Official OPPO BDP-83 Owner's Thread [technical talk only] - Page 1261

bconde,
By "we", I meant the people posting in this thread. By "why questions", I meant things like your, "So why did OPPO go to the expense....".

We are pretty good here at "what does it do" questions, and "how do I use it" questions. We are pretty bad at "why did they do it this way" questions, and downright awful at "when will they change it" questions.

The player is what it is. In addition to the fixed Crossover frequency it also has limitations in what you can do with the speaker distance settings. The 93 and 95 remove those speaker distance setting restrictions, and offer an adjustable Crossover, but even the 93 and 95 don't let you set a DIFFERENT Crossover frequency for different speakers. All Small speakers use the SAME Crossover frequency.

My end comment was simply that you may discover the 80Hz crossover frequency in your 83SE works just fine for your listening despite what Audyssey selected. The choices made by Audyssey are related to what it is trying to do to make its room correction work best. And without that room correction in the mix those may no longer be the best choices.

By the way, your experiment with external crossover processing (the Outlaw ICBM-1) is a good one. You mentioned you were going to start by using its recommended Crossover values. What are those?
--Bob

No problem. You planted an Outlaw Audio seed that helped me figure out what to do. That's what these boards are all about.

Those are based on speaker sizes. You can check out the manual available at the Outlaw Audio website. For my setup it was 60 Hz for front, 80 Hz for center, and 100 Hz for sides. That's quite a bit different from the Audyssey settings, but, as you said, those settings are combined with EQ settings, too.

I have a few questions regarding the SE update....

I just got my updated 83 back from Oppo.
Sadly, there wasn't any technical explanations of the new capabilities included in the box.

Can I now have the 83 "downconvert" BD multi-channel movie tracks to 2ch. and send out thru the new SE 2ch. outputs?

I have an Onkyo Pro 885 pre/pro with analog inputs/outputs (via XLRs to Emotiva 2ch. Amp) and will be sending the Oppo's video (via HDMI) as a pass-thru.
Unfortunately, I can't seem to figure out how to make it all work together...
Any suggestions?

There is no functional difference between the 83 and the 83SE. The 83SE just uses more exotic analog audio circuitry.

I do not recommend down-mixing multi-channel Blu-ray tracks to Analog stereo if you actually have surround speakers. The reason is that the surround channel information has to be attenuated when you do that (so that the sound stage meshes with the fact that you are now only using front speakers), and LFE (bass effects) content is lost. I.e., normal, multi-channel audio playback into a decent set of surround speakers and subwoofer will sound much better.

However, if you still WANT to do that, it is straightforward. The easiest way to do it is simply to cable the dedicated Analog stereo output jacks from the 83SE. The audio that comes out on those is a down-mix. EXCEPTION: When using DSD-direct-to-Analog conversion for playback of the 5.1 layer from SACD discs, there is no down-mix, since there is no audio processing at all with DSD. Use SACD Output PCM if you need a Down Mix in that case.

Alternatively, you could cable up the multi-channel Analog outputs and set a 2 channel Down Mix in the Analog output Speaker Configuration. You have two choices of 2 channel Down Mix available in there. Use "Stereo" if you intend the audio to be played in just a stereo speaker configuration. Use "LT/RT" if you intend the 2 channel audio to be processed up into multi-channel speaker output using something like Dolby PLII in your audio processor.

Since you are not using HDMI for audio, you can set HDMI Audio OFF as well. The Analog outputs are always live whether or not you do that.
--Bob

I thought Oppo had stopped doing the 83SE upgrades? Are they still doing them, if so does someone mind telling me how much it is? Is it worth it for 2 channel analog music listening or should I just upgrade to a 93? Can't afford a 95 unfortunately. Thanks guys for your advice.

http://www.oppodigital.com/blu-ray-b...adeOption.aspx

-Bill

Thanks Bill.

I have 2 gigantic Cerwin Vegas in a 2ch. setup only.
This is primarily my "music" room, although movies would be played on occasion.


Great info...thanx for that.

Yes, I did a search and read the FAQs, but I wonder if someone else has had this same occurrence lately.

So, I got about 30 minutes into Jurassic Park last night, and the screen goes black and the Oppo then seemed to just shut down. I turn it back on and all can can get is "no disk" on the display. I reset the unit per suggestions in the FAQ, turned off everything that was recommended, and updated the firmware.

The machine will still not load a BR, DVD, or even a CD. Just says "no disk". Any other suggestions before I call Oppo? Thanks a bunch.

Try unplugging the player for a few minutes after doing a reset to defaults. If that doesn't help, Oppo support will.

Finally got a chance to briefly listen to the SE analogs (thanx again, Bob) and am very impressed.
If I wasn't so lazy, I would bring my 95 downstairs and do a comparison.

Thanks, yes I had tried that last night, to no avail. Oppo support came through, however. They advised me to clean the laser lens with a q-tip and alcohol, which did the trick. All types of discs load, and I'm now playing the beautiful Jane Monheit DVD-Audio.

It is interesting that prior to cleaning the lens I could not perceive any dust at all on the lens, but I guess something was there. Anyway, kudos to Oppo for the immediate help I received!

Perhaps it was the banging around and prying on things with screwdriver that fixed it.

We have a VERY dusty house and I haven't yet encountered this, but I occasionally use the Maxell BR-LC Blu-ray Lens Cleaner. Cannot guarantee it, but for me, it seems to do the trick (bought it originally when I owned a quite crappy BD player).

Yes, you can still get them. Mine even had a new SE faceplate which in the upgrade description they had said was not included. I actually think they swapped out a new old stock player because even though it had the same serial number it was now located in a different place and the player had the protective plastic sheeting still on it. The player I sent in was pristine so I can't say for sure that it was a swap. The turnaround was so quick that it would make sense that it was.

You would have to determine worth. It would be ideal for someone with an older AVR and display that can't make use of the HDMI 1.4 functionality of the 93 and doesn't expect to upgrade the rest of their system anytime soon, especially if you can make use of the multi-channel analog outs of the 83 which are lacking in the 93. But for $200 more you get a more modern and future-proof player in the 93.

I have a quick question for the old hands on this thread. I have spent some time reading old posts here and on the SE thread regarding the forced DSD to PCM conversion issue when an HDMI cable is attached to the player and destination device can't handshake the DSD data. I think I understand the issues and accept that Oppo is not going to fix functionality on an end-of-life product (maybe they can't).

So, not to dredge up that old subject, my question is simply: Does the front display on the 83 indicate DSD in the same way that it indicates PCM? In other words, when playing an SACD with a DSD logo on it, and all my settings are correct, do I need to see a positive indication of DSD or do I only need to see a lack of PCM indicated to know that DSD to analogue conversion is taking place?

No HDMI cable is active
HDMI audio set off
SACD set to DSD
All speakers set to large (no bass management)
Speaker distances 0
Subwoofer on

^ SACD indicator and no PCM indicator means DSD is engaged.
--Bob

Hi There,

I Am in India using an 83SE. I was curious to know which of the pins on the power plug is the live/neutral and does it matter in normal functioning of the unit while simultaneously, in the same power strip hooked up to a power conditioner, being connected to other Audio/Video units which include two/three pin power connections such as AVR, Amplifier and projector. The female end of the chord mentions which pin is Live/Neutral but the male end does'nt though one pin is broader than the other.

Everything was working fine until recently I was having some issue with the projector not functioning properly on certain resolutions, mostly higher than 480i/p via HDMI and also my AVR not being able to decode Bitstream via optical digital but after disconnecting and then after a while reconnecting all cables including analogue MCH/Stereo, changing to coaxial digital output and re-inserting the power pin of the oppo 83SE the other way around with the broader pin in the live socket everything seems fine. The only thing is i dont know whether the problem was because of a faulty optical cable that was also affecting the digital HDMI (Video only as HDMI Audio is set to Off) signal or was it the inverted power pin in the common power strip. I dont want to retest to see which one caused it as all is well right now and I dont want to disturb it.

Hence my query.

Please enlighten if possible.

Thank you.

It sounds like you have the North American type plug. The broader pin indicates that this is a polarized plug. The broad plug is neutral and the narrow one is live in this type of plug. These are really meant to be used with a corresponding female side.

I am just about fed up with my bdp-83... Never know when it might freeze and it seems that it does quite a bit...

Are you asking for our help?

Have you contacted OPPO support and asked them what to do?

-Bill

Have you tried talking through the problem with OPPO tech support?

Whatever is happening may have an easy fix.
--Bob

I will on Monday. Have had the player new for a few years and it have had dealings with Oppo over the years. It is updated to the latest firmware and know about the persistent storage and BD Live Off. Most of the times I blame the disc but it is just happening to often (bluray's through blockbuster).

Have a replacement disc of Hanna (reported 1st disc as unable to play) and the player is still freezing on the 2nd disc (incredible!!!). The disc has a few light scratches but otherwise looks perfect. Most regular DVDs can be scratched to heck and still play perfectly. Last night I experimented a little and cut the 24 frame off and lots of other things to off but still didn't help...

Have you cleaned the laser?

You're still not really providing much info regarding specific issues. If you're playing rental BD discs, no visible scratches are acceptable - ever. Also, any problem disc should be washed and tried again.

When the player appears to freeze during playback of the main title, a bad disc is almost always the cause. The player is not actually frozen, it's just seeking the next readable sector - one sector at a time. A very slow process that can take minutes or longer depending on the size of the damaged area.

Also, the BDP-83 is old enough to benefit from a laser cleaning. If you're not comfortable doing that yourself, Oppo will cheerfully do it for you and will only keep the player for a day or so.

With one of those Maxwell Bluray Disc Cleaner disc.

Doesn't really qualify as "cleaning", you need to open it up and use a q-tip with alcohol.

Ok, thanks for all the great suggestions. I will have the player cleaned and hopefully the disc freeze issue will be a lot less frequent...

I've tried in vain to watch the bluray "The Expendables"....however I can't get it to play. Anyone know particular issues with this disk? It's the only bluray I've had trouble with. Thanks for any help.