Oppo UDP-205 XLR Polarity - You May Want to Check . . .

[damacman]

If you own one of these players and you're using it as a 2-ch source via the XLR outputs into your preamp, you'd be wise to check polarity at the speakers. I've had one for a few months now but only last night had the inclination to listen to a few CDs through it. My reference CDP is an ancient Pioneer PD-T07 with a fully balanced architecture and a special version of Pioneer's Legato Link DAC. To date, I've not heard another CDP or DAC best it in my space. So, I was curious how the Oppo compares.

In a quick listening comparison, I noticed that the Oppo sounded different from the Pioneer. Was this good or not? After 3 songs, the only thing I could put my finger on was different. And then it hit me - I should check to be sure both the Pioneer and the Oppo have the same output polarity to be sure I'm comparing both on the same playing field. Both are plugged into my McIntosh C200 preamp, also fully balanced.

So, out came my trusty Perfect Interface Phase Detector and the Autosound 2000 Test CD #101 (Track 3 is polarity pulses). Sho' enuf', the Oppo was backwards. Now I knew the Pioneer was correct because I've checked it before, yet I verified it and it was indeed correct. Pshew - the Oppo gives you the ability to invert the polarity in the menu so piece of cake whereas that would have involved swapping pins in the XLRs for the Pioneer. Oddly enough, the Oppo manual says that it comes pre-set to the American XLR standard and Inverting it sets it to the European XLR standard . . . but, you can't argue the results.

[Side note - if you've not used a polarity checker before, it's really simple. The polarity pulses are recorded three positive and one negative. Positive - Positive - Positive - Negative. If you stand directly in front of the speaker you can actually hear the difference. One holds the polarity checker close to the speaker's drivers and if you observe Green - Green - Green - Red lights, polarity is correct. This is a handy tool to ensure correct polarity for every driver in a loudspeaker as well as correct polarity for any source that you have said media with the necessary polarity pulses. Here is an example of a kit - https://www.mobilesolutions-usa.com/...page/pt-9a-kit ]

After I did that, I popped in my copy of Muddy Waters Folk Singer (MFSL CD) and just enjoyed it. The Oppo sounds just sublime. Now, does it sound better than my Pioneer? I'm not sure yet . . . I really need two copies of the very same CD so that I can switch back and forth in real time with one disc about 10 seconds ahead of the other. I actually do have a few such copies so I'll have to try that and see. But sometimes, you just want to listen and enjoy . . .

Oh, and from what I heard last night - the 205 is one helluva' CDP.