Oppo BDP-83 on the way

[jdandy]

The last frontier in my home theater is the aging Panasonic DMP-BD10A Blu-ray DVD player. It has served me well as my first Blu-ray player, but there have been advances in Blu-ray video processing, and upscaling capabilities on the new players, so I have been researching a number of different players in the under $1K catagory, trying to find a player that provides the best video processing in that price range. It all boiled down to two machines, the Denon DVD-3800BDCI, which is closing out at a hugh price reduction right now, and the Oppo BDP-83, which is also at a very attractive price point.

The Denon DVD-3800BDCI has a fair reputation as a quality Blu-ray player, although reading customer reviews on various sites it seems to have had its fair share of transport problems, and all owners commented on very slow load times. I believe the audio output might best the Oppo for multi-channel music, but that's not why I am purchasing a Blu-ray player, so any edge the Denon has over the Oppo in that area does not influence me.

I purchased the Oppo BDP-83 over the Denon because of the positive responses of so many owners, and nothing but glowing reviews from every publication that tested the player. I did not find a single bad review on the Oppo. The Anchor Bay VRS video processor is a powerhouse, using the same video upscaling technology as the DVDO EDGE Video Scaler. DVD upscaling performance is said to be top-notch, and a cut above the pack, with disc loading time on par with the PS3, which seems to be the accepted speed benchmark these days. I also like the Oppo BDP-83 because it is slim, and I can still stack my DirecTV HD satellite receiver on top of it, and both pieces will fit on a single rack shelf.

The Oppo BDP-83 will arrive next week, and the Panasonic DMP-BD10A will now see duty in my office system where I have been using an older Denon DVD-2800 progressive scan 480p DVD player. The Denon DVD-2800 will probably stay in the office system as a CD player because it can decode HDCD, and no other player I own has this feature.

I am looking forward to the new Oppo BDP-83 arriving. The Blu-ray playback on the Sony 52XBR9 should be spectacular.

[thughes]

Dan, I just posted a link on another thread for Cambridge Audio's new everything Blu-ray player.

Azur 650BD Blu-ray Universal Player

[jdandy]

Terry.......Yes, I saw the news releases about the Azur. Stiil almost $300.00 over the Oppo BDP-83, and no proven track record yet.

[jdandy]

Terry.......It wouldn't surprise me to discover that there is an Oppo player behind the Cambridge Audio Azur faceplate.

[thughes]

It wouldn't surprise me to discover that there is an Oppo player behind the Cambridge Audio Azur faceplate.

... could be. I remember that that Cambridge CD player received good reviews, a lot of bang for the buck.

[jdandy]

Terry.......I looked at an early press release on the Azur. It showed screen shots of the setup menus. Looks just like the Oppo setup menus. Feature for feature, spec for spec it's a ditto. Hmmm.

[thughes]

... same dacs?

[Still-One]

Originally Posted by jdandy

Terry.......Yes, I saw the news releases about the Azur. Stiil almost $300.00 over the Oppo BDP-83, and no proven track record yet.

Haven't seen much from Cambridge that would indicate that whatever they would produce would be anything less than a stellar product

[jdandy]

Terry........After some research I have found the Azur's DACs, listed as Crystal DACs in the Azur 650BD literature using the manufacturer's part numbers CS4345 and CS4361, are listed in Cirrus Logic's calalog. The CS4345 DAC is a dual channel DAC (24bit/192kHz), and the CS4361 DAC is a six channel DAC (24bit/192kHz). The Azur uses the two channel DAC for stereo audio, and the six channel DAC plus the two channel for 7.1 audio, as best as I can determine from the information I have found.

The Oppo BDP-83 uses Cirrus Logic a dual channel DAC dedicated to the stereo audio output, and a Cirrus Logic eight channel DAC for processing the 7.1 audio signals. Both Cirrus Logic Dacs in the Oppo are 24bit/192kHz.

So what I have been able to determine is the chip sets are not identical in the two players, although it would seem that the dedicted eight channel DAC in the Oppo for processing 7.1 audio, completely independent of the two channel audio DAC for the stereo only channels, would be the better processing approach. Not being an electronics engineer, this is strictly an opinion.



I have seen photos under the hood of the Oppo, but have not found any photos showing the Azur with the cover removed, so I cannot make a visual comparison on the similarity of the two Blu-ray players. Once the Azur reaches customers, and gains some reviews, the secrets will be revealed. So far, this is the best I could come up with.

[jdandy]

Originally Posted by Stillone

Haven't seen much from Cambridge that would indicate that whatever they would produce would be anything less than a stellar product

Jim.......I would agree with you. A new brushed aluminum face plate and rearrangement of controls, plus the Cambridge name on the front would still give them a stellar product.