Official OPPO BDP-83 Owner's Thread [technical talk only] - Page 437

When given the option, I try to use optical since it is not subject to potential ground loop problems.

Thanks to a few members who gave me the heads up about my links failing.

I have updated the links and they work correctly now.

I can't even play the above MKV...it loads initially but immediately returns to the USB dir browser.

The MediaInfo property of your file that I think is the cause of the playback issues:

Audio #0
Codec : AAC LC-SBR
Codec/Family : AAC
Codec/Info : AAC Low Complexity with Spectral Band Replication

AAC LC-SBR, otherwise known as AAC+ (or HE-AAC), was developed relatively recently. Spectral band replication is basically a mathematically created estimation of the upper frequency range based on the lower, more limited range that is present in a low-bitrate AAC file. It sounds remarkably good at low bitrates basically [i.e. 2-channel 64kbps audio, the best of any lossy codec I've come across, though Vorbis, Windows Media Pro and MP3Pro (also based on SBR) aren't far behind]. It isn't supported on many platforms besides select cell phones and the Windows OS. I also wouldn't be surprised if the Oppo doesn't support it.

Looking at the FAQ, I'm 99% sure this is why this file is broken on the Oppo. Bill might want to make a distinction that the Oppo only supports LC AAC and not HE-AAC, AACplus OR AAC LC-SBR (all different acronyms for the same thing), unless I'm mistaken and would gladly welcome the correction.

In the case of AAC, if the audio is in the SBR variety as above, you have your answer: Unsupported...I'd definitely recommend mentioning both HE-AAC AND Vorbis to Oppo as a feature request. I may do the same (I still need to create a list).

The MKV AVC/AC3 playback on this player is excellent.

I agree with using optical to avoid possible ground loop issues. I have a TADAC tube preamp/DAC with HT Bypass that I am using in my system for 2 CH music listening. When I connected the coaxial outout of the BDP-83 to the TADAC I got a audible hum. When I used the optical output the hum was gone.

Bill

My MediaInfo text is from Paprika, not Air, which is why they are different. I couldn't D/L any of your files except the first of 2 from the divx and without the second file the archive is no good.

Sango, I used MediaCoder to transcode your anime MKV into something compatible with the Oppo: Air_Opening_Theme_(h264)(1280x720)[63527E7B]_transcoded.mkv

I was attempting to do a direct copy of the video with MediaCoder but couldn't work out the proper settings to successfully do it, so I went ahead and transcoded the video (into another H.264 file) and audio into AC3 (compatible with the Oppo).

The hardware has always been able to support DVD-Audio, but OPPO needed guarantees from the chipset vendor that the support would be incorporated into the firmware that the vendor was providing. For a long time, that vendor would not provide a guarantee that fully satisfied OPPO. Thus, they didn't manufacture any faceplace with the DVD-A logo on them and they didn't include DVD-A in the feature list. The original EAP players (50) shipped with firmware that did not yet support DVD-Audio. The second batch of EAP players (300) shipped with firmware that offered limited DVD-A support, and they received an update a week or so later that refined it. They have been refining it ever since then, but frankly it's been pretty darn solid since late April. The features listed on OPPO's site has also included DVD-Audio for some time now - so they have been marketing it as having that support.

Some might argue that the company's reluctance to list a feature prior to having it working is actually a good thing. The alternative is to ship a player with promises of a feature (such as DTS-HD MA decoding) that is to be enabled via firmware update and then having customers waiting for some indefinite period of time to gain access to that feature.


They are having the faceplates made by someone, and that company has silk screens that they've had to create specifically for that plate. If you change the logos, they have to create a new silk screen, so having a different part number for that makes perfect sense to me. As for quantity, there's a decent number of beta testers plus 350 EAP'ers. That's probably 400+ players right there. They've been cranking through the interest list for at least a month now, and that list was at one point reported to include more than 27,000 names. Not all have placed orders, of course, but that's still indicative of a lot of potential sales.

Which suggests that OPPO likely pulled the trigger on new silk screens at about the same time they updated the feature list to add DVD-A and likely rushed through a new batch of faceplates. Even though we haven't seen "the public sale" yet, there's still lots of product being shipped out, and that has clearly pushed them through to the point where they're shipping players from the newer batch.

I understand the interesting chronology. I don't understand why it's so important to have the silk screened logo.

^I can personally confirm that as late as May 22, they were shipping players with the older faceplate. I'm going to try to forget about it, though.

a) I got your point about licensing, but it really doesn't hold water. b) I guess they better remove the HDCD logo because there are issues using the player with a processor that does HDCD decoding and that's a much older format than DVD-Audio.

Let me ask you a question. If Denon decides to add the new Dolby IIz to the AVP-A1HDCI through a firmware update, existing units out in the field and remaining in inventory won't have the new logo on them. Assuming you care about this new feature, would you rather have the new feature without the logo or not get the new feature at all? Those are your only choices. It's the same thing with DVD-Audio for the BDP-83's that were built before the DVD-Audio logo was added to the silk-screen. I'd MUCH rather have the feature without the logo than not have the new feature at all. We'll probably see Oppo add other new features to the player as time goes on and in some cases newer players will have the new logo silk-screened while existing players won't. I don't know about you, but I'll be happy to get the new features with a firmware update even if I don't have the shiny logo on the front panel.

Your assumption that the presence of the logo means that the implementation must be perfect is very flawed. There are tons of examples of products that have lots of logos and lots of bugs. Just look at the support threads for many Bluray players in these forums. Let's worry about the important stuff like the feature actually working and less about the unimportant stuff like a silk-screened logo.

Please. Enough of the DVD-A bickering.

larry

Oh opps, I see. I didn't know what Paprika was so I thought it was a mis-spelled word instead of a title.

Just wanted to verify. Is the URLs still not working? I corrected them late last night and click them to verify. It's a bit different now because previous it was a direct download link. Now it goes to the actual download area where you can download the file. I guess the direct download link kept changing which is why it would fail after a while, it should not happen now with the proper URL.

If they still don't work, I will have to put them somewhere else where they will work.

Thanks

That's definitely true to an extent, and it's how I have my Harmony set up for both the 983 and the 83. The problem is that while the 983 upconverts all DVDs to 1080p, so the output is almost always the same, the behavior on the 83 is different, and for good reason -- 1080p/24. The OPPO menu is output at 1080p, but most Blu-rays change over to 1080p/24, and some change to 1080i, depending on the material. This makes for many more HDMI handshakes, and ones that occur long after the player and all other equipment are on. I do have the 83 set to 1080p, so that avoids the 1080i changes, but as long as 24p is on, there will always be handshakes unless I want to turn that option off as well. That's why I hope this will be fixed -- the handshakes are not going to go away.

I agree with Beaker -- I really hate HDMI. I don't blame this on OPPO; they've only inherited the problem.

Any handshake that occurs when the player is on and connected should NOT cause errors or issues, it should be correct. FWIW, handshakes are caused by changes in the input material, (program content), not by what the output is set for. You're correct that many BD discs can contain a variety of source material particularly in loading screens, previews and the like. These will always cause handshakes regardless of the player's settings. The BDP-83's 3-chip architecture means that a handshake can be generated in any of the 3 chips and will propagate all the way to your display.

If you experience erroneous handshakes after the player is on and connected, you should be contacting Oppo support. Although it might be best to wait for the next FW update and see how that impacts it.

Just curious which firmware version are you using? With the current latest one, mine at plays however it shows video macroblocking and distored/corrupted audio. Here is a catch - if you hook the sound using analog output, the audio is perfect.


Thanks the the info. I have just sent Oppo and email as part of a feature request and also sent them URLs as well for them to look at the clip in question to see what else they could find.

In the meantime I will have to download DivX versions of anime shows in the meantime for them to play on the Oppo. The MKV versions is better but without Vorbis or HC-AAC support, I will need to use my PC. Will see what happends.


Thanks a bunch - I will try it at home tonight.

When playing sacd and DVD A material the music info is displayed on the sceen of my 08 model Panasonic Plasma. I kinda like this but the sceensaver never kicks in. I have also tried the energy saver mode with the same results. I am concerned about burn in. I am using the Harmony remote so I guess I could set up a separate activity for listening to music with the display off. Anybody have any suggestions.

Exactly what I've done.

A separate activity Listen to CD.

It's as easy as that - the TV never turns on.

I think I figured it out. The white powder I observed in the loader tray must be the silk screen for the DVDa/V logo. OPPO missed the front of the player and put it in the loader Seriously, I wrote to OPPO concerning what I found in the loader, but have not heard back from them yet.

I would place a bet that the powder was shaved off plastic from the edge of the disc you were playing. The vibrations were the edged bouncing which caused some plastic to grind off. Was the powder also on the disc? My mac mini's dvd drive gave me a horrible vibration one day and when I removed the disc there was powder on the edges which I guessed were the plastic.

You are on target. I checked the edge of one of the DVDAs and one is showing signs of the coating being scraped off. OPPO service responded with the below message and the player will be swapped out. Can't ask for more than that


xxxxx,

We would recommend that the player be replaced, as it is possible that parts of the loader are mechanically touching while the disc is rotating.

Please fill out the attached Advance Replacement Credit Card Authorization PDF. This form will allow us to capture, but not charge, your credit card for the purchase and shipping price of your OPPO product. This capture will ensure that your defective OPPO product is returned to us. Inside of the replacement product packaging will be a return shipping label for your defective product. Please use this label to send back your current defective unit within 30 days of the RMA being created.

Best Regards,

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

Right, and I'm seeing lots of these where I didn't get many with the 983 (as far as I can remember, I get them on the 983 only when playing .avi files and the like).


That's what I'm planning to do. I haven't contacted OPPO yet, since I figure 1. they are really busy, 2. I can workaround this problem, and 3. I figured a future firmware update might take care of it. After this next one, I'll contact them to see if they need more info to recreate this. The main problem is that the problem, although it happens fairly often, is intermittent, and I haven't yet come up with a set of steps where I can repeat it reliably.

Apples and oranges. The 983 was dealing only with one format and resolution. The BDP-83 has 3 separate chips: MTK decoder, ABT and HDMI. Any change in content will trigger a handshake.

The nitwits that author BD discs don't care and can include 1080i/60, 1080p/24 and whatever all in the same sequence when a disc is loading and displaying splash screens and previews, not to mention extra content. It's frustrating at best.

Also don't assume that the player is at fault just because some other player doesn't have the issue in your system. That's the beauty of HDCP on HDMI, you never know where the error is.

Now imagine working in Oppo's lab and trying to duplicate handshake errors that are occurring on user systems.

I had a strange problem yesterday, somewhat related to the setup issue that has been discussed a few pages back on this thread.

The symptoms were all channels were low in level in the analog domain. The normal listening range is 60 to 70 on my receiver. (numbers for ref. only)
In this case, the volume was barely acceptable at 75.. even 80 was just nice full volume, hardly what could be called loud.

At first I thought it might be the disk...I exchanged it with the Avia test disk. Levels again were very low with the volume of my receiver set at 75. Definitely an analog problem, and only with the Oppo.
I went into the Oppo setup and RESET it to factory settings. Turned the player off for about a minute, then turning it back on, went through the whole setup again.
Everything is normal now. In fact, better than it was before the level drop.

Going through the speaker configuration I was able to keep 75db on the meter with a max trim in the Oppo of +/-1db for any speaker position. (For the sub, 2db to give me an 80db reading.)

(My Arcam has +10db switched in for bass on mch analog).

Everything is running just fine....I turned everything off for a while..will check again later and make sure the settings have not changed as others have reported.

Looks like Oppo is aware of the problem is looking into it.

Thanks for the reply, Alan.

I hope the disc in question wasn't a pricey/rare/OOP title? Some of those discs are selling for about the cost of the player on Amazon Marketplace.

I have Denon 2809 receiver , Oppo BDP -83 and kuro 151 FD.

My display accepts 1080/24 signal.

what is the recommended setting for watching normal DVDs ??

Currently I have the below one.

1080p/24 Output = ON
DVD 24p Conversion = OFF

Thx Neuromancer.

It is already off in my configuration.

Am I good with 1080p/24 Output = ON setting or do i need to turn it off
for normal dvd viewing ??