Oppo streaming capabilities

My Oppo 105 will NOT stream music at 192k as provided by Pandora One (service upgrade option). It makes no sense to upgrade to Pandora One since Blu-Ray players (like the Oppo 105) do not support the 192 bit-rate. Pandora One subscribers get the option of 192k MP3 on the Web and when using the AIR Desktop App. I have requested that Pandora One support 192k on the various in-home devices and Blu-Ray players like the Oppo 105. If you are interested in this 192k capability, please send Pandora an email.

The OPPO 105 only provides Pandora and Rhapsody musical stations. Oppo Digital reports that it is possible that some future new hardware platform may support additional additional stations but they have no information on what or when this could happen.

Oppo Digital reports the sequencing of the albums on the Oppo 105 is a part of the Pandora application and is out of their control. He agreed to enter a product enhancement request and/or discuss this with Pandora to get the albums displayed in alpha sequence. If you are interested in Pandora alpha album sequencing on the display, please send Oppo Digital an email and make the same request.

Pandora reports that 192k streaming is not available on Blu-Ray players like the OPPO 105. From Pandora, the specs regarding audio quality on Pandora are:

Free Pandora is 64k AAC+ on the web.

Pandora One subscribers get the option of 192k MP3 on the Web and when using the AIR Desktop App.

Most Home-listening devices get 128k MP3 – whether the account is free or paid.

Cell phones get anywhere from 24k to 64k in mono or stereo, depending on the phone, carrier, connection type, and in some cases the user setting.

"The primary benefit of upgrading to Pandora One is no commercials. As of now, most in-home devices, including the OPPO 105, stream audio at 128 kbps whether or not your account is upgraded or not. The primary feature of upgrading your account is to remove all ads from your playlists".

As far as I know, the answer to your question is yes. Take a look at this article: http://www.audioholics.com/blu-ray-and-dvd-player-reviews/oppo-blu-ray-q-a

If I upgrade to Pandora One ($36 per year) will my Oppo 105 Blu-Ray player stream music at 192k as provided by Pandora One (service upgrade option)? It makes no sense to upgrade to Pandora One if the Oppo 105 will not handle 192k streaming.

DSD streaming works fine. Has worked for months now.

I use the Oppo 105 as a movie streamer. I set it up to play movies via SMB/CIFS preferred and DLNA when JRiver is active.
The only issue with SMB/CIFS is the network must be fast. No 10MPS devices or switches allowed. The source computer or NAS and the Oppo must be connected directly to the router other wise there are video motion problems. As soon as the SACD streaming is available I will try that for 5.1 playback with the Oppo.
I use a dCS for 2 channel playback and it is much better than the Oppo.

I am still digitizing my BR & DVD movies so have not had time to check out all options with the Oppo. It is a lot better at all things than my 85 or 95 were.

In this thread and others it’s been said that the interface to select digital audio files (stored on a PC, external hard drive, or NAS) for playback through an Oppo is very awkward. The reasons cited for this conclusion include (1) that there doesn’t seem to be any playlist function available when using an Oppo for streaming and/or (2) that using an Oppo requires a video display. I’m a newbie when it comes to computer-based digital audio, but now that I have played around with the streaming/networking capabilities of my Oppo 95 for a couple of weeks, I have to say that I don’t understand these observations.

The Oppo 95’s “Home” menu has two relevant icons: “Music” and “My Network.” My Network is what I use to access digital audio files stored on my laptop that’s connected to the Oppo via a wireless adapter, which is physically plugged into a USB port on the Oppo. I’ve not worked with an NAS device, but I assume one would also access NAS the same way, via the My Network icon. Alternatively, the Music icon is what one uses to access audio files stored on an external hard drive which is physically connected to the Oppo’s USB.

Whether one gets to digital audio files via the Music icon or the My Network icon, the resulting interface for selecting specific files is essentially the same as the folders/files interface used by Windows Explorer. Admittedly, I am not an Apple person and have no experience with iTunes, iPhones, or any other i devices, but certainly for anyone familiar with the Windows world the interface that Oppo presents for selecting digital audio files should be a piece of cake!

So what about playlist functionality? First of all, even though it’s very basic and of limited utility, the Oppo itself has a built-in capability for creating a playlist on the fly. This is possible when accessing audio files stored on an external hard drive via the Music icon. When any folder on the external drive is opened, any audio files contained in the folder display in a list along with an “Add to Playlist” icon and a submenu option for selecting the playlist so created. The shortcomings of this built-in playlist feature are that it’s only possible to create one playlist, and the Oppo won’t remember that playlist after being turned off. Moreover such a playlist is only available for digital audio files on an external drive. If using My Network to access files on a networked PC or NAS, the Add to Playlist icon is replaced by a Server List icon.

So Oppo’s built-in playlist feature is pretty crappy, but I still don’t see why people who discuss Oppo as part of a streaming solution mention playlist functionality as something that’s lacking. For one test, I used Windows Media Player to create a playlist with tracks drawn from different folders to see if my Oppo would recognize such a playlist and then play music based on it. It did. For another test, I used JRiver Media Center 18 to create a couple of playlists to see if my Oppo would play correctly using them. It did. So what more does one need? Maybe I am missing something, but I just don’t get the concerns that I read time and time again about Oppo’s playlist and interface functionality.

Then there’s this business – which many have boohooed-- of needing a video display to work in conjunction with an Oppo in order to use the Oppo for streaming. So what? What’s so unique or awful about that? Needing some kind of visual display for browsing/selecting files for playback seems to me to be a universal requirement in any streaming solution, not a unique requirement. Obviously, there are source devices other than the Oppo that incorporate their own itsy bitsy visual display, but frankly, I’d rather connect a separate display that will give me more screen real estate than I am likely to get with anything visual that’s integrated into a source device. If an Oppo is used in a home theater setup, then the TV satisfies the video display need; otherwise, a basic monitor can be connected to the Oppo for not much additional cost. No big deal.

Alternatively, in the case of the Oppo 95, an Android tablet that has Oppo’s Media Control app installed can be used wirelessly to access audio files via the Oppo’s Music or My Network icons. This is what I am doing since I use my 95 only for audio. In my case, it’s not part of a home theater, and there is no place to add a monitor where my Oppo is situated. So for me, an Android tablet provides the ideal visual link between my Oppo and the devices where my digital audio files reside (my laptop’s hard drive and an external hard drive). With JRiver software on my laptop, I can easily create playlists out the wazoo. With my tablet, I can then readily access those playlists from anywhere in my house and play the music defined by the playlist through my Oppo, Musical Fidelity preamp and amp, and B&W 804 Diamonds. It works quite well.

In the case of the Oppo 105, there is even more flexibility. For the 105, there is no Media Control app for Android tablets. However, I suspect that’s because there really isn’t any need for such an app with the 105. Whereas the 95 can function only as a DLNA player, the 105 can function both as a DLNA player and as a DLNA renderer. This is a key difference in the networking capabilities of the two players (for all I know, the only difference). I don’t have a 105 and have never seen one or used one. As I mentioned early on, I am a newbie to all this computer audio stuff. However, my understanding is that because the 105 can operate as a DLNA renderer, it is possible to “push” digital audio files directly from a laptop/PC to the 105. So if someone is lucky enough to have a 105 and also have JRiver or similar software installed on their laptop/PC, then I believe that person can use the monitor of their laptop/PC with the JRiver application’s interface displayed on that monitor to control everything.

Has anyone with a 105 tried this? Does it work as I’ve been led to believe?

You can indeed access the folder and subfolders but you need a monitor as Sarcher30 said. The interface is horrible. I setup a UPnP server for a family member and then connected their BDP-93 and it works but it's clunky.

If I recall, all you'll need to do is enter in the IP address of the server and (possibly) the port for the UPnP server if it's using a non-standard port. You'll be able to do all that on the Oppo. Then, bingo, when you go to access the additional media via the Oppo menu, you'll see your server and the folders there. I don't recall if you can have more than one UPnP source with the Oppo as a content storage.

I personally don't use UPnP. I have my entire setup through iTunes and my whole system automated via my iPhone. What I'd ask Oppo is if there's a more "user-friendly" way to control the navigation of UPnP content. That was the real clunky thing for me.

You need a video display to see and access the network on the OPPO. As far as I know there is no playlist feature so you have to play whatever is in the folder you are in at the time. That will be annoying to allot of people but I generally play whole albums anyway. I use Twonky on a desktop in another room.

There is an app but it just has the same features as the remote control. I hope they will come out with an app that will control the network features without the need for a video display and hopefully a playlist feature as well.

My home network includes a NAS and desktop computer connected to a router which provides wireless to the rest of the house. Both the NAS and desktop have Logitech Media Server running and I think the NAS has Twonky preloaded.

I use both to stream music to my Squeezebox and use the Sony streamer for video like Netflix. The Sony can also support audio services such as Pandora.

From your comments it sounds like the Oppo should be able to access my music library on the NAS or desktop. Can you elaborate on the interface? Is it part of the Oppo menu and can third party control software used? I have an iPhone app for both the Squeezebox and Sony. The app for Squeezebox is pretty good, the Sony app is pretty minimal.

UPnP is supported on the Oppo units without issue but the interface is clunky in my opinion. When you say network capability what do you mean? Gigabit vs 10/100 or ability to see a NAS, etc.?