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Review and Measurements of Oppo UDP-205 UHD Player

NorthSky

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Use the analog stereo output for your CDs.
The 205 is also a DAC with various digital inputs.
It doesn't matter that you don't have a 4K TV, ten years from now (make that five) you will.
And ten years from now (make that three to five) 3D will be back. * Front PJs do 3D, today.
And ten years from now (make that twenty) the 205 will keep struttin'.

MI0002470374.jpg


Lol, you guys are too funny. Anyways, I opened it up to take a look, couldn't help myself.
Funny thing is, I don't even have a 4K TV, still rocking a 60" plasma and love it, plus the new TVs don't have 3D, which I have about 75 discs that I own.
But I always wanted one of the fancy "audiophile" models from Oppo.
_____

* Oppo 205 extra info:

"On the two-channel stereo board, only six sections of the DAC chip (ES9038PRO) are used---two for the stereo unbalanced outputs, two for the balanced outputs and two for the headphone amplifier."
 
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envydd

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@NorthSky do you use it as a preamp (using analog output)? Since ESS DACs all have digital volume controls anyway, its a good question if we need the pre-amp between the 205 and the power amp
 
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amirm

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Got mine today (in less than 24hrs since ordering it). Still boxed due to weekend chores :) Wonder if anyone uses it as a preamp. Then I can remove one box from my small AV cabinet
It has a remote controlled volume control so don't see why not.
 

NorthSky

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Got mine today (in less than 24hrs since ordering it). Still boxed due to weekend chores :) Wonder if anyone uses it as a preamp. Then I can remove one box from my small AV cabinet

Some people do, yes and with success. Not me though, I use a preamp (Anthem).
 
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frogmeat69

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Use the analog stereo output for your CDs.
The 205 is also a DAC with various digital inputs.
That's what I really want it for, the DAC, and for my SACD, DVD-A and BD-A collection, play them through the XLR and RCA stereo outputs for my iCan Pro and Little Dot Mk III . Every other feature is gravy .
 

NorthSky

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I don't know of any other player that can play all the physical formats, that is a complete DAC with three digital inputs, that has a HDMI input, that has one special low jitter HDMI audio ouput, that has three USB ports (two of them version 3.0, one of them asynchronous), that can play so many high resolution files, that has analog stereo XLR output connection, that is built like a high-end class audio/video component, that has some of the best simple looking menus, that is loaded with features and adjustments and useful information, that is so well designed and nice looking, that supports almost everything when Adam and Eve first came up in the garden of Eden under an apple tree.

But everything above is just pea soup with pizza from Singapore; the measurements look like fresh lobster from the Atlantic Ocean, by the beach over a camp fire under the sunset, and later on taking a stroll with the killer whales from the Pacific Ocean. That, is Sparta.
 
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NorthSky

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They don't give us headphone jacks anymore on our discs spinners, and a preamp volume control for both.

It's not in the Stereophile's recommended components list anymore, because it is discontinued now...last April. But it was on that list just prior to that date...Class A+ with *** for superb value (only $1,300). The next high-end player that sounds better and that can play 4K discs doesn't even exist. So the fact that it is also a premium DAC with two top-notch top-of-the-line ESS Sabre PRO DACs, is like it was born to run inside the Large Hadron Collider in Switzerland and to produce nuclear fusion with a Big Bada Boom Bang.
 

frogmeat69

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Got her hooked up. Holy cow, this beast is huge, heavy too! Trying the headphone output with my Beyerdynamic T1's sounds very nice, gotta turn it up quite a bit, but it drives them well, nowhere near as strong as my iCan Pro, but powers them to the level I listen to usually, so no complaints.
Now I gotta figure out how to use it for both my PC headphone amp and powered speakers and with my TV and Receiver that's on the other side of the room. I guess a 30ft. HDMI cable would work.
 

DonH56

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At 30' you'll probably want an active HDMI cable...
 

NorthSky

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Got her hooked up. Holy cow, this beast is huge, heavy too! Trying the headphone output with my Beyerdynamic T1's sounds very nice, gotta turn it up quite a bit, but it drives them well, nowhere near as strong as my iCan Pro, but powers them to the level I listen to usually, so no complaints.
Now I gotta figure out how to use it for both my PC headphone amp and powered speakers and with my TV and Receiver that's on the other side of the room. I guess a 30ft. HDMI cable would work.

At 30' you'll probably want an active HDMI cable...

Not really...
https://www.monoprice.com/product?c_id=102&cp_id=10240&cs_id=1024021&p_id=32991&seq=1&format=2

It would do.
______

If it doesn't ...
https://www.monoprice.com/product?c_id=102&cp_id=10240&cs_id=1024019&p_id=13757&seq=1&format=2
 

frogmeat69

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So this 205 thingy seems to be a winner, being used as a DAC and disc player only, not going anywhere. Gonna skip the long HDMI cable, my other Oppo players do a fine job for the HT setup, being I am running 1080 and not 4K yet. Time to do some Ebaying, lol.
 

derp1n

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Extra (for lowering the noise flloor):
5500 euro plus another 1200 euro for the analog section, on top of supplying your own device. Many claims, zero measurements. Typical audiophile tweaker BS. You would have to be stark raving mad.
 

NorthSky

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"On the two-channel stereo board, only six sections of the DAC chip (ES9038PRO) are used---two for the stereo unbalanced outputs, two for the balanced outputs and two for the headphone amplifier."

¤ Oppo Digital UDP-205

"On the two-channel stereo board, only six sections of the DAC chip (ES9038PRO) are used---two for the stereo unbalanced outputs, two for the balanced outputs and two for the headphone amplifier."
 
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NorthSky

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5500 euro plus another 1200 euro for the analog section, on top of supplying your own device. Many claims, zero measurements. Typical audiophile tweaker BS. You would have to be stark raving mad.

It's for people who love to go that extra threshold in audio.
...People with a little bit more money, extra daring ambition, audio explorers, looking for the best sound below one billion dollars.

For measurements you need to buy one and measure it and listen to it for yourself.
Because no matter what you read, see and hear; only you is the final arbiter.

I'm sure you agree with that; I don't have your eyes, your ears and your brain.
That would be a scientific miracle, an improbability in the year 2018...99.9999999% certain of that.
 
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amirm

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Extra (for lowering the noise flloor):
He knows fair bit about objective video evaluation but sadly, nothing about audio and got taken. He is impressed with SMD rework of components which technicians know how to do. He doesn't so he thinks it is magic. He is unfamiliar with instrumentation being used so gets confused there too. See this evidence of noise reduction:

1538358983772.png


I have circled the important bit in the spectrum display. The *starting* frequency is 27.55 megahertz. NOT kilohertz but 1000 times higher at megahertz. The ending spectrum is 54.9 megahertz. It is not hard to reduce these high frequency noise levels. Manufacturers only do so much until they pass compliance tests. Of course no way such noise is audible.

The plot thickens when you read the comments and specific point by "cinemike" himself on how the audio tests were done:

1538359154590.png


Yes, he is using a digital audio and video connection out of the Oppo. So no changes to the DACs or anything. The DAC is actually in the Marantz AV processor which is unchanged in the comparison.

He is simply being biased in listening in more carefully when he is told the modded player is working and as a result he "hears" more detail. That is very common but non-intuitive to a lay person.

It is a totally wasted mod if it does not come with any objective audio measurements.
 

NorthSky

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