Oppo BDP 95 Modwright !

[McPlanar]

I've been out of the audio world for awhile but it's becoming the season so I'm back. I've been monitoring used MCD500 prices and they're finally getting under 4k. I'm getting ready to put some stuff up for sale which includes my ARC DAC7 since I wouldn't need that when in doing some research I come across this Modwright Tube modded OPPO. I'm really liking everything I've read so far and I will be following this thread closely. If I can hook my MacMini directly and feed it from my iTunes this could be a game changer. I would be using it exclusively in my 2 channel set up.

[JJinID]

For those who are interested, I heard back from Dan Wright late yesterday on the status of the Oppo 95 digital input mod. He is working on developing the same mod on the Sony XA5400ES first. The digital input mod for the Sony is almost completed - the hardware portion is finalized, and it is now pending some final software/firmware adjustments that should be completed in about a week.

Dan stated that the digital input mod for the Oppo would take about 4 weeks once the Sony mod is finalized. He also stated that the mod will have RCA and AES/EBU digital inputs!

So from the sound of things, it looks like I should have my player finished in another 6 weeks or so if all goes as expected. It would be terrific to have it arrive in time for the holidays!

[SRT-10 Viper]

Does anyone here have a modified 95 yet? If so, how does it sound?

[Volks]

Originally Posted by JJinID

For those who are interested, I heard back from Dan Wright late yesterday on the status of the Oppo 95 digital input mod. He is working on developing the same mod on the Sony XA5400ES first. The digital input mod for the Sony is almost completed - the hardware portion is finalized, and it is now pending some final software/firmware adjustments that should be completed in about a week.

Dan stated that the digital input mod for the Oppo would take about 4 weeks once the Sony mod is finalized. He also stated that the mod will have RCA and AES/EBU digital inputs!

So from the sound of things, it looks like I should have my player finished in another 6 weeks or so if all goes as expected. It would be terrific to have it arrive in time for the holidays!

That is great news indeed!.....i must say i love the look of the tube modded version on the Oppo!

[RoyMercer]

I received my Modwright modified OPPO BDP-95 a few days ago. I had two bybee rails installed, tube mod and all of the SS ch's modified. I will be comparing this player with my modified Jolida JD100A vacuum tube CD player. For two channel listing I am using Bob Latino's ST 120 tube amp and a Marantz AV7005. For 5.1 audio I am using an outlaw audio 7500 5 channel amplifier. My speakers are very bright Klipsch Horns. I have never been overly happy with these speakers. However I have too much money in all five to replace them at this time. In the little time I have had to play with it, I can say this:

Kristin walked me through every step. Even though I bugged Dan and Kristin, what probably seemed like every day, they always answered my questions.

The unit came when they said it would.

The entire unit was packed very well and everything was there.

The SS mod made a huge difference. It did take the edge off.

I don't want to comment on the tube mod just yet. I have not had enough time with the machine but I will update everyone as I do.

[JJinID]

Originally Posted by RoyMercer

I received my Modwright modified OPPO BDP-95 a few days ago. I had two bybee rails installed, tube mod and all of the SS ch's modified. I will be comparing this player with my modified Jolida JD100A vacuum tube CD player. For two channel listing I am using Bob Latino's ST 120 tube amp and a Marantz AV7005. For 5.1 audio I am using an outlaw audio 7500 5 channel amplifier. My speakers are very bright Klipsch Horns. I have never been overly happy with these speakers. However I have too much money in all five to replace them at this time. In the little time I have had to play with it, I can say this:

Kristin walked me through every step. Even though I bugged Dan and Kristin, what probably seemed like every day, they always answered my questions.

The unit came when they said it would.

The entire unit was packed very well and everything was there.

The SS mod made a huge difference. It did take the edge off.

I don't want to comment on the tube mod just yet. I have not had enough time with the machine but I will update everyone as I do.

Congratulations on receiving your Modwright Oppo 95 and I look forward to hearing your impessions!

One thing I noticed when looking at your equipment list is that you are using the Marantz AV7005 as your preamp. Just in case you didn't know this already, you will need to make sure you plug in the 2-channel tube output into the L/R multi-channel inputs of the AV7005 in order for it to remain analog out through to your amp. Any of the other 2-channel L/R inputs will digitize the signal from the 95 and add whatever additional processing you have turned on. If this is happening you won't be getting all of the benefit of the tube mods that you paid for and I suspect it won't sound nearly as good as it should. This is where it would be of benefit to reassign the tube outputs in the player as the LF/RF and plug them and the other analog channels into the AV7005's multi-channel inputs. The other option you have to try out is to bypass your Marantz and run from the player directly into your amps using the Oppo's volume control - just make sure it is turned way down first and not at 100% volume!

[jdandy]

RoyMercer.......Welcome to Audio Aficionado.

[RoyMercer]

Thanks for the info! Prior to the modwright mod, I was using the 7.1 input and the stereo outputs in place of LF/RF because in my opinion, letting the Oppo decode for movies sounds better than the Marantz. Right now I am using one of the aux inputs for the two Tube channels but I set the Marantz to Pure Direct mode. Odyssey made my system sound horrible and stereo mode does not sound much better. Do you think there is much difference between an aux input set in direct mode over the 7.1 analog inputs? I would love to use my tube channels in place of LF/RF but I can’t seem to get the Oppo to produce a sub output. I use my subwoofer about 40 -50 % of the time listing to music. The only time I get a sub output from the Oppo is when using multi channel media. Any ideas? Thanks!

I apologize for not having further info on the tube side of the mod; I can tell you I really like it. I should have more time this weekend to do some listing.

[JJinID]

RoyMercer - on your Marantz you will want to use the 7.1 inputs as even in "pure direct" with the aux or any of the other 2-channel inputs you are still putting the signal through the extra analog to digital and digital back to analog processing steps via the Marantz DAC. The 7.1 inputs are the only way to avoid this. That being said, you will want to determine in your system what is the best way to set things up based on how it sounds to you. If it were me though this is what I would be doing: reassign the dedicated 2-ch outputs to LF/RF in the Oppo setup and run them into the Marantz 7.1 L/R inputs, and then the corresponding C/LS/RS/Sub etc. from the Oppo into the rest of the Marantz 7.1 inputs. You will get a sub output from 2-channel listening if you do this and set your L/R speakers to "small" and sub to "on" in the Oppo speaker setup. Let us know how this works for you!

[RoyMercer]

Thanx!! I would have never thought to set to small for sub out, but it make sense.

Please read below info I pulled from the Mrantz manual and tell me if you still think that in direct mode, the signal is sent through the Mrantz's D/A using the aux inputs:

Source Direct:

There is a tremendous amount of processing power available in the AV7005, but in some cases it is more desirable to preserve as clean a signal path as possible. With this in mind, the Source Direct listening mode disables Audyssey and Manual EQ, bass management, and M-DAX. Each incoming channel is sent directly to its output, untouched by the DSP circuits. Analog inputs thus remain pure analog when in this listening mode, with only volume control touching the signal.
Pure Direct:

The Pure Direct listening mode is similar to Source Direct. In addition to what Source Direct does, Pure Direct disables video output (composite, component, and HDMI) and turns off the front panel display. As with Source Direct, this means that no bass management, channel trim, speaker delay, or equalization is applied and analog inputs remain analog.

• Each time P.DIRECT is pressed, the
direct mode is switched.
Source Direct This mode plays back tracks at high sound quality
without passing through the sound quality adjustment
circuits.
Pure Direct z This mode plays back tracks at the closest to the
original sound quality.
Auto This mode detects the type of input digital signal,
and automatically selects the corresponding mode
for playback.
z The following circuits that affect sound quality are set to off.
• Main unit’s display circuit (The display is turned off.)
• Analog video input/output circuit