Distortion using OPPO 103 w Streaming and CD's, but not with DVD playback


Hoping someone can give some advice before I tear the rack apart.

Have an OPPO 103 for CD/DVD and streaming from Tidal.  Have owned the unit for years and happy with it.  I really liked the fact that it not only played disks but also had the associated app that allows me to stream from Tidal.

I hadn't streamed for quite a while and when I streamed today there was tremendous distortion (unlistenable), playing a CD seems to also be distorted, but not as bad, playing a DVD doesn't seem to have no distortion at all.

All connections are RCA / Single ended. 

There is one new variable and that is the introduction of a Schiit Freya preamp.

However, vinyl sounds great through the Freya and as I said above DVD playback seems perfectly fine.

So if someone has trouble shooting ideas before I start tearing down the rack and rearranging things I would love to hear them.

Seems weird that some functions sound fine and others are a mess and I would think that a bad wire, connection or even EMF would effect all of the playback media the same way.

Thanks in advance.

Phil

phil0618

@phil0618 "CD playback acting up big time..."

Try turning unit off, unplugging from wall, wait one minute. Re-plug, turn back on.

See if that takes care of problem.

I've had the 103 for about 10 years now. Best results have been to leave unit on 24/7, turn off and unplug and wait one minute every month.

Still works and sounds great. Might help you too. Hope so.

Tom

I hear you, but I was using the Oppo like a preamp as well to create a crude 5.1 setup and of course I've got some DVD's that I like to play occasionally.

It's always something....  :-)

Sorry to hear that - it's a great player. Guess it's time to move on to streaming full time. Less moving parts to break. 😀

Using the built-in app to stream Tidal might be causing the issue. Oppo has since gone out of business and I bet the TIDAL application programming interface (API) has changed considerably since 2017 (the date of the last firmware update).

phil0618

 

Good to read that the CD(s) play without issue. Streaming is a whole different set of issues. Keep me posted as you figure out all facets of Playback.

 

Happy Listening!

Hi Phil-

I was just looking at the BDP 103 manual and there should be a coaxial audio output near the toslink output. This will allow the 2 channel audio to be sent from the internal dac to your preamp. Tried to send a screenshot from the manual but this sight seems to like web links only.🤔
 

I have occasionally had problems with my 105 that went away with rebooting, but sometimes it requires a few reboots.  Seeing as how Oppo discontinued these products a few years ago, and now the problem seems confined to Tidal, it’s possible that perhaps a Tidal update is causing a a compatibility issue.  Practically speaking the Lumin is what you will want to use for streaming anyway

Hi designfx,

My 103-D only has single ended outputs so that's not an option for me.

I have played with the Oppo volume vs the preamp volume and didn't see any difference.

I also ran a speedtest on my internet connection and that seems fine.

And someone else suggested rebooting and I did unplug the unit for maybe 20 seconds and then tried again, but no change with any of these attempted fixes.

Phil

Phil-

you mention using single ended rca’s for connections to the preamp- have you tried  going coaxial to the preamp and switching the Oppo’s settings to coaxial out? I run this approach with my 105-D and adjust the internal volume control for matching.

Thanks again everyone, did more listening with a variety of CDs and am now convinced that CD's do indeed play fine and the issue is with streaming from Tidal.  I think the first CD I grabbed after finding the streaming issue  was something less than pristine and after having experienced the streaming issues I was just looking for issues.  But after further listening with different CDs I think CDs are fine.

I swapped the ethernet cable between the router and Oppo with no change.

The good news is I've got a Lumin D2 arriving mid week and assuming it works then my streaming problems are solved and I'll just put this to bed.

Will update if I find anything else, but with the arrival of the Lumin imminent and the CDs playing fine this is a back burner issue unless I experience issues with the Lumin.

Thanks,
Phil

phil0618

 

After you sort out the Gear, double check the playback settings in the Oppo.

Sometimes, these machines will go back to a "default" setting vs. "custom"

 

Happy Listening!

Thanks for the feedback, I"ll be pulling things apart to insert some new equipement and will check all the connections.

Perhaps something get messed up when I was making some previous change.

Phil

  1. Try rebooting the Oppo.  If that doesn’t work check the settings on the Oppo.

phil0618

 

Yes- check all connections plus speakers. Your assumptions are correct,  a bad wire, connection or EMF (streaming).

 

Happy Listening!