I think the oppo 981hd makes a fine transport. There are little things here and there I dont like, but its a solid performer that leaves little else to be desired. I happy with it. And to me, I cant see investing any more money on standard dvd player with Blu ray looking so amazing at $300-$600 for most players.(PS3)
For the record, the PS3 is a amazing transport all around. I dont know if its because the transport of the PS3 is stationary, or what, but this thing is a force to be reckon with in dvd,cd,blu ray performance!! |
Even Stereophile says it as good of a transport as anything at any price, as long as you are using it as a TRANSPORT. My 981 arrives tomorrow. I am used to $3k-$5k cd players, Ill let you know how it holds up as a transport as that all I will be using it for. The only thing it has to do is deliver a clean signal to my DAC via hdmi, coax, or optical.Used with Legacy focus 20/20's(Ill use my paradigm 100 v.3 also have now) and a Bryston 9bsst amp.
I am suprised at the people that just dont get how high quality cheap players are now days. WAKE UP! Spending $3k and up for a cd player now days is rediculous, you are gaining little, if anything from much cheaper pieces of equipment. The only place you still cant cut corners is Speakers. Even cables are way over done. A clean signal is a clean signal, you cant get cleaner then clean.If you are spending more then $200 a pair on cables,you are out of your minds! |
What people fail to realize is the tonal differences, dont make a player better or worse as long as its acurate and has a flat response. Remember 2 different components can have flat responses and sound completely different. A few +-2 here and there changes the sound completely. Also less bass makes speakers appear to have better imaging. All equipement sounds different, that is why some love a component, someone hates it. And regarding cables, take a simple good Canare cable, put a Neutrik end on it, or even a 75ohm Canare end, you are getting a top of the line cable that will loose little to no loss or change in the signal(tiny bit in LONG runs). How will you beat this? A cables job is to get out of the way. The best cable is no cable. the Canare also features GREAT sheilding. Take the extra $1k that is spent on wire and put it into a better speaker. I know everyone has there opinion on this, but I honestly feel, someone puts a cable in that changes response, and makes there system sound brighter, warmer, what ever and its looked at as the cables awesome. Guess what, IT JUST PLAYED WITH YOUR FLAT RESPONSE! Is this better? Not if it sounds much different then the Canare/ Van damme cables. They are built to get out of the way, so you would have to wonder, why the big sweep in frequencys? This is the same as bass, added bass isnt better, neither is subttracted bass. You want a nuetral cable or you will be changing them everytime you change a component.
I know I mentioned Stereophile, but if theres one truth to high end audio nobody wants to admmitt its, Dealers and audio magazines have to make money. When is the last time you read a review that said this speaker sucked, dont buy it? Thats one thing that stuck out in the oppo transport. This is not a high dollar product by any means. Its actually priced/marketed to lower audio listeners(even that of best buy products). yet even Stereophile couldnt say bad about this player. Thats why Im giving it a shot. It may stink. I will now it looks like on Monday what to expect. Ill do my best to say exactly how it does, with no suger coating. |
Im tried both my Canare 77s 75ohm w/ 75ohm connectors, and my ps audio resolution digital. As always, I find the Canare to be unbeatable. |
I bought mine direct from oppo new. |
Well, Ive been playing with my new OPPO-871 all day now. Ive only used it as a cd/dvd transport thus far, and have not played with sacd or dvd audio yet. That being said, so far the DVD picture is as clear as I have owned or seen on my TV set in standard definition. The colors look fantastic. The only complaint's I can possible think of, is perhaps a better menu system, with a cleaer read out. Its not a big deal. You will set this once and never enter it again, however the words arent as clear as they could be and Im not sure the layout is ideal.Also, the transport itself is a little flimsy. I would want to pull on it, or mistreat it.
Now, as a cd transport, so far I think it has done absolutely wonderful. The signal is as clean as I could hope for, easily as good as my Ayre cx-7 with digital output being used. I also think it has a great front panel look. No, its not constructed like a tank, it is very light, and reminds you of a mass market player. But it really looks fantastic, and is very small and unoticeable, and best of all sounds and looks fantastic.
I'll do a follow up after a while with the unit. I highly recommend this to anyone looking for a cd transport, or dvd player. I now know for myself this player is as good as the reviews in the above regards. Now to try out dvd audio/sacd/ and 2 channel performance from the analog output of the player. If you are using a prepro to do the digital processing, this player should be on the top of your list as a cd/dvd transport! |
The 2 channel out is awesome. I dont expect anyone to trust this review completely, but this is my new reference player, it is amazing! |
981HD. Bought it new from oppodigital.com Website. |
I want to add, there are more things I do not like about the oppo. None of which take away from sound/picture, but troublesome none the less. Why not have a disable option in the menu for the volume control on the remote. Also why include those horrible sound effect modes and buttons on the remote? All this can lead to accidently pushing one of those buttons and hearing aweful sound. They are useless, and I cant believe there isnt a way to disable them if you arent going to use them, its to easy to press one of those buttons on accident. I also didnt like the delay selection process. You dont have feet, you have inches, and its you input the difference in inches from the main speakers-lame!
Goin back and forth between my Anthem avm 30's DAC's and the the oppo's with direct mode, its almost like anthem built the oppo.For the first time Ive came across, switching back and forth between the two pieces lead to both sounding so closely the same, I couldnt consistantly tell which was which in a blind test with my wife changing inputs at will.Something I have never not been able to do in the past. The oppo was slightly preffered in the end I guess, but just ever so slighly with 2 channel. Thats really saying alot. Is Anthem's 2 channel the very best out there? Maybe not, but its very very good! And to get the same sound out of a $225 player is crazy! Im going to order a ps audio $49 power cord for it, and also buy some preffered RCA interconnects(I never use rca anymore and only had some rca mit terminators laying around to use) and see what happens.
Ive found some good bargains lately with component sources.
-PS3 BLU RAY/upconversion
-OPPO 981hd cd/dvd/dvd audio/sacd |
The auto play doesnt bother me, I like it. Theres no reason for me to put a dvd/cd in and not play it right after. It does bother me on my PS3 which does other things besides playing discs. |
07-24-08: Undertow
Jorgeparrapuppy
Right, well you should be able to just push the DVD player back quite a bit on the shelf and close the door still. I would just open the drawer and then push it back until you can clear the door to close it. Then you can leave the drawer open door closed or not...
seams like a logical idea, dont see why this wouldnt work. |
