Official OPPO BDP-95 Owner's Thread - Page 104

Well now they get to see them - I must have gotten really lucky with the Onkyo and Panny players!

DVD-A direct playback is at least as dependent on the disc as it is on the player. Some will do it, some will not. Nobody doubts that there are some combinations of disc and player that will allow this. Many discs have a series of screens and menu choices that are required, and no 2 discs are the same unless they come from the same mastering house. Many people choose to use a small, cheap analog LCD monitor or TV for disc navigation where a larger display or PJ prefers to be left off.

Maybe, but with my Onkyo and Panny players, I never came across a DVD-A disc I couldn't do this to - regardless of how simple or complex their menus were. And I have hundreds of DVD-As (and reviewed many during its heyday). When I wasn't reviewing all the features of the disc and just listening, I'd never have my projector on. Just hit the old Stop and Play when the disc spun up...

John,

I don't have any experience with the back-up disc, but I did have a similar/not exact issue with commercial disc. Does the commercial copy play?

I had an issue with 3D playback (same message as the PS3/commercial disc). Basically, the 95 verifies display can support 3D...if not the message comes up. Not positive, but the new firmware may provide a means to force playback of 3D material now...check the mannual or others may have more insight.

Also, ensure your 3D settings are correct. It's possible another setting such as Deep Color or Color Space are causing handshake issues...defaults (OFF and AUTO, respectively). Could be the authoring as well.

I though that was me lol.

A couple of days ago I read a post asking about the SQ of the 95 compared to the 93 & 83SE. Numerous posts later (finally catching up again) I see that many others have posted their impressions. We did an early post comparing all three players and concluded the 93 was a bit better than the 83Se on 2ch as well as MC. Then the 95 arrived and it was a bit better on 2ch than the 93 and 83SE. Did not do an extensive comparison of MC as a couple of other contributors did so in detail. All this refers to analog out.

So, anything new as of today? Well, the 93 was sold to a friend for his HT. We still have the 83SE for DVDs which might be a hair better but this depends on the disc. Otherwise, the 95 does it all for stereo on our 2CH system and MC & BR on the A/V system. The bottom line is the stereo gets turned on much more these days as every disc sounds different than on the 83SE and if the disc is of high quality then look out! Have not done a direct comparison of the 95 & 83SE for some time. Don't want to take the time out from listening to the music which, of course, is what it's all about. With the 95 we just sit down and enjoy! And we think the 95 simply is getting better week by week. And don't ask how many hours it has been played but it's enough. As others have posted you haven't heard what the 95 can do until you have heard well recorded high resolution music off of an SSD. Nuforce's cancellation of their special edition says it all we believe. Our only reservation would be if you sit near the player (not an issue in our system) you are likely to hear fan noise during quiet passages or at low volumes in an open cabinet.

Under "snow in the spring?" Seattle skies, Gill

Wish I could explain it, My reference point is not the studio! It's my gear and room. I was never present while the recording was made and most likely not many end users as well ! So the definition of high fidelity is flawed to begin with and is not limited to my interpretation alone However I hear what I hear. if you drove four people in a BMW M5 to the store . Now take that same four go to the same store only this time drive a 1997 Hundai Elantra oh yes! both are cars and are capable of transporting four. No broken Laws just changed a few variables and in the end a different result! now all you have to do is pick a car(lol)

I burned only the main movie and the DTS-MA files. So yes the stream folder only has 2 files instead of 13 to avoid as much compression as possible on a 25GB /SL disc (6%).3D!
BUT as I stated in my post I backed up my copy of Return To Forever BR / 2D also with a small amount of compression, but I did burn the whole disc not just the main movie dragging all the files...HMM...
I also backed up "Under the Sea" but that was small enough not to compress.
I also backed up a SD-DVD of TRON Legacy using only the main movie and DTS audio track and it plays on the 95 without issue.
It seems to be a problem with just BR & 3D.

The thing that baffles me is that it will play on my PC without issue even though it doesn't have a 3D display.
PS3 will load the disc as well.
The 95 will not even load the disc, it should give a message " Please install 3D display or no 3D display detected".

I have an idea I have a BD-RE, I will backup a copy of a known working disc and backup only the main movie and DTS-MA tracks and see if the disc plays in the 95.

Either way if the PS3 and PC play the disc the OPPO should! IMO!


JOHN

Good. They must have finally run up against a player so good no amount of marketing mumbo-jumbo could justify "improving" it.

+1 The SQ. of the 95 is the best I ever heard on my gear, the quality of the recording has always been a key factor.
I downloaded some FREE Flac files from 2L, and Andreas Vollenvieder White winds & some live tracks from same artist, loaded them on a USB drive WOW!!
These recordings brought emotions out I have only experienced a few times in my life at LIVE SHOWS.
Breathtaking sound to be sure. I never expected this player to perform at this level.
Anyone on the fence about the purchase of the 95 should buy it and try it. The 30 day trial will pass and you won't regret your purchase, it blew away my 83se.

JOHN

Nuforce probably read the Audioholics review:

"The BDP-93 displayed benchmark performance while the BDP-95 exceeded that mark to the point where we were measuring the limits of our $40k Audio Precision HDMI analyzer. Anyone considering buying one of these new players with aftermarket modifications should instead save their hard earned dollars or put it to better use purchasing more Blu-ray discs to enjoy on these wonderful machines. The BDP-93 and BDP-95 Blu-ray players are everything so many other so called "high end" players wish they could be and much more."

That's been my experience as well...it drove me to rip all my DVD-As.

Is it just me, or does anyone else wonder, what the other reviewers(Absolute sound, Stereophile) are gonna say about the 95! I find some of the stuff they say these days on the uber highend far fetched at times and prehaps misleading simply because it's priced high and feel obligated to give unjust credit. But hey I could be wrong on that one, and we are just privileged to have so much great gear. The Oppo team hit it out the park with the 95 and has change the landscape of what's highend, and if you want!" how much" it cost to get there. This isn't trickle down left overs! ,but an amazing achievement regardless of its price

Oops

Gotcha!

I agree. When I first got my 95, my Andreas Vollenweider White Winds CD was played many times to fine tune my system and made me realize how good this player is as a source. As Bob mentioned before, and was well said. Asking people to pay an extra $500 over the 93 for the price of admission into High End Audio is a bargain in High end audio world. It is a no brainer if you really understand high end audio. Normally it takes much more money in many other areas of audio to get into this level of sound quality.

I mentioned this as well in a previous post. Absolute Sound and Stereophile will definitely review the 95, but I wonder how this player will affect the CD player industry if they really give it a great review and really honest. I wonder if they are afraid of stepping on the toes of CD company manufacturers. As that dealer showed fear of the Oppo, and this tripped me out. Normally a high end dealer loves the challenge of a component against his own products in his store. I took my Oppo 83 to this same dealer's store to compare it to his top of the line Pioneer Blu-ray player. But this time, he did not want to walk over and joined in the testing. Still, he could hear it because the sound was loud enough to fill the store, and I know when I switched players both sounded fantastic, and he asked Is that the Oppo playing! lol. I never have seen a dealer act that way. The word is out about how good this Oppo player is and I think dealers don't like the fact that Oppo Digital, Inc. is primarily an internet company leaving the middle man (the dealer) out of the picture.

Is there any thought that OPPO might get into the fully digital amplifier business? a completely diskless system, with HD USB/Streaming support like in the 95 but with an integrated high-quality power amplifier? I know this means it isn't a "universal disk player" but it (converges to) a universal media player.

I have a question on hooking up my 95, it should be delivered tomorrow. I have a Pioneer Elite SC-35, I'm sure many of you have nicer/higher end equipment than this that are big into two channel stereo. I've never been a big two channel stereo guy, I'm happy with my iPod hooked up with MP3's @ 192 CBR for stereo listening. However, I want to get into high end two channel audio. The speakers I have are front l/r Definitive Technology BP 7004, Center C/L/R 2500, rear l/r BP2X. Should I use the analog outs on the BDP-95 to the back of the recevier? If so, recommendations on cables? I know good analog cables make a difference. I was just going to use the HDMI out on the 95 but after reading all this about how well the analog outs really are makes me want to hook it up the best way possible. Any recommendation on something to test the audio? DVD-A disc SACD? I listen to a lot of classic rock...

I have a Pioneer receiver with similar performance specs (VSX-9140TXH) but it isn't the Elite series. Based on the THD and noise performance of these Pioneer receivers, I don't think you would notice a significant difference in sound quality in going 95-MCanalog out to MC Pioneer in versus HDMI out/in.
Eventually, I'll have my 95 dedicated stereo outs connected to an older (but very good audio specs) Yamaha integrated stereo amp, and use the 95 HDMI out to my Pioneer receiver HDMI in for MC audio.

Has anyone else read this review?

http://lens-views.com/Audio/OPPO_BDP-95.html

Wow, I have read my fair share of subjectivist reviews, but this one may take the cake -- quite possibly the most overripe, genetically flawed equipment review that I have ever read. The reviewer frequently writes as if he is waxing poetic about a Renaissance work of art while he is knocking back a bottle of vino:

"The awareness of perception is followed by the reception of meaning.

More surprising to us was how transcendentally meditative Baraka’s whirling dervishes were felt to be. We knew this was the intent of the whirling, but never before had this quality been transmitted to us in a way that welcomed us to join in their meditation. The OPPO allows us to immediately forget that the technical aspects of player, amplification and electronics and we are lost in the unique space of the movie."

To review the review, it earns an "A" for creativity but an "F" for validity.

AJ

Probably TAS and Stereophile wish NuForce didn't cancel their "upgrade" of the BDP-95 so they would have a player that cost about $3,000 to wax poetic about in future issues. To say the 95 has changed the landscape of what's high end is an understatement. It ought to scare the living daylights out of the entire high-end audio industry! This player is just that damned good!

Who knows, but I feel at this time they need to fully focus on developing the 95 into a complete and flawless unit and make it the best it can be for many users. I don't know if Oppo have the experience in this area unless they contract an amplifier designer. That is another can of worms. High end in the amplifier world is very competitive and many factors involved in making it appeal to many audiophiles.

I will let someone else tackle that question. lol. I have my opinions but I will keep them to myself on this board, lol.

agreed on that, and for this customer, (personal)-flawless translates into (1) working DVD-A playback for my WL6 authored DVD-A and (2) working MC playback via USB/streaming

Well, I liked the review and can tell this person is an audiophile as he admitted biased in his love of Vinyl over CDs. Many of his comments make sense to me, and I feel the same way. For example:

“The first rule is that measurements do not reveal very much - at least not to the end user, and can very easily misinform. There is a thinly veiled assumption that what we measure is relevant to the experience of listening to music or watching a movie on video. As of this writing, we have no reliable way to measure the effects of a recorded music performance or video movie on the listener.”

I even seen someone on this board mention the spec THD, as thou it was key point in determining quality, but in reality it means little, and sometimes mean something very bad if the spec is very low. In amplifiers it can mean the amplifier designer used too much feedback to get the spec low and sacrificed the sound quality of the amplifier.

Other key comments that I liked are as follows:

“My tech guru, Nick Gowan of True Sound in Campbell, California (whose contribution to my theoretical and practical understanding of circuits is hereby acknowledged as are his observations as part of the evaluation panel), gives the BDP-95’s power supply high marks for using an expensive high quality toroidal transformer where it matters.”

“Bottom line here is that as a transport there any number of vehicles out there that are better, but that to achieve the level of performance of the BDP-95 as a complete player you’d have to spend 4 or 5 times the money.”

“On a more subtle note, it will be of interest to some of you that dialogue has been given a boost in clarity such that those with hearing losses might be able to disengage the subtitles. How often do we groan when actors mumble their way through a scene, in character, perhaps? It was clear to me how rarely I would need to replay a scrap of dialogue, or worse: bring up the subtitles. Hmmm - a good reason to consider the BDP-95 even if your playback is of only average quality.”

“There was no question in the minds of our panel that what they were seeing and hearing was the best they had encountered. Rich Green, a leading international figure in CEDIA (Custom Electronic Design & Installation Association), declared the picture from the DP-95 “flawless” and that he had never felt a living room disappear so quickly and effectively. (Rich also very much liked OPPO’s Speaker Configuration diagrammatic menu. Me, too.)”

“But if you have first-class audio playback and surround, or are willing to pay for whatever gain you can find to avoid subtitles - if you want the best value in a universal Blu-ray/DVD/CD player, with superb digital-to-analogue reproduction, whether from high definition video sources or tried and true CD or SACD sources - if you want to breathe new life into your video library - if you want more than technical excellence - if you want an emotional connection to and lose yourself in your movies, then look no further than the BDP-95.”

I wanted to see a review like this from hardcore audio enthusiasts. I did not expect the 95 to come out squeaky clean when true audiophiles will put it put against the best they ever heard, and knowing the 95 only cost $999. To know that they felt they only saw weakness from the 95 when they compared it to a separate Transport/DAC combination costing $10,000 speaks volumes.

Lastly, if you are reading a hi-fi magazine that never criticizes products, BEWARE!

Don't discount measurements. If the measurements show a problem odds are you will hear it (or see it), even if you can't pinpoint subjectively why it isn't "right".

But once the measurements reach a certain threshold of "goodness" it is unlikely that any additional improvements found in the lab will correlate well with what you hear (or see).

Good bench test measurements are necessary but probably not sufficient -- basically because there's no practical way to measure everything.
--Bob

I agree, measurements are a good guideline in determining quality, but not and end all to that determination. Many people solely focus on measurements without the need to determine how it sounds in the physical world. High End products are designed by painstaking trail and error of using different materials and design configurations that no way relate to measurements. They don't measure on a scope or meter to make adjustments to achieve heights in audio. They use their ears.