[evanft]

I recently replaced my cheapo Mintek DVD player with an Oppo 980. My amp is a Darkvoice 336i w/ stock tubes and my headphones are Grado SR-80s. My initial impressions of the 980 are that it produces a more open, perhaps fuller sound, but it is somewhat muddy, especially during lower frequencies.

This worried me at first, but after some thinking, I believe I know why I'm hearing what I'm hearing. Obviously, each component of my system can effect the overall feel of the sound. I'm thinking that the harshness of the Mintek (it is quite harsh) was balanced out by the warmth of the Darkvoice and its stock tubes, creating a nicer, more level sound. The Oppo, however, could be a much more balanced player than the Mintek and could have much better freq. response at lower freqs. The combination of this sound signature with the stock Darkvoice could be causing the muddiness.

Does this make sense to anyone else, or is the Oppo just a bassy player? I am getting new tubes for the DV, btw.

 

[HeadphoneAddict]

Just burn-in the Oppo for a couple of hundred hours, and get those tubes for the DV, and then let us know how it sounds in 2 weeks.

 

[infinitesymphony]

Sounds like a valid assumption to me... The Oppo should be more accurate--even though it's not a high-end player, the analog section should be much better than the one in the super-cheap DVD player.

 

[Sovkiller]

infinitesymphony, the OPPO is a high end player, not at the level of a multithousand dollar ones but still a very good performer audio an video wise, do not let the price fool you, and if you have not, just try it for yourself...

 

[evanft]

Quote:

Originally Posted by HeadphoneAddict /img/forum/go_quote.gif Just burn-in the Oppo for a couple of hundred hours, and get those tubes for the DV, and then let us know how it sounds in 2 weeks.

Ah yes, burn-in. That completely slipped my mind. The original owner said it had only be used for about 10 hours. The Mintek is old as hell.

I got the tubes, and they helped a lot. Everything is much more precise and clearer. I also did an A/B comparison with the cheapo player, and the Oppo is indeed starting to come around and sound better than it.

 

[infinitesymphony]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sovkiller /img/forum/go_quote.gif infinitesymphony, the OPPO is a high end player, not at the level of a multithousand dollar ones but still a very good performer audio an video wise, do not let the price fool you, and if you have not, just try it for yourself...

The video section of the Oppo is extremely good for the price, but the audio section is not so good. If I needed a new upscaling DVD player, I'd pick up the Oppo for sure.

That it sounds good for under $200 doesn't automatically make it high-end. It's just a good value. Stereophile's measurements revealed that the DV-970HD had extremely high amounts of jitter, which made it a poor transport and potentially affected its own internal sound quality. The newer models probably don't fare much better.

 

[Sovkiller]

Quote:

Originally Posted by infinitesymphony /img/forum/go_quote.gif The video section of the Oppo is extremely good for the price, but the audio section is not so good. If I needed a new upscaling DVD player, I'd pick up the Oppo for sure. That it sounds good for under $200 doesn't automatically make it high-end. It's just a good value. Stereophile's measurements revealed that the DV-970HD had extremely high amounts of jitter, which made it a poor transport and potentially affected its own internal sound quality. The newer models probably don't fare much better.

They do, and the OPPO 980 is not the 970, it is different, it uses high quality OPAmps in the audio section, please if you have a chance, just listen it, and make your own judgement after, not before, please....The Oppo is not my main player, I have others, I just picked it up for the versatility of playing almost everything, including PAL, and it was a really good surprise for me as well...I was really shocked to see how this inexpensive player performs in front of other three and four times its price, it is one of the best players not only for under $200.00, IMO for under $500.00 or more. It is a completelly underrated player

BTW they are working now in a trully high end beast, that will be around the $500.00 mark, IIRC, that promise to be a real killer...till then I'm very satisfied with my 980...

I do not trust any magazine measurements/reviews, they are now completelly subjective, and money biased, sorry to tell you that, they only promote what advertise and pay them, period...I lost my memory of the last time I read a really unbiased and trully honest review in a magazine...

 

[HeadphoneAddict]

I believe the Oppo 983 uses the ABT upscaler, and will cost around $350. I emailed them a week or two ago, and release is expected in Feb, and they said it will sound as good or better than the 980.

SO, I got a used Marantz CD5001 and am waiting for the 983 to come out.

 

[evanft]

Yeah, honestly, if I was planning to spend around $350 on a source, I would just buy the Marantz. I don't watch enough DVDs to justify the extra cost, especially when the sound quality probably isn't going to be NEARLY as big a jump as it was from the 970 to 980.

But, knowing my luck, they'll release the 990 sometime in the summer and it'll basically be a 980 with noticeably improve sound. Bastards.