Oppo BDP105 first impressions review.

Maybe you should give it a few weeks to settle down and run in. I've had mine a few weeks now and after a bit of tweaking and adjusting it sounds a lot better now from when i first had it. To be honest the sound was a bit all over the place, but now it is brilliant and this was compared to the excellent Denon DVD3800BD.

Try linking the Sky Box directly to the OPPO with hdmi,that may fix the sync issues, but then maybe it doesn't have enough inputs for the HTPC also?

-N-

Megatombomb, I would definately give your 105 more time, that is if you haven't taken it back yet, I have been using our 105 pretty much everyday for the last month and over analogue it has definately improved sonically, it has really smoothed out and opened up, its far more musical than when I first tried, to be honest its whole characteristics have changed more than I have heard from a new bit of kit for a long time.

For anyone who hasn't seen this here is the AVForums in depth review of the OPPO BDP-105EU that was posted today -

http://www.avforums.com/reviews/Oppo-BDP-105EU-Universal-Blu-ray-3D-SACD-DVD-CD-Player-Review_448/Review.html

An interesting read and I couldn't agree more with the whole review 

Well folks i got curious and conducted another test this afternoon of the Oppo 105 that so far has disappointed me with its poor rhythmic drive but otherwise impressed me greatly.  I wired it up via analogue to my Marantz MCR603 micro system feeding MA BX2 speakers, a combination i am well accustomed to.

I had wondered if the Pioneer AVR i had originally used it with was itself messing up the timing but sadly i can only confirm that i dislike what the BDP105 does to my music.  Yes it sounds marginally more expansive than the Marantz, marginally cleaner in its sound but the improvement was so hard to spot to be honest it doesnt matter.  The sole negative simply isnt worth living with for all of the positives.  At the end of the day i am used to music moving me and i have been moved as much by cheap components as i have expensive hand made ones but definitvely the Oppo literally ruined everything i played on it.  I can only describe it as if the producers/musicians have lost their sense of timing and rhythm and the 'groove' of a song is impossible to get into.  This is something i have never EVER noticed on ANY CD playback from any other equipment ive heard or owned.

Never have i felt so disappointed by a piece of 'hi-fi' equipment.  Or such a mug for not listening to one first.

I appreciate and respect alot of people love theirs and the reviews refer to it as 'reference', indeed it makes me wonder if mine is in someway faulty.  I have not come on here to slag off the product i just felt after spending £1000 i  As much as i'd like to give it more time i dont see how the fundamental problem i have with the player will improve.

I would only urge prospective buyers to take their existing universal BD/CD/SACD or simply CD players to see if they really think they are getting VFM on the sound quality.

I await my bashing from other users now lol

I have not heard the Oppo, so my comments are general.

I have generally found that it takes hifi components to do 2 channel really well (for my taste). If you want a great streamer, look to Linn, Naim and Cyrus etc. As I see it, AV products have to be a compromise, given all they have to do.....spending the same on a dedicated 2 channel product should be better, if chosen carefully.

This is just my opinion and so is not to be taken as fact.

No bashing, you're doing that to yourself.

Sounds like you really need to contact your supplier and discuss the possibility of it being a faulty unit. We all have different tastes but for you to be SO disappointed sounds like something amiss somewhere.

Well, I'm not looking to bash anyone, or their views on a "one box solution" I haven't seen or heard in action. I do wonder, however, if the Oppo can be bettered in most regards by a much cheaper BDP, dedicated CDP, and DAC. 

I went the cheap BDP and dedicated CDP route and I'm profoundly happy with this solution, which cost me quite a bit less than the Oppo 103, and siginifcantly less than the Oppo 105. The trade off, of course, is that I have to accomodate two separate boxes.

No bashing but out of curiosity do you have the opportunity to return the Oppo for full refund? I am asking this based on my own experience. Sometimes, I get too carried away by the reviews and have such an expectation from the product that at times it does not live up to. When I compare its price to the rest of the gear, if the new equipment is too expensive, I am too keen to find the issues and return it ASAP and feel alright about not spending that kind of money.. I am not saying this is the case with you but this WAS the case with me few times in the far away past. Now a days, I do not buy anything that is out of proportion to my set up unless and until on purpose.

Coming back to the Oppo, I am not too sure if you had a faulty product or not, mine is singing very well. I had to really tell myself to hit bed last night and stop listening to the music as it was too late. It was that good! 

This could be my set up which is all going very well together after a long time! CDs sound very good and my Mac Mini connected with HDMI sounds awesome. Never heard this good on my speakers. However, the streamer seems to be not doing the job right. I have NAS and my music is in .m4a and the NAS converts them into .wav When I heard the tracks they are shrill and off where as the same tracks played with Mac Mini (Amarra software activated) works like pure magic with very sweet sound. I might be hearing the more of the amp now. But the whole system is really singing very well.

For any body wanting to know if the Oppo BDP-105 is worth it or not, IT IS. Just for its DAC inputs and the great analog outs. Disc Player is a big bonus. I need to figure out how to get the streaming right.

FWIW i did return the Oppo 105.  I have just yesterday replaced it with a Marantz UD7007 (which all of a sudden went from £1k to £650 at retailers all over the country).  Strange how that should happen with the release of the Oppo 105 lol.

The Marantz is a definate step up in build quality from the Denon 2012ud but still not quite as good as the Oppo 105.  I would say the Oppo still has the best user interface and remote control too and notably the Marantz lacks dedicated surround analogue outs. For me however these are pretty irrelevent.

Ultimately to my ears i think it sounds better than both of them.  I found all three to have very similar tonality but the Marantz has added a little bass power whilst maintaining the best qualities of the Denon (timing/rhythm) and the best of the Oppo (overall clarity).  

I would love to read a WhatHifi group test with all the latest top end uni disc players inc the latest Denon and Cambridge audio to see what the result was!

No, it's not the Oppo. All of Denon's & Marantz's products are significantly discounted (both owned by the same parent company).

Have any of you 105 owners been able to try the USB asynchronous DAC with native DSD playback, i.e. dsf or dff files played via J. River or Foobar? It's not clear from what I've read as to whether the Oppo can handle native DSD playback via USB.

Oppo USA have advised me that the 105 will support native DSD via the USB socket with a future firmware upgrade, however Oppo Europe have said it can't be done due to firmware limitations?
Hopefully Oppo USA know best!

Really impressed with my 105 so far. I've connected my Sky HD box to the rear HDMI input of the Oppo and the difference in picture is very noticeable. The deinterlating of the 1080i picture from the Sky box by the Oppo up to 1080p makes a big improvement, no noise and pin sharp. It's a shame there's no 'Source Direct' option on the Sky box, so that 576i material could be upscaled completely by the Oppo without having to be upscaled to 1080i by the Sky box.

Leave Sky box at "auto" so it doesn't upscale. 

I sincerely hope this does not happen. 

You gave your considered view based on what you heard, and nobody really has the right to tell you what you should like.

It also serves as a warning, that purchasing (anything) purely on reviews may not work out in practice.