Thanks to QQ Forums and my budget, I selected the Oppo BDP-93 as my upgrade from my Sony DVD/DVD-A/SACD player. I ordered it from Amazon.
A little bit of drama: The UPS driver came to our house at 3:40 and my wife came home a 4:00. Checking the tracking online from work (come on, you do it too), I realized the delivery was missed. Called my local UPS, and they gave her the cell number of the driver. God bless my wife, she called the UPS driver and parked on another street and waited for the driver to pass. Whew. On the up side, the package was never left on our doorstep.
But this is where it gets interesting. I read in more than one place that Oppo had some of the best packaging around, and then Amazon takes the Oppo box and puts it in their own box for shipping. So imagine my surprise to see how it was delivered: no Amazon box. The Oppo box had not been taped shut. The closest thing to “sealed” was that the mailing label had been pasted across the top seam of the box, where little cardboard tabs are tucked. The label had lifted off one flap, and two of the four tabs were unloosed. Basically, the box was delivered half opened.
This had me worried, so I set up my video camera and made an “unpacking” video. Not worth posting on the internet, but I wanted documentation in case there was a problem.
Once opening the flaps, everything was pristine. You can’t unpack and repack and make every crease line up. No hand prints on the unit, nothing seemed out of place. As always, I saved the box and packing material. Even if your unit is nearly ten years old, it re-sells much better if you pack it back in the original box.
I carefully disconnected my Sony and marked the cables for easy hook-up of the Oppo (the original set-up was professionally installed). With the addition of HDMI – the Sony was sold before there was such a thing as HDMI – everything worked after running through the quick-start menu.
I cranked up the only Blu-Ray I own, my Christmas present Tom Petty’s Damn the Torpedoes. It sounded a little off, a little weak, so I went deeper in to the menu and found that the Oppo defaults to a 7.1 setup, and I have 5.1. After correcting that, there was a noticeable difference. I have to go back in and change the settings from the “default” speaker distance from 12 feet, but I don’t think that will make much difference.
After entering my network password, the wireless connection worked flawlessly, and I easily updated the firmware. Immediately I noted that a DTS I played (Wings’ Venus and Mars) chopped off the first note of the first song, but that was rectified after updating the firmware.
I tried to run Pandora using my internet login, but Pandora was down for “maintenance” and it was nearly midnight, so I went to bed. Today I burned a BluRay video (the most excellent Roger Waters “iShoot iEdit” fan production of The Wall live 2010) and it played flawlessly in surround.
As an audiologist, I understand just how short auditory memory is, and I understand the “halo effect” when new equipment is concerned. However, I am impressed at the sonic improvement the Oppo is giving me over the Sony. Could the $400 NuForce upgrade really make another drastic difference? Is the BDP-95 really dramatically even better than the 93 or the 93 with NuForce upgrade?
So tonight I will just put on some favorite DVD-A’s and DTS CD’s and enjoy. I also have a 1080p fan-shot 2011 concert of The Cars that I’ll check out. I suppose I should purchase a BluRay disc to really put the system to the test. As far as movies go, I’m always happy to just get my HD movies via OnDemand, so I’m adding to my Amazon wishlist of some various concerts. Any must-have suggestions are welcome!
In 1989 I saw vinyl as a waning format, and bought a Thorens turntable with the idea that in another decade I may not be able to get another. I still have that unit and it runs like a champ. I’m hoping that the Oppo will service me, and play the formats I have, for as long as I want to listen to them. If not, well, I hope that these formats can be played somehow in 10-20 years. “Of course” you say? I have some Betamax videos, and my sister has some 8tracks that I’d love to be able to play. Meanwhile I have an awesome Oppo to carry me a long way.
A little bit of drama: The UPS driver came to our house at 3:40 and my wife came home a 4:00. Checking the tracking online from work (come on, you do it too), I realized the delivery was missed. Called my local UPS, and they gave her the cell number of the driver. God bless my wife, she called the UPS driver and parked on another street and waited for the driver to pass. Whew. On the up side, the package was never left on our doorstep.
But this is where it gets interesting. I read in more than one place that Oppo had some of the best packaging around, and then Amazon takes the Oppo box and puts it in their own box for shipping. So imagine my surprise to see how it was delivered: no Amazon box. The Oppo box had not been taped shut. The closest thing to “sealed” was that the mailing label had been pasted across the top seam of the box, where little cardboard tabs are tucked. The label had lifted off one flap, and two of the four tabs were unloosed. Basically, the box was delivered half opened.
This had me worried, so I set up my video camera and made an “unpacking” video. Not worth posting on the internet, but I wanted documentation in case there was a problem.
Once opening the flaps, everything was pristine. You can’t unpack and repack and make every crease line up. No hand prints on the unit, nothing seemed out of place. As always, I saved the box and packing material. Even if your unit is nearly ten years old, it re-sells much better if you pack it back in the original box.
I carefully disconnected my Sony and marked the cables for easy hook-up of the Oppo (the original set-up was professionally installed). With the addition of HDMI – the Sony was sold before there was such a thing as HDMI – everything worked after running through the quick-start menu.
I cranked up the only Blu-Ray I own, my Christmas present Tom Petty’s Damn the Torpedoes. It sounded a little off, a little weak, so I went deeper in to the menu and found that the Oppo defaults to a 7.1 setup, and I have 5.1. After correcting that, there was a noticeable difference. I have to go back in and change the settings from the “default” speaker distance from 12 feet, but I don’t think that will make much difference.
After entering my network password, the wireless connection worked flawlessly, and I easily updated the firmware. Immediately I noted that a DTS I played (Wings’ Venus and Mars) chopped off the first note of the first song, but that was rectified after updating the firmware.
I tried to run Pandora using my internet login, but Pandora was down for “maintenance” and it was nearly midnight, so I went to bed. Today I burned a BluRay video (the most excellent Roger Waters “iShoot iEdit” fan production of The Wall live 2010) and it played flawlessly in surround.
As an audiologist, I understand just how short auditory memory is, and I understand the “halo effect” when new equipment is concerned. However, I am impressed at the sonic improvement the Oppo is giving me over the Sony. Could the $400 NuForce upgrade really make another drastic difference? Is the BDP-95 really dramatically even better than the 93 or the 93 with NuForce upgrade?
So tonight I will just put on some favorite DVD-A’s and DTS CD’s and enjoy. I also have a 1080p fan-shot 2011 concert of The Cars that I’ll check out. I suppose I should purchase a BluRay disc to really put the system to the test. As far as movies go, I’m always happy to just get my HD movies via OnDemand, so I’m adding to my Amazon wishlist of some various concerts. Any must-have suggestions are welcome!
In 1989 I saw vinyl as a waning format, and bought a Thorens turntable with the idea that in another decade I may not be able to get another. I still have that unit and it runs like a champ. I’m hoping that the Oppo will service me, and play the formats I have, for as long as I want to listen to them. If not, well, I hope that these formats can be played somehow in 10-20 years. “Of course” you say? I have some Betamax videos, and my sister has some 8tracks that I’d love to be able to play. Meanwhile I have an awesome Oppo to carry me a long way.
