Blu Ray Player

Posted by: IanG on 16 September 2016

Currently my home cinema 5.1 system comprises a cheap Sony blu ray player into a surround sound receiver (Rotel RSX 1550) via HDMI. The front left/right channels are run via my Naim 252/300 with the 252 in AV bypass mode. All other channels are run by the Rotel.

My question is this, in the above set up, would replacing the Sony blu ray with a premium player (e.g. Oppo etc) would I benefit with improved picture and audio or are these processed in the Rotel and hence would be the same quality regardless of which blu ray player I use ?

Apologies if this is a very basic question but I'm not sure which part of the chain is responsible for what as far as the audio and image processing is concerned.

Posted on: 14 December 2016 by count.d

That's what they said about vinyl. If young folk don't buy bluray, it's because they don'y have any money. The same reason they don't go to the cinema. The big money is from us old folks, who buy fancy vinyl boxsets, hence vinyl sales revenue higher than downloads.

Posted on: 14 December 2016 by BigH47

Is there a cheaper BRP and SACDP, for me more than 2 channel is a waste but maybe a better picture is worth looking into, as TV will be due for an update soon. 

As one of the old folks, I can afford to but choose not to pay these hugely inflated prices for, vinyl in general and these ridiculous and to me spurious box sets. No surprise as Count says that vinyl revenue is so high. 

Posted on: 14 December 2016 by tonym
count.d posted:

I was getting excited about the Oppo arriving too, until it sunk in that's there's nothing to play in it.

There are quite a few 4K BluRays out at the moment, plus this player will upscale "standard" BluRays to 4K, and anything else you feed it with. Want one...

Posted on: 14 December 2016 by count.d

There were some films I was interested in that have just been released Tony. They state "4k restorations" in the description, but only play in 1080 hd. Very strange.

Posted on: 14 December 2016 by tonym

I guess we'll see lots of confusion around this Count. A bit like "HD" music files; will it just be rehashed standard definition, or a proper 4K source file?

Posted on: 14 December 2016 by Don Atkinson

What format does the "Film Industry" use these days to capture its primary image ?

Posted on: 14 December 2016 by Finkfan
tonym posted:

I received notification yesterday that the new Oppo UDP-203 4K disc player is available to pre-order, with despatch in two days. But only for the USA at the moment. Booo!!!

What hifi have just said the Oppo will be on sale here in the U.K. at the end of the week at £649. 

Posted on: 14 December 2016 by Guy007

For those that want images / info on the 203, go here https://www.oppodigital.com/blu-ray-udp-203/

For those referencing the Darbee edition of the 103/105, here is what OPPO support responded to me on the question of a Darbee edition for the 203/205

"At the moment Darbee does not have a 4K solution.  If or when they do, we can then investigate that possibility."

Posted on: 14 December 2016 by Guy007
count.d posted:

There were some films I was interested in that have just been released Tony. They state "4k restorations" in the description, but only play in 1080 hd. Very strange.

I have some Jean Michel Jarre Cd's from 1997 which have a big sticker on the front saying " 24 Bit Digital Re-Master' with "96 Khz-24 bit" on the back, yet they only play at CD 16 bit quality...

Posted on: 15 December 2016 by tonym
Guy007 posted:

For those that want images / info on the 203, go here https://www.oppodigital.com/blu-ray-udp-203/

For those referencing the Darbee edition of the 103/105, here is what OPPO support responded to me on the question of a Darbee edition for the 203/205

"At the moment Darbee does not have a 4K solution.  If or when they do, we can then investigate that possibility."

Yes, I saw something similar Guy. So the question is, will the new player's picture quality be better than my 103D on 1080P? I do use Darbee, but only gently. I suppose I'll have to buy one to find out (or wait for others to report on the issue).

Posted on: 15 December 2016 by tonym
Guy007 posted:
count.d posted:

There were some films I was interested in that have just been released Tony. They state "4k restorations" in the description, but only play in 1080 hd. Very strange.

I have some Jean Michel Jarre Cd's from 1997 which have a big sticker on the front saying " 24 Bit Digital Re-Master' with "96 Khz-24 bit" on the back, yet they only play at CD 16 bit quality...

Have you tried looking at the digital music files on the disc Guy? Sometimes discs will have the HD files present but for reasons known only to the gods, won't play them. DVD Audio Extractor will tell you (which you probably know...).

Posted on: 15 December 2016 by Finkfan

203 now available from £599 from a few dealers but most showing low stock. 

Posted on: 15 December 2016 by Guy007
tonym posted:

Yes, I saw something similar Guy. So the question is, will the new player's picture quality be better than my 103D on 1080P? I do use Darbee, but only gently. I suppose I'll have to buy one to find out (or wait for others to report on the issue).

Tony, this is one of the reason's I'm going to wait to buy, until the early adopters can give feedback on the 203 in comparison to the 103/D and 105/D in picture & sound.

Posted on: 15 December 2016 by Guy007
tonym posted:
Guy007 posted:
 

Have you tried looking at the digital music files on the disc Guy? Sometimes discs will have the HD files present but for reasons known only to the gods, won't play them. DVD Audio Extractor will tell you (which you probably know...).

Tony, I have not done that admittedly, so I will give that a try.  Looking at the underneath surface it looks like a normal CD, not like an SACD.  And dbpoweramp didn't increase anything, like when ripping HDCDs.

As an aside, I don't believe Jarre has released those files as Hi Res, even though he was 10/15 years ahead of where digital is now using those 24/96 files.

Posted on: 15 December 2016 by tonym
Guy007 posted:
tonym posted:

Yes, I saw something similar Guy. So the question is, will the new player's picture quality be better than my 103D on 1080P? I do use Darbee, but only gently. I suppose I'll have to buy one to find out (or wait for others to report on the issue).

Tony, this is one of the reason's I'm going to wait to buy, until the early adopters can give feedback on the 203 in comparison to the 103/D and 105/D in picture & sound.

Dammit, I'm torn! I did risk buying my 103D when they first appeared and never regretted it, but it might be more sensible to wait a bit for this. But then I've never been terribly sensible.

Posted on: 15 December 2016 by Adam Zielinski
tonym posted:
Guy007 posted:
tonym posted:

Yes, I saw something similar Guy. So the question is, will the new player's picture quality be better than my 103D on 1080P? I do use Darbee, but only gently. I suppose I'll have to buy one to find out (or wait for others to report on the issue).

Tony, this is one of the reason's I'm going to wait to buy, until the early adopters can give feedback on the 203 in comparison to the 103/D and 105/D in picture & sound.

Dammit, I'm torn! I did risk buying my 103D when they first appeared and never regretted it, but it might be more sensible to wait a bit for this. But then I've never been terribly sensible.

Is your 103D broken?

Posted on: 15 December 2016 by tonym

No, it's fine. Or, err, it might be playing up a bit and therefore urgently needs changing. What to buy instead?

Posted on: 15 December 2016 by Adam Zielinski

I think I can hear a slight whirring sound from the drive... most likely broken... I wonder if Oppo have a new player... oh.. what a surprise, there is one coming to a shop near us next week 

Posted on: 15 December 2016 by Guy007
tonym posted:

Dammit, I'm torn! I did risk buying my 103D when they first appeared and never regretted it, but it might be more sensible to wait a bit for this. But then I've never been terribly sensible.

It was a no brainer with Darbee, but with no reviews yet.... I'm sure it will be good, but just how much better. Also the 'possibility' of a future Darbee version...

RE Jarre - no dice on the Audio Extract, a sticker is all it seems to be..

Posted on: 16 December 2016 by Mike1380

Been watching 30yr old episodes of blackadderII on DVD on a UDP-203 this evening. 

Erm, it's a bit bloody good!

 

Then tried Captain America Civil War on BluRay  again, stunning. 

 

Sound on bitsream out via my AV2 also noticeable and significant step up on my old 83SE

 

I do have allthe leads to hook the 203 up as a processor to my 82 unity gain and NAP-V175. Will do that ovr the next few days and see if the AV2 can retire. 

 

Even if the AV2 stays, this 203 is a worthy investment. Glad I took the plunge. 

Posted on: 16 December 2016 by IanG

Mike1380, that's not what I wanted to hear....

Are you using a 4K TV ?

Posted on: 16 December 2016 by Mike1380

Not yet... source first. . Using a fully calibrated 1080P set from the last throes of Toshiba. A set originally and specifically chosen for its' beautiful scaling properties when I used to send DVI straight to it at 576p from my n-Vi. Nice that this "visual loudspeaker" has proven worthy by showing off the improvements at the source. 

 

I wasn't going to move up to 4k until Dolby Vision and HDR are more than just "OK" for anything less than three grand. 

 

In the meantime a fresh player to show off well over a thousand DVDs and about a hundred BDs has proven a wise move. 

 

A bit of Yes Prime Minister boxset with breakfast is still stunning. Tonight I'll try some movie DVDs. 

Posted on: 17 December 2016 by IanG

Thanks Mike, that's even worse. I'm not planning to move to 4K yet either. I think you've just made my mind up on the player though !!

Posted on: 17 December 2016 by MDS

Hmmm. I can see my 93U soon being relegated to duties on the occasionally used TV in another room.

Posted on: 09 January 2017 by Finkfan

https://www.oppodigital.co.uk/...video/UDP-203-EN.mp4

When funds allow....