Oppo 970 for Red Book CD's?

I had a 300+1 Pio changer from about 8-9 years back (which had the same 1 bit converter), and every more recent CDP I've heard sounds WORLDS better - even my Pio 3+1 recording deck, which is a few years old now. Heck, even my 2 newer DVD recorders sound better!

Those early model Pio jukeboxes were notorious for having not-so-great sound quality. They improved some after they added the "Legato Link" DAC's.

So, even though I've never heard the Oppo myself, going from all the good reviews of it's SQ, I think it's a good bet that it will be a very noticable improvement.

Although, as far as Red Book CD playback goes, maybe others here more knowledgable can give you some more specific advice as far as comparisons with other more recent, similar models go, and could recommend something even more appropriate for your needs.

If you use the digital connection then it won't matter. I own a 970 but don't use it with CDs, I did try it however. I prefer my old trusty Elite player via digital into my Boston Acoustic receiver, over using the same receiver's 6ch analog input, and Oppo's analog outputs. Playing SACD and DVD-A via the same connection however sounds very good.

He didn't say which he was using, but yeah, I was using the analog connection myself.

Just curious - how are Pioneer's players these days (Elite or non)? I never seem to hear anything about them here (or anywhere anymore, for that matter). I know that they still make a magazine model, along with the jukeboxes.

My Pio recorder sounds decent enough through my 2-channel, analog setup.

(Also, I wasn't even aware that Boston Acoustics ever made receivers!)

[quote=Rammitinski]He didn't say which he was using, but yeah, I was using the analog connection myself.

Just curious - how are Pioneer's players these days (Elite or non)? QUOTE]


I own the DV-45A and consider it to be a fair player at best. It has experienced tracking problems (video) from time to time.

FWIW, I have heard good things about the DV-79AVi, which can be had for less than $700 I believe.

My Elite is a an old single cd player PD-54, I strickly use it as transport, it has those Lagato Link dacs but nothing to write home about it. However it is the most dependable product I ever owned, I have it for 10 years now, never failed to play any cd's, cd-r's or DTS cds. It has the "stable platter" mechanism that was quiet unique and only Pioneer had it[Theta used in on some of it's players]
Boston released 2 receivers and 1 Pre/Pro on late '04 all of which are basically rebadged Sherwood Newcastle products. They look strikingly different however.


http://reviews.cnet.com/Boston_Acous...2.html?tag=nav




The Elite: PD-54

Same here. Of the 3 Pio decks I've had (1 jukebox, 1 single-disc & one recorder), they are the only players I've ever had that have played absolutely everything they were supposed to without a problem. Same with the dependability part, too.

I recently went from an all Denon system to all Pioneer Elite system...to me its a huge improvement 79avi cd/dvd/sacd player to vsx-7xx receiver (dont remember model but it was top end about a year ago) using only hdmi cable for video and a firewire cable for sound.

I use to ask myself, is the 79avi worth around $600 (can be had for less now) and since I dont feel the urge to tweak its caps or do any upgrades, I guess that answers my own ? I will keep it for its impressive SACD / redbook playback. I still use it to watch video upconverted to 720p but as soon as HiDef universal players drop to acceptable prices ($500) I will jump on that wagon.

Psychobrew : I bought my neighbors 970 before I ended up with the 79avi and although its video was pretty good, its redbook was not as impressive. But since you thinking about replacing a 10/11 year old player, I would say that it should improve, provided you using the onboard dac, by using analog cables. If you using digital (optical or toslink) this bypasses your DAC and uses your receivers DAC.

Neville, thanks for your response. I'm considering the Oppo 970, Pioneer 79Avi or Denon 3910 for SACD, DVD-A and Redbook playback. I'm interested to hear more from you regarding the audio performance of these formats between the Oppo and the Pioneer. I currently own the low end Pioneer 588A, and thought its SACD and DVD-A performance to be pretty good, but kind of weak on redbook.

I also had a low end (but acceptable) Pioneer (dont recall now) and also found SACD to be good but Redbook to be bright and not detailed at all. I found the same with the Oppo. It appears that universal players focus on making one feaure stand out but the rest are after thoughts. I believe either TAS or Stereophile gave the 970 a best value/budget award.

Having said that, I really believe (to my ears) that the 79AVI is the closest to achieving the best of for all features (at that price range when I was looking around). I also went universal to make it easier for my family to control.

If you can throw the extra $300 or so towards the 79avi I say go for it.
Just an fyi when playing Redbooks, I use a "black cd mat" and that also helps with some warmth, no snake oil, just a good easy and somewhat cheap tweak (depending on what you get). I have had neighbors over and thought i was talking cr@p, played redbooks with and without and they agreed, and ended up buying one as well. I have had this for a few years so its not like the Redbook in the79avi is bad, just out of habit I always use it. I def can listen to Redbook without it but that mat just makes music (yes I used it on other cd/dvd players and that had the same effect).

"Just an fyi when playing Redbooks, I use a "black cd mat" and that also helps with some warmth, no snake oil, just a good easy and somewhat cheap tweak (depending on what you get). I have had neighbors over and thought i was talking cr@p, played redbooks with and without and they agreed, and ended up buying one as well. I have had this for a few years so its not like the Redbook in the79avi is bad, just out of habit I always use it. I def can listen to Redbook without it but that mat just makes music (yes I used it on other cd/dvd players and that had the same effect)."

does it help increasing warmth or removing warmth?
does using the mat effect the digital out of the cd player or will it only work via analog?

I found it adds warmth to either output. I guess it has something to do with re-reading/jitter/etc

where do you purchase one?

look around at hifi mags websites or go to some online stores like elusivedisc.com.

Black CD Mat

Is this it?

http://herbiesaudiolab.home.att.net/cdmat.htm

or this expensive one?
http://www.tweekgeek.com/product.asp?pf_id=MarigoCDMat

Yikes $200 ???? thats crazy... I bought mine for around $20 but i believe the company went under and that was a good few years back when i bought it.

Try this:
http://www.elusivedisc.com/prodinfo....ber=AP-CDBLACK

or this one:
http://www.musicdirect.com/products/...asp?sku=ASID14


My flimsy black mat sometimes get swallowed by the cd tray so I will start looking into something a bit more heavier in the very near future. But its amazing that this flimsy thing made such a difference. i am sure these above will have a huge affect.

thanks for the links.

Here is a "tale" about some rarified CDPs (all >$10,000) being replaced in favour of a DVD player with a pedigree of sorts. You gotta laugh....and hopefully try (There is an Oppo connection).

YMMV,
PeAK

Been reading this thread and thought I might give some of my experiences. I own a Pioneer Elite DV-47AI and have used it more so with the Digital out. I own an earlier version of the oppo a 971h. I use this for movies only. Once and a while I'll use it as a general CD player again using the digital out. My Processor is a Theta Casablanca so I use the Dac's in the processor over the Oppo 's.

After reading through this thread and a few others I decided to do a comparison between the Oppo and Pioneer. For this comparison I am using the analog section for red book cd .

My impression.....I thought both did a very good job however I found (for my taste) the pioneer had a wider sound stage and stronger bass. My room has been acoustically treated so it really helps in the imaging but again I though the pioneer was sharper when it came to the imaging aspect as well. The voices just seem to be clearer.

The oppo did a very good job as a budget player and I will continue to use it as my primary DVD player (movies only). The model I have is better know for the video (DVI calibrated).

I'm no professional reviewer but just thought I'd pass my findings along.

Good comparison, but you are missing some key points. First, the Oppo player that sounds good for audio is the 970. The 971 and 981 are not nearly as good for audio. Second, if you take the digital out to your Theta, you are just comparing them as transports.

The great thing about the Oppo 970 is that it sounds so good all on its own as a budget player. I own an Oppo 970 and 971. I also have a dedicated music system and use the big Meridian cd player (not dvd) as my reference. The 971 doesn't cut it for audio unless you are running it digitally into an AVR. The 970 (run analog out into a preamp) is a surprisingly good player. Up to snuff with my Meridian, no way. But it is better than it deserves to be for $150 and way better than anything I've heard in a long time in that price range. It reminds me of that inexpensive Arcam player people were talking about a year or two ago. I think the FMJ or something, around a thousand dollars.

Harrypt,

Thanks for your input. I would agree with your statements. I just did that comparsion for HA HA's. My comparision was using the analog outputs sorry if I wasn't clear on that.
I've actually ordered the 970 just to try it out. I've heard it's better for audio. I'm ssing the 971 only for DVD movies. Had it professionlly calibrated and the PQ is great and can't beat the price either. IMO

I think some of these lower priced pieces are very good come very close and at times beat the SQ of pieces 3-4x's the price. I'm very happy with the oppo. Bad news (for me) is the Casablanca doesn't always play nice with this piece.

I also recently purchased the 970 to replace my Kenwood DV-6050 which plays DVD-A but not SACD. I've had the unit for a little over a week and have overall been impressed with it. As this is my first SACD player, I have nothing to compare it to, but I think it sounds great. However, for redbook and DVD-A, I still prefer my Kenwood. The bass is not as refined on the OPPO for either format; it's not a huge difference, but it's definitely there. All listening was done via the analog outs on both players.

I'm going to return the OPPO in favor of another universal player, although I haven't decided on which one yet. One thing that bothers me more and more about the OPPO is the disc tray. First, it doesn't extend out all the way when it opens, so you can't just set the disc in the tray; you have to slide about an inch of inside the player, which concerns me that I'll end up scratching some of my discs. Second, the tray doesn't have any recessed areas around the edges where you can put your thumb to assist in loading/unloading discs. I end up just sticking my finger in the center hole of the disc and lifting it that way. It works, but it could be designed better. Still, for $149, it hard to beat everything it does.