Oppo BDP-103

[Owen Smith]

True,the lack of gapless playback can be annoying, and at least with my 105, I can only play DSD and DXF files through the USB ports, and not through the Ethernet port.

Gapless playback on my 203 is not perfect, sometimes I get a small click on the track transition. I suspect Oppo ceased doing firmware updates before they had gapless properly finished. I know the files are fine, gapless on my Squeezebox Duet was flawless (my server died just before covid and I haven't replaced it so I no longer use my Squeezebox).

 

[mandrix]

I believe before I'd pay a bunch of money for a hardware mod, I'd just jailbreak a unit.
The 203/205 can be done through the usb port.
Unless something has changed, in recent times the 103/105 have to be flashed through the firmware flash port inside the unit. Not hard, a little tedious on the 105 because you have to do some minor disassembly.

 

[barfle]

Yes, available for every model from 83 to 205: https://www.oppostore.nl/en/jvb-digital-multi-purpose-interface.html. Prices have gone up quite a bit since I bought mine, and from the Netherlands is less convenient for you. When I bought my first one for my 95 we were still in the EU so no import duties neither.

Yeah, €199 is a fair chunk of change. I guess I’ll pull the to and check for the connector before I pull the trigger. I’m confident it’s there, but that’s not the same as KNOWING it’s there. But still, expanding the capabilities of my Oppo is cheaper than the CD-4 cartridge and turntable I’m shopping for.

 

[barfle]

Gapless playback on my 203 is not perfect, sometimes I get a small click on the track transition. I suspect Oppo ceased doing firmware updates before they had gapless properly finished. I know the files are fine, gapless on my Squeezebox Duet was flawless (my server died just before covid and I haven't replaced it so I no longer use my Squeezebox).

My Roku does gapless playback from the same NAS source, so I know it’s possible, but I’m sure the two designs are significantly different

 

[barfle]

I believe before I'd pay a bunch of money for a hardware mod, I'd just jailbreak a unit.
The 203/205 can be done through the usb port.
Unless something has changed, in recent times the 103/105 have to be flashed through the firmware flash port inside the unit. Not hard, a little tedious on the 105 because you have to do some minor disassembly.

From what I’ve just learned, the software will only allow region agnosticism for DVDs. If you have region restrictions on Blu-rays, you need the hardware.

 

[bookofsaturdays]

Have you tried the Canadian site canuckaudiomart.com? I check it regularly and they sometimes have Oppo models at reasonable prices (though at the moment there are two 103D's for around CAD$550 each).

Good plug, that’s where I got my 103-D for about CAD$300 shipped. The best player I’ve ever owned hands down.

 

[Owen Smith]

Yeah, €199 is a fair chunk of change. I guess I’ll pull the to and check for the connector before I pull the trigger. I’m confident it’s there, but that’s not the same as KNOWING it’s there. But still, expanding the capabilities of my Oppo is cheaper than the CD-4 cartridge and turntable I’m shopping for.

You have a 105 I believe you said. The '5' series require more disassembly to get to the main board, on my 95 the analogue DAC board and the linear power supply board both have to be removed to get to the relevant part of the main board front right. Having done that you should find there are several connectors on the main board in the relevant area. I've attached the fitting instructions for the 9x and 20x models, I don't have the document for the 10x series but the ones attached should give the general idea.

Email support from JVB digital was prompt and excellent for me (they forgot to send the fitting instructions with the mod). I very much got the feeling I was talking to the owner and designer.

 

[Owen Smith]

From what I’ve just learned, the software will only allow region agnosticism for DVDs. If you have region restrictions on Blu-rays, you need the hardware.

Correct. And the hardware doesn't make blu rays region agnostic, the blu ray forum forbade any capability that allows that for blu ray. What you do is a magic sequence on the remote control that selects region A, B or C. The region stays set to that even across power off, you have to change it back when done.

The instructions for the magic remote sequence omit one vital fact: turn the player on, AND WAIT FOR THE FRONT PANEL TO SAY "NO DISC" BEFORE YOU START THE MAGIC BUTTONS SEQUENCE. Until I figured that out the magic sequence to change blu ray zones was very unreliable for me, taking several attempts usually.