Oppo 105 - Is it going to make a difference?

Thanks for that bigboss - so basically, If  I wanted to buy a blu- ray player mainly for Blu-rays and audio CDs to connect to a pioneer LX 55 receiver, and to connect using a single HDMI cable, there would be very little difference in the picture and sound quality  between a pio BDP 450 and an Oppo 103?Would this especially be the case if I send sound to the receiver as bitstream and let the the receiver do the decoding?

Its only when using analogue connectors letting the Oppo decode and upscaling DVDs when Oppo comes into its own. Is that correct? 

I agree with what bigboss says - DVD playback varies considerably. But in answer to the above, I can guarantee you that I can set up the 103 or 105 so that it looks noticeably better than the any budget Bluray player.

There's also the point of disc issues - bigger, more mainstream manufacturers will only provide software updates for a limited period  - Oppo seem to care about their customers, and won't leave people with expensive players that won't play discs (which seems to be happening at the moment). 

Indeed, thank you Pioneer, still cannot play Prometheus 3D 

I agree with what was said here. I went for a demo of the S790, BDT500 and 715BD.  The 715BD completely blew Sony out of the water.  The Panasonic was beaten too, but by a lesser margin.  

I too was of the same opinon, thinking any player will do the job, but recent demo's have proven otherwise.  The detail is especially noticible on CGI, clarity and detail are what you want, and the Cambridge made the others look blurred in comparison. 

The tougher challenge is to spot the difference between a £500 and a £1000 player.  That I found tougher with Bluray playback.

If you feed the LX55 receiver from the BDP 450 you can use Pioneer PQLS which definately improves the overall blu ray sound so that is a benefit

I have the BDP LX55 and that has picture adjustment as well - 1  notch up on detail i think improves the pic - gives it more pop probably similar to what you are doing on the 103 - the 450 will likely have this option too. 

The only small niggle with the 55 is its movement isnt 100% perfect.  now sometimes I am unsure if its a camera issue in filming or a blu ray player issue - sometimes hard to tell - I am trying to test this at the moment

David can you please try the 103 feeding PCM into your Audiolab.  I thought you had to do that anyways - I didnt think the Audiolab did the decoding?

Please report back

Thanks

Yes, you have to select PCM conversion on the Bluray player - the Audiolab decodes the PCM signal.

Thsts the same as My Meridian system - I strongly consdiered the Audiolab but I went with Meridian becuase I already had the M sources MC200/ MS600 and really liked the sound - plus I can confidently keep the signal digital from the source into the processor - that was one of the main factors also because of its room correction, my sub needs it.

How do you find the overall sound presentation? 

Have you any experience of the Pioneer LX55?

I really like the player but I find its movement at times is sometimes not 100% perfect when panning - film and scene dependent.

Do you have Breaking Dawn Part 1 on blu ray ?  On the menu screen it moves around past the characters faces and the blur when it does it.

I wonder if that is going to happen regardless?

I do realise that both the quotes above are now more than a month old, but if you go to my post at number 1 on page 3 of the thread "Oppo 103 Blu-Ray Player gets 3 stars" I give a link to the Oppo website's press reviews of both the 103 and the 105. (The reviews are very, very good.)

This is what Henry Fielden (Managing Director, Oppo UK) says:

Q: Is the BDP-103EU intended as the entry level player for people trying this stuff out, and the BDP-105EU as the one for exacting audiophiles?

A: The BDP-103EU is aimed at the ‘HDMI customer’. In other words the user who has the player connected directly to a TV or an AV amplifier via HDMI. However, the BDP-103EU does have a very decent 7.1 analogue audio section to allow customers with older non-HD audio amps to take advantage of the new HD audio formats. It’s fair to say that the ‘105EU is aimed more at audiophiles.

For some reason, Son_of_SJ, your link in the other thread doesn't work.

Here's the link again:

http://www.oppo-bluray.co.uk/reviews/bdp-103-105eu/

That answer tells me to buy the Oppo 95 which is looking increasing more attractive at its discounted price.

I wonder if whathifi was aware of this when awarding 3 stars

What differences are there between the 95 and the 105 ? 

The 105 uses better DACs so has a higher quality analogue output, has balanced XLR outputs for the left and right channels, and the USB inputs are asynchronous.

Aware of what?

Are the any differences to the non analogue side of things?

I said that a little wrongly really. I should have said having the better DACs will give a better D/A conversion - of course, it is then down to the quality of the analogue output which determines what you get out of the player. Balanced connections tend to give a benefit too.

One of our customers who borrowed the 105 over the weekend said that playing a CD was similar quality to his 8200CDQ. He also commented that the headphone output was particularly good.