Oppo 203/205 review

[Blacksabbath25]

Audioholics has just done a excellent review on both players so worth checking out this review.....

https://youtu.be/61UrYg9t25Y

also they have a more in-depth review with tests and measurements on the audioholics website if interested

 

[Deleted member 2457]

http://www.audioholics.com/blu-ray-and-dvd-player-reviews/oppo-udp-203-udp-205

 

[Native_bon]

Very detailed review, as detail as it gets. I got my eye on the 203 for its inclusion of Dolby Vision and I already got a 2qute dac so it really is looking good. I don't need a headphone and or dedicated Analogue out as I will using the digital out to my dac.

To be honest my current Oppo 105EU does a brilliant job. Only getting the 203 due to fact I now got a uhd ultra HD TV set. Not sure if he mentioned any differences in the transport sections of both players?.

Waiting on CES come Jan 2018 to see if anything new as per blu ray players with Dolby Vision and sales as well.
Surely the Oppo 203 is on my shortlist.

 

[Blacksabbath25]

The transport is the same in both players and the Oppo uses a different Dac then the Oppo 105 but there was not much difference between the Dacs but the Oppo 105 uses a ESS pro Dac which is meant to be the best on the market but the Oppo 203 seems to me to be the one to go for for value for money

as the review said he felt that the other 4K players on the market where cheap throw away products which I agree with and I agree with his review that the Oppo is expensive but if you want a player with good processing power which is why the Oppo is the king of 4k players .

 

[Samd]

Very detailed review, as detail as it gets. I got my eye on the 203 for its inclusion of Dolby Vision and I already got a 2qute dac so it really is looking good. I don't need a headphone and or dedicated Analogue out as I will using the digital out to my dac.

To be honest my current Oppo 105EU does a brilliant job. Only getting the 203 due to fact I now got a uhd ultra HD TV set. Not sure if he mentioned any differences in the transport sections of both players?.

Waiting on CES come Jan 2018 to see if anything new as per blu ray players with Dolby Vision and sales as well. Surely the Oppo 203 is on my shortlist.

SACDs, hang on to your 105 as, currently, neither the 203 nor 205 can be used for ripping them.

 

[Native_bon]

The transport is the same in both players and the Oppo uses a different Dac then the Oppo 105 but there was not much difference between the Dacs but the Oppo 105 uses a ESS pro Dac which is meant to be the best on the market but the Oppo 203 seems to me to be the one to go for for value for money 

as the review said he felt that the other 4K players on the market where cheap throw away products which I agree with and I agree with his review that the Oppo is expensive but if you want a player with good processing power which is why the Oppo is the king of 4k players .

I definitely agree with Oppo being superior. You said 105 in your message, not sure if you mean't 205?.

 

[Blacksabbath25]

yes sorry

 

[Benedict_Arnold]

Nothing wrong with the Sony 8500 build quality. Its pretty sturdy and the loading mechanism isn't noisy. The picture is superb and it loads in about the same time as an "old fashioned" blu-ray. The lack of separate RCA audio outs might be a problem for some, not me, but that's all I can fault it for. And I bought TWO for about half the cost of a single Oppo.

The Samsungs, on the other hand....

 

[newlash09]

There's a new bloke in town. And as per WHF, he's the guy to handover our 4k spinning duties. Any thoughts please....

 

[bigboss]

There's a new bloke in town. And as per WHF, he's the guy to handover our 4k spinning duties. Any thoughts please....

Both players are built by the same manufacturer and share parts. So performance will be the same. Cambridge Audio is transport only and lacks DACs (which isn't an issue if you're using HDMI and not analogue outs).

 

[bigboss]

From AV Forums review:

It's an impressive player, with a decent level of build quality, a great feature set and an excellent overall performance. However we struggle to understand why it is so expensive and we don't believe the loss of DACs and analogue outputs makes any difference to the sound quality, nor is it unique to the CXUHD. There's certainly nothing wrong with the Cambridge Audio CXUHD but it's hard to recommend it when there are players equally as good available for less.

If you want Dolby Vision support and aren't interested in analogue outputs then you can get the LG UP970. It isn't the most solid of players and the features are fairly basic but it will only set you back £249 making it the cheapest way to get Dolby Vision support. Alternatively if you're not bothered about Dolby Vision or analogue outputs but you do want universal playback, then the Sony UBP-X800 is a great choice. It's nicely designed, very well made and has a decent selection of extras, plus it only costs £289. However the obvious choice is the Oppo UDP-203 which you can pick up for £649. The Oppo has all the same features at the CXUHD, including Dolby Vision and universal playback, plus it has 2-channel and 7.1-channel analogue outputs – making it the best player currently available.

 

[Series1boy]

I wander if Denon and Marantz will be bringing out any UHD players...?

 

[macdiddy]

"standard" bluray players for ages, I very much doubt they will bringing out a 4K player anytime soon.

*unknw*

 

[bigboss]

I believe Denon / Marantz have long abandoned this sector. The last blu ray player released by them was in 2012 IIRC.

 

[newlash09]

From AV Forums review:

It's an impressive player, with a decent level of build quality, a great feature set and an excellent overall performance. However we struggle to understand why it is so expensive and we don't believe the loss of DACs and analogue outputs makes any difference to the sound quality, nor is it unique to the CXUHD. There's certainly nothing wrong with the Cambridge Audio CXUHD but it's hard to recommend it when there are players equally as good available for less.

If you want Dolby Vision support and aren't interested in analogue outputs then you can get the LG UP970. It isn't the most solid of players and the features are fairly basic but it will only set you back £249 making it the cheapest way to get Dolby Vision support. Alternatively if you're not bothered about Dolby Vision or analogue outputs but you do want universal playback, then the Sony UBP-X800 is a great choice. It's nicely designed, very well made and has a decent selection of extras, plus it only costs £289. However the obvious choice is the Oppo UDP-203 which you can pick up for £649. The Oppo has all the same features at the CXUHD, including Dolby Vision and universal playback, plus it has 2-channel and 7.1-channel analogue outputs – making it the best player currently available.

That kind of price without a dac seems too greedy indeed . Iam still not sure if it is the right time to buy a 4k spinner right now. I do have a few 4k discs from the us. But not sure if it is worth the huge outlay

 

[bigboss]

Depends on what you want really. Streaming will not achieve UHD blu ray quality including HD audio until broadband speeds get much faster nationally. Some amount of compression will happen. I would go for a cheap UHD player if I were you.

 

[Native_bon]

I'm thinking now, seems Oppo has missed a trick here. Looking inside both players the 203 is nothing to write home about. No torodoid power supply and no dac if am correct? Not even a dedicated unbalanced output. For £650 that's not good value.

That's not good. Almost sold my 105EU few weeks ago phew. Now looks like the 105 Will still hold it's place.

I'm keeping my 105 and getting a cheaper player just for video purposes.

 

[bigboss]

I'm thinking now, seems Oppo has missed a trick here. Looking inside both players the 203 is nothing to write home about. No torodoid power supply and no dac if am correct? Not even a dedicated unbalanced output. For £650 that's not good value.

That's not good. Almost sold my 105EU few weeks ago phew. Now looks like the 105 Will still hold it's place.

I'm keeping my 105 and getting a cheaper player just for video purposes.

Oppo 203 has a good DAC with analogue outs. Cambridge Audio doesn't have DACs. If you want to replace your 105 and want to use analogue outs, you're looking at 205.

 

[Native_bon]

I'm thinking now, seems Oppo has missed a trick here. Looking inside both players the 203 is nothing to write home about. No torodoid power supply and no dac if am correct? Not even a dedicated unbalanced output. For £650 that's not good value.

That's not good. Almost sold my 105EU few weeks ago phew. Now looks like the 105 Will still hold it's place.

I'm keeping my 105 and getting a cheaper player just for video purposes.

Oppo 203 has a good DAC with analogue outs. Cambridge Audio doesn't have DACs. If you want to replace your 105 and want to use analogue outs, you're looking at 205.

Yes sorry it does have an internal dac, but not a USB dac. It does have Analogue outputs, but not dedicated ones. Also no included streaming apps.

 

[bigboss]

I'm thinking now, seems Oppo has missed a trick here. Looking inside both players the 203 is nothing to write home about. No torodoid power supply and no dac if am correct? Not even a dedicated unbalanced output. For £650 that's not good value.

That's not good. Almost sold my 105EU few weeks ago phew. Now looks like the 105 Will still hold it's place.

I'm keeping my 105 and getting a cheaper player just for video purposes.

Oppo 203 has a good DAC with analogue outs. Cambridge Audio doesn't have DACs. If you want to replace your 105 and want to use analogue outs, you're looking at 205.

Yes sorry it does have an internal dac, but not a USB dac. It does have Analogue outputs, but not dedicated ones. Also no included streaming apps.

You can stream via Chromecast to the Oppo. If you want more apps, you can connect a Roku stick or similar to the Oppo. Not different to your 105 really. If you're looking at a player with streaming apps, look at others like Sony X800. Usually, TVs have all the smart apps needed anyway.

 

[Blacksabbath25]

The Oppo 205 does have fully balanced XLR inputs and analog inputs a very good onboard Dac and a good power supply it’s made for people who want the best of both worlds Music / film .

And you can use the Oppo 203 as a link between Pc and the Oppo to stream music server

The reason the Oppo’s does not have apps is because Oppo felt that it would slow down the loading times of the player it’s self which is true so all of the processing power is given to processing and like bigboss has said you would have the apps on your Tv or you could use google cast .

its weather you think it’s worth the extra money on buying the Oppo 205 for CD / scad playback and streaming of a network which most people if they are really into hifi they would probably have a streamer or a CD player anyway so the Oppo 203 is the better option I think as it still has a good Dac and Cd / sacd playback and networking or buy the Sony X800 which is a lot cheaper to buy which has the apps included .

 

[newlash09]

Depends on what you want really. Streaming will not achieve UHD blu ray quality including HD audio until broadband speeds get much faster nationally. Some amount of compression will happen. I would go for a cheap UHD player if I were you.

For the advise. I will certainly consider a cheap 4k player. Maybe the Xbox Wil be fine for my needs

 

[Native_bon]

I'm already using my Oppo 105 for music. I know the 205 is a better player to the 203 as far as music is concerned. Not ready to spend that much as I got the 2qute running from the Oppo 105.

I actually call Peter Tyson online today, and he agrees the 205 is a much better player and the 105 is in line with the 205. Getting the 203 is going back in terms of music quality. As per the x800 it does not do Dolby Vision.

I'm also looking to upgrade my left and right mains for music so looking to spend as little as possible on the blu ray right now. I'll wait and see what will be in the pipeline at CES, then make my decision then.

 

[Blacksabbath25]

One way of looking at it is With the Oppo 205 player you would have a player that would playback every format there is and as a added bonus Dolby vision which the Oppo has which as a company are very serious about picture and sound quality

i can’t remember if the Oppo 205 has a co-axe connection or not but pretty sure it has so you could if you wished bypas the onboard Dac and use your current standalone Dac if you wished too but I feel this would be a complete wast of money buying the Oppo 205 if you was not going to use its own Dac

I agree the Oppo is well over priced but it is a very good player and very good build quality with a light up remote control which is handy in the dark anyway I definitely do not regret buying the Oppo 203 it plays faultlessly and I am sure it will be sometime before we start seeing 8k or more because Tv and film company’s have still got to play catch-up with this technology and time 8k comes out I would have had some years out of my player anyway .

 

[Native_bon]

One way of looking at it is With the Oppo 205 player you would have a player that would playback every format there is and as a added bonus Dolby vision which the Oppo has which as a company are very serious about picture and sound quality

i can’t remember if the Oppo 205 has a co-axe connection or not but pretty sure it has so you could if you wished bypas the onboard Dac and use your current standalone Dac if you wished too but I feel this would be a complete wast of money buying the Oppo 205 if you was not going to use its own Dac

I agree the Oppo is well over priced but it is a very good player and very good build quality with a light up remote control which is handy in the dark anyway I definitely do not regret buying the Oppo 203 it plays faultlessly and I am sure it will be sometime before we start seeing 8k or more because Tv and film company’s have still got to play catch-up with this technology and time 8k comes out I would have had some years out of my player anyway .

If you looking to buy a good Blu ray player not owning any other, for sure the 203 is a good player. Oppo makes very good no nosense products. I think in your case the 203 has got the functions you need it for, & its a brillant player no doubt about it. I'm trying to avoid having two blu ray players, but may well be the case. *smile*