Oppo DV-981..What are the shortcomings?

[PeruvianSkies]

I'm in Canada so the price for the OPPO is $260 Can and my fav. dealer lists the HD-A2 for $599 Can but I would imagine I could get it for around +/-$500Can...quite a big difference.

I'm needing a DVD player that will match my current setup in quality sooner than later.But I thank you for this.

Don't let them talk you into an HD player just yet. That OPPO player will do just fine in the meantime until the war is over. There is little sense right now to jump on any format side and that player will definitely suffice in the meantime.

[Luvin Da Blues]

Don't let them talk you into an HD player just yet. That OPPO player will do just fine in the meantime until the war is over. There is little sense right now to jump on any format side and that player will definitely suffice in the meantime.

Thanks PS...I actually ordered one yesterday (with a excellent return policy). I'm sure it will out perform my old Denon DVD1000 that I find is not that terrible but not great either. Plus I wanted to get into SACDs and /or DVD-As.

By the way where is a good source OL to pick SACDs up?




Keep the noisy side facing you

[Robert-The-Rambler]

Thanks PS...I actually ordered one yesterday (with a excellent return policy). I'm sure it will out perform my old Denon DVD1000 that I find is not that terrible but not great either. Plus I wanted to get into SACDs and /or DVD-As.

By the way where is a good source OL to pick SACDs up?




Keep the noisy side facing you

CC has a great selection of just about as much as you can find for reasonable prices. From what I have seen so far it is obvious that DVD-Audio discs seem to have a higher production value and seem not only in sound quality to be a leap but presentation and added content a true leap forward. DVD-A always has a surround and stereo mix while SACD may only have a 2 channel mix.

[PeruvianSkies]

Ok, I need to address a few things:

First, Robert-the-Rambler....

If you are NOT noticing a difference between CD and SACD...then either you have one of the poorer SACD's out there, which there are some, or your equipment is not capable of discerning the difference as much.

Second, SACD is not nearly as difficult as DVD-A can be, so don't worry Rich.

Thirdly, there are a number of resources out there for SACD. I find eBay to be a great place to get them, plus alot of imports on there. Also, MusicDirect.com or Acousticsounds.com.

I also thought I would list a few SACD's that I have been very impressed with as well as some that are not-so-good.

THE GOOD:

Beck: Sea Change
Elton John: Any of them
Depeche Mode: Any of them (imports)
The Moody Blues (any of them, although they are not superb, but decent)
Any of the Mobile Fidelity titles.
Nine Inch Nails: Downward Spiral


THE BAD:

All of the Eric Claptons are pretty weak.
Dances with Wolves Soundtrack
O' Brother Where Art Thou Soundtrack
Some of the Telarc Classical discs
Most of the earlier SACD-only discs like the Michael Jackson

[Rich-n-Texas]

Second, SACD is not nearly as difficult as DVD-A can be, so don't worry Rich.

You know me...

Selecting the right "Group" is very important for a few reasons. The Elton John DVD has six groups, all of which have different parameters. One group will give you "extras", but another group will give you playback options (Dolby Surround, Stereo...etc). You won't find anything on the box that explains these groups.

PS, I got my replacement Queensryche: Empire DVD-A yesterday, loaded it up and guess what? Same problem... ALMOST! This time though I was able to get it to stop after it started autoplaying (which I surely wish it wouldn't do), and taking what I learned about this Group thing, I was finally able to listen to it cover-to-cover. This DVD has nine groups. Some have multi-channel listening options, some have interviews with the band members, one has a live track of Jet City Woman, but NOWHERE does this DVD outline the layout. It's possible that group one is the main menu, but my changer absolutely refuses to acknowledge anything exists in group one.

Probably a moot point observation, but I suspect there is no standard for DVD-A layout from record label to record label, so dumbo's like me have to struggle along as best we can. A sad state of affairs, IMO. -Rich

So you were impressed with Tubular Bells? Wow, I've got that album on vinyl. I can just imagine the imagery it must have on SACD. Is there a hybrid or DVD-A?

[PeruvianSkies]

You know me...

Selecting the right "Group" is very important for a few reasons. The Elton John DVD has six groups, all of which have different parameters. One group will give you "extras", but another group will give you playback options (Dolby Surround, Stereo...etc). You won't find anything on the box that explains these groups.

PS, I got my replacement Queensryche: Empire DVD-A yesterday, loaded it up and guess what? Same problem... ALMOST! This time though I was able to get it to stop after it started autoplaying (which I surely wish it wouldn't do), and taking what I learned about this Group thing, I was finally able to listen to it cover-to-cover. This DVD has nine groups. Some have multi-channel listening options, some have interviews with the band members, one has a live track of Jet City Woman, but NOWHERE does this DVD outline the layout. It's possible that group one is the main menu, but my changer absolutely refuses to acknowledge anything exists in group one.

Probably a moot point observation, but I suspect there is no standard for DVD-A layout from record label to record label, so dumbo's like me have to struggle along as best we can. A sad state of affairs, IMO. -Rich

So you were impressed with Tubular Bells? Wow, I've got that album on vinyl. I can just imagine the imagery it must have on SACD. Is there a hybrid or DVD-A?

Don't quote me on this...but I think there might be a DVD-A of Tubular Bells, if not Eagle Vision released a live concert that is quite good of Mike Oldfield.

[Luvin Da Blues]

You know me...

Selecting the right "Group" is very important for a few reasons. The Elton John DVD has six groups, all of which have different parameters. One group will give you "extras", but another group will give you playback options (Dolby Surround, Stereo...etc). You won't find anything on the box that explains these groups.

PS, I got my replacement Queensryche: Empire DVD-A yesterday, loaded it up and guess what? Same problem... ALMOST! This time though I was able to get it to stop after it started autoplaying (which I surely wish it wouldn't do), and taking what I learned about this Group thing, I was finally able to listen to it cover-to-cover. This DVD has nine groups. Some have multi-channel listening options, some have interviews with the band members, one has a live track of Jet City Woman, but NOWHERE does this DVD outline the layout. It's possible that group one is the main menu, but my changer absolutely refuses to acknowledge anything exists in group one.

Probably a moot point observation, but I suspect there is no standard for DVD-A layout from record label to record label, so dumbo's like me have to struggle along as best we can. A sad state of affairs, IMO. -Rich

So you were impressed with Tubular Bells? Wow, I've got that album on vinyl. I can just imagine the imagery it must have on SACD. Is there a hybrid or DVD-A?

....is this just for DVD-As? Again I'm showing my ignorance on this "new to me technology" but is this a menu selected item? I'm assuming that each "group" has different mixes/tracks? Does SACD have groupings or is it straight plug-n-play?

By the way...Mike Oldfield-TB sounds interesting...thinkin this will be the first disc I play to really get a feeling for SACD...it was totally impressive on vinyl tho I don't have it on CD.

[PeruvianSkies]

....is this just for DVD-As? Again I'm showing my ignorance on this "new to me technology" but is this a menu selected item? I'm assuming that each "group" has different mixes/tracks? Does SACD have groupings or is it straight plug-n-play?

By the way...Mike Oldfield-TB sounds interesting...thinkin this will be the first disc I play to really get a feeling for SACD...it was totally impressive on vinyl tho I don't have it on CD.

SACD is a different beast altogether and is very different from DVD-A. SACD does not offer any video portions, it's straight audio and you can choose CD-layer, 2-channel, or Multichannel in most SACD's. You have to be careful with the labels on some SACD's as some say SACD players ONLY, while others might not be MC, but 2 channel only.

[Rich-n-Texas]

Don't let them talk you into an HD player just yet. That OPPO player will do just fine in the meantime until the war is over. There is little sense right now to jump on any format side and that player will definitely suffice in the meantime.

I agree with that. Some would say machines like this are okay for the interim, but the interim could last 3 - 5 years. I'm sure there'll be more vendors in this market soon, but the Oppo price and feature set make it very attractive.

On that end there really is nothing that I could complain about other than some SACDs are terrible and not really an improvement over their CD counterparts.

That remark concerns me though. My first foray into DVD-Audio netted me a bad disc, so I hope SACD isn't a hit or miss type of thing.