Just got my Exemplar Modded Oppo BDP-83 - Page 2

Yep, in this price range it's there with the modwright xa5400es !  I doubt many have had the luxury of owning/hearing both though

I have the stock 83se and I am really impressed with it. 

 

As for transport I wish it would do bit perfect. There is no option for 44.1 it seems

 

I don't really understand what you mean here, the digital SPDIF output is 44.1/16 when the disc being played is a 44.1/16. When playing a DVD-A the Digital output is whatever the DVD has on it (I believe that it can be limited via the GUI). The Oppo cleanly outputs 192/24 or 96/24 when playing DVD-A discs that use those formats. Bit Perfect is a Computer Audio term, it doesn't really pertain to CD/DVD transport use. SACD's are a different beast due to their Draconian DRM, I know of no player that outputs the DSD data on the RCA Digital out due to DRM. A few players do output the DSD on a semi-proprietary HDMI interface for use with their own Branded Receivers (I believe Denon does this).

 

Or do you mean that you wish it would do Native playback? i.e. not using the SRC. Bit Perfect refers to the Digital Output of a computer. Native refers to playback without any up-conversion. Few separate DAC's allow Native conversion (My PS Audio PWD does, and it sounds excellent in that mode), and even fewer players (My Exemplar SACD3000 does as well).

Is it outputting 44.1 to a separate DAC even when you set it to 48/96 or 192 hertz? So it doesn´t automatically upsample cds to the setting you set it to?

When you're playing a CD it is outputting 44.1/16. When playing a DVD what it outputs depends on the disc and how you have the player configured. The player will downsample depending on what you tell it the highest LPCM (linear pulse code modulated) to use, and whether to output bitstream (used if you are connecting to a Dolby Digital/DTS processor or receiver) or LPCM (used if you are connecting to a DAC).

In the menu it does have an option of outputting DSD or LPCM when playing SACD's. I believe that if DSD is selected it puts the DSD on the HDMI cable (of limited use - really for certain receivers or home theater processors)' if LPCM is selected the player does an internal conversion from DSD to LPCM. As far as what sample rate and bit depth it will output after this conversion goes, I don't know. It may depend on what level of LPCM you told it is acceptable.

I've never experimented with the digital outputs while playing SACD's. I have always preferred to have my players do SACD's internally in DSD.

Nice to hear it doesn´t upsample CD:s then

 

I don´t think my RX-V663 support SACD and neither does my audio GD DAC. I have tested anyway without success.

What are the stock op-amps in the output stage, and what does Tucker use to replace them in the modded version?

 

That's not what I said. It doesn't output an upsampled Digital Output. I'm fairly sure that Oppo takes full advantage of the sophisticated SRC in the ESS DAC (Also in the DAC that is used in the base 83); meaning that if you're listening to the analog outputs I'm pretty sure that the digital was in fact upsampled to at least 192, possibly 384. But I'm not sure, I pay much less attention to such digital minutia than to what it actually sounds like.

 

As far as what John Tucker uses for his mods, I wouldn't offer that info. 1st he doesn't Just replace Opamps. John is big into Shunt Regulation, He installs dedicated shunt regulated power supplies for each Opamp, and digital stage, as well as adding HQ after market clocks. John does not just do a standard set of Mods on every piece. He takes significant time to engineer and test mods for each specific model that he mods. Case in point was my BDP-83SE (It was the 1st 83SE that he did). It took John well over two months to design its modifications (The ESS DAC's operate on a different voltage than the DAC's used in the base 83). The mods for my 83SE are in many ways similar to those in Aaron's 83, but by no means identical. I don't know if my modded 83SE is any better than Aaron's modded 83, and I seriously doubt if any difference will be noticeable under meet conditions. I for one am not a huge ESS Sabre DAC fanboy. I purchased the 83SE in the hope that because of the attention paid to its power supplies, output stage, and yes its DAC's that it would be "Good Enough" to meet my desired playback performance expectations; it wasn't. So I sent it to John Tucker for modification. If I could do it all over again I would have just purchased a modified BDP-83 from JT and bypassed the entire 83SE route.

16/44.1 through the coaxial/optical out and upsample when using it´s DAC? Where did you find this info btw

It has been awhile. Any more impression of the Exemplar modded Oppo guys?

I heavily prefer my Exemplar 5910 to the G08.  I still don't understand why John moved away from tube output modification.  Could it be due space available on the Oppo?  I paid $2400 shipped for a used Exemplar 5910 with siltech & mulduff caps awhile back but did remember that he charged $5k for the 5910, and $3.5K for 2900 & 3910 tube mods.