I have an intent to buy an Oppo-205 - anybody have any thoughts?

[gmgraves]

On 11/13/2017 at 12:27 PM, beerandmusic said:

 

the biggest issue for me is no gapless dsd over ethernet....but i am still considering the sonica regardless of that.

 

I don't need the transport (have marantz ud7007)

 

I don't think you can really go wrong though...hard to find better bang for the buck...nothing I am aware of offers more for less.

 

I could care less about airplay or anything apple.

 

Curiosity, what do you mean by no HDCD?  I know it does SACD?

 

It will play SACD as well as Blu-Ray audio and I believe that it will also play DVD-A, but I'm not 100% sure about the latter. It is, after all an obsolete format. Beerandmusic might be talking about HD files distributed on data DVDs such as Reference Recordings HRX series. I don't think any stand-alone disk player can parse those. They were meant to be inserted in one's computer's DVD drive and the files transferred to HDD for playback directly from said computer to one's DAC. 

[semente]

41 minutes ago, gmgraves said:

 

It will play SACD as well as Blu-Ray audio and I believe that it will also play DVD-A, but I'm not 100% sure about the latter. It is, after all an obsolete format. Beerandmusic might be talking about HD files distributed on data DVDs such as Reference Recordings HRX series. I don't think any stand-alone disk player can parse those. They were meant to be inserted in one's computer's DVD drive and the files transferred to HDD for playback directly from said computer to one's DAC. 

 

I think he's talking about HDCD-encoded CDs:

 

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_Definition_Compatible_Digital

 

I only have one, a Reference Recordings take on Stravinsky's ballets.

 

As someone once described, HDCDs played in a regular CD player supposedly sound like a Dolby C recording played with Dolby B.

[beerandmusic]

7 hours ago, gmgraves said:

 

It will play SACD as well as Blu-Ray audio and I believe that it will also play DVD-A, but I'm not 100% sure about the latter. It is, after all an obsolete format. Beerandmusic might be talking about HD files distributed on data DVDs such as Reference Recordings HRX series. I don't think any stand-alone disk player can parse those. They were meant to be inserted in one's computer's DVD drive and the files transferred to HDD for playback directly from said computer to one's DAC. 

it wasn't me talking about HDCD, i was the one asking what Ralf meant when in his first post he stated that was a con, that it didn't play hdcd...i was just curious

[Ralf11]

HDCD is far from obsolete (in the sense of not being used)

[beerandmusic]

16 minutes ago, Ralf11 said:

HDCD is far from obsolete (in the sense of not being used)

ok, had to google...

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_Definition_Compatible_Digital

 

better than redbook and 5000 titles available....sounds interesting...may be cheaper to buy than sacd's too....

 

I just checked...and my ud7007 won't play HDCD either...I have a few "sheffield lab cds" that won't play in one of my cd players but will on my ud7007...not sure what they are...

[Norton]

13 hours ago, Ralf11 said:

HDCD is far from obsolete (in the sense of not being used)

 

Agreed.  I've bought a number of HDCD titles from Reference Recordings in the last year or so.  Sound excellent on the Oppo or ripped using the DBPoweramp plugin.

[Ralf11]

OTOH, maybe it should be obsolete!  Move to something better.

 

But I already have all these CDs with it...

 

I have to say that HDCD encoded CDs in the Dead's Dick's picks series don't usually wow me as much as the Dave's Picks series - the latter uses HDCD AND the Plangent Process.

[gmgraves]

23 hours ago, semente said:

 

I think he's talking about HDCD-encoded CDs:

 

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_Definition_Compatible_Digital

 

I only have one, a Reference Recordings take on Stravinsky's ballets.

 

As someone once described, HDCDs played in a regular CD player supposedly sound like a Dolby C recording played with Dolby B.

 

Now that's possible. If the player doesn't have that Pacific Microsonics chip in it. It won't decode HDCD. Very few do. My Assemblage DAC3 from the early 2000s had one so that the user could do 24/96 OR HDCD, but not both as one had to swap-out a daughter board inside the box to change from one mode to another. I've lots of HDCD disks from Reference and I never noticed any artifacts when playing the discs without decoding the HDCD. Since my DAC came pre-configured for HDCD and I had no 24/96 fare at that time, I left it alone and played my Reference Recordings through it. Not only did I not hear any funny business when playing HDCD encoded discs without the decoding, but I was never sure that I heard any significant difference between decoded and non-decoded. (hard to tell because the decoded HDCD audio went through the DAC3 with the chip, and, non-decoded, it went through my CD player's built-in DAC. Not very scientific or rigorous, I must say).  

[mav52]

15 minutes ago, gmgraves said:

 

Now that's possible. If the player doesn't have that Pacific Microsonics chip in it. It won't decode HDCD. Very few do. My Assemblage DAC3 from the early 2000s had one so that the user could do 24/96 OR HDCD, but not both as one had to swap-out a daughter board inside the box to change from one mode to another. I've lots of HDCD disks from Reference and I never noticed any artifacts when playing the discs without decoding the HDCD. Since my DAC came pre-configured for HDCD and I had no 24/96 fare at that time, I left it alone and played my Reference Recordings through it. Not only did I not hear any funny business when playing HDCD encoded discs without the decoding, but I was never sure that I heard any significant difference between decoded and non-decoded. (hard to tell because the decoded HDCD audio went through the DAC3 with the chip, and, non-decoded, it went through my CD player's built-in DAC. Not very scientific or rigorous, I must say).  

The OPPO 105 could handle HDCD the user just had to go to settings and turn it on.

[gmgraves]

22 minutes ago, mav52 said:

The OPPO 105 could handle HDCD the user just had to go to settings and turn it on.

 

Some do, most don't (especially nowadays). 

[rando]

@Ralf11, this seems like a half step to me.  Something on the road to what you would have done if you had passed this point.  Unless you plan to collect a substantial number of SACD.  Simply burning 25 of them shouldn't be a hurdle given the crowd you spend your days among.  HDCD is another format that never died which there are solutions to make working copies of.  

 

Maybe playing classified for a couple months to thumb over the loose threads you are playing with would produce a more positive outcome and fresher perspective.  Or at least get you through the giant sucking commercial hole that is the holidays.  

[AmusedToD]

Not an audiophile product, but a very good multi purpose machine. Excellent for video playback though with both HDR10 and Dolby Vision support.

[Ralf11]

what's an audiophile product?

 

Are they things highly ranked by Stereophile?

[semente]

5 minutes ago, Ralf11 said:

what's an audiophile product?

 

Are they things highly ranked by Stereophile?

 

Things priced above 9,999.99

[GUTB]

Things that are designed for maximum sound quality and music enjoyment.

[beerandmusic]

1 hour ago, GUTB said:

Things that are designed for maximum sound quality and music enjoyment.

 

nvm...not worth my time.

[GUTB]

43 minutes ago, beerandmusic said:

 

nvm...not worth my time.

 

Certainly not for non-audiophiles.

[beerandmusic]

 

http://www.enjoythemusic.com/magazine/equipment/0717/OPPO_UDP205_Hi_Res_Music_Player_Review.htm

 

https://hometheaterreview.com/oppo-digital-udp-205-ultra-hd-audiophile-blu-ray-player-reviewed/

 

https://www.techhive.com/article/3207704/home-theater/oppo-udp-205-ultra-hd-audiophile-blu-ray-player-review-audiophile-sound-and-price-tag-plus-dolby-vi.html

 

https://headfonics.com/2017/08/the-udp-205-by-oppo/

 

https://www.avnirvana.com/threads/oppo-digital-udp-205-ultra-hd-audiophile-blu-ray-player-review.622/

 

[beerandmusic]

56 minutes ago, GUTB said:

 

Certainly not for non-audiophiles.

?? double negative??

 

If it's not for non-audiophiles, then it must be for audiophiles?

 

[GUTB]

1 minute ago, beerandmusic said:

?? double negative??

 

If it's not for non-audiophiles, then it must be for audiophiles?

 

 

Well, yes. Audiophile products are for audiophiles. Audiophiles highly value sound quality and musical enjoyment.

[Ralf11]

have you heard the 205 gutb?

 

what did you compare it with?

[Milt99]

So the OP is considering an Oppo-205.

Great choice.

Someone name me a piece of gear that has the capabilities of the 205 for anywhere the price.

Times up. You can't.

 

It's not "Audiophile Level". Really?

GMAFB.

Wait a year and a lion's share of current "Audiophile" DACs will be yesterday's fish paper.

 

[GUTB]

2 hours ago, Ralf11 said:

have you heard the 205 gutb?

 

what did you compare it with?

 

No, but it's widely seen to be inferior by the audiophile community. For example:

 

https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/oppo-vs-esoteric

 

"Had a Oppo  and the Esoteric crushed it."

 

"My Ayon Cd5s is several leagues ahead of my Oppo105D - so much so that the Oppo on SACD is far beneath Red book on Ayon. So I use my Oppo to listen to the audio tracks of DVD and Blue Ray movies only."

 

"I then took an Esoteric K 07 for a spin, and that was the end of the Oppo, the baby Esoteric is just in a different league"

 

"I agree with most posters here,having owned several Esoteric now for 8 or 9 years and heard OPPO stock and modified...thers no comparison,none"

 

"OP....I have an Opp 105 which I use as a transport into 2 DACs, the Mytek Manhatten and the Bryston BDA 3.  Both DACs clearly smoke the native Oppo DAC."

 

"each year I compare my  (10 -15 year old) wadia 861se to my oppo 105, and they are not even in the same county."

 

"I have an OPPO 103D and it's a great machine for the money....  but it's no Esoteric...   not even close."

 

"I had a parasound cd1 and it ran circles around any oppo machine. Oppo is good for the price but the other stuff is next level."

 

"However, I put it up against an older Bryston player and it lost, up against the parsasound cd 1 not even close. Luxman d06 not close. Ayon cd2 not close. Solutions 540. Not in the same building!"

 

 

 

 

[Ralf11]

I'm not fond of the audiogooners.

 

How do you feel about Stereophile?  Do you consider it part of the audiophile community?

[AmusedToD]

Instead of the UDP-205 as the “all in one” type of product, I would get the UDP-203 in order to get the same multifunctionality, and add a dedicated DAC like the Chord 2Qute or Ayre Codex.