Official OPPO BDP-95 Owner's Thread - Page 166

I would not articulate my existing sound as being at all an 'anaylitcal sound'. That is not good. The sound I am use to allows me to hear within the note with a you are there trait. It gives the impression of you are there in the recording studio or in the venue. My amps are not clipping so I know I'm not getting distortion from them. I simply cannot hear within notes and feel music with the BDP-95. Its D/A converter cannot even compete with those of the Arcam AV9 on standard stereo, and 5.1 Dolby Digital and DTS material. The BDP-95 cannot also compete with Sony's D/A converter on its BDP-S5000ES on 7.1/5.1 DTS-MA; True Dolby HD, PCM, and standard DTS and Dolby Digital. The BDP-95 is more of a good bagain than an advancement in audio.

I understand that we can connect the analogue outputs / XLR outputs of the 95 directly to a power amp, eg the Emotiva XPA 2 or 3.

When it is connected this way, can I ask what volume do most users set?

For the first connection do you need to turn it down to volume "0" or at least down to 20% first so it doesn't blow my B/W 805s?

Thanks

Thanks, does the digital volume of the 95 work on both XLR as well as analogue connections?

I think what you may be use to hearing are leading edge transients, this was something that I originally looked for and expected from the 95. The problem with these leading edge transients or prat, for awhile they are great toe tappers, but as far as resolving power goes they leave a lot to be desired. Here's what I can describe about the 95's sound and its ability to unravel complex passages in music with out allowing the rest of the music to suffer as a whole, which is why I suspect you purchased the 95. I found over my burn in process and many repeat listening to 3-4 disc, I was very familiar with! All of the great things I liked about leading edge transients where still there and what I wasn't prepared for was how the 95 seemed to pass right over them with an ease and musicality, and not stumble to the point and move on! This in turn brought more musicians to the stage and not just the one musician being spot lighted while the rest where overlooked!This my friends is called resolving power!Now let's factor in weight or the foundation of the music, bass! Where talking first strike and the other octaves that follow, not just "Slam" Been there and heard that , Now the mids on the 95 have only what I can describe as tonaly accurate and is the counter weight to the lows and highs( enough said). When the 95 reaches 500 hrs its the Giant to be slayed. It's dead neutral and I susspect this is because of the non- existent noise floor. It's not going to be the same as your other players And a weening proces was hard for me at first before realizing which source was superior ( about a week)


Listen to your 95 and not for the Sony's or Acram!

I'll just add to this the important EXCEPTION that if you are playing an SACD with DSD-direct-to-analog conversion engaged, then there is no audio processing possible. Which also means no volume control even on the analog outputs. Use SACD Output PCM if you need analog output volume control or any other form of audio processing in the Oppo.
--Bob

Can't argue with that! I find that the 95 scales with a better amp. I'm sure its bettered but I will never know since I'm at the limit of my budget for this type of equipment.

I am playing my SACD's through the dedicated stereo outputs using DSD, and the volume control works. Is "direct-to-analog" something different?

Check the front panel display and I suspect you'll find "PCM" lit, meaning you are not using DSD. This will happen if you are also set to send HDMI Audio to a device that can not accept DSD over HDMI. Set HDMI Audio OFF to fix this. Now the PCM light should go out and the Volume control will stop working.
--Bob

Yeah! can't wait to try that out to see how much better it can get ( finally got some xlr cables), then perhaps one day when the ole' audio budget has been replenished add a JC 2 with the ht bypass to the mix. But as for now all is golden and to be honest my systems is at a level, I to be honest was not prepared for But I'm taking donations

Sorry, not so.

I have the screen in front of me and the video display is reading SACD DSD, and there is no PCM lit up on the Oppo's display. The audio is set up exactly as they say on page #66 of the manual for Stereo Analog Audio to Receiver, and the volume control works fine.

gbaby,

This hobby of ours is not an exact science, but I guess if we buy enough equipment we will find a happy median.


Willie

Very strange. Which version of the firmware are you using?

ETA: I test this on a 93 (playing 2-channel SACD content into LF/RF). Perhaps there is a difference for the dedicated stereo analog out hardware on the 95?
--Bob

My Firmware version is: BDP9x-42-0323.

Hmmm, I'm pretty sure I got the same result testing on that version, but I'm on the newer firmware now. See the release notes for the 0707 "official" firmware.

I put in a query to the Beta testers to find out if there's a hardware difference in this regard for the dedicated stereo Analog output on the 95.
--Bob

Fascinating stuff Bob ; If classicrecording's readout is correct it must be lpcm at some stage for volume control youd;e expect

Since aquiring a new Samsung 55D8000 3d TV been struggaling with a HDMI issue when I connect Main HDMI to TV & Second HDMi to my Pioneer LX83 AV receiver, in that the picture to TV & sound to LX83 keep dropping out alternativly for some time - may " lock" after 3-5 mins, maybe not.

Bought a New Panasonic DMR-BWT800EB BluRay Player/recorder and initially had same problem - but no HD sound to LX83. I then adjusted to picture only to TV & Sound Only to LX83 & hay presto everything perfect !

Still had same issue with Oppo and appears to be that the Oppo will NOT allow you to turn off video to secondary HDMI, thereby transmitting 2 simultaneos video pictures by both HDMI outs - this meams the TV " hunts" for the correct picture causing the handshake problem. All HDMI CEC options turned off in all 3 units.

Wonder if anyone else has suffered this ? Seems I need Oppo to do a firmware udate so I can " select " which output is picture only. In the meantime am watching via LX83 only ( sound & picture) with no direct video HDMI 1 connection to TV, which is OK of course but the picture is fractionally better direct than via the lx83.

Also technically sound to AV receiver should be better if video bandwith not included in signal ( As per Panasonic).

According to the 0707 firmware page:
"Added a new option for "Volume Control" under Setup -> Audio Processing. This function allows for enabling or disabling the analog volume controls (also known as Variable Audio). If set to "OFF" then the VOL-/+ keys on the remote will no longer affect the analog audio output."

There is no mention of removing processing, only that you can now turn off the volume control. But I would like to know if processing is introduced with the use of the volume control, and if it is removed if the volume is set at 100. Or if I need to install the most recent firmware to remove any processing by shutting off the volume control.

I can confirm this. The volume control does indeed work with SACD DSD playback on my BDP-95EU (latest FW).

I haven't tried this yet since I just assumed it wouldn't work and therefore I'd just have to do without DSD in my "direct to amp" setup (as I mentioned in my post a few pages ago) but, if you notice, Oppo does refer to the volume control as an "analog volume control" rather than a digital volume control which would seem to indicate that the volume control functions in the analog domain, after the D/A conversion has taken place.

I'll be testing it soon!

Ah ;thats it denon use this strategy in some avr;s iirc; should have twigged earlier;its an analog ic volume chip ;maybe even this cirrus logic one if the relationship is still extent

http://www.cirrus.com/en/products/cs3308-18.html

Very transparent I would expect [if the s/n ratio matches the dynamic range]

Newly updated User Manuals for the 93 and the 95, dated July 28, are now available for download (PDF Files) from the Oppo support pages.

They reflect recent firmware changes.

The European Manuals have not yet been updated, but presumably that will happen soon.
--Bob

Thought I'd jump into this thread as now I'm interested in this machine.

I currently own the BDP83SE. It's been modded by a respected modder and is or has been generally used as a "Blu-Ray player" as I use a much "higher end" set of components in the form of a DAC and Transport and music streamer.

I had taken delivery of some great speakers - Tyler Decade D1's. After the break-in period I noted a certain hardness with female vocals I didn't really care for. Tuning helped but still had some monor quibbles about the sound, primarily in vocals. One day just for fun I used the BDP83SE analog outs to my Allnec pre. There seemed to be a certain synergy between the 83, my Pass amp, Allnec pre and the Decades. It sounds for a lack of better word, AWESOME. I haven't played my high end DAC since, and it's now for sale.

I can say this. The "for sale" DAC retrieved more information and presented a better sound stage in that there was more seperation between instruments. But he Oppo was livelier, had better bass and did not have the hardness issue at all that I had blamed on the speaker drivers.

I was in the hunt for another CD player. Perhaps a Ayon or Cary.

I only now learned of the Oppo 95 after doing a search. I had been streaming FLAC and now only play discs as it's painful to turn on a projector to stream music. Plus the projector makes a lot of noise!

Just how good is this BDP 95 SQ wise compared to the very best? This would be its sole function unless I moved it to the TV room for 3D - and what screenless solutions if any, exist for streaming my library? Any apps for an IPAD for instance?

I also noted that ModWright performs additional mods on these units. Anyone compared the results?

If you got this far, thanks for reading my long-winded post

I just checked again on my 93 and Analog output Volume control has no effect when SACD DSD playback is engaged until you reduce Volume all the way to 0 (which is implemented as Mute). When SACD PCM playback is engaged the Analog output Volume control works as expected.

So evidently there is a difference here between the 93 and the 95. I'm trying to get some details.
--Bob

Getting an OPPO-95 was a lot cheaper than getting a hearing aid. After picking out 16 old CD's to listen to tonight I realized that what I really needed was a big glass of wine. The veil has been lifted. All of this is with a 9 year old Denon AVR-3802. I'll probably need Valium next week when the Anthem MRX 700 arrives. Thanks to all of you who give such good counsel in this forum. Time to pour again.

Hi,
Got my unit last week, and the first thing I noticed was that Even though I had a good cd player (music hall modded with BurrBrown amps etc) the Bass ( cello) sounded like in slow motion, a detail I never inmagined possible. Very very impressive. Up to date one of the best systems I've heard (AND it's mine [bdp-95,light speed preamplifier,classdaudio amp,and B&W 803 S martin Logan sub speakers ])
Two things though, why the unit came with an older firmware? ( I bought direcly from Oppo ) they had to open the box to add the setup DVD and at least could have added the firmware on a cd.
How do I activate the subwoofer on a cd ( non-multichannel music)?

If you are using the multi-channel analog outputs, set LF/RF to Small, the Subwoofer to ON, and pick a Crossover frequency (80Hz default).

If you are using digital audio, do the same sort of thing in your AVR.

"Small" vs. "Large" for a speaker simply says whether or not bass is steered from that speaker channel to the subwoofer.

Use a calibration disc to check your speaker/subwoofer volume levels.
--Bob

mrevo

Presuming that you're using the 2 channel rca or xlr outputs, they contain the full frequency range. Its up to your preamp/receiver to perform bass management sending your bass to the subwoofer.

That's kind of a problem for those of us who want to do audio direct with speakers that are not full range (at least down to around 30 hz). You add the crossover and you've managed to convert the signal back to digital for crossover duty and then go back to analog. So you've lost the benefits of nothing in the signal path from the analog outs on the 95.