Oppo BDP-83: The Official QQ Thread [BLU-RAY/SACD/DVD-A/HDCD]

[JonUrban]

My Oppo (at least the one in the family room) does indeed skip the first few seconds of a DVD-A that is just put in the player and just played straight off, no futzing with anything. It happens to DVD-A's that I make or commercial DVD-A's. It's a bit annoying, but I can live with it.

HOWEVER, one would think that it should have been fixed back when the thing was being beta tested. Aside from this problem, I have yet to experience any other issues. I do not have the Madonna disc, so I can't check to see if it's a model-wide issue.

It sucks when crap like this happens. It takes the luster off of what should be a great machine.

 

[sukothai]

... does indeed skip the first few seconds of a DVD-A that is just put in ...

Now that you mention it, I believe I have experienced this problem. Other than this (which I hardly notice) it has been a very good deck for us and has been used daily by someone in the family for almost a year now; which is the reason I recently bought a second one for the office. One thing for sure is that I'd rather have this issue than a machine that won't give my disks back. I don't think I'll be applying any firmware updates anytime soon.

It sucks when crap like this happens. It takes the luster off of what should be a great machine.

Agreed, and I guess I responded out of fear that an otherwise great machine will one day turn on me. For a Blu-ray player, I would not recommend the PS3. We have one and it was what we used for Blu-ray playing until we got the Oppo. It is fine for game play, but the PS3 fan is so noisy that it destroys the HD audio/video experience. We had to put it in the room behind the TV and run a cable through the wall. Also, being Bluetooth, it doesn't integrate well with universal remotes.

 

[byrdman7]

I have the Madonna Blu-Ray and it plays without any problems. The only disc that has been a problem is Beck-Sea Change, slow to eject the disc, but the last firmware update I installed took care of the problem. Also, my unit never skipped the first few notes on any DVD Audio disc nor did I have a problem playing the "Love" disc as others have. My unit gets play time everyday and has performed flawlessly on every disc I own which are many. Strange indeed.

 

[Bob Romano]

I have the Madonna Blu-Ray and it plays without any problems. The only disc that has been a problem is Beck-Sea Change, slow to eject the disc, but the last firmware update I installed took care of the problem. Also, my unit never skipped the first few notes on any DVD Audio disc nor did I have a problem playing the "Love" disc as others have. My unit gets play time everyday and has performed flawlessly on every disc I own which are many. Strange indeed.

Are you using HDMI or component? Maybe that makes a difference... or maybe my player is just F'ed up.

 

[byrdman7]

Bob, I think there is a problem with your player, it looks like the player program is corrupted. All the problems you are having points in that direction. It will more than likely have to be returned to OPPO for service. Is it still in warranty? I use the analog outs for audio and Component for video.

 

[Bob Romano]

I got a return authorization from Oppo tonight so I will be sending it in for repair on Tuesday. They were very good about trying to talk me through getting it to work but nothing helped. I am shipping it out to them at their expense. They sent me a UPS label and I packed it up. Hopefully they can get it working for me.

 

[byrdman7]

Rest assured that OPPO will get your unit performing to specs or replace the unit. OPPO is a rare Company, they care about their customers and the products they offer, they have my complete trust. Please keep us posted as the story unfolds.

 

[Bob Romano]

I will say that I have always been impressed by Oppo's quick responses via email and their willingness to work on problems or concerns.

 

[JonUrban]

Good luck, Bob!

 

[Bob Romano]

I received my BDP83 back from Oppo. While I am still impressed with Oppo's response (I had my player back in a little over a week) I am still less than thrilled... no... downright disgusted with the DVD-A playback of this machine. I popped in the Machine Head disc and the playback seems to be worse now than it was before I sent it out. Even the Rhino logo intro is clipped. Smoke On The Water is missing almost the entire first chord. I am sorry. I know everyone loves this thing but in my opinion it is a piece of garbage. There is absolutely no point in me keeping this in my main system if it isn't going to work correctly. I guess I might have to look at the new Denon when it finally comes out. I am truly disappointed.

 

[The Quadfather]

There are issues with the HDMI connection. I disconnected mine, and it plays great. I was running a long cable to the bedroom. when I want to watch a blue Ray disc, I hook it back up. I know this is lame, but that's what I had to do. I do not know if it would work correctly if the player and the TV were in the same place and with a short cable. I'll find out when I get the time to work on it. I have found that HDMI is finicky that way. It could be an incompatibility with my TV (Samsung). Apparently there is a control link in the HDMI connection that screws up the player if it doesn't like what comes back. Although the pictures look stunning, it will sometimes shut off when I am watching a movie. They need to work on it. Maybe a cable EQ section in the menu?

The Quadfather

P.S. If you try this, tell me what you find out.

 

[byrdman7]

Bob, I wish your story had a better ending. I too believe it is a HDMI issue. Are any other BDP-83 owners running analog audio/video having any of the problems Bob and others have? I have had zero issues, am I alone?

 

[MyCuff]

No issues, other than an occassional hang at "hello" on a home made disc at start up. It will sometimes miss the first beat of a song when I skip to it, but that is a very minor annoyance to me...

 

[TMEA]

Finally got my "Oppo BDP-83 Special Edition Universal Blu-ray Player". Fantastic 5.1 analogue sound stage! I have it connected to my ->>> Tascam M-30 8-Channel Analogue Mixer ->> 3-Onkyo M-506RS Analogue Amplifiers -> Vizio VF552XVT HDTV. Truely a "State Of The Art" very versatile audio player.

 

[oxenholme]

I bought the Oppo BDP-83 SE player and an Arcam AVR500 receiver - with the video output going to a Dell Ultra Sharp monitor, and the audio going to Monitor Audio Gold Reference 10 speakers, the front left and right being bi-amped.

I had a lot of problems getting off the ground until Oppo advised that the monitor and receiver should be powered up before the disc player.

I've been comparing sound output using the Oppo to do the decoding and using analogue connections to the Arcam with using HDMI from the Oppo and letting the Arcam do the decoding. Both are very good indeed - at the end of the day I do prefer the sound obtained when the Arcam does the decoding.

Fabulous results playing that Albert Lee track on the Aix sampler - is it from a full length disc?

Fabulous results from the Roy Orbison Black & White Night blu-ray

Fabulous results from the Avatar blu-ray

Surprisingly superb results from The Incredibles DVD-Video

And - wonderful results from a DTS 5.1 conversion of the quadraphonic Frank Sinatra "Greatest Hits" - it sounds very good indeed.

Added to which, I must admit to being pleased with the results when playing back a Beach Boys HDCD encoded CD, letting the Oppo do the HDCD decoding.

All in all, very very pleased.

 

[byrdman7]

I just found the first disc that my BDP-83 will not play. Midnight Oil-Capricornia DTS-CD, it loads as a Red Book CD???? It will not play in my OPPO DV-980H either, but plays fine on my Yamaha DVD-S1800. Does anyone have this disc that can be tested in their player? I thought it was a bad disc until it played in the Yamaha.

 

[MyCuff]

I don not have the midnight oil discs, but I have a problem with one other disc, Rush Snakes and Arrows (the MVI DVD). It goes to menu then hangs, then eventually stops. Anyone else have a problem with THIS one?

 

[byrdman7]

I don not have the midnight oil discs, but I have a problem with one other disc, Rush Snakes and Arrows (the MVI DVD). It goes to menu then hangs, then eventually stops. Anyone else have a problem with THIS one?

I just tried my copy, the picture flickers on my monitor with each menu page change, but plays well when the music starts. My monitor shows a picture resolution change with each page change of the menu?????

 

[channelar]

After your post I dug out my copy of Midnight Oil's Capricornia DTS ES and tested the disc on both my Oppo BDP-83 and Oppo BDP-80. When played via each players onboard decoders via the analog outputs only noise was produced.

When played on the BDP-83 via HDMI to my Denon amp, the sound auto selected to the amp ( it doesn't always) and DTS was displayed. No mention of 6.1. When played on the BDP 80 via optical connection to it's Yamaha amp, DTS 6.1 was correctly displayed. The disc played fine as you would expect.

From memory I think this was one of the last DTS CD's released and (I stand to be corrected) the only disc released in DTS ES 6.1 44.1/24 bit. I don't recall the circumstances but I think I had difficulties with it in earlier players although the circumstances escape me. It works in my other Denon and (gasp) Pioneer players.

Thanks for bringing it up. I had forgotten what a good album it is. Not quite the powerhouse of 10,9,8,7,6..., Red Sails or Disel and Dust but still excellent.

I'm enjoying the beta firmware for the 83 but anxiously awaiting a firmware upgrade for the 80 related more to networking and MKV playback.

Otherwise I am exceptionally happy with both players and will forgive them this one disc which I suspect has something more related to the DTS production.

 

[byrdman7]

After your post I dug out my copy of Midnight Oil's Capricornia DTS ES and tested the disc on both my Oppo BDP-83 and Oppo BDP-80. When played via each players onboard decoders via the analog outputs only noise was produced.

When played on the BDP-83 via HDMI to my Denon amp, the sound auto selected to the amp ( it doesn't always) and DTS was displayed. No mention of 6.1. When played on the BDP 80 via optical connection to it's Yamaha amp, DTS 6.1 was correctly displayed. The disc played fine as you would expect.

From memory I think this was one of the last DTS CD's released and (I stand to be corrected) the only disc released in DTS ES 6.1 44.1/24 bit. I don't recall the circumstances but I think I had difficulties with it in earlier players although the circumstances escape me. It works in my other Denon and (gasp) Pioneer players.

Thanks for bringing it up. I had forgotten what a good album it is. Not quite the powerhouse of 10,9,8,7,6..., Red Sails or Disel and Dust but still excellent.

I'm enjoying the beta firmware for the 83 but anxiously awaiting a firmware upgrade for the 80 related more to networking and MKV playback.

Otherwise I am exceptionally happy with both players and will forgive them this one disc which I suspect has something more related to the DTS production.

Thank you for the information. If it is the only disc my OPPO's have a problem with, I will be thrilled. I agree, the Midnight Oil is a fine disc, at least I have a player (Yamaha) in my system that will play it.