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Official OPPO BDP-83 Owner's Thread [technical talk only] - Page 247

post #7381 of 38777
4/14/09 at 8:17am
If you expect your family will be using the universal remote, many of us would recommend the Harmony One. Even my wife can use it!
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post #7382 of 38777
4/14/09 at 8:25am
Quote:
Originally Posted by MRinDenver View Post

If you expect your family will be using the universal remote, many of us would recommend the Harmony One. Even my wife can use it!


We are getting OT but just to say that while these other URs are not as easy to set up as a Harmony they can certainly be made to be user friendly. In fact, the Prontos are really designed to be programmed by an installer and then handed over to the client with everything configured. It's just that some of us like to know what is going on and to do it ourselves.
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post #7383 of 38777
4/14/09 at 8:38am
I also use a Universal Remote MX-900, and have been very happy with it. I prefer a remote that uses buttons rather than a touch screen. I tried a Harmony, but found the MX-900 more flexible. However, I haven't found the URC database of remote codes for the MX-900 to be very useful for my equipment. Instead, I use their software to set up names for the screen button labels. Then, I "learn" the codes to the MX-900 using the original remotes, both for the screen buttons and buttons on the remote body. This takes only 15-20 minutes.
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post #7384 of 38777
4/14/09 at 8:44am
Setup of the URC remotes takes a bit of work, especially if you have a system with a lot of gear and you want it to all be integrated easily for someone else to use, but my wife can use our MX-900 and has been very happy with the MX-500 and MX-700 that came before it - in fact, if I were to take it away she would likely insist on the complete dismantling of the home theater, as it is what makes the system usable for her.
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post #7385 of 38777
4/14/09 at 8:57am
Quote:
Originally Posted by heatwave3 View Post

I have the H1 and found that Oppo must not have transferred all the latest codes to Harmony as the match-up to the H1 does not appear complete. There is no choice for the "Top Menu" or the "Pop-up Menu" when programming the H1 and yet these are relatively prominent fixed buttons on the Oppo remote....Hopefully they will provide updated menu codes to Harmony before they release the player to the general market.

Don't wait for Harmony -- just use the learn function, and add it to the Oppo choice on your own remote. The mothership will see those new buttons/codes that you have learned and they will make their way into the official database over time.
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post #7386 of 38777
4/14/09 at 8:59am
Quote:
Originally Posted by yarrumc View Post

I thought that was my understanding of a DAC. I am not much of an audiophile and learning some of the components and it's function. I thought I had read that the audio has to go through the DAC's in order to output to the speakers (Digital > Analog), so that is what got me on the subject.

Indeed you're not. Just kidding.

Being an audiophile doesn't have to involve the technical knowledge on the working principles of the components. An audiophile is simply an enthusiast which strives to achieve a quality level of musical reproduction as close as possible to the original performance using Hi-Fi components.
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post #7387 of 38777
4/14/09 at 9:14am
Quote:
Originally Posted by gsr View Post

To jump on and add an analogy of bitstreaming versus LPCM:

Bitstream would be like sending a ZIP file that contains a "MP3" file (let's ignore that MP3 is a lossy format).

LPCM would be like sending the "MP3" file.

So if you send bitstream from the BDP-83, the receiver gets the ZIP file and has to unzip it to get the "MP3" file.

If you send LPCM from the BDP-83 that would be like the BDP-83 unziping the ZIP file and sending the "MP3" file to the receiver.

Either way, the MP3 file that the receiver ends up working with should be exactly the same just like when you get a file from a ZIP file - there is only 1 correct end result which is identical to the file before it was put into the ZIP file. It's just a question of where that conversion happens and it simply shouldn't matter where it happens.

Once the receiver gets the "MP3" file, it still needs to decode that and then perform things like bass management, any room correction features you might have enabled (Audyssey, for example), extra surround sound processing, etc. and THEN perform digital to analog conversion (this is where the DAC's come in) before sending the signal to the amplifiers and then the boosted signal is sent to the speakers.

So in the case of Dolby TrueHD or DTS Master Audio, those would be equivalent to the ZIP file and when they're decoded to LPCM, they would be equivalent to the MP3 file in my example.

Hopefully this helps yarrumc out a bit more rather than adding more confusion.

If you send LPCM to the receiver, the receiver has to reclock. That introduces skew. It's better either to convert to analog on the player, or bitstream to the receiver and do all decoding there. Doing half of the work on the player and half on the receiver is asking for trouble.
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post #7388 of 38777
4/14/09 at 9:19am
Quote:
Originally Posted by sk20 View Post

...Doing half of the work on the player and half on the receiver is asking for trouble.


Plus sending bitstream you get the AVR to lightup with all the display messages indicating what it's decoding!
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post #7389 of 38777
4/14/09 at 9:42am
Quote:
Originally Posted by sk20 View Post

If you send LPCM to the receiver, the receiver has to reclock. That introduces skew. It's better either to convert to analog on the player, or bitstream to the receiver and do all decoding there. Doing half of the work on the player and half on the receiver is asking for trouble.

Possibly. Sometimes having the receiver do all the work is not an option. The Oppo decodes every format possible whereas AVR's may or may not. For example, I'd let the Oppo decode Dolby True HD and send LPCM to the AVR rather than use DD if the receiver can't decode Dobly True HD.

As to programming the MX-900 I've had very few instances where I had to teach the remote a code from another remote. I often don't like the way the program maps commands to buttons but this is easily fixed using the IR Database Navigator. I've no experience with either Pronto or Harmony remotes but I dislike soft keys so I never got up to speed on Pronto remotes. I don't know if the Harmony is as flexible as the URC remotes which I can setup to allow me to perform most of the needed functions without ever changing pages. I do know I could never go back to using OEM remotes (that would be almost as bad as throwing out the DVR and watching live TV ).
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post #7390 of 38777
4/14/09 at 10:06am
Quote:
Originally Posted by ehlarson View Post

Drifting back on topic a bit, I have a MX-900 and a MRF-260 that I would like to use with my D2V when it arrives. I've got two choices really given my equipment layout; an IR blaster that I'd attach to the front of the D2V, or possibly a connection to the IR block on the back of the D2v.

Has anyone tried using one of the URC RF/IR emitters connected to the IR block on the back of the D2V? If so, how did you wire it up, and how did it work out?

Be aware that the IR input on the Oppo has a power connection as well as the normal signal connections. The idea is that you can use that to power an external gizmo such as an IR or RF receiver.

But when hooking up that socket on the Oppo, you need to be careful that you don't short that power feed. Oppo sells an adapter cable that breaks out the power and signal lines separately. Check the FAQ here and the manual, and if you are still not clear on what needs to be done, give Oppo a call.
--Bob
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post #7391 of 38777
4/14/09 at 10:07am
Quote:
Originally Posted by sk20 View Post

If you send LPCM to the receiver, the receiver has to reclock. That introduces skew. It's better either to convert to analog on the player, or bitstream to the receiver and do all decoding there. Doing half of the work on the player and half on the receiver is asking for trouble.

I disagree, but this is not the thread to hash this out yet again, so I'll just leave it at that.
--Bob
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post #7392 of 38777
4/14/09 at 10:26am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jack D View Post

We are getting OT but just to say that while these other URs are not as easy to set up as a Harmony they can certainly be made to be user friendly. In fact, the Prontos are really designed to be programmed by an installer and then handed over to the client with everything configured. It's just that some of us like to know what is going on and to do it ourselves.

Actually I don't view this as OT. Oppo has not provided Harmony with a complete set of codes for their remote and therefore its worth noting that some commands are not are not pre-programmed into the Harmony database for the 83.
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post #7393 of 38777
4/14/09 at 10:35am
Thread Starter 
OPPO does not submit remote control codes to remote manufacturers as far as I know. All implementation therefore is done on their end, and most will just use the pre-made codes from their other compatible players.
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post #7394 of 38777
4/14/09 at 10:52am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Neuromancer View Post

OPPO does not submit remote control codes to remote manufacturers as far as I know. All implementation therefore is done on their end, and most will just use the pre-made codes from their other compatible players.

What is a "pre-made" code? I would have thought Harmony would either download the codes from an Oppo remote for a specific device (since the codes on the harmony site are specific to a particular device) OR Oppo supplies Harmony with a library of their device codes. If Oppo doesn't supply universal remote manufacturers with their codes, than Harmony must take them from the device's remote directly. How would Harmony have gotten an 83? I doubt they're in the EAP
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post #7395 of 38777
4/14/09 at 10:57am
Quote:
Originally Posted by heatwave3 View Post

If Oppo doesn't supply universal remote manufacturers with their codes, than Harmony must take them from the device's remote directly. How would Harmony have gotten an 83? I doubt they're in the EAP

Maybe harmony got the codes directly from Oppo's website?
https://www.oppodigital.com/Download...emote_Code.xls

Certainly there has to be a way to translate these numbers in to what the harmony needs for its database.
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post #7396 of 38777
4/14/09 at 10:57am
Thread Starter 
Pre-made codes would have been codes they previously created for OPPO products. All of the OPPO players share similar commands, with minor changes occurring between devices as additional functions are added (ex. Memory/USB for the DV-970HD, and USB and Capture on the DV-980H).

For the most part, the codes between remote controls are interchangeable. The BDP-83 adds some buttons which are not present (BD color buttons, Light button, etc) but the core buttons can be aped from the other OPPO DVD players.

The remote control codes can also be submitted by users (Logitech works under this presumption) and can be downloaded from OPPO's website for PC application integration.
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post #7397 of 38777
4/14/09 at 11:01am
Logitech also accepts remote code sets directly from manufacturers.
--Bob
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post #7398 of 38777
4/14/09 at 11:05am
Quote:
Originally Posted by BrainOPain View Post

Another Question:- I am thinking of getting a rugged universal remote(I have to flip through some 4+ now), what are the suggestions on what goes well with BD83?
Thanks
Mat

If you can be more specific about how much you want to spend and which devices you want to control you would get more targeted responses.

I have a URC MX-500. It's an old model that can be currently purchased new for less than $75. I have a Panasonic AE-2000U front projector, an Emotiva LMC-1 preprocessor, a Motorola DVR/cable box, and an OPPO 971 DVD player. The MX-500 turns everything on with one button and everything off with another button. It also sets everything up for playing a DVD with one button and everything for watching TV or a recorded TV program with another button. It even turns the lights off and on. The drawback is all codes have to be learned to the remote and it has no Internet interface. The only limitation for me is discrete on/off codes for the Panny projector. I have them in hex form but have no way to put them in the remote. I found a local installer that will do it for $20 but I haven't sprung for it yet. I know this remote would not be suitable for many people but I find it very satisfactory.
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post #7399 of 38777
4/14/09 at 11:16am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Neuromancer View Post

Doesn't mean it is not silk screened to protect the innocent. Many manufacturers will silk screen their own names on the SoC in order to increase their brand image (ie. if you are Sony or Panasonic, you want everyone to believe that the magical juice is "Sony" or "Panasonic" engineering, and not some third party chipset which another vendor may use).

So what you are really saying is: we need an 'insider' to spill the beans?
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post #7400 of 38777
4/14/09 at 11:18am
Thread Starter 
Indeed.
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post #7401 of 38777
4/14/09 at 11:41am
Don't know if this is an issue with the disk or the 83. So I'm throwing this out there: Anyone that has the Police Certifiable BD, any issues? I am experiencing a mildly annoying audio quirk with this disk. There is absolutely no audio when selecting "play concert" from the menu. The lack of audio would continue through the entire disk through all the tracks if I just let it play. However, if I reverse to (nearly) the beginning & hit play, the audio is normal with no further issues. Or if I skip to the next track it will play fine. But if I then go back to the beginning of the first track - no audio again! This only occurs via HDMI. No loss of audio at any time via analog. This is repeatable without exception.
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post #7402 of 38777
4/14/09 at 11:57am
Quote:
Originally Posted by jam88 View Post

Indeed you're not. Just kidding.

Being an audiophile doesn't have to involve the technical knowledge on the working principles of the components. An audiophile is simply an enthusiast which strives to achieve a quality level of musical reproduction as close as possible to the original performance using Hi-Fi components.

Well, knowing a bit about what your hard earned dollars payed for, would help . Not to go too OT, but I guess I am a bit confused of why anyone would be concerned about DAC's in general, if it doesn't seem to have any outcome of what you hear, at least that is what I have gathered in the couple helpful examples given to me? My example I gave, was that I seemed to have heard a difference in a song (clearer/louder), when bitstreaming vs. using LPCM. What might have been the cause of that; would it be the difference of the sound setting management of either device? Again, sorry for my newbie question and going a little off topic.

Feel free to PM me, if you have any thoughts to put my mind at ease and to learn a bit more, so we don't keep it going in this thread.
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post #7403 of 38777
4/14/09 at 11:57am
I have the Police disc and will check tonight. Are you bitstreaming or using LPCM?
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post #7404 of 38777
4/14/09 at 12:02pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by obie_fl View Post

I have the Police disc and will check tonight. Are you bitstreaming or using LPCM?

Bitstreaming. Thanks for checking it out. (I am going to try LPCM now that you mention it.)
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post #7405 of 38777
4/14/09 at 12:04pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by yarrumc View Post

My example I gave, was that I seemed to have heard a difference in a song (clearer/louder), when bitstreaming vs. using LPCM. What might have been the cause of that; would it be the difference of the sound setting management of either device? Again, sorry for my newbie question and going a little off topic.

Typically due to differences in the way your AVR handles PCM vs bitstream, and is purely a difference in level. Oppo has been working to minimize apparent differences in levels with the PCM output, and you may or may not notice a difference in future firmware.

And you're not off-topic, in fact it's the first really on-topic post in a while.
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post #7406 of 38777
4/14/09 at 12:11pm
I recently purchased a Denon AVR-3808CI. I have not had much time to do a comparsion between the analog outputs on the 83 versus bitstreaming to the Denon via HDMI but from what I have noticed in preliminary testing is, although, the 83's analog output is exceptional for the value as noted by other EAPers, I find the sound through the Denon to be quite a bit better. Could it be that there are more dacs in the output stage, bigger power supply, etcetera on the Denon AVR, even though the dacs could be inferior to the type in the OPPO unit? More testing over the next couple of weeks will have to be performed in order to verify just how much the difference is.
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post #7407 of 38777
4/14/09 at 12:12pm
Are there any BDP-83 users here who are using a URC RF20 and/or RFS200 universal remote?
I need RF funtionality in my new theater and was thinking of buying one and need to know if I do or don't need the special IR cable that OPPO provides.
I would also like some feedback on how well the remote works with the BDP-83.
Thanks for any help.
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post #7408 of 38777
4/14/09 at 12:27pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Perpendicular View Post

I recently purchased a Denon AVR-3808CI. I have not had much time to do a comparsion between the analog outputs on the 83 versus bitstreaming to the Denon via HDMI but from what I have noticed in preliminary testing is, although, the 83's analog output is exceptional for the value as noted by other EAPers, I find the sound through the Denon to be quite a bit better. Could it be that there are more dacs in the output stage, bigger power supply, etcetera on the Denon AVR, even though they could be inferior to the type in the OPPO unit? More testing over the next couple of weeks will have to be performed in order to verify just how much the difference is.

Unless you engage the pure direct audio mode on the 3808, the analog outputs from the BDP-83 go through the BDP-83's DAC's, get converted back to digital by your 3808, sent through the 3808's bass management handling, Audyssey is applied if turned on, and then through the 3808's DAC's to pass along to the internal amplifiers. If you use HDMI, you eliminate the DAC's in the BDP-83 AND the analog to digital conversion in the 3808.

If use the analog outputs on the BDP-83 and select the pure direct audio mode on the 3808, you lose the flexible bass management, Audyssey, and other processing features the Denon gives you.

The DAC's in your 3808 are, IMHO, at least as good as the DAC's in the BDP-83 but give you FAR more flexible bass management and lots of other goodies that the BDP-83 doesn't have (Audyssey, etc.). I see no good reason at all to use the BDP-83's analog outputs with as good as the 3808.

The bottom line is this:

If you have an older receiver / processor that doesn't have HDMI inputs, then by all means use the BDP-83's analog outputs. In nearly every other case, I would consider HDMI to be the better choice.
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post #7409 of 38777
4/14/09 at 12:29pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by rdgrimes View Post

Typically due to differences in the way your AVR handles PCM vs bitstream, and is purely a difference in level. Oppo has been working to minimize apparent differences in levels with the PCM output, and you may or may not notice a difference in future firmware.

And you're not off-topic, in fact it's the first really on-topic post in a while.

Ok, glad to know I am not stepping on toes. I had to mention what caused the conversation in the first place, just to confirm it was about the 83 . I actually noticed the LPCM to have the clearer/louder portion of a song, rather than bitstream, so maybe the Oppo is doing something better than my v663, at least with SACD decoding.
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post #7410 of 38777
4/14/09 at 12:39pm
Not sure if this should go in the Anthem tweaking thread or here, but I have an Anthem AVM50v pre pro - is/will the Oppo be a good match for this? What would the Oppo provide for instance over my current Panny Bd30 (or similar bd players)?

Thanks,
Shawn
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