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Disappointed in the Oppo BD-105

post #1 of 28
3/5/13 at 4:28am
Thread Starter 
I have owned the Oppo a few days, and so far, I'm a bit disappointed. Perhaps I had too much
expectations after seeing all the glowing reviews. As a Blu-ray player, the Oppo works
as advertised. Discs load quickly and play without a hitch (the ones I've tried so far anyway).
The video quality is fine, although not a significant advance on previous players. The 4K interface
seems a classic instance of gamesmanship, when no one yet has a 4K display.

Much else seems a work in progress to me.

1. The HDMI inputs don't work at all. I tried 3 different sources -- my cable box, a Mac mini with HDMI,
and a Samsung Blu-ray/HD-DVD player. In all three cases, I get either a blank screen or a green screen.
When $200 receivers get HDMI switching right, it is embarrassing that a $1200 player can't get this right.

2. The audio leaves much to be desired. The sound is grainy and bright. I hear from other's experience that
it improves with break-in. I certainly hope so. One possible reason is that the Oppo does not upsample,
surprisingly, in contrast to almost every other CD player out there. As a comparison, I tried the Cambridge
Audio 752BD, which shares the same video architecture as the Oppo 105. The contrast could not
be more stark. The CA player has a smooth refined sound that is engaging to listen to. It uses 8
Wolfson 24-bit D/A converters and upsamples to 24/192.

3. The streaming interfaces work, but are clunky. The Netflix streaming interface seems poorly
designed, with an MS-DOS like garish screen and chunky font. Oppo should invest $100 in an Apple TV,
and learn how to design an elegant interface to Netflix. Netflix streaming works reliably once it starts
up. Media streaming works as well, although the interface again is poorly designed. You have to scroll
through long lists of albums. Again, Oppo should take a cue from well-designed interfaces, like the
Squeezebox Touch and iPeng HD on the iPad.

4. The asynchronous USB interace works, but takes forever to start up. When set to USB input, the 105
goes into a "hunt" mode, displaying USB input for perhaps 5 minutes before the USB DAC sign illuminates.
Once this happens, it starts to play fine. Not very useable IMHO.

My hope is that Oppo takes these criticisms seriously, and issues a firmware update that fixes these
problems. Most of these have been noted in various threads, but perhaps not collected in one place.

As always, caveat emptor.
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Gear mentioned in this thread:

post #2 of 28
3/5/13 at 4:46am
Quote:
Originally Posted by dalidvd View Post


My hope is that Oppo takes these criticisms seriously, and issues a firmware update that fixes these
problems. Most of these have been noted in various threads, but perhaps not collected in one place.

As always, caveat emptor.

You need to send your comments to OPPO as well as posting them here.

Moderators ask that you post model-specific comments in the owners thread: http://www.avsforum.com/t/1439524/official-oppo-bdp-105-owners-thread

Owners there may be able to help you.

-Bill
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post #3 of 28
3/5/13 at 9:07am
I'll just comment on item #2, since it's the audio that separates the 103 from the 105 and you from an additional $700: every technical aspect you say you want or are lacking is the exact opposite of what audiophiles want. This player is aimed at audiophiles. Only. Don't be fooled by the marketing numbers, because that's all they're for in reality. Of course I can't comment on how you like what you hear.
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post #4 of 28
3/30/13 at 1:49pm
http://www.cambridgeaudio.com/media/widescreen-review-752bd-march-13-1364310319.pdf
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post #5 of 28
3/30/13 at 2:55pm
I haven't heard the CA but I can't agree with the reviewer's comments about the sound of the 105. I don't hear the 105 forward of my speakers and I hear a lot of depth. I also hear a sound field that extends way beyond the left and right of my speaker cabinets all the way to my room boundaries and occasionally beyond. I suspect this has as much to do with my speakers as it does with the 105.
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post #6 of 28
3/30/13 at 5:06pm
The BDP-105 is not "forward sounding". I also have width and depth in my reference discs when played back. rolleyes.gif
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post #7 of 28
3/31/13 at 6:14am
Finally some competition for oppo! I will have to check this player out
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post #8 of 28
3/31/13 at 7:07am
Quote:
Originally Posted by ultra 150 pilot View Post

Finally some competition for oppo! I will have to check this player out

There has always been competition for Oppo. The previous univerisal players from Cambridge, Denon and Marantz and their current offerings (Marantz UD7007 and Denon DBT-3313UDCI). It sounds like you are looking for a reason not to buy the Oppo.biggrin.gif I think they are all competent at what they do and the Oppo does offer a few features not found in the competition. So, in the end it will come down to features and what sonic characteristics you PREFER as they all implement different DACs.

All things being equal I will side with Oppo most of the time just for their customer service.smile.gif
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post #9 of 28
3/31/13 at 7:17am
Quote:
Originally Posted by dalidvd View Post

I have owned the Oppo a few days, and so far, I'm a bit disappointed. Perhaps I had too much
expectations after seeing all the glowing reviews. As a Blu-ray player, the Oppo works
as advertised. Discs load quickly and play without a hitch (the ones I've tried so far anyway).
The video quality is fine, although not a significant advance on previous players. The 4K interface
seems a classic instance of gamesmanship, when no one yet has a 4K display. There are owners with 4K displays just not you or I.

Much else seems a work in progress to me.

1. The HDMI inputs don't work at all. I tried 3 different sources -- my cable box, a Mac mini with HDMI,
and a Samsung Blu-ray/HD-DVD player. In all three cases, I get either a blank screen or a green screen.
When $200 receivers get HDMI switching right, it is embarrassing that a $1200 player can't get this right. Your player could be defective or an incorrect setting as you are the 1st owner I've heard this from.

2. The audio leaves much to be desired. The sound is grainy and bright. I hear from other's experience that
it improves with break-in. I certainly hope so. One possible reason is that the Oppo does not upsample,
surprisingly, in contrast to almost every other CD player out there. As a comparison, I tried the Cambridge
Audio 752BD, which shares the same video architecture as the Oppo 105. The contrast could not
be more stark. The CA player has a smooth refined sound that is engaging to listen to. It uses 8
Wolfson 24-bit D/A converters and upsamples to 24/192. The Oppo is not a dedicated CD player and the Cambridge no doubtly inherited this feature from its flagship CD player. Kudos to Cambridge on this one.

3. The streaming interfaces work, but are clunky. The Netflix streaming interface seems poorly
designed, with an MS-DOS like garish screen and chunky font. Oppo should invest $100 in an Apple TV,
and learn how to design an elegant interface to Netflix. Netflix streaming works reliably once it starts
up. Media streaming works as well, although the interface again is poorly designed. You have to scroll
through long lists of albums. Again, Oppo should take a cue from well-designed interfaces, like the
Squeezebox Touch and iPeng HD on the iPad. I don't care about streaming, but if it ever became a desired feature I would probably seek out one of the options you mention.

4. The asynchronous USB interace works, but takes forever to start up. When set to USB input, the 105
goes into a "hunt" mode, displaying USB input for perhaps 5 minutes before the USB DAC sign illuminates.
Once this happens, it starts to play fine. Not very useable IMHO. Not my experience, but I guess everyones mileage varies.

My hope is that Oppo takes these criticisms seriously, and issues a firmware update that fixes these
problems. Most of these have been noted in various threads, but perhaps not collected in one place.

As always, caveat emptor. Really!

You should share your concerns and findings with Oppo as most of your findings and concerns may be in the minority.smile.gif
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post #10 of 28
3/31/13 at 8:25am
Quote:
Originally Posted by dalidvd View Post


3. The streaming interfaces work, but are clunky. The Netflix streaming interface seems poorly
designed, with an MS-DOS like garish screen and chunky font. Oppo should invest $100 in an Apple TV,
and learn how to design an elegant interface to Netflix. Netflix streaming works reliably once it starts
up. Media streaming works as well, although the interface again is poorly designed. You have to scroll
through long lists of albums. Again, Oppo should take a cue from well-designed interfaces, like the
Squeezebox Touch and iPeng HD on the iPad.

Oppo has nothing at all to do with the Netflix interface. This is provided to Oppo by Netflix. Netflix seems to deliver a poorer version of their software to smaller companies like Oppo. Why they do this, no one seems to know.
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post #11 of 28
3/31/13 at 9:41am
Quote:
Originally Posted by bakerwi View Post

There has always been competition for Oppo. The previous univerisal players from Cambridge, Denon and Marantz and their current offerings (Marantz UD7007 and Denon DBT-3313UDCI). It sounds like you are looking for a reason not to buy the Oppo.biggrin.gif I think they are all competent at what they do and the Oppo does offer a few features not found in the competition. So, in the end it will come down to features and what sonic characteristics you PREFER as they all implement different DACs.

All things being equal I will side with Oppo most of the time just for their customer service.smile.gif

Actually I have a 95 currently and in the past have owned almost exclusivley oppo starting with the 970.

I have been happy with 95 and have thought about getting the 105 and stumbled upon the Cambridge that has a lot of similarities but with potentially better sound( I will decide that:D)
I have a local dealer which I will take this player home and compare my self.

I'm not so concerned with the updated features of the 105 just looking to squeeze that extra small percentage of sound if possible;)
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post #12 of 28
3/31/13 at 2:50pm
The specs look impressive!

Cambridge Audio Azur 752BD 3D Blu-ray universal player v1.0 Nov12
• High quality universal disc playback, including 3D • Blu-ray, Blu-ray, DVD, CD, SACD, DVD-A, AVCHD and HDCD
• High quality Marvel QDEO video processor to • produce incredible picture quality from Blu-ray, DVD and external video sources
• 2 x HDMI inputs (one with MHL), S/PDIF, Toslink, • and 3 x USB inputs, plus two Audio Return Channel inputs allow the 752BD to be a digital hub, connecting a wide range of audio and video • sources all of which can be up-sampled and up- scaled by the 752BD for the best possible audio or audio-visual experience.
Wired/wireless network connection for playback of audio/video/photo files from UPnP/DNLA servers and NAS drives
A5 separate Wolfson WM8740 D/A converters, to ensure that every audio channel is decoded in the highest possible quality
Anagram Q5 192 kHz up-sampling technology, to up-sample all audio to 24- bit/192kHz output
2D to 3D video conversion
• Twin HDMI 1.4a outputs, both with ARC
• 4K up-scaling from video sources
• Selectable digital filters (Linear Phase,
Minimum Phase and Steep)
• Backlit Azur Navigator remote control
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post #13 of 28
3/31/13 at 4:17pm
there's discussion of the 752BD here: http://www.avsforum.com/t/1459457/cambridge-audios-azur-752bd
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post #14 of 28
4/2/13 at 7:52am
I am sticking with Oppo
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post #15 of 28
4/9/13 at 12:46pm
I need some advice here as I am new to this forum. I am currently using 2 channel and 3 channel Aragon amps to power my Aerial Acoustics 10ts, CC3 and Aerial Acoustic 5s. I will be adding a pair of SR3s to make a 7.1 system and, thus, need to find another Aragon amp, a new Plasma set (probably the VT or new ZT series from Panasonic) as well as a better Blu Ray player than the Sony I am using. The Oppo players are the ones I have been looking at but I am unsure as to which is the best for me. I am not interested in streaming movies and prefer to have the hard discs for my collection and also because I have no interest in seeing a movie that is as compressed as a streaming source will be. I want the best blu ray player but don't feel a need to pay for features I might never use. I just want to see the best quality from my blu ray and hear my CDs as well as can be reproduced.

Would greatly appreciate any and all advice.
Steve
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post #16 of 28
4/9/13 at 12:57pm
Suggest you read the specific threads of the models you're considering.
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post #17 of 28
4/10/13 at 10:07am
Thanks for responding but that really doesn't help. I said I was pretty new here and don't fully understand all the techno speak. This is why I stated what I am using and asking for advice from those who know best.
Steve
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post #18 of 28
4/10/13 at 2:33pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Steve544 View Post

I need some advice here as I am new to this forum. I am currently using 2 channel and 3 channel Aragon amps to power my Aerial Acoustics 10ts, CC3 and Aerial Acoustic 5s. I will be adding a pair of SR3s to make a 7.1 system and, thus, need to find another Aragon amp, a new Plasma set (probably the VT or new ZT series from Panasonic) as well as a better Blu Ray player than the Sony I am using. The Oppo players are the ones I have been looking at but I am unsure as to which is the best for me. I am not interested in streaming movies and prefer to have the hard discs for my collection and also because I have no interest in seeing a movie that is as compressed as a streaming source will be. I want the best blu ray player but don't feel a need to pay for features I might never use. I just want to see the best quality from my blu ray and hear my CDs as well as can be reproduced.

Would greatly appreciate any and all advice.
Steve
The two main contenders for you would probably be the Oppo BDP-105 and the Cambridge Audio Azur 752BD. They share the same basic hardware underpinnings but differ in the DACs used and the CA has a lot fewer features than the Oppo. Both of these players are oriented to using their analog outputs and they will sound slightly different and which you prefer will be a matter of choice. Video performance will be essentially identical. For BD playback, the consensus is that all players do about the same for video in real world viewing. SD viewing differs quite a bit among BD players.

There are some exotic BD players, like those Ayre or Bryston or other high-end companies, that may best the audio performance of the Oppo or CA (but then again, may not--your ears will have to decide) but such players do not make sense to me since the chip technology that all players use is still evolving and I find in makes no sense to spend over $1000 or so for a player that could easily be surpassed by developments in the near future. If you have tons of money to spend that you won't miss, then take a look at the exotic players.

Players like the Oppo and the CA can also be modified by numerous modification companies. The mods are aimed primarily at enhancing the audio capabilities of the players. Whether these mods do what they claim and are worth the money (as much as $2-3K depending on the mods), I cannot comment on since I have no experience with them but I do have to say I would be skeptical.

Oppo support is unsurpassed in my experience.

If you intend to use a pre/pro or receiver and connect via HDMI exclusively with your system, then forget everything I told you and buy just about any player since it will be your pre/pro or receiver that dictates the sonic results you achive. Though I suspect, with your equipment, you will want to go the analog route, possibly using the BD player directly connected to your amps. The Oppo 105 would be the choice here.
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post #19 of 28
4/10/13 at 3:01pm
Thank you so much for your thoughtful reply. I should have listed that I was using a Rotel Processor and thought that using HDMI rather than analog cables was the best thing. One last thing, there is a $500 difference between the Oppo 103 and 105. If I went the 103 route for only $500, in terms of watching my BluRay discs, would I be making an error for the audio and video quality I would get?
Again, your advice is very much appreciated.
Steve
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post #20 of 28
4/10/13 at 3:12pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Steve544 View Post

Thank you so much for your thoughtful reply. I should have listed that I was using a Rotel Processor and thought that using HDMI rather than analog cables was the best thing. One last thing, there is a $500 difference between the Oppo 103 and 105. If I went the 103 route for only $500, in terms of watching my BluRay discs, would I be making an error for the audio and video quality I would get?
Again, your advice is very much appreciated.
Steve

No quality difference when using HDMI. The -105 does have additional features: new digital inputs and headphone output. Otherwise the extra cost is paying for analog audio performance.

-Bill
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post #21 of 28
4/10/13 at 3:50pm
Since Steve544 said he had no interest in streaming and many of the other features of the Oppo 10X and was talking about BD playback only, that is why I suggested just about any decent BD player if he is going to use his pre/pro via HDMI only. It is his pre/pro that will determine the audio performance and he is unlikely to see much difference in BD performance from any decent player from, let's say, Sony or Panasonic or other manufacturers. If he really wants the best audio performance, he needs to consider whether an Oppo BDP-105 using analog outs will best the performance of his Rotel's DACs. My Oppo BDP-83SE certainly bested my old Rotel RSP-1098 pre/pro as far as audio performance. This may not be the case with more recent Rotel models.
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post #22 of 28
4/10/13 at 8:38pm
All great things to consider and now I have a good place to start. Thank you both Jazzy and William. I will ask my dealer about the DAC's in terms of the Rotel and whether it is better to go analog or HDMI. I had thought that HDMI is automatically better than analog cables. Guess I am very wrong on that.
Steve
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post #23 of 28
4/11/13 at 7:19am
The issue is which device's DACs and analog circuitry do the most transparent job of converting the digital source to analog to feed your speakers. My experience with an older Rotel pre/pro was that it was very good but the Oppo was better. This particular pre/pro did not have HDMI, BTW, so I was feeding the Oppo 83SE via analog outs to the 5.1 analog inputs of the Rotel. CDs and SACDs definitely sounded better this way than feeding the Oppo to the Rotel via a digital coax audio input. The Oppo BDP-105 via analog is supposed to sound better than the 83SE but I haven't had my 105 long enough yet to get a feeling for it. I have been mostly watching movies and have only listened to a few SACDs and CDs. I can say that the 105 is at least as good as the 83SE but I can't say yet whether it is better.
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post #24 of 28
4/11/13 at 9:45am
I wish I knew more about the tech end of this stuff. The Rotel I am using is the RSP 1570 if that is of any help but I really don't know about DACs and how to tell one from another. While I have a large CD collection, I find myself using the system more for watching Blu Rays than anything else and, this might be weird, but the audio is even more important to me when watching than the video. Thanks so much for your help here.
Steve
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post #25 of 28
4/11/13 at 10:46am
DACs are simply the chipsets that convert digital audio to an analog stream that can be fed to loudspeakers. In addition to the DACs themselves there is the whole downstream handling of the analog signal that either your pre/pro or AVR or the Oppo handles. There are certainly differences among DACs and the ones used by Oppo for the BDP-105 are considered some of the best in the business but there are certainly other ones that might be as good or possibly better. Oppo also does a good job of handling the analog signal between the output of the DACs and the input to your other components. But Rotel also has a good reputation in this latter area as well. The previous Oppo BDP-95 actually used a transformer sourced from Rotel. The only way to really tell what is giving the best results is an audition via your own system. One of the nice things about the Oppo players is that they give you a 30-day no-questions-asked return policy. The only thing you have to pay is return shipping if you don't like the player.
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post #26 of 28
4/12/13 at 1:38am
The difference between DACs is vastly exaggerated in this forum. If you ask in the 2CH or CD player forum you will be ridiculed for suggesting there is an audible difference, and for that matter, difference among players.

The advantage of using HDMI is leaving the signal in digital form as long as possible to keep degradation to a minimum and to allow digital processing in the processor/receiver not otherwise available in the player, like EQ/room correction, Dolby Volume, Audyssey EQ, night modes, channel expansion, THX, Prologic, dts Neo modes etc. These generally outweigh whatever benefit of the superior DAC and analogue section in the player.
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post #27 of 28
4/12/13 at 3:23pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Kilian.ca View Post

The difference between DACs is vastly exaggerated in this forum. If you ask in the 2CH or CD player forum you will be ridiculed for suggesting there is an audible difference, and for that matter, difference among players.

I couldn't disagree more. I have a Rotel CD player, the Denon 3910 universal player, and now the Oppo 105 universal player, and they each sound very different over analog audio outs. I agree there's more to the story than the DACs, but I don't think anyone here would agree with you that all CD players sound the same over analog.
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post #28 of 28
4/12/13 at 11:38pm
Yes, here everyone has his/her subjective opinion which player sounds better down to the minute nuance and details but over there it's completely opposite. I'm just pointing out there is another polarizing point of view for the benefit of anyone who has never visited those places. Perhaps you too. I'm not an audio sceptic (I have many CD players - I didn't say myself they sound different if you read my post carefully, only if you ask there) but sometimes in here the differences between DACs and players are blown out of proportions. It never hurts to be at least aware of different perspectives and viewpoints. People who like the above poster Steve who comes to ask should not be given only one side of the story. In case you don't know, on AVS there are dedicated threads on: all DACs sound the same, all CD players sound the same, all amps sound the same. Unlike the aggressive bunch over there I will not insult/ridicule/mock anyone in person.
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