Has anyone heard the new OPPO BDP-83SE

My BDP-83 is at OPPO being ungraded as we speak. I dropped it off yesterday evening so given the 4-5 business days turn around I expect it early next week. Promise to give you my first impressions. Not sure how long of a break-in this mod might need.

Good news. Oppo just called me. IT IS READY.

On my way to pick it up... will let you know.

Hi all

OK so I have had the SE upgrade for 24 hours now. I was lucky enough to work from home today so I just played "music to work by". DVD, CD and SACD. Probably in equal amounts about 12+ hours total time on it.

Previously, I used the DAC in my Cambridge Audio 840C when using the OPPO. I found the stock OPPO rather forward with an artificial cast. I could listen to it, it is definately not crappy but much preferred the 840C. On dual disk, both DVD and SACD, I found I would rather listen to the CD side in the 840 than the higher resolution in the OPPO. On movies and such I would use the dac in the 840C.

But I need to say the stock OPPO broken in was good and if I didn't have a dedicated cd player I could live with it. OK Maybe...

So before I brought it in I did listen to some music through it. It was about the same. For example, do you know The Who album has a bass guitar on it? I have the dvd-audio of it and through the 840 the bass is very very distinct and at times pushing the rhythm and at other times acts like a lead. Voices sounded more there and the guitar picking was distinct and the acoustic guitars had that depth of sound that comes from a hollow body--It just sounded like real people making music. The record, whether on vinyl, cd or DVD had always sounded very processed to me.

On the OPPO, like every other player I have heard, The voices and instruments sounded "artificial" which has always been digital sound until I got the 840. The bass was fat and not very rhythmic. The pace and timing just weren't the same.

I will put my system here cause I always want to know what the reviewer uses when I read reviews. Along with 840c I use an VAC Avatar (standard) integrated amp and a set of Dali Mentor 6 speakers. Speakers spiked and the equipment is on a Salamander Synergy Twin 30.

So I get home yesterday, plug it in, stick a disc in and hit play and then went to make dinner, hang with the wife, while listing to XM.

So about 2 hours later I start to listen and...

WOW this is pretty bad. The bass was so loose that all the pace and timing were gone. I knew it had to break in but jeez. Voices were disembodied, it sounded flat and 2 dimensional (and I am using a tube amp!). Cymbals were undifferentiated white noise. It felt like torture. Really!

After about an hour and half I couldn't take it anymore and decided to tweak it. I found my BDR cones and put the ones that warm up the sound under it.

Ok it is now listenable. I put on SPYBOY and listen for awhile. Yes better but I was still not sure better than it was. At this point it was time to watch TV with the wife so let it run on repeat for 2 hours or so. I took a short listen before I turned it off for the night. It was getting better as I listen to the Spyboy choir.

During the as I listened while working I noticed that the bass was now a little boomy which I know are those cones so I switch them out for the ones that are more neutral.

At one point during the day I sat in my listening chair while doing some work on my laptop. When the piano entered in one of the songs I was struck by its clarity. Then I started listening the Trumpet and saxes and noticed how clear their tone was. The trumpet had real bite and the two saxes had very distinct tones. The bass had tighten up as well...

So I have had a couple of hours after work to listen again seriously. I removed the cones cause I didn't use the them on the standard one and I wanted to get a feel on how much better the SE sounded. As this was an upgrade I couldn't do any comparison to the standard model and so I decided not to compare it to the 840C and listen to it as if it was the only player I had.

It is sounding much better. I listen to "Tommy" again as that was what I listen to before I brought it in to be upgraded. The SE is not as forward, there is more depth to the sound. Soundstage was always wide but now it has more layers. The tone seemed to better as well, the acoustic guitars getting that depth.

I am not great at describing the sounds but what I do know that I found myself listening to the music more that the sound.

So I will listen some more but I am thinking the BDR cones maybe mandatory which makes sense. This is still a $500 player and if there was a place to cut costs it would be in the external isolation.

Well back to listening. I may update this after some time has passed and it is well broken in. But I wanted to get his published as there are little or no reviews of it on the web. Least the last I looked.

Hi All

Sorry to take so long to get back to you on the player. I have now had it 2 weeks. No idea the number of hours but the sound seems to have stabilized.

After much listening I think I have a handle 83se. Compared to the standard 83 the soundstage is deeper and more open, the sound of the voices and instruments sound more real, less electronicy. The regular 83 sounds like an ok cheap cd/dvd player to me. When it got loud it sounded a bit harsh. The bass was kinda mushy and lack rhythm and pace.

In the past I wouldn't listen to the 83 on its own I would just push the audio out the digital coax and listen the 840C. Now if I put a CD into the 83se I don't want to jump and change it. It is musical, a bit forward but engaging. I was listening to Lucinda "Williams Car Wheels on a Gravel road". I just sat and listened to track after track. Her voice had all the emotion, the guitars sounded real with the leading edges having that punch a live electric guitar has.

On my SACD and DVD music it sounds very good as well but I have never heard a stand alone SACD player. I know the standard 83 sounded better than my Marantz 7600 and the SE sounds much better on SACD/DVD than the standard one. As I can't output SACD's to the 840C DAC, this is what I wanted the most out of the upgrade. It has me looking at buying SACD's again. (just ordered Richard and Linda Thompson's "Turn out the Lights" didnt even know they made it on SACD) By the way Dylan's "Blood on the tracks" hybrid SACD sounds horrible. Very very bright. But I enjoyed my Peter Gabriel "Live" album from the mid eighties. More dynamic than the record.

Now compared to the 840C, no contest. On cd's the CA unit is just more real sounding. First while using the balanced outs there is less of the electronic background noise, the type of stuff you don't notice till it goes away. Then the voices and instruments are more emotional and vivid. Each instrument is more distinct but also more part of the whole.

I think this means the player is more detailed. There is a warmth to the 840C that is not thick but just clear. You have to understand that this was the first CD player that I could enjoy as much as I do vinyl. It has that groundedness that Analog has, like you can feel the foundation beneath the music.

Also, the bass performance is amazing me these days. Not sure if this was switching to the balanced outputs or upgrading the power cable on my VAC amp but the dynamics are powerful. There is more of a sense of the band playing together. The detail in the bass, how the notes are hit, strings are bent, bass runs are distinct... I just have trouble describing it but once heard...I just never heard that from my system before so I have been noticing it a lot.

Anyway this is about the 83SE. I like it. On CD's I listen to 840C but for DVD's and SACD I can listen to it without wishing I was listening to the 840C. On Hybrid CD's I listen to the 83SE as it is as enjoyable as playing the cd on the 840C. Not sure if it is better but I want to listen to more of my hirez music. DVD's still sound a little better using the DAC on the 840C but it less obvious. I seem to like which ever one I am listening to at the moment. But the 840C is more precise, a bit warmer with a deeper soundstage. Not as important when watching a dvd, but the Who's"Tommy" still sounded better through the DAC. That bass precision again.

The upgrade took it up the step so it can be a player that can replace your standalone player. If you only have the cash for one digital player that has to play everything it now works where I wouldn't have claimed that for the standard.

P.S. the BDR cones are still in place. 2-3's and one 4. or is it the other way around...

P.P.S I edited this 100 times. If something is not clear let me know. I just got tired of rereading it...