New Oppo BDP-95 better than the McIntosh MVP-881?

There are a BUNCH of hi-end (over-priced) players that are gonna have their heads handed to them once Oppo releases this product. I know I am wildly happy with my BDP-93 and it is gonna be one heckuva a great bedroom system player once the 95 arrives on my doorstep...

-RW-

I could not be happier with the BDP-93. It offers quite an improvement both with the image quality & smooth operation over the still fine performing BDP-83.

Oppo eats the lunch of all others, so wait for the 95. Often forgotten is that oppo will play SACD. Why oppo can continue to market players at 20% of the cost of the hi end should tell you the business model of the hi-end is a rip off.

Not all high end is a rip off. Most of it is. Unfortunately we are seeing more of the rip off than we have in the past. I think there are companies that build real high quality equipment at many different price ranges. I happend to own a lot of Pass Labs equipment it is not the most affordable equipment but it built extemely well and sounds exceptionally good and they stand behind their product. I do have some experience with the Oppo 83SE and I think it is an exceptional DVD Player. The Oppo out performed a very expensive Krell dvd player in my system. It is just wise to listen watch and evaluate make a decision on it perfomance regardless of price. Be objective, but do not buy what cannot afford.

Personally I love watching the "high-end" manufacturers try to pass off their equipment as state of the art. Some went into the professional home theater installation game, following the stereo stores that were struggling to survive. That is the only way they can still get the high dollar. Most went belly up or were absorbed by the conglomerate electronics behemoths. We are lucky to still have small personal manufacturers such as Van Alstine and Monarchy and many more, who are dedicated, have small efficient operations and produce great products. Firms like Oppo will be wildly successful because they are ahead of the game and are constantly striving to stay there. I am amused to see the big companies' with the lids off their equipment and shown on the net to be Oppo's equipment inside. They won't last long if they continue to deceive the buying public. Long live Oppo!

Rossman,
I have a BDP83. What is the big difference between the 93 you own and the 83? Mostly concerned about blue ray picture quality....expect the audio should be at least equal

Oppo is a good universal player and a great value. I had the 83 and now the 83SE. They do not eat the lunch of all others in terms of two channel playback in that regard. The Doge 6 cdp creams the 83SE in two channel as well as the Marantz SA11 just to name a few. I had both Oppo's modded and that really changed the game. Oppo's are full of potential and the new 95 will again be another with great potential. Best all in one value by far!

Will the Oppo BDP 95 cure the bass management issues that the 83/83SE model had? Anyone know...I have one on order...

Regards Bacardi

What bass management issues in the 83SE? Have been using it for past 6 months and have been favorably impressed.

If you use the analogue 2.1/5.1 it doesn't allow bass management options.

Regards Bacardi

Would anyone know the forthcoming Nu-force version of the Oppo 95 ? Seems it has further enhance the 2 channels performance or all around improvement ?
Thanks.

My experience seems different. I own an Oppo 83SE and my nephew has the Oppo 95. My Oppo using HDMI or the analog outputs for movies sounds thin in the midrange. The 95 is better but I still hear this problem. No question picture quality is great. So I purchased a new Sony 5000ES 500.00 from 1500.00. Right out of the box the sound is much sweeter and fuller in the mids. The top end is great without sounding too bright. Just for fun I bought the Marantz UD8004 and was not happy with that one. Start up times were so slow you could make pancakes before a movie started. If I did not have the Classe 800 processor and had to use analog outputs I would send my Oppo to Modright for their upgrade.

Oppo is top of the heap for video but middle of the road for 2 channel. But to have something thats as good as it gets for video on the cheap side is still something special.

Yes, there are brands out there that charge big bucks for pride of possession. I have toured the McIntosh factory several times. Many of their products are world class in build and design, the MC-275 tube amp is a fine example. That said, on one of my tours I saw Denon DVD players unboxed and readied for rebadging for resale at more than double the Denon price.

Another comparison can be made with Jewelry. A Rolex is a fine watch that is very expensive. Yet a Seiko or Casio digital are more accurate and reliable.

The Oppo is an amazing piece, and an amazing piece for the money.

Ah, but the Seiko and Casio watches are not as indestructible as a Rolex. When I was younger, I'd go through a Timex in weeks, but the Rolex graduation gift lasted for three decades, before being lost when sent to Switzerland for repair. With the insurance and a bunch of money I bought another that I've had now for more than two decades.

But I plan to buy an Oppo 93, because I don't think the watch analogy is apt.

db

Jwm, when did your nephew get the Oppo 95? I didn't think they were shipping yet.

Oppo has a extensive home testing Beta program and always has so I bet thats how some have them.

Oppo has been shipping and is still shipping new players. I ordered one three weeks ago and got mine a week later. I returned it because I like the Sony 5000ES better.

I ordered the new Oppo 95 about a week and half ago.
The current est shipping date is March 18.

Ozzy, please give us your input once you get plenty of time on it.

Jp1208, sure will.

Hi, all I ordered my 95 from AA, on March 10th and recieved it on the 12th free shipping, they also had the Nuforce 93 as well and a couple of 95's and of course the 93. I bought this to replace my Denon 5900 and Pioneer 51fd and out of the box it has performed it's task with high marks. Bested my Denon on 2 channel analog outs connected to my Anthem avm 20 v2. the ESS Saber dac's are incredible at what they do for digital playback, no matter multi or 2 channel. Mind you this is out the box,in about 300hr of burn in. I get the feeling the big boys should put there tails between there legs!and say Uncle!!

Got a Fed Ex tracking number, should have my 95 next Tuesday.

Got mine yesterday, letting it burn in now. Performed great on the movie last night! Hoping to consolidate and get rid of a MF A308cd.

Happy customer here.

Recieved mine yesterday. Fantastic HDMI picture even better than my Oppo 83 SE. The surround analog Audio was pretty good.
The Balanced out in audio quality thus far was no where near my Cary Pro. And to be honest, I dont believe it will ever reach that level even with hundreds of hours of break in, so dont expect it to be the Dragon slayer...

But, I use the component for recording to my DVR and it did not work, so mine must be defective at least in that area.
Oppo is sending out a new unit.
You guys may want to try the component out also.

Received mine yesterday. Fantastic HDMI picture even better than my Oppo 83 SE. The surround analog Audio was pretty good.
The Stereo Balanced out in audio quality thus far was no where near my Cary Pro. And to be honest, I dont believe it will ever reach that level even with hundreds of hours of break in, so dont expect it to be the Dragon slayer...

But, I use the component out for recording to my DVR and it did not work, so mine must be defective at least in that area.
Oppo is sending out a new unit.
You guys may want to try the component out also.

Well, I am with you on this one Ozzy, ( I don't have nearly the dragon to slay but.. ) The MF will have to stay for now. Coming from an older Sony BR player though, this is just great!

At 174 hrs of burn in on my 95, Its not the same as the out of the box performance, even at 60 hrs it wasn't the same. I would love to hear more feed back from you guys after the 60 and 120 hrs of playtime marks, it should be intresting how close or not it gets! I'm willing to say at 300 hrs, it will do somethings well the Cary wont, the 135 db dynamic range of the ESS Sabre dac is no slouch! and may just be a dragon slayer!

I will continue to run it in this week Jdub and get back to you, I need to find a pair of balanced cable as well to try that. What player are you comparing the 95 to?

Nothing in the same league as the Cary, but over the years I've had a couple Phillips 963, Pioneer 47a, and most recently a Denon 5900. I've had the chance to listen to some pricer players as well. To my ears the Ess Sabre dac are redefining whats possible with digital and the Oppo has brought that down to real world prices. It's just so easy to listen to! I haven't tried the balanced outs yet I've been waiting for it to fully settle and go from there, for now I'm using AQ"s Columbia rca.

The 95 is very easy to listen to, and I could live with it. But the MF delivers a much more detailed and solid sound. I will see what happens after a few more days of burn in.

Ozzy, at 90 hours tonight it sounding better. I found something odd comparing it to the MF. I put in one disc and it was unlistenable on the 95... odd kind of static noise, kind of thing that when played on the MF player you hear it and think there is no way the engineer would have left that in would he? It's rock (Blind Melons first) I could get by with it on the MF, just barely cause it is annoying but gets better a few songs in to the disc. On the 95 it is really pronounced. Sure enough when looking at the disc there are odd fracture / kind of scatches that start from the center of the cd and go our about and inch or so, all of them perpindicular to the center. I am not sure if the MF is just better at correcting read error? Or the 95 is more true to whats there? Again, it's not like what I am used to hearing on a scratched disc, just a really odd kind of distortion, like a SS clipping static.

Just got my replacement BDP-95. This one does output Component Video like it should and has a much fuller sound right out of the box. So I believe my first one was defective.

Can't comment on this player vs the MVP-881. But FWIW, I'm using mine as a 2 channel player only, connected via the analog unbalanced outputs as well as S/PDIF coax to my DAC. It sounds great either way. Midrange is a little more forward with the S/PDIF->DAC connection. A little more detail in the high frequencies via the analog stereo outs.

Associated equipment:
McIntosh C22 60th Preamp
McIntosh MC275 Amp
Wyred4Sound DAC2
Harbeth Compact 7ES-3

Just tried some SACD's and some CD's though the Balanced outs on my Oppo 95.
With little or no break in, the Oppo 95 has a very wide soundstage with a nice center image.
The frequency extremes are a little weak, but that is usually the last to break in.

after all week breaking it in it seems much closer now. I have a friend coming over so we can do some blind testing tomorrow. I am pretty happy with it at this point..... sucks that I aint going to get jack for MF if I sell it though.... :(

My 95 has about 255 hours on it and when the bass (as clear as snare drum in its tracking with power and substantial weight!) and mids finally decided to fill in, They did so in such a way I was not expecting, the sheer accuracy and clarity are an under statement and with out loosing that gorgeous, wide sound stage and pinpoint accuracy, IT was still in tact, but also better defined as well. I'm not saying it's the last word in digital playback but something is going on here I really can't explain.Here are some reference points on it's burn in 60-70 hrs, 125-160hrs and the big one 235 hrs ( bass and mids) keep posting so I wont think I'm nuts. LOL!

Jdub, your not nuts. I think the ones that are nuts are the ones who throw a player to the wolves before they put a good deal of time on it. What is nuts is that I spent more on a power cord and liked it so much I bought another.

After some testing yesterday it's pretty tough to tell the MF and Oppo apart. I will continue to burn in, I think I have around 160 hours on it at this point.

I just thought I'd share a new discovery ( to me!). I Was looking at HD Tracks the other day and noticed they had a free Hi Res sample for free! So I went ahead and downloaded the recommended Media Monkey software, It's free ! so then I downloaded the tracks, used Media monkey to put them on a usb thumb drive, pluged it in and 192/24 or 96/24 FLAC files played back as easy as loading a disc! And the sound? I'll just wait till you guys try it for yourself! Also HRx has two free Hi res files as well. The claimed jitter eliminator on the Ess dac's are evident.This was A scary good experience and the 95 could not have made it simpler.ADD this to what it does well already and you'll get my point!

How many of you have had experience with the modified Oppo Player?

Larry

Question: when listening to a CD stereo, is it better to use HDMI or analog on the oppo 95? Thank you.

Depends on the dac being used, if you want to hear the ESS dac's on your 95 use the analog or dedicated stereo outs. In my case the dedicated stereo outs proved to be the superior, in any case try both, What preamp or processor?

I'm using the Integra DHC 40.2 preamplifier processor.

I'd say try both ways and let us know which sounds better!

Oppo still uses crappy switch mode power supplies for their video.

The all new Sony s-790 is the one to beat now and it cost only $$$250 !!...

How do you figure that? unless you use hdmi!but with no analog outs(for us legacy users ) defective RBG( which works best with my tv) and no balanced outs for the 2channel audiophile in me! sorry to bust your bubble, but for streaming I do hear its outstanding and for a non reference picture the tweakable settings seam to be favored by non-purist, beyond that its not in the 95's class for analog playback for which it exist!

Jdub39 , they have a lot raves about the Sony s-790, here's one of them... http://www.videoasylum.com/cgi/vt.mpl?f=ht&m=38302

It has a fan base over at AVS as well,I may try one for its streaming abilities if no other options are available in the next couple of months but for all else(sacd,2ch,movies, etc..) I'll stick with my 95!