgn/images/portal/cit_11221/310148023VSX82TXSOperatingInstructions.pdf

I have no problems passing multichannel to a 74txvi via HDMI (except in Pioneer's 'Pure direct ' mode, but let's leave that aside, as I don't use that mode anyway). One key thing is to make sure you have HDMI audio set to AMP , not THROUGH, in the Pioneer AVR. Otherwise it's trying to pass audio on to the display. You would also want to try using something like 'Auto Surround' in the Pio to make sure the signal's being seen as some form of 'surround'. (It's accessible from the remote as the 'S. direct' button in the bottom row; the 'Standard' button on the remote should also do the trick)


The other thing is to make sure the HDMI resolution in the OPPO is set to a high value, e.g. 720 or higher. This is *required* for multichannel SACD playback, in my experience. Since the 82/84 are upconverting AVRs, it may also be necessary to turn Digital Video Conversion OFF in the AVR (just guessing, try leaving it as is first).

anyone know where you can buy this player at an actual store. Is it only online? I really want this player but I just got an HDTV a week ago and cannot wait for it.

I believe that unless you want to goto their offices in California, then you'll need to have it shipped. I ordered mine on a Sunday & had it by the following Saturday.

The 82 and 84 TXS are HDMI 1.2-compliant, according to the manual (p 50, footnote), which should be sufficient to pass any currently-available multichannel source -- it even allows native passage of SACD, which 1.1 did not (DSD had to be converted to PCM first). Of course, the player will also have to be 1.2 compliant to pass SACD this way.

Should have made the correction of PCM audio through the HDMI input, not multi-channel (which DTS and DD fall under as well). But like I said, I only "remember reading it" and it could have just been a setup issue, rather than a real problem.

I believe that unless you want to goto their offices in California, then you'll need to have it shipped. I ordered mine on a Sunday & had it by the following Saturday.

I think this all depends on where you live. I am in Toronto and I found a dealer less than 5 minutes from where I worked. My pick-up took 10 minutes and at the price of $167 CDN (which is about $149 U.S.) with no shipping, it worked out great. It is very hard to find a dealer though. This one was really a HT Designer and worked out of his home.

anyone know where you can buy this player at an actual store. Is it only online? I really want this player but I just got an HDTV a week ago and cannot wait for it.
You can always pay for expedited shipping. Ground delivery time depends where you're located. I ordered mine Monday morning (directly from Oppo) and it arrived today -- 2.5 days -- but it's a relatively short trip from CA to UT. Oppo uses Fedex Ground and although they won't guarantee it, I think their typical maximum is 4 days coast-to-coast.

BTW -- I just got done setting mine up and -- WOW it's fantastic. :D :D Worth waiting for -- at $163 delivered its' definitiely one of the "best value for money" deals in home elctronics these days.

I have an OPPO 970 and a Pioneer Elite 82. I think I have properly set up the Oppo to output the SACD in multi-speaker format. I can hear nothing. Could someone please tell me how to get the receiver to play SACD in surround. Thank you all for all the info you have given me thusfar. Thanks in advance for your help here.
I have an 84TXSi and a 970HD. Both SACDs and DVD-A will definitely play in 5.1 via HDMI if you set the player up correctly. However, the Pioneer seems to be a tad bit quirky. For example, one time I turned on the receiver, then the Oppo and hit play to start playing a SACD. I got no audio from the 970HD (but it was playing) until I turned on my TV (also connected to the 84TXSi via HDMI). I turned off the TV off, there was a second or two interruption in the audio, then the audio continued to come through with the TV off. I'm out of town and I haven't had a lot of time to play with them yet, so I can't say if that was a one time occurance, or if that's normal.

My biggest complaint with the 970HD regarding SACD playback is that using the up and down arrow keys to highlight a different track while playing a SACD back via HDMI causes a momentary audio drop out. :confused:

Hello all:

I am a long time lurker, and you all on avs forum have helped me a great deal in picking out my system. I have recently purchased all components for my media room based on information gathered from these forums. However, I cannot get SACD to play over HDMI in surround format. I have an OPPO 970 and a Pioneer Elite 82. I think I have properly set up the Oppo to output the SACD in multi-speaker format. I can hear nothing. Could someone please tell me how to get the receiver to play SACD in surround. Thank you all for all the info you have given me thusfar. Thanks in advance for your help here.
datou -- please let us know how you solve this problem. I am also very interested in SACD and DVD-A from my new Oppo 970, but haven't had a chance to try it yet with my Pio 72 for milti-channel audio via HDMI.

Of course, the player will also have to be 1.2 compliant to pass SACD this way.
This is an excellent point, krabapple. I guess I have been assuming that the Oppo uses HDMI V1.2. However, it's not mentioned anywhere in the documentation (that I could find) so I just fired off an e-mail to them and here's the disappointing answer. :(
Skip,

It is HDMI 1.1.

Best Regards,

Customer Service
OPPO Digital, Inc.

Even though my Pio 72 is only HDMI 1.1, I have been considering an upgrade to the 82/84 series -- one reason being HDMI 1.2 availability for SACD DSD. But the weak link is now the Oppo 970.

Hi-res audio features by version -- according to the HDMI FAQ web site --
HDMI 1.1

Support for DVD Audio

HDMI 1.2

Support for One Bit Audio format, such as SuperAudio CD's DSD (Direct Stream Digital)

So for SACD audio from the Oppo 970 it looks like there are only 2 options -- PCM via HDMI or the mulit-channel analog outputs. :( :mad:

So for SACD audio from the Oppo 970 it looks like there are only 2 options -- PCM via HDMI or the mulit-channel analog outputs. :( :mad:
What's the problem with getting it via multichannel PCM? It works great and it's way better than analog.

There's even evidence (http://www.digit-life.com/articles2/sacd-dvd-a/index.html) that SACD benefits from a conversion to PCM.

Guys,

I'm trying out an OPPO 970 HD and I've got a charcoal grey or not really black with HDMI on my Sammy DLP. There also appears to be a "rusty color haze over the pic. Is this the macroblocking??

Component shows black to be black.....................OPPO says to calibrate TV.

They accidentally sent me a 971 to try out also looked good on component. Pic IS a little softer on this unit however.

And the big question? My B+K Ref 30 pre/proc with pick up the DD signal from the OPPO. I had called B+K, and they graciously upgraded software from 2.05 to 2.11 as they had heard from some customers about these kinds of problems. But as I said this changed nothing. Still comes out as Pro Logic............

My old Sony DVP 7700 works fine for sound with no DD problems. So it's something between components?

I will call them again tomorrow.............I don't know if I should just forget the OPPO and try something else...................Any ideas??

The 970 does not use the faroudja deinterlacing chip, so it does not have the macroblocking issue. I agree with oppo. It sounds like you either need to calibrate your display for the Oppo or maybe you have a bad one.

Faroudja will produce a smoother image with fewer artifacts and jaggies -- however, it will not produce as "sharp" of an image as a result. It then 'rolls off' the image to cover up these artifacts?

This issue with DLPs' and macroblocking. Why just DLPs', is it the color wheel or something else with the processing??
Also, how can/will calibrating the set help reduce macroblocking? How does one 'calibrate' macroblocking out? :confused:

It then 'rolls off' the image to cover up these artifacts?

This issue with DLPs' and macroblocking. Why just DLPs', is it the color wheel or something else with the processing??
Also, how can/will calibrating the set help reduce macroblocking? How does one 'calibrate' macroblocking out? :confused:

Evidently, there is a bit of a compromise (like everything else in life I suppose). In order to smooth out aliasing, some softening is required. The Faroudja chipset will do better "smoothing" (among other things) than the MediaTek chipset to minimize these artifacts. However, the image cannot be quite as defined or sharp because if it did, you would start to see jagged edges. Of course, the top-notch deinterlacers out there attempt to get as close as possible by smoothing out just enough, while keeping the image as defined as possible (Realta and Reon come to my mind....at least what I have experience with).

It's not just DLPs that can experience macroblocking. I have a CRT RPTV and experienced it with the 971. Proper calibration is crucial because improperly set color, brightness, contrast, etc. can cause the problem to stick out like a sore thumb. I was able to minimize it, but not totally eliminate. There's a post by a guy named "GSB" I think -- maybe someone else knows -- but he wrote some good pointers on calibrating MB out.

Sounds as taking the set out of 'torch mode' is the 'fix'.
Basically all you are doing is 'hiding' the issue.

Three more questions;
1. I have seen some pics of a black & chinsey silver model and others with all chinsey silver model. Is there a choice?
2. This latest, not released firmware, any ideas what fixes will be included?
3. This might not be the right place to ask, but the Denon players (at a higher price tag), are those really better (bottom line PQ wise)?


BTW, Amazon has them backordered untill after possibly Thanksgiving or later. :eek:

Sounds as taking the set out of 'torch mode' is the 'fix'.
Basically all you are doing is 'hiding' the issue.

Three more questions;
1. I have seen some pics of a black & chinsey silver model and others with all chinsey silver model. Is there a choice?
2. This latest, not released firmware, any ideas what fixes will be included?
3. This might not be the right place to ask, but the Denon players (at a higher price tag), are those really better (bottom line PQ wise)?


BTW, Amazon has them backordered untill after possibly Thanksgiving or later. :eek:

1. The 970 and 971 are silver; the upcoming 981 is black; those are the only colors available.
2. Not exactly sure.
3. Yes, they are better. I've used or demo all four players (Oppo 970, 971, Denon 2930, 3930). If you don't get macroblocking, the 971 is probably the best 'bang for the buck' in regards to image quality. The Denon 2930 is definitely better, but some might not think hundreds of dollars better. But, when you get up to this level of high picture quality, you're going to spend a lot more just to get that extra image quality improvement (diminishing returns). Once you get up to the 2930 and 3930 that's about as good as it gets for standard DVD players (and the 2930 would make more sense here because of price/performance over the 3930 in regards to video quality).

On Oppos' website and elsewhere I have seen pics of black front panels. For just a DVD player, I can't see spending anymore than $150 in the first place.

Has anyone got this for less list?

On Oppos' website and elsewhere I have seen pics of black front panels. For just a DVD player, I can't see spending anymore than $150 in the first place.

Has anyone got this for less list?


Do you have a link? Oppo's homepage shows two silver models. Does the color really matter THAT much? If you're just worried about the color and $150 or less price, there are better options for you than Oppo. Best Buy and Circuit City sell a number of cheap black players.

I think the 970HD's front panel is somewhat mirrored over the silver base, causing it to appear black in some photos. As for the price, I haven't heard of anybody selling any of OPPO's products for less than list price, although some places have offered free shipping from time to time.

EDIT: Yep, here's what I was thinking of. From the 970HD images page (http://www.oppodigital.com/dv970hd/dv970hd_image.html):

The front panel has a reflective silvery mirror finish. When looked at certain angles, it may appear as dark (shown in the first picture below).

I would rather have black, but I wouldn't not get this just because of color. Here is the example;

http://www.oppodigital.com/dv970hd/dv970hd_image.html

As far as price, you can get a refurb 970 for about $120 plus shipping from Oppo by calling them. It still comes with the one year warranty. That's how I got my 970 and it arrived in mint condition with no issues.

Newbie question here... do I have to use the discrete 5.1 analog outputs to hear a DVDA disk? I get no sound from the Optical output unless I switch to DVD-Video (on a Hybrid GART DVD).
TIA for any help.

I would rather have black, but I wouldn't not get this just because of color. Here is the example;

http://www.oppodigital.com/dv970hd/dv970hd_image.html
That's the same page that I linked to earlier, and there's a note just above the two images in which the front panel looks black that explains the tendency of the reflective face to sometimes appear dark.

What's the problem with getting it via multichannel PCM? It works great and it's way better than analog.

There's even evidence (http://www.digit-life.com/articles2/sacd-dvd-a/index.html) that SACD benefits from a conversion to PCM.

Besides, as was mentioned earlier in the thread, the Oppo is converting DSD to 88.1 kHz PCM -- it's unlikely that that in itself is going to make an audible difference. Furthermore, if yoiu are using a Pioneer with any DSP (like MCACC room correction) that too would have converted DSD to PCM. Aside from which, the audible effect of room correction EQ will likley swamp any audible difference resulting from a decent DSD-->PCM conversion.

Newbie question here... do I have to use the discrete 5.1 analog outputs to hear a DVDA disk? I get no sound from the Optical output unless I switch to DVD-Video (on a Hybrid GART DVD).
TIA for any help.


It depends on whether your AVR accepts HDMI 1.1 . If so, you can use and HDMI connection to play DVD-A. OTherwise you'll have to use the analog outs. In both cases you'll have to set the DVD-Audio preference in the Oppo to DVD-Audio, not DVD-V.

What's a 'Hybrid GART DVD'?

Newbie question here... do I have to use the discrete 5.1 analog outputs to hear a DVDA disk? I get no sound from the Optical output unless I switch to DVD-Video (on a Hybrid GART DVD).
TIA for any help.

If you want to take advantage of the 5.1 DVD-Audio track, then you will need to use the multi-channel analog outputs, or a HDMI 1.1 connection. if you are only concerned about two channel stereo, then you can just use the Front Left and Front Right outputs.

datou -- please let us know how you solve this problem. I am also very interested in SACD and DVD-A from my new Oppo 970, but haven't had a chance to try it yet with my Pio 72 for milti-channel audio via HDMI.

Skipsterut,

Using PCM through HDMI seems to work great for SACD. Thank you all for your help

Datou

Doing a search, I've found several complaints mirroring my own experience regarding the choppy playback of DivX over the USB connection and several follow-up comments on the low bandwidth of USB 1.1. One user reported a call to Oppo where they indicated it could be addressed by a future FW update.

Given we're stuck with the hardware limitation of USB 1.1, internal memory and processing speed of the player, etc., does anyone have further knowledge of Oppo's plan to make this feature usable via a firmware update? I wonder if they can streamline the pipeline via FW enough to get the throughput they need.

I'm generally happy with the player (esp. at $149), but with USB 2.0 having been available for a couple years now, who put's USB 1.1 in a device that needs to move video?

There have been no notes on a USB upgrade through firmware. I know OPPO is hoping to improve on the quality of the USB interface, but they are right now concentrating on several major issues with the DV-970HD (like gapless SACD and removal of vertical compression).

USB 1.1 is restricted by the decoding chipset (MTK), rather than the interface itself.

Thanks Neuromancer - I was hoping to get a reply from you. Good info from someone who's obviously 'in the know': MTK is the bottleneck and not USB 1.1 as people were hypothesizing.

The Winter edition of The Perfect Vision Issue 72 gives a very favorable review to the Oppo Digital DV-970HD. The article is written by Chris Martens.

To add to that: the USB is v1.1 ONLY and is severely limited. The partition MUST be FAT (not even FAT32) and thus, must be under 2GB.

Additionally, the power supplied by the port is rather limited, and it would not power my external USB disk drive though I have never had this problem with a laptop. Eventually, I learned that if I supplied the disk power externally, it would work, but it would still not display video smoothly due to the speed of USB reads (according to Oppo).

Danny

PS: thanks for the letting me know the player downscales my JPGs. I had no idea why they were all coming out looking pretty darn crappy and with a weird aspect ratio and I had a hard time finding this post. Why aren't they displaying them at full native resolution of whatever the PDP is set to???

You can use the following formats:

*.JPG - Photo files (no resolution restriction, but will be downsampled to 720x480)
*.AVI - DivX and XviD (720x480 pixel resolution restriction).
*.MPG - MPEG/S/VCD Video (720x480 resolution restriction).
*.OGM - Video ((720x480 pixel resolution restriction).
*.OGG - Vorbis Audio - Don't know of any restrictions.
*.MP3 - Audio - Don't know of any restrictions.
*.WMA - Windows Media Audio (no DRM)



Yes, that is one of the reasons why the USB and Card Reader are placed on the unit. It will also read CD/DVD media as well.



As long as the files are named *.AVI and do not exceed 720x480 pixels, then you will be fine.

JPEG images are actually downsampled to 640x480, which is why they do not fill the entire screen.

MTK is the bottleneck and not USB 1.1 as people were hypothesizing. As I understand Neuromancer's answer to my question above, the MTK chipset is the reason that the port is restricted to USB 1.1, but the reason that the port does not even perform at USB1.1 rates (like some other MTK-based machines do) is Oppo's software.
I suppose that this software is also the reason why the Oppo doesn't do HD jpeg (since other budget MTK-based players can do this). - DR

Some other MTK-based machines use a different variant of MTK chip. You will find those doing better with JPEG (HD-JPEG) and faster USB, but not supporting SACD or DVD-Audio.

For this chipset it is hardware. The MTK 1399 chipset has like 6 variations, all of which are designed around different principles of support. Some of them will support HD JPEG, whereas others will not (the MTK chipset used for the DV-970HD supports SACD, but not HD JPEG. The reverse is likely true for the low end player).

To add to that: the USB is v1.1 ONLY and is severely limited. The partition MUST be FAT (not even FAT32) and thus, must be under 2GB.


I disagree with the FAT/ 2Gb limitations. I've attached two hard-drives via USB to my OPPO: one a card-reader/ 40Gb HD which windows tells me is FAT32 and the other is an 80 GB USB/LAN Disk which I formatted myself as FAT32. These are both USB 2.0 devices - even though OPPO is of course only connecting via 1.1. I don't know if that makes a difference between yours and my experience.

Now if they could just fix the I/O, decoding speed issues I'd be a happy camper. :rolleyes:

Hmm, I guess I am a weird case then... I'd rather have HD JPG support and not SACD (which I don't use)...

Guess there no such thing as an all in one then... and that scaling down to 640x480 is kind of pathetic I have to say. It looks absolutely miserable compared to hooking up my laptop using VGA to the Vizio P50.

D

For this chipset it is hardware. The MTK 1399 chipset has like 6 variations, all of which are designed around different principles of support. Some of them will support HD JPEG, whereas others will not (the MTK chipset used for the DV-970HD supports SACD, but not HD JPEG. The reverse is likely true for the low end player).

Hmm, I guess I am a weird case then... I'd rather have HD JPG support and not SACD (which I don't use)...

Guess there no such thing as an all in one then... and that scaling down to 640x480 is kind of pathetic I have to say. It looks absolutely miserable compared to hooking up my laptop using VGA to the Vizio P50.

D

If HD JPG is important to you, try Philips 5960. Movie not as good as the oppo, but jpg is much better.

Are you positive about this? I spoke to Oppo support and they have specifically called out the FAT 2GB limitation to me and indeed, it never worked until I created a FAT partition on the drive (there is another NTFS partition for the rest of the space).


I disagree with the FAT/ 2Gb limitations. I've attached two hard-drives via USB to my OPPO: one a card-reader/ 40Gb HD which windows tells me is FAT32 and the other is an 80 GB USB/LAN Disk which I formatted myself as FAT32. These are both USB 2.0 devices - even though OPPO is of course only connecting via 1.1. I don't know if that makes a difference between yours and my experience.

Now if they could just fix the I/O, decoding speed issues I'd be a happy camper. :rolleyes:

I already have the Oppo, and certainly don't hate it enough to swap for the Philips, which btw is selling at a really reasonable price these days. I just want Oppo to release a firmware update to maybe resolve some of these USB and HD JPG issues though I am not sure that's possible or likely as Neuro said.

If HD JPG is important to you, try Philips 5960. Movie not as good as the oppo, but jpg is much better.

Are you positive about this? I spoke to Oppo support and they have specifically called out the FAT 2GB limitation to me and indeed, it never worked until I created a FAT partition on the drive (there is another NTFS partition for the rest of the space).

FAT16 is limited by the maximum file size, not disk size, at 2GB.

Newbie question here... do I have to use the discrete 5.1 analog outputs to hear a DVDA disk? I get no sound from the Optical output unless I switch to DVD-Video (on a Hybrid GART DVD).
TIA for any help.

My only connection from oppo to the AVR is an optical connection and I do get something on DVD-A as DVD-AUDIO, I really don't know what it is :confused: but I think is PCM. I've only tested one dvd-a disc although (some dvd-a setup disc).

It is PCM 2.0 Stereo from the optical output for DVD-Audio.

It is PCM 2.0 Stereo from the optical output for DVD-Audio.
Thanks!

As for USB and supported audio formats, I had issues with some mp3 files not playing at all. Here's one that won't play: http://cgd.sdf-eu.org/m/walkoflife.mp3

Is it only the 970 model that one can get 720p & 1080i from Component after the hacked firmware? Can it also be done on the 971 model?

Only on the 970, NOT the 971.

Has anyone been able to get Random or Shuffle modes to work when playing mp3's off of a USB drive? Is it even possible?

Just some quick questions, sorry if mentioned earlier

1. is this multiregion?
2. the 2:2 pal cadence problems, is this only when outputting progressive? if I just output 480i over HDMI/component to my VP50, is this a non-issue?

Yes, it is multi-regional...with a code from the remote. I'm pretty sure that's mentioned on page 1 of the thread.

The cadence problems...I have no idea.

2. the 2:2 pal cadence problems, is this only when outputting progressive? if I just output 480i over HDMI/component to my VP50, is this a non-issue?

Non-issue, as your VP50 will be doing the de-interlacing and cadence detections.

Has anyone been able to get Random or Shuffle modes to work when playing mp3's off of a USB drive? Is it even possible?

FYI, I just got a response from Oppo stating that they have disabled certain features on the USB and card reader due to playback errors. They said they will re-enable those features in a future firmware update once they've worked out the bugs.

EDIT -- Just got another email stating that they were mistaken and all of those features were re-enabled after the beta period. They then mentioned that the play mode must be selected *before* playback begins. I'm not at home to test this, but I'm sure that was my problem.

OK,

I bit the bullit and ordered one of these. Sounds too good to be true. I was in the market for a 2nd DVD player, and had just picked up a Phillips DVP642 but reading all these posts has me excited.

I am now wondering if this will likely become my "primary" player... right now I use a Pioneer 588A and love just about everything about it.

Either way, i have to assume that this Oppo will be leagues above the Phillips DVP642 (?) - which I picked up originally because of the cheap price and it can be region hacked. Glad to read that the Oppo can be region hacked as well.

Looks like I will be taking back the Phillips before I even plug it in... lol.

OK,

I bit the bullit and ordered one of these. Sounds too good to be true. I was in the market for a 2nd DVD player, and had just picked up a Phillips DVP642 but reading all these posts has me excited.

I am now wondering if this will likely become my "primary" player... right now I use a Pioneer 588A and love just about everything about it.

Either way, i have to assume that this Oppo will be leagues above the Phillips DVP642 (?) - which I picked up originally because of the cheap price and it can be region hacked. Glad to read that the Oppo can be region hacked as well.

Looks like I will be taking back the Phillips before I even plug it in... lol.

My DVP642 is sitting in my storage locker, lol.

The 970 is far superior to the 642 in every way, except for displaying text subtitles. The Oppo is virtually unusable in that respect.

The 970 is far superior to the 642 in every way, except for displaying text subtitles. The Oppo is virtually unusable in that respect.
What do you mean by "text subtitles?"

external subtitles like SRT, SUB/IDX, SMI.

external subtitles like SRT, SUB/IDX, SMI.


Really? I find it works just as good, as long as you burn the subtitle track with the exact same name as the divx file (except the .srt .avi part) -- I'm assuming you are talking about divx files, and not burned DVD's since that's a different thing.

Yes, that's what I mean. And I'm talking about pure text (SRT) subtitles, where you have no control over text size and spacing between characters. I would love to see such a feature (font size control, or at least a smaller default size), since the overwhelming majority of fansub subtitles are of that variety. It doesn't particularly bother me personally, because my AVLP2 does a decent job with those.

Quick question... just bought the Vizio GV46L which is supposed to have the DCDi BY FAROUDJA DE-INTERLACING PROCESSING FOR SUPERIOR VIDEO QUALITY built in. I keep hearing that the Oppo 971 has better picture quality even though it does not have HDMI. It this mainly due to the DCDi chip? Also, if my tv has the chip then does that count as an external interlacer? in which case it would not matter and I could get the 970? Basically, in theory, if the 971 PQ is a 3 (best) and the 970 is a 1 would the 970 on a tv with the chip be at least a 2?

Quick question... just bought the Vizio GV46L which is supposed to have the DCDi BY FAROUDJA DE-INTERLACING PROCESSING FOR SUPERIOR VIDEO QUALITY built in. I keep hearing that the Oppo 971 has better picture quality even though it does not have HDMI. It this mainly due to the DCDi chip? Also, if my tv has the chip then does that count as an external interlacer? in which case it would not matter and I could get the 970? Basically, in theory, if the 971 PQ is a 3 (best) and the 970 is a 1 would the 970 on a tv with the chip be at least a 2?
You would probably do better to get the 970HD and feed pure 480i to your GV46L via HDMI.

sorry man to be so difficult.. twas an economics major and so I am useless unless I can fully understand whats going on... why would feeding pure 480 i over HDMI be better than using a 480P or 720 P or 1080I.. does it take away the DCDi from the TV?

The reason why you would send a 480i signal to the display is to use the displays Faroudja DCDi processing. What becomes an issue is how well designed the chipset is in the Vizio, as well as if it is connected in the digital interface.

If it is poorly implemented, or is not connected to the HDMI input, then you will still want to look into the OPDV971H, as it will provide superior de-interlacing and scaling.

Why is the newer Oppo Digital DV-970HD cheaper than the dv-971h wich is older?

I dont know if it was addressed before, but which one is better, the 970 or 971? I just need a very quick reply. Thank you.

The DV-970HD does not have a Faroudja chipset. In terms of video quality, the OPDV971H is still the superior DVD product, therefore the premium price.

Why is the newer Oppo Digital DV-970HD cheaper than the dv-971h wich is older?
The 971H is older, but it uses a a more expensive video scaling solution (Faroudja) for the video output than the 970HD (which uses a Mediatek chip), which is why it is more expensive than the 970HD.

Neuromancer,
so you would still use the HDMI port between the player and the TV, but, then you would set the Oppo 970HD to 480i? Why wouldnt the TV be able to use its DCDi processing above a 480i feed from the DVD player. Also, how can a normal person like myself find out how well designed the chipset is in the Vizio and if its connected in the digital interface?

Thanks,

I really want to get the player and I might do it today before 3PM so i dont have to wait a long time to recieve it. All in all though, if the new Oppo player is gonna be somewhere around $230 is it gonna be worth it to wait for it even if no scheduled date is announced?

Sorry if this is a bit OT for this thread, but I have seen a few references to a new Oppo player that's "in the works." I saw it referred to once as a model 981 and the last post said something about an expected $230 price point. Does anyone have hard info on it that they can share? Is there another thread on this subject?

You may want to check out the DV-981HD Thread (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=736287&page=1&pp=30) which is already talking about the product.

The 971H is older, but it uses a a more expensive video scaling solution (Faroudja) for the video output than the 970HD (which uses a Mediatek chip), which is why it is more expensive than the 970HD.

Oke so the main thing is that you pay more for less futures and a more expensive scaler witch is not better than the mediatek?

The Faroudja chipset is better than the MTK chipset.

I have a lot of PAL DVD's (europe). The system specs say that there is no support for: "Film Mode Inverse 2:2 Pull Down (PAL movie)". What does this mean?

nm, I found out that it causes jaggering. I think I should go for the dv791H instead.

You may want to check out the DV-981HD Thread (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=736287&page=1&pp=30) which is already talking about the product.
Thanks, Neuromancer. Just what I was looking for. :)

Amazon.com has the DV-970HD In Stock in case anyone was waiting on Amazon.com

Amazon.com has the DV-970HD In Stock in case anyone was waiting on Amazon.com


FYI,

I placed an order at Amazon on the 30th (site said in stock) and my confirmation email listed shipping/delivery as late December to early January 2007.

I cancelled that order immediately and then ordered direct from Oppo. Got my confirmation/item shipped email the same night and delivery on the FedEx tracking site is Nov 1. Bonus. And it was less than a dollar difference total.

Amazon.com is claiming "In Stock", whereas before it was coming soon.

Just want some opinions. My TV only has one HDMI input that I want to use for my cable box. With the 970HD would you recommend the component cable hack or an HDMI switch?

HDMI switch is the way I went from Monoprice. In the end you will be happy, and if you choose the 5 input one, you will have room to grow.

http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=101&cp_id=10110&cs_id=1011002&p_id=2777&seq=1&format=2

Just want some opinions. My TV only has one HDMI input that I want to use for my cable box. With the 970HD would you recommend the component cable hack or an HDMI switch?

I also went with a monoprice 2x1 HDMI switch.

Even though the picture quality of my STB was the same using component or HDMI, a single HDMI cable to the set was preferred over running a bulky three wire component as well as an HDMI cable. The cable raceway behind my AV rack is crowded and eliminating the component cables makes life easier when I have to mess with the cables.

I use a Harmony remote and it controls the monoprice switch without a problem.

I just ordered the 970 after talking to oppo on the phone. They were very helpful. I have a JVC Hughes G1000 projector. I plan on upscaling to 1080i via component to the G1000.

Anyone out there using 1080i over component? Any suggestions on the settings?

I should get it on Friday. I can't way to see if it is an improvement over my sony progressive scan.

I'm running 1080i over component (using the hacked firmware). It's phenomenol!! As for settings, that's all going to depend on what your monitor does with the signal. Calibrating with a calibration DVD is nearly a must, due to such variations.

hacked firmware?

Hacked 0613 Firmware (http://rapidshare.de/files/29049631/613AMOD.iso.html).

It removes HDCP compliance.

Does that mean that I can send HDMI to my VP50, then have it send to my projectors over analog?

(not sure if you are familiar with the VP50, but if you send something over HDMI with HDCP, it disables the analog outputs and you can only output over HDMI)

Does that mean that I can send HDMI to my VP50, then have it send to my projectors over analog?

(not sure if you are familiar with the VP50, but if you send something over HDMI with HDCP, it disables the analog outputs and you can only output over HDMI)That's a hole in one Gino. With HDCP removed, the player will output any scaled resolution on both digital and anlog outputs. (proved it on my setup with Foggy's 970HD with hacked FW). We sent it via one of the HDMI inputs on the VP50 and then onto my non-HDCP display via DVI at 1280 x 768. (We were doing a comparison between my SDI modded 971H to Foggy's 970HD on HDMI, both on 480/576i). Our findings have been reported earlier in this thread for those interested in the results.

What all does this firmware do please?

You can download the firmware, put it on a cd, and use the cd to update the dvd players internal hardware. This will remove the HDCP which limits the component output to 480p.

I ordered my unit yesterday. I should get it tomorrow. The frist think I am going to do is hack the firmware and hook it up to my older JVC hughes G1000 via component at 1080i. My older projector does not have DVI or HDMI inputs. If it did... I would have went with the 971.

Scion... What are you feeding the component to? Projector? How big is the image?

I have a 92" 16x9 screen. I hope I get phenomenol results too.

Could anybody who had installed this firmware advise on installation steps? Is that the same precedures of installing the OPPO firmware? Thanks.

forgive me if this is a stupid question that's already been asked and answered, but:

can i run video through HDMI to my TV and audio through analog out to my receiver?

Could anybody who had installed this firmware advise on installation steps? Is that the same precedures of installing the OPPO firmware? Thanks.


Here is the link that I was given from oppo:
http://www.oppodigital.com/dv970hd/download/DV-970HD-3A-0916.iso

They said to download it, burn it to a cd and put it in the player. They said it was EZ but warned not to disrubte the power during installation.

Could anybody who had installed this firmware advise on installation steps? Is that the same precedures of installing the OPPO firmware? Thanks.

# Burn a CD from the downloaded ISO image file. Be sure to burn the CD as an ISO image file, not a data file. The CD should contain a 935.BIN file if you burned it successfully. Please consult your CD burning software's help/instruction manual for more information on how to do this. Some general instruction for common CD burning software is listed below.
# Turn on your TV display and the OPPO player.
# Open the player tray and insert the firmware CD, and then close the tray.
# As soon as the CD is loaded, you will see "Press Play To Start" on your TV display. Press the PLAY key on the remote or the player once.
# The TV display shows "File Copying" and then "UPGRADING"
# In about 8 seconds, the CD will be ejected. Remove the CD quickly; DO NOT DO ANYTHING ELSE. What follows is the process when the player will reboot itself.
# DO NOT PRESS ANY BUTTONS NOR ATTEMPT TO CLOSE THE TRAY NOR UNPLUG THE POWER DURING THE REMAINING UPGRADE PROCESS.
# After approximately 1 - 2 minutes, the player reboots itself and closes the tray automatically to complete the process. The update process is completed when the front panel of the DVD player shows "No Disc".
# After updating the firmware, the TV display may lost synchronization with the player and show no picture. It is recommended that you turn off the DVD player, unplug it from the AC power, wait a few seconds and then plug back the AC power.
# Turn on the DVD player and adjust the settings if necessary.
# With the tray ejected, press the "OSD" button on the remote control to verify the firmware version.
# Congratulations! You have just completed the firmware upgrade.

can i run video through HDMI to my TV and audio through analog out to my receiver?

Yes, you can use HDMI for video and analog audio to your receiver.

forgive me if this is a stupid question that's already been asked and answered, but:

can i run video through HDMI to my TV and audio through analog out to my receiver?
Yes you can. But if your AVR has either optical or coaxial inputs you could use one of those for DD and DTS audio which gives you the benefit of being able to use the AVR for sound calibration and bass management. Multi-channel analog usually requires using the source device for SC and BM, which depending on your AVR may not be as good as the AVR's. Of course if you want SACD and DVD-A the only options are HDMI and MC analog -- hi-res audio only is not available via the digital audio outs on the Oppo.

Yes you can. But if your AVR has either optical or coaxial inputs you could use one of those for DD and DTS audio which gives you the benefit of being able to use the AVR for sound calibration and bass management. Multi-channel analog usually requires using the source device for SC and BM, which depending on your AVR may not be as good as the AVR's. Of course if you want SACD and DVD-A the only options are HDMI and MC analog -- hi-res audio only is not available via the digital audio outs on the Oppo.

thanks for the answer!

i've just ditched my surround speakers to return to 2-channel goodness. until my budget allows, i'm stuck with my 6-year-old Sony AVR, which i'll be running in two-channel direct to bypass its processing in favor of the Oppo.

the Sony has plenty of juice (110W @ 8ohm), and my new speakers are an efficient 90dB sensitivity/6 Ohm impedance, so i see the AVR as the least important of the important links in the chain.

and since i'm only running 2.0, it obviates the need for bass management.

Are you positive about this? I spoke to Oppo support and they have specifically called out the FAT 2GB limitation to me and indeed, it never worked until I created a FAT partition on the drive (there is another NTFS partition for the rest of the space).

Neuromancer cleared up the FAT16 -2Gb FILE SIZE not partition size confusion (I didn't know this myself). I'm positive that my 80Gb drive is formatted as FAT32 and that it was accessible via the 970's somewhat limited file UI. The names are chopped to 8? chars but files are accessible.

I got my 970 last night... I applied the firmware hack and set it to 1080i output via component to my projector. It was a no brainier.

However, I was very disappointed with the image quality at first. I checked the settings on the projector. It saw the 1080i signal. I almost gave up and shipped the unit back. Then my buddy came over and we tweaked the settings mostly on the DVD player and some picture settings on the projector, not signal. WOW!!! Now it looks AWESOME!!! I have never seen such a difference with picture settings. We cranked up the sharpness to high set the gamma to low and added some brightness and saturation. Now it looks great.

So... YES it has no problem outputting 1080i over component. YES the firmware upgrade is easy. and YES the scaled output is AWESOME. Just don't forget it requires about thirty minutes of tweaking. A click to two means alot.

Bren

Then my buddy came over and we tweaked the settings mostly on the DVD player and some picture settings on the projector, not signal. WOW!!! Now it looks AWESOME!!! I have never seen such a difference with picture settings. We cranked up the sharpness to high set the gamma to low and added some brightness and saturation. Now it looks great.

I suggest you invest in a good calibration disc. Setting your Sharpness to high is just about the worst thing you can do to a video image. Turning your Gamma to low isn't a good idea either.

I suggest you invest in a good calibration disc. Setting your Sharpness to high is just about the worst thing you can do to a video image. Turning your Gamma to low isn't a good idea either.

I have an old JVC G1000. The component is soft. Sharpness did the trick. Gamma low helped the blacks. I agree it should not have helped. That is why I was ready to send it back.

Hi,

I just got a 970, and the firmware is 3A-0919.

This is so new that it's not even on the web site.

Anyone know anything about it?

3A-0919 is the same as 3A-0916. The factory firmware sometimes has different revision names than the website firmware (see: 11-0830 firmware for the OPDV971H is also known as 11-0821B)

Is the hacked firmware a backwards step from this version? (minus the benefits of upconversion over component)

Yes, the hacked firmware lacks the following fixes:

* Easier Track Skip for SACD and Digital Music Playback
* Improved DVD-Audio Disc Compatibility
* Improved DivX and Xvid IDX+SUB Subtitle Support
* Enhanced Power-on Response Time

I have Oppo 970HD for a couple of weeks, and I think is great. The picture is very sharp and vivid. But I want to write a little list of what I´d wish to be improve in future firmwares. Here I go:
1.- Fix of the squeeze picture in 720p & 1080i resolutions
2.- Fix of the DivX-Xvid subtitles display (please remove the "-" when cut off words), (please display the whole subtitles), (please make posible of select different font types and colors... yellow PLEASE!), (please, please fix that Oppo!)
3.- Improve USB / Memory card functions to make this useable!
4.- Codes for remote control ( I have Sony and Samsung Tv controls and none works with Oppo player)
5.- Please Other Language display OSD (not only english...is and "Universal Player" after all!)

Anyone want to share ideas? Perhaps we can write to Oppo and make a wish for a ¿Christmas firmware?

PG

"1" is already being looked into as a close beta. Right not the results are not good enough to be released.

"5" will likely not be a reality, as you have to replace the bitmaps which make up every menu option on the DVD unit. Each time addition will reduce the amount of free space OPPO has to increase the units capabilities. For this reason, it is easier to leave it in English and have that available space open, then to support multiple languages and run the risk of running out of space.

I'd like the HDMI audio dropout on SACDs to get fixed. If you're playing a SACD and you arrow up or arrow down selecting another track the audio momentarily drops out while the graphics on screen change. Gapless SACD playback should be a priority too.

it's my first posting but i'm a regular viewing of this site. i'm not a video expert that's why i didn't contribute.

based on my personal expereince of purchasing a OPPO 970HD, i wanted to share my thoughts....

i purchased a set during a hi-fi show after hearing so much about 971. but was recommended by shop to purchase 970HD instead (claimed cheaper & equal performance).

i'm totally not impressed by the video quality nor the build quality. after searching a few more sites, realised that 970 uses Mediatek chipset and a MT1392 scaler+transmitter. to rub salt on my wound, i'm paid more that what other A brands will charge for HDMI players using the same 1389+1392 combination.

total rip-off!!!!

First time to this paritcular forum. I recently purchased the 970HD and hooked it up directly to my Sony XBR2 and it seemed to work fine. Afterwards my Marantz 8001 came and I hooked it up to it through the HDMI cable. The marrantz seemed to cycle through in order to find the signal then locked on. My question is after about an hour the signal was lost and it I couldn't see any video. I orginally thought there was something wrong with the Marantz but when I hooked the 970 directly to my SXRD I could see the picture but was only getting music sound not spoken words. I went through all the options on the dvd and nothing would correct this. It also strangely enough wouldn't open the disk tray. I would push the stop button for the disk wait a bit and then push the open button and nothing. I ended up pulling out the plug (after turning off the unit) and then it would work. This has happened several times. I don't know if this has happened before and I don't have the time to go through over 70 pages of this forum. Is there something I am doing wrong or should I return the unit? Thanks for your input.

halimao, not very good eticate for a first post. You should do more research and gain more experience with a product before you flame it. There are hundreds, if not thousands here, that would whole-heartedly disagree with you. Maybe try doing a little more reading (this thread) before you do any more writing.

kbrod1, have you upgraded or is the player running the latest firmware? Go to OppoDigital.com to find out. You can also e-mail or call Oppo customer support. They are VERY helpful with any problems/questions. Just based on comments in this forum, on a scale of 1-10, their customer support would be rated about an 11! Also I'm sure someone else here will chime in with help too.

on a scale of 1-10, their customer support would be rated about an 11!
I have to agree, I've never delt with another company that always seems to respond to e-mails in such a short time. They have excellent customer service, & they may you feel like they want you as a customer for life, instead of just trying to sell you something only to leave you stranded with it.

Ok, I have a question for the 970 users out there.

I just picked up one of these players - I have yet to hook it up. I had planned on hooking it up to my ED 42" plasma via component. I will likely set it up that way for now.

But, things always change :) and It looks like I will be switching to an 80" screen and an Optoma HD70 projector. This will happen in the next 3-4 months or so. This projector unit has an HDMI input.

Should I hook it up via HDMI or just stick with component? Seems that some folks have found the HDMI setup a bit more difficult to deal with. I would be using the HDMI for video only - and run audio output seperate via optical to my receiver. Any quirks I should be aware of hooking up in such a way?

I hooked the 970 directly to my SXRD I could see the picture but was only getting music sound not spoken words. I went through all the options on the dvd and nothing would correct this.

Ensure that your DVD unit has been set to DownMix of 2.0 Stereo (Speaker Setup).

Thanks for your advice. i did call Oppo and got someone on the phone that was very helpful and he mentioned changing the setting as mentioned above when connected directly to the tv. I'm still not sure why after about an hour my reciever losses the signal very strange. I have left marantz an email. Thanks for your help. Ken

Anyone else having trouble playing the Bjork "Surrounded" discs, at least in DTS? My player, which has the September firmware update, will play the discs but I can't pause the discs. If I do, it just goes back to the first track. Weird.

Also, the Flaming Lips "At War With the Mystics" DVD-A has major dropouts if I use the HDMI connection but not if I use the analog ones. Weird, again.

i have a mits ws-48313 tv.i've looked and read a lot of the posts but still have a couple of questions.is there a hack so the 970 can upconvert over componet yet? and which would be better for my crt tv the 970 or 971? thanks for the help.

Hello, I have the Oppo DV-970 hooked up to the Sony KDS 50A2000 and it'll play a movie fine for maybe the first 30 or 40 min. After a while, however, the picture quality becomes very noticeably distorted. It's currently at 1080i output, which might be the reason for the video corruption. I was wondering if anybody else has this problem??

I also need to update the firmware as I got this player right around the time it came out earlier this year. I'm not sure if the updated firmware fixes this problem though as I don't see a history of this occuring. Any help appreciated!

i have a mits ws-48313 tv.i've looked and read a lot of the posts but still have a couple of questions.is there a hack so the 970 can upconvert over componet yet? and which would be better for my crt tv the 970 or 971? thanks for the help.

You can download the component hack from Rapidshare (http://rapidshare.de/files/29049631/613AMOD.iso.html)

For a CRT display, likely the DV-970HD will be a better product, as it produces a sharper image.

man, i tried to read through all of this but it's too much.

I'm looking at the Oppo from a purely video based performance standpoint. I have a Pioneer 4360, and I'm trying to decide between the 971 and the 970. I emailed Oppo and they recommended the 971, but the email stated that "most Pioneer uses choose the 971 and we've only had 1 return". not good enough for me.

at any rate, i asked a similar question in a Pioneer thread in the plasma forum and was told by a respected poster to use the 970 to outout 480i to the 4360 and let the tv do the scaling. part of the reason behind this was that the 4360 has a resolution of something other than 720, so the 971 would scale the image, and the tv would then re-scale the image again, resulting in a loss of PQ.

after cruising through here, i read a lot of posts that mention using an outboard processor and not a lot about using the tv's. (i only got so far, i may have missed something). help me make a decision...

You can use the television as a de-interlacer/scaler, but there is no way of really knowing which will do a better job, the DVD player, or the television, until you try it.

OPPO has not done any testing, so they can only tell you what the numbers tell you, and that is the OPDV971H is the best DVD player for your display.

Though, you can use DVE, the test patterns on Chapter 16 (I think Test 3) to test the de-interlacing aspect of your current DVD player to see if your player, or your television, work better. If the test pattern looks better when the DVD player is set to progressive, then a quality de-interlacing and scaling DVD player will do a better job. If the test patterns look better at 480i, then you will just want to use a solid 480i DVD player and let your television do all the scaling and de-interlacing.

You can use the television as a de-interlacer/scaler, but there is no way of really knowing which will do a better job, the DVD player, or the television, until you try it.

OPPO has not done any testing, so they can only tell you what the numbers tell you, and that is the OPDV971H is the best DVD player for your display.

Though, you can use DVE, the test patterns on Chapter 16 (I think Test 3) to test the de-interlacing aspect of your current DVD player to see if your player, or your television, work better. If the test pattern looks better when the DVD player is set to progressive, then a quality de-interlacing and scaling DVD player will do a better job. If the test patterns look better at 480i, then you will just want to use a solid 480i DVD player and let your television do all the scaling and de-interlacing.

unfortunately, i no longer have a functioning DVD player. :(

I received my 970 yeserrday and it had a new firmware that you might want to update into Post #1.

The new firmware is 05.00.01.07 Batch: 3A-0919. The old was 05.00.01.07 Batch: 3A-0916. Not sure what it fixed/added.

I'm using the 970 strictly for cd, scad and dvd-a. I use the Oppo 971 for video (until my Toshiba A1 arrives and then the Oppo 971 goes into another room awaiting a new tv.

Shelly

I just installed the hacked firmware to run 1080i over component to my Hitachi 57F59. I did notice a little bit more detail, but the colors seemed muted. I bumped up the Saturation about 5 clicks and the Hue up about 3 in the Oppo's settings. That seemed to help a bit, but it's still missing a bit of the richness it has at 480p. I'm hoping once I calibrate it with AVIA that I'll end up with the detail of 1080i with the color of 480p.

I just installed the hacked firmware to run 1080i over component to my Hitachi 57F59. I did notice a little bit more detail, but the colors seemed muted. I bumped up the Saturation about 5 clicks and the Hue up about 3 in the Oppo's settings. That seemed to help a bit, but it's still missing a bit of the richness it has at 480p. I'm hoping once I calibrate it with AVIA that I'll end up with the detail of 1080i with the color of 480p.

Have you tried changing the color space on the Oppo from RGB to YCbCr or vice versa?
When I get muted colors on my set, it is because the wrong colorspace is being used, RGB. That was on a Panny CRT RP PT47x54.

The new firmware is 05.00.01.07 Batch: 3A-0919. The old was 05.00.01.07 Batch: 3A-0916. Not sure what it fixed/added.

Nothing has been changed. Sometimes the factory will use a different revision number when flashing the DVD units. This is just a number difference, and not a difference in actual ability.

You can download the component hack from Rapidshare (http://rapidshare.de/files/29049631/613AMOD.iso.html)

For a CRT display, likely the DV-970HD will be a better product, as it produces a sharper image.

Can you please tell me how to install this hack. Thank you

Download the ISO. Use an ISO burning program such as Nero Burning Rom, Alcohol 120%, or the freeware program Burn At Once (www.burnatonce.com). Put the disc into your DVD player and press play. Follow the onscreen instructions.

Download the ISO. Use an ISO burning program such as Nero Burning Rom, Alcohol 120%, or the freeware program Burn At Once (www.burnatonce.com). Put the disc into your DVD player and press play. Follow the onscreen instructions.
thank you , will this hack work with latest firmw ?

Only the file you download from the rapidshare link will work. All other firmware will override the hack.

Hi,

I need some guidance regarding the audio setup of my new 970. I am running out of the 970 into my Yamaha receiver by both the digital optical out and the 5.1 channel audio output. Does the 970 only give you one audio choice? At this point I can only get audio through the receiver if I use the 5.1 output. I have not been able to use the digital output with regular DVDs. I have tried the various audio settings on the 970 with no luck.

Or is it a case where the 5.1 outputs are preferred over the digital optical out? I guess I would like the choice to run analog or digital audio.

I would welcome an explanation on this.

thanks!!!!!

This is a question / feature request: is there any discrete code or hidden key sequence to automatically select USB input?
If one throws a bunch of audio files into a memory stick and then put it on the oppo, the display must be turned on to visually select the usb input, because the play button automatically starts the oppo on dvd/cd input. It would be handy to make this blindly, with no need for the display.

Hi,

I need some guidance regarding the audio setup of my new 970. I am running out of the 970 into my Yamaha receiver by both the digital optical out and the 5.1 channel audio output. Does the 970 only give you one audio choice? At this point I can only get audio through the receiver if I use the 5.1 output. I have not been able to use the digital output with regular DVDs. I have tried the various audio settings on the 970 with no luck.

Or is it a case where the 5.1 outputs are preferred over the digital optical out? I guess I would like the choice to run analog or digital audio.

I would welcome an explanation on this.

thanks!!!!!

In my HK receiver, I use the Oppo's digital audio out into one of the Video Inputs. I assign that digital audio cable to Video 1 so anytime I chose Video 1, it plays the bitstream through the digital audio cable.

I also have the 5.1 analog hooked up, and if I chose 5.1 analog input on the HK, I then hear the analog audio.

I would assume that our receiver would work in a similar manner.

The switching would be done in your receiver. The Oppo will output through the digital audio and the analog 5.1 both at the same time.

Shelly

In my HK receiver, I use the Oppo's digital audio out into one of the Video Inputs. I assign that digital audio cable to Video 1 so anytime I chose Video 1, it plays the bitstream through the digital audio cable.

I also have the 5.1 analog hooked up, and if I chose 5.1 analog input on the HK, I then hear the analog audio.

I would assume that our receiver would work in a similar manner.

The switching would be done in your receiver. The Oppo will output through the digital audio and the analog 5.1 both at the same time.

Shelly


Hey Shelly,

Just curious as to which HK you have. Mine is a 7200 and I am very pleased with the sound. Found your description very interesting. Might try your arrangement as I am currently set up slightly differest. But then again the avr does not have the HDMI hookup so I have it configured this way: Using the HDMI from the oppo to Plasma and an optical from the Oppo to the HK 7200 with an Optical connection from the plasma to the avr.

..Mark

Hooked up my 970 to my new Onkyo 804 receiver today. Rough start trying to get all of my SACDs and DVD-As working, but it was my fault. I was using the HDMI cable to the 804. I didn't know I had to change the resolution of the 970 from the default 480 to 720 or higher.

"If you use HDMI to connect audio to an HDMI A/V receiver or audio processor, it is recommended that you choose 720p or 1080i HDMI output resolution when playing high resolution audio content (DVD-Audio and SACD). According to the HDMI specification, the bandwidth available for digital audio is proportional to the total bandwidth used by digital video. At 480i/480p/576i/576p resolution, the HDMI specification can only support 2 channels of audio with high sample rate (up to 192kHz), or 8 channels of audio with standard sample rate (up to 48kHz). Depending on the capability of your A/V receiver or audio processor, if you play high resolution audio content at 480i/480p/576i/576p resolution, you may encounter problems of incomplete audio channels or no audio/video output at all. Choosing a high HDMI output resolution such as 720p or 1080i allows enough bandwidth for all high sample rate audio channels."

The above note is very important. Without doing the above, I was getting distored audio and uneven levels. It took me about an hour to figure it out and correct it.

Hi Shelly,

I'm running into my receiver in a similar way, which is why I am confused at the moment. I am running the optical out into my MD input on the Yammy, and the 5.1 into the analog inputs of the Yammy. The 5.1 works fine, but I don't get anything when I select the MD. I'll double check my connections and try it running into the receiver without the 5.1 connected. I was hoping it was something that I had overlooked, plus I'm not looking forward to pulling components out of my rack.

I'll let you know what I find out.

thanks,
Craig

Hey Shelly,

Just curious as to which HK you have. Mine is a 7200 and I am very pleased with the sound. Found your description very interesting. Might try your arrangement as I am currently set up slightly differest. But then again the avr does not have the HDMI hookup so I have it configured this way: Using the HDMI from the oppo to Plasma and an optical from the Oppo to the HK 7200 with an Optical connection from the plasma to the avr.

..Mark
The 645. Any video or audio input can be assigned to any of the source buttons without having to have them plugged into the source inputs themselves. For example, Optical 1 can be assigned to CD, DVD, Video 1-4 or to all of them.

But why do you go from the plasma ack to the HK?

Shelly

Hi Shelly,

I'm running into my receiver in a similar way, which is why I am confused at the moment. I am running the optical out into my MD input on the Yammy, and the 5.1 into the analog inputs of the Yammy. The 5.1 works fine, but I don't get anything when I select the MD. I'll double check my connections and try it running into the receiver without the 5.1 connected. I was hoping it was something that I had overlooked, plus I'm not looking forward to pulling components out of my rack.

I'll let you know what I find out.

thanks,
Craig

Each source input on the HK defaults to a particular audio connection. You need to go into the setup menu and then into the in/out configuration. You will probably find that the MD source input is defaulted to analog. You would need to switch this to the Optical 1 you are using.

Shelly

But why do you go from the plasma ack to the HK?

Shelly


To allow me the option to use the avr and surround sound features (non news shows) of my sound system rather than having the sound totally emanate from the plasma.

..Mark

To allow me the option to use the avr and surround sound features (non news shows) of my sound system rather than having the sound totally emanate from the plasma.

..Mark

I understand.

I have each of my sources for tv watching (Comcast, Dish Network), and of course my cd/dvd player each hooked to the receiver via separate digital audio cables, with analog audio cables going to the tv from each of them as well. You're able to do this with fewer cables. Nice.

Shelly

I am loving this player so far. Looks incredible PQ-wise.

However,

Is there a way to dim the eye blinding front panel?? It is easily twice as bright as any other components I have. Distractingly bright.
:(

I own this player for over 3 months now, and suddenly no longer produce any sound from it's analog 5.1 outputs. [Any media DD DTS DVD-A SACD CD] I didn't change any settings, and I double checked it anyway.I also checked the cable connections and verified that my amp do receive signals through those cables, so it's not the receiver, nor the cables, it's the Oppo.
Any ideas?

Call Oppo support. Their service is fantastic.

I just unplugged the power cord, waited for about 30 seconds and plugged it back again..............surprise it works now. :) These things becoming more and more like computers.
:rolleyes:

Only the file you download from the rapidshare link will work. All other firmware will override the hack.
Do I download the firmw version from rapidshare and apply the hack?. Can you please tell me step by step, sorry and thanx.

Download the hack from rapidshare.
Use a burning program which supports Image/ISO burning (if you do not have one, then download Burn At Once (www.butnatonce.com))
Use 4x Write Speed, Disc At Once (DAO), and Finalize the CD.
Put the CD in the DV-970HD product and follow the onscreen instructions.

My 970 will be delivered on Wednesday.

My HT setup is:
970 to Denon 2807 AVR with HDMI inputs
Dish Network VIP 622 HD Receiver/DVR . Will not take HDMI from 2807. Dish handshake issue.
Panasonic TH-42PX50U HD Plasma

Anyone have a similar setup? I could really use some suggestions on the best way to hook the 970 to this setup.

Thanks..
Larry

Any word on Oppo providing a fix for track delay on SACD? DSOTM is frustrating with skips in between segues.

I hear they have a working internal firmware for the DV-981HD product. This fix will be back ported to the DV-970HD.

So they're writing a new firmware from scratch?

I hear they have a working internal firmware for the DV-981HD product. This fix will be back ported to the DV-970HD.

any timeframe? i had an email from oppo last week that said the 981 would ship w/ the same problem, which seems like an odd business decision. any other difference in the audio performance of the two players, 970 and 981? different analog stages, etc?

When you talked to them it was still a known problem. However, they have since worked out a firmware which solves this problem on the DV-981HD product, which means it should be fairly portable to the DV-970HD product. There is no timeframe, though I will say that it will come sooner than you think.

The DV-970HD will still be the best unit for audio fidelity, as the DV-970HD product has a better board layout for analog audio (one large PCB instead of separate daughter boards connected by ribbons).

speaking of audio quality... does this have the same type of improved audio quality above similarly priced competitors as it does in terms of video? I currently use a Pioneer 563 combo player and for my office I would like another combo player, but my funds are quite limited thanks to just having bought a house. I had looked at the Cambridge Audio DVD87, which seems to be the same unit except for a more robust power supply. While the Cambridge certainly is a lot nicer to look at, good looks aren't worth the $100+ difference in cost. Any idea if the Cambridge has this track delay issue? Does the cambridge have the video-defeat option? Is firmware interchangable between the two?

Audio quality is my only concern. The only reason I'll even have a TV hooked to it would be for DVD concerts and to navigate through DVD-A menus.

speaking of audio quality... does this have the same type of improved audio quality above similarly priced competitors as it does in terms of video? I currently use a Pioneer 563 combo player and for my office I would like another combo player, but my funds are quite limited thanks to just having bought a house. I had looked at the Cambridge Audio DVD87, which seems to be the same unit except for a more robust power supply. While the Cambridge certainly is a lot nicer to look at, good looks aren't worth the $100+ difference in cost. Any idea if the Cambridge has this track delay issue? Does the cambridge have the video-defeat option? Is firmware interchangable between the two?

Audio quality is my only concern. The only reason I'll even have a TV hooked to it would be for DVD concerts and to navigate through DVD-A menus.

i've ordered a pioneer dv-46av. will let you know my thoughts re sound vs the 970. i listen mostly to sacd tho, and have just a few dvd-as.

Speak of the Devil, OPPO has released the Beta 4A-1113 (http://www.oppodigital.com/dv970hd/dv970hd-firmware-4a-1113.html) firmware. This firmware addresses the following:

1. Super Audio CD (SACD) gapless playback

There are a small number of SACD discs on the market that are mastered to play continuously without pause between tracks. The DV-970HD with previous firmware versions plays SACD with a silent gap of about 1 second between each track. With this firmware version, the gap between tracks is eliminated.

Speak of the Devil, OPPO has released the Beta 4A-1113 (http://www.oppodigital.com/dv970hd/dv970hd-firmware-4a-1113.html) firmware. This firmware addresses the following:

1. Super Audio CD (SACD) gapless playback

There are a small number of SACD discs on the market that are mastered to play continuously without pause between tracks. The DV-970HD with previous firmware versions plays SACD with a silent gap of about 1 second between each track. With this firmware version, the gap between tracks is eliminated.


just performed the "upgrade" which seems to have partially fixed the problem. by partially, i mean the music does indeed now play "gaplessly" however, the track numbers on the player display do not change to reflect the actual track playing. for instance, as the music flows from track 1 to track 2, the display still reads "track 1." time is reset to zero on the track change however.

i guess this is why they call it a beta...

just performed the "upgrade" which seems to have partially fixed the problem. by partially, i mean the music does indeed now play "gaplessly" however, the track numbers on the player display do not change to reflect the actual track playing. for instance, as the music flows from track 1 to track 2, the display still reads "track 1." time is reset to zero on the track change however.

i guess this is why they call it a beta...

Please report your findings directly to Oppo so that they can try to fix it before the official non-beta release.

Please report your findings directly to Oppo so that they can try to fix it before the official non-beta release.

deja fait.

The font panel on the DV-970HD for SACD is determined by the cursor in the Explorer window rather than the actual track number. If you manually go down a track with a cursor, it will show you a difference track number than is actually being played. This is a known error.

The font panel on the DV-970HD for SACD is determined by the cursor in the Explorer window rather than the actual track number. If you manually go down a track with a cursor, it will show you a difference track number than is actually being played. This is a known error.

didn't used to do this tho, so if it's a known error, it was introduced by the firmware upgrade. in any case, SACDs have no video, so requiring the display to be on seemless gratuitous. it reinforces my impression that despite the 970's overall excellent sonics, for the price, SACD support is really incidental, and the unit wasn't thoroughly tested before it shipped.

It is a known problem with the beta firmware only. Sorry I did not make that clear.

...despite the 970's overall excellent sonics, for the price, SACD support is really incidental, and the unit wasn't thoroughly tested before it shipped.
As you stated, "for the price", I think these are nits, and compared to my former universal player, sonically excellent. Previously SACD and DVD-Audio were at two distinct levels, and with this player, they are much more matched. That's very helpful when switching between formats for listening only. Besides, the video portion is wonderful!

As you stated, "for the price", I think these are nits, and compared to my former universal player, sonically excellent. Previously SACD and DVD-Audio were at two distinct levels, and with this player, they are much more matched. That's very helpful when switching between formats for listening only. Besides, the video portion is wonderful!

"gapless" playback is not a nit. w/o it, the unit is useless as an SACD player.

Which is why OPPO is correcting it, as evident with the Open Beta.

The DV-970HD will still be the best unit for audio fidelity, as the DV-970HD product has a better board layout for analog audio (one large PCB instead of separate daughter boards connected by ribbons).
Neuro,

Would you make it clear? You mean that the new 981HD does not use the same, better board layout for analog audio as the 970HD uses? I already ordered the 970HD for mainly audio use. I also consider purchasing the 981HD for my another system if there is any improvement on audio side. Looks like I don't need to do so if there is no reason that 981HD is sonically better than the 970HD.

The font panel on the DV-970HD for SACD is determined by the cursor in the Explorer window rather than the actual track number. If you manually go down a track with a cursor, it will show you a difference track number than is actually being played. This is a known error.

I noticed this as well. Just tried a few discs that flow from track to track including the DSOTM SACD and there are no gaps now. I can live with this new display bug if I have to as I have the display on all the time as after all this is a DVD player. Anyway, I'm sure that they will get this fixed before the actual non-beta is released. Oppo customer support is awesome. I am still waiting for Pioneer to deliver the ability to pass 640 Dolby via the optical. I reported this when Pulse came out and they said they were working on it. I expect never to hear from them again. The Pioneer is in it's box anyway.................

Would you make it clear? You mean that the new 981HD does not use the same, better board layout for analog audio as the 970HD uses? I

It does not, no. It uses the same layout of the OPDV971H product. For this reason, the audio may not be as tight, as you have daughter boards connected by ribbons, rather than a single 4-layer PCB. The ribbons could potentially introduce errors.

I am not a sonically enhanced person, so I can't really comment on how much a difference this will make in the long run.

Thanks so much for your reply, Neuro!
So, on the audio side, the new 981HD is a mix and match of the Oppo's two previous products. That is, it is basically the same as the 970HD in its digital domain and the same as the 971H in its analog circuitry. Is my interpretation correct?

So what is the point of the 981 then if the 970 is better???

It is a black 971 plus HDMI audio (including SACD) and 1080p.

It's definitely a black model?? No chinsey silver?

Yes. We haven't seen pictures online yet, but several sources have confirmed that it will be black instead of silver.

The Oppo rep I talked to yesterday said the 981 will be black.He also said the 970hd would still be better for the panny plasmas

It is a black 971 plus HDMI audio (including SACD) and 1080p.

1080p. What does that mean exactly? It's an HD-DVD player?

The 981 will upconvert SD DVD to 1080p while the 970 and the 971 upconvert only to 1080i. Some people who have 1080p native displays report that they experience improved PQ with the 1080p upconverted signal from standard DVDs.

Note the that 970HD will not upconvert over component on copy-protected DVDs (which most commercial releases are).

You would think however I just watched X3 over component and when I hit the HDMi button it showed 1080i! Maybe this is a fluke. This is the only commercial release I have watched so far.

So I have had the DV970HD for about a month now. I have it setup to use DVD-A and SACD correctly from the analog outputs. I started off with just the component video connection for video while I waited for my HDMI-DVI converter from monoprice.com (recommended by Oppo). My display will not lock on to the signal from HDMI. I have a Toshiba 42HDX82 with a DVI/HDCP connection (as stated in the manual). This is a CRT set btw. Anyone have any thoughts as to why it won't lock on to the HDMI signal. when I press the HDMI button on the remote to change resolution it shows the Oppo splash screen then goes to snow and never comes back. This happens no matter what resolution I try. The dispay also says it does 1080i which is what my HD cable box is outputting as well.

Another issue I have seen is that there seems to be minor "hiccups" while watching a movie. Now, I have only wathced two movies so far. One was a "backup" copy of Dukes of Hazzard and the other the aforementioned X3. Any thoughts on this or do I need to call Oppo and see about a replacement.

I forgot to look at what firmware I am running but it doesn't seem like any newer firmware makes mention of fixing anything that I am seeing.

Thanks

The 981 will upconvert SD DVD to 1080p while the 970 and the 971 upconvert only to 1080i. Some people who have 1080p native displays report that they experience improved PQ with the 1080p upconverted signal from standard DVDs.

Thanks for the replys and sorry everyone for going OT. So if you do not have a 1080p native display then is the new Oppo a moot purchase?

If you don't have a 1080p display and already have a 971H, then the 981HD may not be worth messing with (unless you're like me and are wondering if you could replace both the 971H and a separate DVD-A/SACD player with a single unit).

I get the impression that the goal with the 981HD is not to replace all those 971H's already in people's homes with 981HD's but to offer new customers a product that might be even more pursuasive a purchase than teh 971H was. If you don't have a 1080p display but are in the market for a DVI/HDMI upconverting DVD player, the 981HD would offer everything that the 971H has plus SACD, HDMI instead of DVI (which may or may not matter - folks with non-HDCP DVI displays would be turned off by HDMI), and the option for using 1080p if you ever changed your display.

Good news on the gapless playback. The only thing left, for me, is to be able to do hi-res audio over HDMI while outputting 480i. I would settle for discreet resolution codes tho so i cuold macro it in.

The only thing left, for me, is to be able to do hi-res audio over HDMI while outputting 480i.
Not gonna happen. This is an inherent limitation of HDMI. It's not an Oppo thing.

Not gonna happen. This is an inherent limitation of HDMI. It's not an Oppo thing.
Yes, it can happen. When HDMI is set to 480i or 480p and the user tries to play SACD or DVD-A, the player can switch to 720p or 1080i only while it plays them. When it stops playback, it can automatically go back to the previous setting.

Well Stereodude is correct in his statement, as he only quoted the multi-channel HDMI at 480i portion, not the entire statement. OPPO could implement a resolution macro to make this a "moot" point, but their software engineers have never really implemented anything outside the box in the past.

Three questions on the 981;
1. Price?
2. The 1080p unconvert and the black case the basic differences?
3. How about the 'hacked' firmware, do we loose the 'mod'??

The 981HD (for which there's a lot of info in this thread (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=736287&page=1&pp=30) is based on the 971H, not the 970HD. We don't know the price yet, but it's supposed to be a little higher than the 971H. Based on what has been reported to date, it differs from the 971H in having SACD support, HDMI output, 1080p support, a black case, and no component video output.

Well Stereodude is correct in his statement, as he only quoted the multi-channel HDMI at 480i portion, not the entire statement.
I knew :)

So I have had the DV970HD for about a month now. I have it setup to use DVD-A and SACD correctly from the analog outputs. I started off with just the component video connection for video while I waited for my HDMI-DVI converter from monoprice.com (recommended by Oppo). My display will not lock on to the signal from HDMI. I have a Toshiba 42HDX82 with a DVI/HDCP connection (as stated in the manual). This is a CRT set btw. Anyone have any thoughts as to why it won't lock on to the HDMI signal. when I press the HDMI button on the remote to change resolution it shows the Oppo splash screen then goes to snow and never comes back. This happens no matter what resolution I try. The dispay also says it does 1080i which is what my HD cable box is outputting as well.

Another issue I have seen is that there seems to be minor "hiccups" while watching a movie. Now, I have only wathced two movies so far. One was a "backup" copy of Dukes of Hazzard and the other the aforementioned X3. Any thoughts on this or do I need to call Oppo and see about a replacement.

I forgot to look at what firmware I am running but it doesn't seem like any newer firmware makes mention of fixing anything that I am seeing.

Thanks

Well I read through my display manual and it mentioned making sure the display was powered up before the player. I did and voila! I have a signal on my DVI input (and there was much rejoicing). Did some testing and then watched Elf with my son. Picture was great even just using the old settings I am used to. Can't wait to see what it's like with a full DVE calibration. Also, I didn't notice any of those "hiccups" mentioned earlier. Maybe outputting 1080i over component caused this. I will have to watch X3 again over the DVI input.

Thans for all of you help...well didn't get any on these issues but have in the past. Another thumbs up for the dv-970hd.

Not gonna happen. This is an inherent limitation of HDMI. It's not an Oppo thing.

Understood, i'd settle for a 1080i and 480i discreet IR code.

i've ordered a pioneer dv-46av. will let you know my thoughts re sound vs the 970. i listen mostly to sacd tho, and have just a few dvd-as.

I'm very interested in your comparison of these two players. If possible, please post your comments/impressions about the 46AV in the 46AV thread as well.

Larry,

Run HDMI from Dish box to TV. Run optical to receiver.
Do same with Oppo. In addition to optical, run 5.1 analog cables from Oppo to receiver for SACD/DVD playback.

Works for me.

I've got a learning remote & for some reason I can't get several of the Oppo remote's keys, like the menu navigation pad, to be learned. Anyone else have any issues getting remote keys programmed into other learning remotes?

Sorry if this has been asked or brought up before.

dp, disregard.

i have a DUMB QUESTION:

i'm using the mixed L/R analogue outs, with the Oppo set for Stereo Downmix. am i getting the hi-rez signal from SACD and DVD-A when i do this?

Larry,

Run HDMI from Dish box to TV. Run optical to receiver.
Do same with Oppo. In addition to optical, run 5.1 analog cables from Oppo to receiver for SACD/DVD playback.

Works for me.

Thanks for the response. Do you have a 622 and Oppo 970? Can you spell out (I'm HT challenged) the connections from Oppo to Denon. want to hook it up Friday.
Tnx.

Larry

Larry,

I don't have a Denon receiver (Yamaha). I connected a digital optical out from the Oppo to the Yamaha Optical In (Yamaha has 4 optical in connections). This connection is used for DVD movies and DD/DTS audio. For video I used the HDMI connection from Oppo to TV (I have an HDTV with 2 HDMI inputs which I can calibrate separately for DVD and Satellite).

For Multichannel SACD and DVD-A I purchased RCA cables and connected as follows: There are Multichannel Analog L/R/SL/SR/C/Sub connecting from Oppo to my Multichannel Connections on the Yamaha. Make sure the Oppo and Receiver are powered off when you make these connections. Yamaha has a Multichannel Button on remote and unit which must be selected to operate Multichannel connection for SACD and DVD-A. I'm not sure how Denon applies this setting.

When you connect everything, make sure you go into the Oppo Setup (listed on remote control) and select SACD - Multichannel 5.1 to get full multichannel output (This is important, because when I initially connected the Multichannel cables, I only had sound through the 2 main speakers and thought there was a problem with the Oppo - switching setting for SACD fixed the problem). Also, to use the receiver bass management options, select speaker sizes to "Large".

i'm using the mixed L/R analogue outs, with the Oppo set for Stereo Downmix. am i getting the hi-rez signal from SACD and DVD-A when i do this?

Yes, you are still getting the hi-resolution audio from SACD and DVD-Audio discs. You will just be sampling all channels into the Front Left and Right in this scenario.

Yes, you are still getting the hi-resolution audio from SACD and DVD-Audio discs. You will just be sampling all channels into the Front Left and Right in this scenario.

i assume you are answering my question... thanks!

the nuforce website says the front L/R analogue outs are superior to the mixed L/R outs... is this true? do they output the exact same signal?

the nuforce website says the front L/R analogue outs are superior to the mixed L/R outs... is this true? do they output the exact same signal?
No, it's not true. They're exactly the same. I checked with a multimeter to verify.