Secrets reviews Oppo 970HD (1 Viewer)

[John Garcia]

Review here.

Looks like another good review for Oppo.

 

[Jim Mcc]

It sounds pretty good. That might be the longest review they've ever written.

 

[Kevin G.]

Thanks john, I have been watching this player closely for a match to my MB-plagued Samsung DLP. I'm holding out for bugs to be resolved, and will probably order one up.

 

[LanceJ]

From the Secrets review linked above:
That p.o.s. HDMI system strikes again.

To me, HDMI is still firmly in its beta stage, and we're its guinea pigs.

But worse:

And typical for most reviews of universal players,

NOT ONE MENTION IF THIS PLAYER HAS BASS MANAGEMENT FOR THE HI-RES FORMATS.

Argghh!!! It would take a whole two minutes to find this out by simply playing a bass-heavy title like the Linkin Park dvd-audio or one of the Depeche Mode sacds and playing with the subwoofer or center channel yes/no option. That's not the most comprehensive method but better than nothing.:frowning:

 

[John Garcia]

There is an AH review of this player coming soon, and that was the first question I asked - bass management for hires. At $150, I wouldn't expect anything earth shattering in the way of BM though, their focus seems to be on the video side. There is also the Cambridge DVD89 which has more or less the same internals as the 970 but uses better DACs. I haven't had a chance to check this player out yet though, so I don't know if it has decent BM either.

 

[Andrew Pratt]

I've got one coming to me tomorrow. I'm heading out of town on vacation for a week starting Sunday but I'll see what I can find out re Bass Management for DVD-A etc. From what i've heard from people who's opinion I respect its audio capabilites are very good and it holds its own against some lofty competition.

 

[LanceJ]

Andrew/John: I realize both hi-res/surround formats are basically stalled out but there are still a good chunk of titles out there to listen to for us - and future - surround junkies. And even though I still believe - based on personal experience and many 5.1 pro's opinions - using full-range speakers (i.e. flat down to @40Hz) with no b.m. is still a viable option, I know most people use smaller satellites and still need it.

**********************************************

Shameless dvd-audio plug: later this year (August?) a Doors boxset will be coming out. It will include CDs and separate dvd-audio discs (i.e. no crappy DualDiscs - yay!!!!) of all their studio albums with: 5.1 surround mixes, original stereo mixes AND new stereo mixes sourced from the original multitrack master tapes.

The new 2.0 mixes should sound quite a bit better than the originals because except for L.A. Woman the multitracks have been sitting in a vault untouched all these years, unlike the original stereo master tapes that have been used over & over for various masterings of vinyl, 8-track, cassette, CDs, etc etc; plus they were mixed with lower resolution formats in mind.

Like me, if anyone has heard the 5.1 mix on the L.A. Woman dvd-audio, they know soundwise it sounds significantly better than the included 88.2kHz/24bit stereo mix (the 5.1 mix itself can be rather inconsistant but is still pretty good). >>> Not brighter, louder or overcompressed like many modern CDs* but clearer, more detailed and just sounds more real.

For people with universal and sacd-only players: last week I was at Barnes & Noble and saw that they are now selling the Moody Blues sacds via their website (before this you had to order from European companies).

* these are mastering decisions & not faults of the CD format itself. BTW: the graphics, packaging and included booklets for these remasters are reportedly of very high quality so even if you can only play the CD layer, they are still worth buying if you like the Moody's dreamy brand of prog rock (I do ).

 

[John Garcia]

Yep, I have L.A. Woman DVD-A and it is great. Particularly like Riders on there, it sounds amazing.

 

[Lane F.]

I'm sure this is a great player, but I don't understand how Secrets can recommend it based off their own criteria. The Oppo 970HD fails the "bad edit" test, and according to their Guide to the Progressive Scan DVD Player Shootouts: "We feel strongly that players that can't pass this test are not worth considering, given that there are inexpensive players that do pass it."

 

[FeisalK]

John do you know what audio DACs the DVD89 is using?

 

[Grant B]

Lance
Your statement about setting the output made me think and reopen the manual.
When I 1st saw it in the manual I thought the HDMI button was only active if you hooked it up via HDMI and not via component.
Hitting it twice and getting 1080i made my jaw drop
Holy %^&*(!!!
Thanks again for your inadvertent help!
Grant

 

[FeisalK]

here's the reply I got