Oppo UDP-205 UHD Blu-ray Player Review (1 Viewer)

[Josh Steinberg]

I wish I could still get a 203 The 205 is more horsepower than I need, and a greater expense than I can afford at the moment. Heck, the 203 was more than I could afford earlier in the year, and I ended up not getting one.

So best of luck to all of you 205 hunters!

 

[Gary Seven]

Well I got the new 205 yesterday, which is an upgrade from the 95 I have. One big difference is the absence of a fan, which makes the unit completely quiet now. Despite the fact this came from the factory recently, it still required a firmware update (the network adapter is built in now). The discs do load faster.

I bought this unit because it allows me two configurations...one for music (analog setup) and the other for movies (digital).

In setting this up for analog, I found my test tones were not working on the unit. After googling, I found I had to shut the player down, unplug and plug, then turn it on. The test tones were now there. It probably was the result of the firmware update. Manual calibration is the same but the big difference is the introduction of the player's variable volume control. Out of the box it is set to 100 and I found on my system, it produced a somewhat harsh sound compared to the 95. This required me to lock the volume at 85, and calibrate from there, which produced the sound I was looking for. Tip on the calibration, find the channel that is lowest output and attenuate the remaining speakers to match rather than boosting other speakers to match the max.

For digital, the above is not required and is straightforward as before.

 

[Nelson Au]

Gary, congrats on the 205! That’s great you got ona]e and so quick sinc they announced they are no longer producing players.

I’m not familiar with how you’re setting the levels on your Oppo. I usually set the speaker levels on the pre-amp. And I actually play music via analog as well. Though I’m not sure it’s the same way you’re doing it as I use the Oppo’s DAC and left and right analog out to the pre-amp and the pre-amp is set to by-pass.

Enjoy it!

 

[Gary Seven]

Gary, congrats on the 205! That’s great you got ona]e and so quick sinc they announced they are no longer producing players.

I’m not familiar with how you’re setting the levels on your Oppo. I usually set the speaker levels on the pre-amp. And I actually play music via analog as well. Though I’m not sure it’s the same way you’re doing it as I use the Oppo’s DAC and left and right analog out to the pre-amp and the pre-amp is set to by-pass.

Enjoy it!

Thanks.

I do not have a pre-amp, it is integrated. I do have an external amp to power the mains while the integrated powers everything else. I have all seven channels of the analog hooked up from the Oppo to the amp (Denon), though I only use 5 actually. I use the left and right connection to make use of the 2 channel DAC (rather than use FR and FL in the surround connections).

In the Oppo set up menu there is a section to configure audio, and in there to configure the speakers. For analog I have it mix down to 5.1 for 5.1 multi-channel SACDs, while stereo plays just stereo. In the speaker config, you can use test tones (though a calibration disc for sound is advised, rather than using the test tones) to identify the speakers and with a SPL meter, set the speaker levels so they all match in sound output. When I did this with the 95 model, I set the output of the speaker to match my max speaker, which was wrong since that can introduce clipping. Also, in that same audio section, there is a variable volume control, basically to match the sound output with other devices hooked up to the amp. The default is 100. I did set it to 85, but after attenuating my speakers quite a bit, I raised it to 100 again. Out of the box, the sound was a bit harsh. For analog, I calibrate for 5.1.

I have my speakers hooked to the amp via banana clips. When I listen to multi-channel music, I switch out the side speakers for the rears. since the rear speakers are better for music (the side speakers are di-poles) and switch the amp to external. I have a universal control, so except for the speaker connections, everything else switches automatically. Afterwards I switch the speaker connections back so digitally, it plays 7.1, which I use for movies and TV. For calibration for digital (using the HDMI connection), I just use Denon's calibration mic and program. Thus, in the end, there are two calibrations, one for movies and one for music.

 

[Nelson Au]

Hey Gary, I had a feeling that was the case, that you were going directly from the Oppo to the amplifier. I wondered about that and there seemed to be a consensus that it wasn’t always an ideal way to set-up a system for music. But if it works for you, then great.

I’m pretty happy with my set-up so far. I just use the by-pass feature on my set-up and send the analog out directly through the pre-amp for stereo and then set the pre-amp for the HDMI input for the movie soundtracks. The next thing I’m thinking of doing is connecting all the analog out connections into the pre-amp so I could see how that works for multichannel music as well as movies. So in that case, I’d probably have to calibrate the system for that.

 

[MarcMCD]

I own the 105 and love it but now have an oled and want the 4K capability. I’m going to keep the 105 for it’s audiophile sound ping DAC and sacd playback - but what’s a good standalone 4K player to complement the 105?

 

[Bryan^H]

I sold my Oppo UDP-205.

I'm happy with what I got for it, but sad to let it go. The last of its kind.

 

[Nelson Au]

Why did you sell it? I doubt I’d ever sell mine. Even though I’m moving to more and more to ripping my discs to stream, I’ll still want a drive to play discs.

 

[Carlo_M]

It will be a very sad day in my household when either my 103D or my 203 stop working...

 

[Bryan^H]

Why did you sell it? I doubt I’d ever sell mine. Even though I’m moving to more and more to ripping my discs to stream, I’ll still want a drive to play discs.

To be honest, the $4K was a trade I was willing to make for a few features not on my Panasonic.