OPPO BDP-103 and BDP-105 Networking Universal 3D Blu-ray Players (part4)

NO asynchronous DAC in the '103.......the '105 has one.

See below for complete '103 supported media.....

http://www.oppodigital.com/blu-ray-bdp-103/blu-ray-BDP-103-Features.aspx

 

Yes, this is the one major disadvantage of the 103 - the USB ports will accept only USB sticks and hard drives. In other words, the 103 will play files stored on a USB device, but it will not accept audio played on another device (your Mac) and streamed from that device through the USB ports.

I just double-checked a photo of the 103's back panel and unfortunately it looks like it also doesn't have an optical or coaxial digital input either - which is a shame since I think the Mac's headphone jack doubles as an optical digital output.

There is one way to access the 103's internal DAC, however: the HDMI input. If you were to get an AppleTV device, for example, that can take streamed audio from your Mac and output it via HDMI, right into the 103. I don't have an AppleTV, but my understanding is that you don't even need to hook it up to a TV or monitor if you only want to stream audio through it: I have been told that if you just hook it up (and maybe use the Airport Utility on your Mac), it will stream audio by default.

Aside from the extra hassle of another piece of equipment, there is one disadvantage to this kind of setup, and that has to do with how the software and hardware transmit the audio data. As far as I know, if you stream to the AppleTV from your Mac using Apple's built-in AirPlay protocol, the music will get streamed at 16-bit/44.1kHz resolution regardless of the original resolution of the source audio - so high-res stuff will get resampled on the fly, and also bit-truncated without dither. Adding to that, the Apple TV will then resample the stream again, to bring it to its own native 16-bit/48kHz resolution for output over the HDMI port.

This certainly will degrade the sound - however, depending on your application, your stereo equipment, and your room environment, you might find this degradation anywhere from "so bad it ruins the experience" to "can't even tell the difference unless I really sit and focus." YMMV, but in my case, this was the final straw that led me to take a deep breath and shell out the extra money for the Oppo BDP-105, with its USB, optical, and coax digital inputs to the access the internal DAC.

The only other option I can think of, would be to place a converter between your Mac and the 103, to take the optical digital output from your Mac and convert it to HDMI audio output for the 103's HDMI input. I did a very quick Google search and found several inexpensive boxes that take HDMI and covert it to optical - but I didn't see any that take optical input and convert it to HDMI. They might exist, however - as I say my search was very brief.

 

Thanks guys.

Maybe in the short term, I'll just take the optical out of the laptop to the AV receiver. It's an old Marantz, but it sounds plenty good.

I do like to use the Neo 6 surround out of the Oppo, however. I'll check some of those workarounds.

 

Anyone?

 

You can also use a Thunderbolt to HDMI cable (under $30) to feed the 103's HMDI input.

 

Ah, yes - great point!

 

Good idea, but anything I hook up to the Oppo is gonna be old, no T-bolt available.

My only way into the 103 from an outboard player is gonna have to be HDMI, right?

 

Yes - HDMI is the only route from the Oppo's back panel into its DAC.

 

For others with a 103...

I think I've found an interesting workaround, albeit more expensive.

A Mac Mini (lotsa ports, incl HDMI).

And a small touchscreen: http://www.mimomonitors.com/collections/7-inch-monitors

The displays look kinda crappy and overpriced, but if I'm just using iTunes, I wouldn't need a keyboard.

 

gd0,

For close to the cost of the Mac Mini ($499+-) and the display ($199?) you could sell the 103 and get the 105D. But maybe I'm missing something. I have the 103 and I'll be getting the 105D in the near future .

Bill

 

^ Yup, several options.

You didn't really miss anything, but in this secondary system (AV, surround music), I'd like to play my (I'm-gonna-start-soon-honest) ripped files without turning on the big TV. And I don't have or want wireless anything; I'd have to invest in a phone or pad (and a monthly plan ). I can put a spare desktop to better use.

That said, the better DACs in the 105 are tempting. But I've been so happy with the 103, I'm inclined to go the ignorance-is-bliss path.

 

I had a 2008 Mac mini and had a $60ish device to hook up the mini toslink and displayport into HDMI to go into my AV receiver.

 

Yah, my AVR is ancient, at least 15 yrs old. A new Mac Mini would hook me up to the Oppo via HDMI for Neo 6, and also to the AVR via Toslink for ProLogic.

Yes, it's a Frankensystem.

 

Although it's clear you don't want a wireless solution I just want to point out that you wouldn't need a separate monthly plan for an iPad if you just went over your home Wi-Fi.

 

Bill, isn't the 105D around $1100 or is it just that our idea of "close to" differs slightly?

 

Good time to buy one as prices dropped on the Mini.

 

If the options you listed and the preference for the 103 works for you then that's the way to go .

The 105D is $1299. My thoughts on "close" is that the Mac Mini is $499 and the display mentioned is $199 for a total of close to $700. One could get close to $400 for the 103 used. So that's a total of $1100 which is close to the cost of the 105D. But that's just my thoughts and gd0 seems to be leaning towards the options he mentioned earlier which is great. I just thought I'd mention the 105D option .

Bill

 

You would also need some options on the Mac Mini - mouse, keyboard, extra memory, external HDD.

 

That's good to know. So in other words one can't just hook up the Mac Mini in the way that gd0 plans to without the additional items you listed?

Bill

 

Yes you can and it would work fine, you would just need the external HDD if you want to store many albums, but maybe you already have that....

 

The easiest way to accomplish this with a 105 is to use either an external hard drive or usb flash drive connected to one the USB 2.0 ports. Use the Oppo iPad app to search and play the files on the external drive or flash drive, and your good to go.

 

Yes, good point. But that works only if the Oppo has its wi-fi dongle plugged in and if the OP is willing to have a wireless network, which he seems not to want to do.

 

Is anyone using the Android app? Thoughts?

 

I do and I like it. It does everything the remote control does, only easier. It's more convinient for changing settings in the menu and a big improvement for browsing file folders.

 

I have an older Oppo (BDP-83) so I'm unable to use the Oppo app as it won't work with my model. However, I plan on getting a new Oppo in the near term so I'm wondering how well does the app run? I've read a handful of mixed reviews but I'd really like to get thoughts from anyone here who has used it.

I'd be using the app on an iPad Air (and not on an Android device).