Theta Digital Bluray player. - Page 2

Any word if Theta plans on including DSD decoding in the CB HDMI upgrade? If not having a player that outputs it natively, Oppo based or otherwise, would be sort of pointless.

Theta has made it clear the HDMI 1.3 CB3 will not do DSD decoding.
But with the Oppo you can convert to PCM and send via HDMI to the new CB3 HDMI 1.3.

It could not be done with the current dac cards. It would require new ones. There may be new ones at some future point but who knows? I think Theta wisely decided it was not worth it at this point to spend money engineering a solution for format that even Sony has abandoned. I have used my Six Shooters with various SACD players. Imagine SACD converted to PCM by something like the Oppo and sent to the CBIII HDMI would sound good.

?????????????????????

Now as of CEDIA 2009 this is old news!

No working Theta CB3 HDMI yet but an about to be released Blu Ray player. My bet is based off the Oppo. I e-mailed Theta months ago to immediately buy up some Oppos and use them for their Blu Ray platform. At least someone listens to me.

Theta's supposed to be shipping the Compli-blu in 30 to 45 days. What is the price of the damn thing?

It's a secret!

Who would buy any Theta product at this point in time? They are supposed to release a bluray player when they have spent over two years on a non working HDMI solution. Perhaps they should use some of the resources they are using on the blu ray and transfer them to the HDMI project--much better public relations which is what sells product, besides HAVING a product. A couple of years ago I switched to Theta from Classe, although I had Theta before that. Looks like I made a bad move, but I hate to take a bath on the CB III, Gen 8, etc.. All we hear are extended deadlines for beta testing, production, and so on, but nothing comes of it. All levels of trust are gone and the only question is when is enough, enough.

At this point, until and unless Theta comes through with the promised HDMI upgrade, anyone reading this forum who buys a Theta Blu Ray player would have to be - NUTS!

Well, they will maybe announce it, and then it will be available in two or three years from now...

Or not !!

Ok so here is the official news.. The Compli Blue is just about ready to ship.. Its expected to ship in the next 3-4 weeks and its awesome..

Its got Theta's Power supplies and chassis and lots of things that make it look better and sound better than any one else's Blue Ray player on the market today.. Well at least that what I think..

As most of you remember the Compli was awesome and we always thought it was the best DVD player on the market and I think the Compli Blue will do the same for Blue Ray..

It uses the Oppo transport and everything else is Thetas and its going to be sweet...

Pricing i can tell you will be 3-4K list and we should have final pricing in the next few days..

Theta's HDMI solution for the Casablanca III is coming along great as well. It was shown working at Cedia and we expect to start CBIII upgrades by years end.. The HDMI solution for the Casablanca III is going to be awesome.. It will be the only US made HDMI solution that i know of..

Theta will have the most amazing Audio Video solutions that are made right here in Southern California and you can bet they will look and sound like Theta has always has delivered !!!

Thanks
CRaig

3-4K??? If I am bit streaming sound to let say my one day to be upgraded CBIII, Why would I need a 3-4K Bluray player? If Theta is using the OPPO Architecture (I am assuming the video component will be the same as the oppo) Why wouldn't I just buy the oppo?

Am I missing something here? The oppo Satisfies all of today needs, what advantage does the compli Blu bring? 2.5K+ upcharge for a power supply and chasis is ridiculous. There has to be more to it.

Why does there have to be more to it? Really has nothing to do with whether the compli blu offers any additional value, just whether current Theta owners perceive it as offering additional value.

I'm with you, though, as I do not understand the fixation with better analog audio performance. Surely any hi-end music/home theater system will want the spinner as a digital transport - both video and audio. I know I do! I use a Lumagen Radiance XE scaler, so I just want source direct out of the player (Oppo - check!). I use a Meridian 861/621 surround sound processer, so I just want bluray and SACD audio available as PCM (Oppo - check!). OK, I can't bitstream audio, but having the Oppo do the unzipping is inaudible and doesn't use the analog stage.

Certainly, there is some value to a better clock, upgraded power supply, nicer case and faceplate, but are these things likely to make much of a difference to the player as a digital transport. I doubt it!

I suppose if Meridian were to rebadge the Oppo into a G-series case with attendent comms, and price it reasonably (something of an oxymoron with Meridian) I might bite.

I have the same concerns about Theta's Blu Ray player. I use my Oppo Blu Ray player solely as a HDMI audio and video transport. Sim2 C3X 1080 projector. Theta CB3 with Extreme DACs and Six Shooter (from Craig).
Interim HDMI 1.3 thanks to Integra 9.8 while I await Theta's HDMI 1.3 solution to the CB3. And a Theta Compli, but I only currently use it for multi-channel hi rez SACD and DVD-A. I use the Oppo for DVD. I now use a PS Audio PerfectWave Transport (and just got their DAC two days ago)
for redbook - redbook using the PWT even with the CB3's Extreme DACs sounds better than using the Compli in SACD mode via analog out to Six Shooter.

I do not use the Oppo for SACD or DVD-A because the Compli sounds better for that.

Mebbe when the CB3 HDMI 1.3 solution comes my way then the Oppo will sound better than my current Compli for multi-channel SACD and DVD-A. We will see (hear).

But mebbe the new Compli Blu Ray will sound better, thanks to upgraded power supply, as a HDMI transport for SACD and DVD-A (as it converts digitarlly SACD to PCM to work with the CB3's DACs). I don't know.

I'd like a Compli Blu HDMI Transport - leave the Oppo DACs alone and just improve its HDMI performance, for less money, then I may be interested.

If the CBIII HDMI upgrade is going to be available "by years end", then the Compli blu has little value to me personally. The extra expense over a normal Oppo, or even the Pioneer reference player is tough to justify, especially since the analog stage would be moot with an HDMI equipped CBIII.

ASI TEK has a mod for the new Oppo which only addresses its HDMI performance. Does anyone have any experience on ASI TEK's reliability? If and when my Casablanca has an HDMI input, I won't care about the analog or da sections of a blu-ray player. I can't see the point of this Theta product except perhaps as a SACD player. I haven't gotten into SACD and it seems to be dying out anyway.

I am guessing that it is easier just to leave the Oppo Dacs in place and cheaper. Could be more costly if you have to take the time to remove them?

I am sure some of you read the Theta Post about the new Product but I just wanted to make sure..

The Theta Compli Blue Ray Player set for release in the next few weeks has a suggested retail price of 2995..

I consider that price quite nice considering the Lexicon is more and I am sure will not look or sound as good as the Theta piece.

Craig

My research indicates that none of the Oppo modders say anything about changing the DACs. And that Oppo is not giving out proprietary info, either. So whether Theta, Lexicon, or a half dozen modding companies out there, were are talking mods being power supply, clock, faceplate, caps, resistors, etc.

According to the Lexicon product manager, their changes to the Oppo are a bit more extensive. It sounds closer to what Meridian does with their players in that they take some OE subsystems, and build the player up from the ground as opposed to modding an existing complete player. Scroll down to Todd Packer's post in this link:

http://www.smr-forums.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=323

I guess we'll see when people get theirs and start taking them apart.

--Andre

Yea, I am skeptical that anyone is really OEMing a new player with new firmware out of the Oppo. You are right. Once folks like you get the Lexicon player and look inside and at its menu, you will tell. My bet is that
the post you cite is gobblygook common in the industry and simply hides the fact that the player is the same, modded power supply and clock perhaps and new faceplate, maybe a few other mods in resistors, caps, etc but that is it. Same Oppo firmware. Same Oppo speed. Same Oppo which can bitstream the new formats or convert them to PCM over HDMI to the Lex surround processor (or other surround processors so capable as well).

Knowing you, Andre, you will figure this out and let us know. Thanks.

At this point I would consider Lexicon and Theta as modders as well as the aftermarket companies like Modwright, AsiTek and EVS. The distinction between the manfacturers is aftermarket modders atleast are giving you an idea what they are replacing from the oem Oppo parts.

I like Theta products very much, but again from the looks of some of the internals shots as well as the soundstage article, the power-supply seems to be the only thing that has been changed, atleast Theta gives us that, (On a side note I am kind of suprised Theta didn't come out with with a Bluray player based on a Pioneer platform, considering their long time use of their pioneer based players and transports) whereas Lexicon seems to make more ambigous claims of all the re-engineering that their team has done.

This is what Lexicon claims they have done to re-engineer the OPPO:

“What are the differences to the OPPO?”

When we specified the BD-30 we focused on premium video & audio performance, fast response times (*1) , and a mechanical construction that upholds the lexicon tradition of excellence (*2) – Some parts are similar to the OPPO due to the fact we purchase subassemblies from the same contract manufacturer. We then ship this subassembly to Indiana and complete the manufacturing in the States. We load in application specific firmware

“why does the Lexicon cost more?”

The BD-30 is the highest performance blu-ray player available today and when you see the unit, you’ll realize that the product not only is the highest performance player, but is build to the highest standards in the USA. It is then shipped with Joe Kane’s setup disc (*3) and supported with world class customer support (*4) "

(*1) Faster load times that the stock Oppo...Ok, that will be interesting to see, Surely not worth the +$3000 price hike
(*2) Hmm, Ok a thicker aluminum faceplate, still looks to be a steel chasis and same the Oppo feet.... maybe less resonance in the chasis with the use of the aluminum and a stonger chasis and probably tipping the scale at +30lbs
(*3) Oppo ships the S&M and AIX calibration Disc, what is Lexicon's point other than marketing and name dropping of a respected individual in the A/V community?
(*4) No way, Lexicon can even come close to Oppo's level of Customer Service

I think the only weak link for people that are craving a little more performance out the stock Oppo- is within the OPPO analog IC. These manfactuers don't need to necessarily swap out the DACS (they are quality DACS), but the analog circuit needs some reworking as well as the removal of some parts (i.e. opamps)

So the Theta will not offer higher end DACs and processing then the Oppo?

It should perform as well on its own as if it was connected via HDMI to a Theta processor. The 3K shoudl represent 1 source player worth of quality consistent with their brand.

If its just a transport priced at 3k i would be a very unhappy Theta supporter and my loyalty would drop like a lead balloon.

I think the shootout would include these players (also posted in BDP-83SE thread):

Oppo BDP-83 - $499
BDP-83SE - $895
BDP-83SE NuForce Edition - $1295
BDP-83 Modwright modification - $950-$1495
...
Theta Compli Blu - $2995 (orig: $4995) - (Theta Digital link), AVS threads: link & link
...
Lexicon BD-30 - $3499
...
...
Ayre DX-5 - ~$10,000


Mike

So the top of the line ModWright + Oppo = $2K

I wonder how this differs from the Ayre DX5. Some notes from the Ayre DX5 thread under the BLURAY PLAYERS forum...

- all power supplies are REPLACED with pure linear supplies with analog regulators.

- USB power switches replaced with devices without charge pumps [???]

- REPLACE master clock with a VCXO

- ADD AyreLink Communications and custom FPGA on the front panel PCB [I guess this serves as a translator of sorts from OPPO speak to AyreLink speak, dunno ???]

- Audio "side" of board has separate power transformer and its own set of opto isolators to separate it from the video side

- OPPO's 10 channel board was REPLACED with a 2 channel board with discrete, fully balanced, zero feedback audio circuit and discrete, zero feedback power supply regulators with improved parts quality and circuit design. "the performance exceeds our $6000 audio only disk player" [parts list not disclosed based on what I read]

- ADD USB audio with its own bank of opto isolators to form a "third" side of the system [interesting what the browsing menu would like when search files on a USB device]

- ADD audio only HDMI capable of "ARC" audio rate control [but Ayre does not know a surround processor that employes ARC or that is what I interpreted]

- then finally its all stuffed in that handsome anodized aluminum and stainless steal cabinet [ I bet that is $300-$400 in itself if not more].

Any comments on the Ayre DX-5, Lexicon, Theta Compl Blu and ModWright OPPO enhancments?

I'd be interested in what others have to say. It appears Lexicon and ModWright enhanced or did board level "upgrades" wereas Ayre in many regards just gutted the unit.

What beats me is why nobody is offering a "silver chassis mod" to the Oppo?! A mod that replaces the black chassis parts with silver / natural brushed aluminum parts.

A DIY panel kit would work out great and I would gladly pay $500 for it if the parts are in silver with the same finish as the black oppo parts.

I don't think I'm alone when I say I would gladly pay more to get the Oppo in silver, but $3500 for the Lexicon is just too much to pay for a silver chassis on a device that probably will be outdated in ~3 years...

Dan Wright:

http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php...deb397bf75ba7f