Oppo BDP105 first impressions review.

[megatombomb]

FWIW i did return the Oppo 105. I have just yesterday replaced it with a Marantz UD7007 (which all of a sudden went from £1k to £650 at retailers all over the country). Strange how that should happen with the release of the Oppo 105 lol.

The Marantz is a definate step up in build quality from the Denon 2012ud but still not quite as good as the Oppo 105. I would say the Oppo still has the best user interface and remote control too and notably the Marantz lacks dedicated surround analogue outs. For me however these are pretty irrelevent.

Ultimately to my ears i think it sounds better than both of them. I found all three to have very similar tonality but the Marantz has added a little bass power whilst maintaining the best qualities of the Denon (timing/rhythm) and the best of the Oppo (overall clarity).

I would love to read a WhatHifi group test with all the latest top end uni disc players inc the latest Denon and Cambridge audio to see what the result was!

 

[bigboss]

I have just yesterday replaced it with a Marantz UD7007 (which all of a sudden went from £1k to £650 at retailers all over the country). Strange how that should happen with the release of the Oppo 105 lol.

No, it's not the Oppo. All of Denon's & Marantz's products are significantly discounted (both owned by the same parent company).

 

[pete321]

Have any of you 105 owners been able to try the USB asynchronous DAC with native DSD playback, i.e. dsf or dff files played via J. River or Foobar? It's not clear from what I've read as to whether the Oppo can handle native DSD playback via USB.

 

[pete321]

Oppo USA have advised me that the 105 will support native DSD via the USB socket with a future firmware upgrade, however Oppo Europe have said it can't be done due to firmware limitations?
Hopefully Oppo USA know best!

 

[pete321]

Really impressed with my 105 so far. I've connected my Sky HD box to the rear HDMI input of the Oppo and the difference in picture is very noticeable. The deinterlating of the 1080i picture from the Sky box by the Oppo up to 1080p makes a big improvement, no noise and pin sharp. It's a shame there's no 'Source Direct' option on the Sky box, so that 576i material could be upscaled completely by the Oppo without having to be upscaled to 1080i by the Sky box.

 

[bigboss]

It's a shame there's no 'Source Direct' option on the Sky box, so that 576i material could be upscaled completely by the Oppo without having to be upscaled to 1080i by the Sky box.

Leave Sky box at "auto" so it doesn't upscale.

 

[CnoEvil]

I await my bashing from other users now lol :doh:

I sincerely hope this does not happen.

You gave your considered view based on what you heard, and nobody really has the right to tell you what you should like.

It also serves as a warning, that purchasing (anything) purely on reviews may not work out in practice.

 

[pete321]

It's a shame there's no 'Source Direct' option on the Sky box, so that 576i material could be upscaled completely by the Oppo without having to be upscaled to 1080i by the Sky box.

Leave Sky box at "auto" so it doesn't upscale.

Thanks, I'd assumed the auto option just checked your tv's capabilities resolution wise.

 

[duaplex]

I await my bashing from other users now lol :doh:

I sincerely hope this does not happen.

You gave your considered view based on what you heard, and nobody really has the right to tell you what you should like.

It also serves as a warning, that purchasing (anything) purely on reviews may not work out in practice.

+1

Indeed, if we all based our purchases purely on reviews, then we would all own the same kit.

 

[Native_bon]

It seems the site/forum was having problems earlier and my review didnt appear :wall: Apologies for that.

So yes i would like to share my impressions of playing with my new Oppo 105 all day whilst doing some listening tests against the unit it replaces which is a Denon DBP2012ud of only 12months old. This review will focus solely on the 2 channel audio quality while listening through HDMI from both players. I admit to have tried neither through analog outs as yet only HDMI - though i'd like to do this as i expect the difference from using the Sabre DAC in the 105 output via XLR into a proper integrated amp to sound better - surely the main point of buying a 105 over 103. The two players are connected to a Pioneer SC-LX85 av processor/amp and the speakers are Monitor Audio RX6 floorstanders. HDMI calbes are identical and both good quality. Expectations having read such rave reviews online and on forums are high.....

Started by listening to a favorite album of mine Pawn Hearts by Van Der Graaf Generator on CD. Immediately noticed the treble to be more prominent than the Denon but surprisingly not in a good way. Sure its quite a harsh recording (for those who have heard it) and the Oppo does nothing to hide the fact and perhaps over emphasises it. I also thought the timing of the record to be slight out and then it came to me the main critisism of the Oppo 103 in what -hi-fi review where they seemed to mention it didint time well with music. I simply dont remember not enjoying the three amazing tracks on this VDGG album ever before??

Promptly i moved onto another favourite CD... Nursery Cryme by Genesis. There are a number of tracks with some rhythmic but complex drumming which i figured would be a great test of both units 'timing'. Again the Oppo sounds brighter though acceptable on this recording but almost harsh again. More worryingly where the Denon has me tapping my feet and playing imaginary drum kit i just found the Oppo lost all the subtleties in the rhythms and stopped me tapping away and i was suddenly finding it hard to listen too for more than a few minutes! I have gone back and forth between each player for hours and i am so far very disappointed by what ive heard.

I now have a predicament of whether to return the unit as i bought online or try the analog outs but i must admit the disappointment so far has made me wonder whether to bother keeping it any longer. For the same money i can have a dedicated SACD player (one with warm rich sound like MArantz Pearl lite) and seperate Blu ray player. I think i have discovered that when you pair notoriously bright/forward sounding components together it doesnt help as the Pioneer amp and Monitor Audio speakers are guilty of some brightness though no other source has pushed them into harshness as the Oppo has before.

I have learned a lesson today also which is preached on these forums daily which is to always try and make sure to demo such expensive equipment :doh:

Getting the opposite from your review.. Even the first week the machine was still sounding bright. Into the 2nd week everything now sounds relaxed & musical..

 

[GSB]

Try the analogues,i very much doubt you will be dissapointed,as you have said the dacs are thestand out feature on the 105.

I too found mine to improve in sq over a few weeks of playback,(don't understand why)but i was also running in some new speakers.

 

[trebor]

I wonder how the sound compares to the Cyrus CD8SE? I need to replace my Pioneer LX-52 and I'm just wondering if I should go down the one box route? Any thoughts?

 

[Native_bon]

The only way to find out is do an audition trebor.. I really like the sound of the oppo but no one can really suggest sound to another. I use mine as transport & for blueray & 3D .. You may find this hard to believe but i get a better result from connecting a solid state hard drive to one of the USB inputs on the oppo 105 when listening to music. I use plug & play software to control via phone hand set.

It will also depend on what purpose you need it for.

I say go have a listen.

 

[gellie]

Hello I'm about to purchase a 105 and id like your advice.

Im still trying to figure ot the best connections for best Audio and Video:
Display LG 9600 55
Marantz SR7005
Squeezebox touch Currently hooked into AVR via RCA
Apple TV currently hooked into AVR via HDMI
Verizon Fios hooked into AVR vis HDMI.

Thanks again.

 

[inline_phil]

I have auditioned at length both the BDP-103 and the BDP-105.

You can read my thoughts on my blog regarding these two fantastic units at

http://audiophile-musings.blogspot.com/

 

[Tim Smith]

There is something I don't really get here. If you are auditioning a top end player's 2 channel sound quality, why on earth would you take the signal output from an HDMI source? The Oppo 105 has a far superior power supply and DACs than your AV Amp and so if you are taking a digital sound source from the player, you aren't really auditioning it at all. All the music translation is being done by your amp! If you are going to take an audio output out of a player digitally there is little point buying a player like the Oppo.

I have a 105 and take the audio out via the 7.1 audio RCAs. I was replacing an old Arcam DVD player and the improvement in sound was dramatic.

 

[BigH]

You could try the Cambridge Audio CA752 which is very similar, maybe not so bright and £200 cheaper.

In my demo it seemed better than the Roksan K2 cd player.

 

[middlebassed]

So yes i would like to share my impressions of playing with my new Oppo 105 all day whilst doing some listening tests against the unit it replaces which is a Denon DBP2012ud of only 12months old. This review will focus solely on the 2 channel audio quality while listening through HDMI from both players. I admit to have tried neither through analog outs as yet only HDMI - though i'd like to do this as i expect the difference from using the Sabre DAC in the 105 output via XLR into a proper integrated amp to sound better - surely the main point of buying a 105 over 103. The two players are connected to a Pioneer SC-LX85 av processor/amp and the speakers are Monitor Audio RX6 floorstanders. HDMI calbes are identical and both good quality.
Promptly i moved onto another favourite CD... Nursery Cryme by Genesis. There are a number of tracks with some rhythmic but complex drumming which i figured would be a great test of both units 'timing'. Again the Oppo sounds brighter though acceptable on this recording but almost harsh again. More worryingly where the Denon has me tapping my feet and playing imaginary drum kit i just found the Oppo lost all the subtleties in the rhythms and stopped me tapping away and i was suddenly finding it hard to listen too for more than a few minutes! I have gone back and forth between each player for hours and i am so far very disappointed by what ive heard.
I now have a predicament of whether to return the unit as i bought online or try the analog outs but i must admit the disappointment so far has made me wonder whether to bother keeping it any longer.

So when I read this and read that you believe that the two players sound different, one word comes to mind: bias. That is for whatever reason, you came into the review expecting to hear a difference and found it. Amazing. Now when you re-reviewed the Oppo, you said that you could still hear that problem but I'll posit a theory that given you were predisposed to finding the Oppo to be different that it was always going to sound inferior.

I'd love to see you do a scientific test here with a microphone and monitor the output to see if hardware backs up your ears or if your ears are just hearing ghosts: anything that your ears and brain can recognise will be easily detected by proper test hardware.

 

[Son_of_SJ]

Middlebassed, you have acted dishonorably. If you want your first posting on this forum to be in response to a thread that started at the end of January, eight months ago, so be it, but you might at least be correct. The dishonorable bit that I refer to is that in your quotation you have excluded a crucial sentence, namely this one.

Expectations having read such rave reviews online and on forums are high.....

That sentence lies well in the body of the text, it is not near the end or near the beginning, so the deletion of that sentence from the quotation must have been a deliberate act on YOUR part. You then say to megatombomb "I'll posit a theory that given you were predisposed to finding the Oppo to be different that it was always going to sound inferior."

Not so, Sir. Megatombomb, as you'll see if you read the whole of his first posting (number three on page one of this thread) had high expectations of the Oppo 105, and I'm sure he wanted it to be different from this Denon (a Blu-Ray brand which I have and happen to like), but better! For whatever reason, and his findings are as valid as anyone else's, he didn't have a good time with the Oppo 105. I myself am deeply in love with my Oppo 95, but that doesn't mean that everyone else must like Oppo Blu-Ray players. I remember once auditioning a highly regarded £1,200 subwoofer, and I went to the shop with the hope and expectation that it would be better than my £400 Tannoy TS12, which I also took with me to compare directly. To my ears, the £1,200 subwoofer was not better than my Tannoy, much to my disappointment. So megatombomb wanted the Oppo 105 to be better than his Denon 2012, but it wasn't, for him. For you, middlebassed, to deliberately exclude megatombomb's crucial sentence from the quotation and then to accuse him of bias against the Oppo 105 is behaviour worthy of .... a tabloid journalist. Shame on you.