The 751 might be overkill, but £400 is a great price.
Life of Pi is a great 3D system tester, too, if something of a Rorschach test for faith/agnosticism/atheism. Coraline remains my top 3D BD pick. It's extremely cheap to buy as well, as is Hugo, which is too twee for my tastes, but a good test for crosstalk.
If you're planning on giving 3D a whirl, I've one more thing to suggest: professional calibration. The difference with 3D is profound. I know a Norwich City fan that's very reasonable, very thorough, and pretty local to you.
It'll be the best money you spend.
Life of Pi is a great 3D system tester, too, if something of a Rorschach test for faith/agnosticism/atheism. Coraline remains my top 3D BD pick. It's extremely cheap to buy as well, as is Hugo, which is too twee for my tastes, but a good test for crosstalk.
If you're planning on giving 3D a whirl, I've one more thing to suggest: professional calibration. The difference with 3D is profound. I know a Norwich City fan that's very reasonable, very thorough, and pretty local to you.
It'll be the best money you spend.One more thing, I'll be interested to hear how you think the CA and Oppo compare, especially with DVD upscaling. They use the same Qdeo processor, so I'd expect performance to be identical.
By the way, you should set the HDMI colour space 4:4:4. While it's generally advised to set to 4:2:2, as I discovered after extensive research and experimentation, this is the only way the CA outputs a completely unadulterated 1080p image. The 4:4:4 setting doesn't seem to have any negative impact on the picture.
By the way, you should set the HDMI colour space 4:4:4. While it's generally advised to set to 4:2:2, as I discovered after extensive research and experimentation, this is the only way the CA outputs a completely unadulterated 1080p image. The 4:4:4 setting doesn't seem to have any negative impact on the picture.
strapped for cash said:
Cheers mate. That is brilliant. I get it Wednesday delivered, so I will report back then.
Still no sign of my Blu-ray player, they best posted it. I can't even remember what store I ordered it from! :doh:
The_Lhc
Well-known member
gel said:
Did you order it online or over the phone? If it's online you should have some email confirmation.
The_Lhc said:
Over the phone at the Plymouth store (I think), he took my email address but I got no email. Can't recall any reference numbers either.
plastic penguin
Well-known member
gel said:
When it comes could you tell me what the tonal quality is like. May just replace the Naim for one of these... heard many Cambridge separates and not that keen on the presentation, certainly not with hard domed tweeters.
Cheers, PP.
plastic penguin said:
I find this review a good read:
http://hometheaterreview.com/cambridge-audio-azur-751bd-blu-ray-universal-player-reviewed/
Is it by CD you want me to report on? If you tell me want you want a report on? Because I will just do it for Blu-rays bitstream, I could try it other ways too, if you let me know. They all seem brand new stock. With the VIP voucher that brings it down to £390, I paid £7 for delivery.
plastic penguin
Well-known member
plastic penguin said:
I will have to try my other ones too then, so I have something to compare against.
plastic penguin
Well-known member
gel said:plastic penguin said:
I will have to try my other ones too then, so I have something to compare against.
Good man - thanks gel. :cheers:
PP, I just have the Oppo 103 connected to my amp and speakers and listen to it that way. I don't have cables to do anything else. It will all sound the same that way right? I could and will try with the Cambridge Audio but I am not sure exactly what you want? Do you get me?
plastic penguin
Well-known member
gel said:PP, I just have the Oppo 103 connected to my amp and speakers and listen to it that way. I don't have cables to do anything else. It will all sound the same that way right? I could and will try with the Cambridge Audio but I am not sure exactly what you want? Do you get me?
If you mean connected by interconnects (audio 'out' section) then 'yes'.
plastic penguin said:gel said:PP, I just have the Oppo 103 connected to my amp and speakers and listen to it that way. I don't have cables to do anything else. It will all sound the same that way right? I could and will try with the Cambridge Audio but I am not sure exactly what you want? Do you get me?
If you mean connected by interconnects (audio 'out' section) then 'yes'.
It is connected by HDMI to the amp.
It's perhaps not a fair comparison, but my 651 (I appreciate this is a different machine) can't touch my Teac PDH-600 when it comes to CD playback over analogue.
I remain sceptical as to whether an all-in-one player works as an audiophile solution (and I don't even class myself as an audiophile). Unlike the Teac, however, the CA of course plays a wide range of audio formats, which is nice.
I remain sceptical as to whether an all-in-one player works as an audiophile solution (and I don't even class myself as an audiophile). Unlike the Teac, however, the CA of course plays a wide range of audio formats, which is nice.
BenLaw
Well-known member
Also fine, but you're using the oppo as a transport. PP isn't going to get much benefit of any report of the oppo or CA being used in that way as he will be using the onboard dac and using analogue interconnects. Do you have a couple of RCA cables anywhere? Just the cheap red and white ones will do the job.
BenLaw said:
That's really why I was offering the 651/PD-H600 comparison. For what it's worth, the CA produces, to my ears at least, a harder, less detailed, and muddier sound. (As always, the adjectives used to describe audio performance leave much to be desired.)
The 751 reportedly does a better job in terms of digital to analogue conversion than the 651; but I'd be surprised if it betters a decent mid-range dedicated CDP. That's not to say the 651 is bad as a CDP; far from it.
I think we're still in an era where we need to prioritise with regard to space, convenience, and performance. There will inevitably be a compromise somewhere.
BenLaw
Well-known member
I'd started to post before your post appeared and what I said was therefore in response to gel's post, sorry for any misunderstanding.
I have never heard a universal disc player to compare. How is your BDP connected to your AVR?
I have never heard a universal disc player to compare. How is your BDP connected to your AVR?
BenLaw
Well-known member
BenLaw said:
Hi Ben,
I didn't for a moment think any offence was implied. I was really seeking to clarify comments in my earlier post.
My BDP is connected to my AVR via HDMI; though I don't use it as a CDP. I connected both the Teac and CA to my AVR via analogue to hear how their DACs compared. The Teac won; and it wasn't difficult to reach that conclusion. The CA produces a decent sound. If I didn't own the Teac, I'd probably consider the 651 more than adequate.
The PD-H600 remains my favourite purchase for many years. The best thing I can say about it is that I can't find anything negative to report, which for me is pretty remarkable. OK, it'd be nice to turn the blue LED on the front off, but that's all I can come up with. (And even that is fixed by applying a small piece of tape.)
That's an impressive result for Evans. Robson's going OK so far, too. I'll say nothing about Andy until he reaches the quarter-finals, though such progress shouldn't be taken for granted. Unfortunately, since I'm not willing to give Mr Murdoch any money, I can't watch any of it.
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