[alphanumerix1]

End of an era

https://www.oppodigital.com/farewell.aspx

 

[zilch0md]

Shocking, absolutely shocking news. Who saw this coming? The end if a dynasty. Think I might purchase myself a UDP-205 or two and put them away for a rainy day.

Yes, I feel like buying one of everything they made and putting it away. They offered such great value for the money - not to mention terrific quality assurance and customer service.

 

[alphanumerix1]

Kind of glad i purchased the pm3 now looking forward to hearing it when it arrives.

I know this has probably been covered but which dac/amp and or cable combos improve the treble roll off?

cheers all

 

[435279]

Shocking, absolutely shocking news. Who saw this coming? The end if a dynasty. Think I might purchase myself a UDP-205 or two and put them away for a rainy day.

I did, the apparent discontinuation of the PM-3, with no obvious replacement was a good indicator, so I can't say I'm that surprised.

Its a bit of a disappointment, but we can continue to enjoy the excellent Oppo products we have purchased for a few years to come. I recently modded my PM-3 with the Brainwavz angled pads, so hopefully that should last a while.

Edit:

The UK Oppo website has an announcement too.

https://www.oppodigital.co.uk

 

[wilsonlaidlaw]

I know they are a very minor item but I think I better order two pare sets of the rubber bands to hold the HA2-SE to my iPod touch. When the originals were lost, third party rubber bands were a poor substitute. I feel very sorry for the folk working for Oppo in various countries, who will now be out of a job. The products are sufficiently good, both head-fi and Blu-Ray/UHD, that you would think they could sell the manufacturing rights to someone like Harman Kardon, after all, they seem to buy everyone else. The head-fi products would be a good fit with H-K's AKG line of products, where some of the more recent products e.g. the K391NC in ear active noise cancelling phones have been very lack-lustre (yes I was unfortunate enough to buy a pair).

 

[noplsestar]

Kind of glad i purchased the pm3 now looking forward to hearing it when it arrives.

I know this has probably been covered but which dac/amp and or cable combos improve the treble roll off?

cheers all

I did, the apparent discontinuation of the PM-3, with no obvious replacement was a good indicator, so I can't say I'm that surprised.

Its a bit of a disappointment, but we can continue to enjoy the excellent Oppo products we have purchased for a few years to come. I recently modded my PM-3 with the Brainwavz angled pads, so hopefully that should last a while.

Edit:

The UK Oppo website has an announcement too.

https://www.oppodigital.co.uk

@alphanumerix1 you should buy exactly what @SteveOliver bought. Those angled earpads will take care of your treble problem!

 

[435279]

@alphanumerix1 you should buy exactly what @SteveOliver bought. Those angled earpads will take care of your treble problem!

Agreed, comfort, treble and soundstage are all improved with these pads. The modification isn't the simplest I've done to a headphone but with a bit of care I got a good result.

 

[zilch0md]

It looks to me as if they still have the PM-3 in stock.

My advice to any Oppo Digital fan interested in buying new, rather than used, would be to go ahead and order whatever you've been contemplating, while you can.

If you can find a functioning "Buy" button on an Oppo Digital store page, that product is still in stock. (I just tested the PM-3 "Buy" button, for example.)

Note, too, that an Oppo representative told me yesterday that they will be supporting their products all the way through warranty expiration.

 

[MixMasterMan]

The PM3's are a wonderfully built headphone. I don't listen to it much, and planned on selling it, but now, may hold on to it. It's a shame, but this is just another sign that physical media is going the way of the dodo bird. I give DVD's and BRay's another 5-7 years, tops.

 

[435279]

The PM3's are a wonderfully built headphone. I don't listen to it much, and planned on selling it, but now, may hold on to it. It's a shame, but this is just another sign that physical media is going the way of the dodo bird. I give DVD's and BRay's another 5-7 years, tops.

Definitely, I use my PM-3 a lot and like it very much and I wouldn't bet against you on that prediction either.

 

[megabigeye]

Too bad about Oppo Digital shuttering its operations. I’ll be honest, I don’t have anything like a head for business, but these kinds of decisions never make much sense to me. Yeah, I get that Blu-ray probably doesn’t have much of a future, but it’s not like that was their only focus lately. It seemed like for the last four years they’d been branching successfully into audio. My (admittedly un-business-savvy) instinct would be to just pivot solely to the audio end of things. Is that market too competitive? Too niche?
Or leasing their tech to other companies? Didn’t they used to do that in their semi-early days? I seem to remember somebody else that was selling Oppo gear in custom cases at an exorbitant markup. (a Google search turns up that it was Lexicon. Ooh! Scandal!)
On the other hand, I’ll be honest again, I’m a little surprised they lasted as long as they did. For some ten years they only released one or two new DVD/Blu-ray players each year and would discontinue their older models. While I admire a company that focuses on getting one or two products just right (or, ahem, the best), I can’t imagine it’s a very lucrative way of doing things. And it didn’t seem like they were updating their audio products any more quickly.
My guess is that their parent company BBK Electronics is cutting chaff in order to position themselves as the number one mobile phone company. It seems a shame then that they didn’t just sell them off to somebody else. But, I guess, who wants to buy the leading company in a dying technology?
I’d be interested to know where the engineers and designers end up and if they continue designing class-leading products.

 

[Slim1970]

The PM3's are a wonderfully neutral headphone that can be EQ to your liking if you feel it's lacks anything. I had the OPPO PM1's for a stint but I enjoy the sound signature of the PM3's more. I have other headphones that bested the PM1's or at least did what they were designed to do. The PM3's as a portable can is tough to beat to my ears. I'm hate that they are closing their doors but I understand why.

 

[magicalmouse]

I wonder if anyone who has fitted the brainwavz pads could write or do a video of instructions how to fit them to the pm3 as the original pads seems to be fitted to a press-on plastic holder before being pressed onto the headphone?

thanks

d

 

[alphanumerix1]

Anyone have some eq settings they feel worked well with the pm3s?

 

[435279]

I wonder if anyone who has fitted the brainwavz pads could write or do a video of instructions how to fit them to the pm3 as the original pads seems to be fitted to a press-on plastic holder before being pressed onto the headphone?

thanks

d

That would be good, I've done mine already so can't make a video. It is a bit of a fiddly process, removing the old pads is simple enough but I didn't realise it was necessary to trim some of the pad new away, the part that fits over the plastic clip ring to make them fit properly, but it all looks and sounds very good to me now.