Oppo UDP-205 Announced

Thanks !

 

I thought that is how it is now. Do they click between tracks during playing one disc?

 

Not on mine.

 

What you're describing (one/two clicks per SACD disc listening session) sounds normal to me.

 

I get a click after I insert an SACD into the player and then one when I hit stop. None in between so I never really thought about it being a nuisance.

 

I have to be honest in that your earlier post (#712) led me to believe that the relay clicking was eliminated with the 205's latest FW. My posts have indicating that the relay clicking is when starting and stopping SACDs and not at any other time.

To me it is a nuisance because I prefer to stop discs if I stop listening for a few minutes or longer instead of hitting pause. That was what I did with the 105D and never heard any relay clicking. The only relay clicking I get from the 105D is when it is powered on and off. So when upgrading to the 205 from the 105D this is a negative as it wasn't an issue with the 105D. What has changed in the architecture of the 205 that causes the relay clicking?

 

I suppose it's all a relative matter, as I said "excessive clicking", which used to be about a dozen times per disc (especially Blu-rays). Possibly the earliest 205 batches shipped to customers already had the updated MCU firmware with "occasional" clicking, I really don't know.

OPPO might be able to tell you the architecture differences between the 105/205 relative to your concern, but they are indeed very different.

If it's annoying at the current level, I would not expect substantial improvements via any updates, since mechanical relays are an integral part of the output design. Might be worth considering utilizing OPPO's generous return policy.

 

And I didn't mean to take anything away from that. It wasn't like that with the 105D, so I understand your point. I normally listen to digital media on repeat as I don't have the time or I'm not in the media room to flip a record over. So it could be a few hours or even longer before I hit stop.

 

It really is annoying for me but I'm sure it isn't for others which I fully understand. Just disappointing for me due to the money spent as this is a performance "downgrade" when compared to the 105D IMO. I bought the 205 from Crutchfield and will most likely be returning it to them. But before doing that I'll definitely be taking the time to do a direct comparison between the 205 and 105D. If the 205 clearly sounds better I might reconsider as that's the biggest reason for buying the 205 in the first place.

I didn't take your post like that at all .

 

Have you not determined that yet?

 

Why would he write that if he hadn't?

 

He's had the player for a few weeks, I'm sure he has some early impressions by now. Myself, I would give it several weeks to burn-in before posting anything. Maybe that's why Bill is waiting.

 

I'd be astonished if that player took a few weeks to burn in. I might give myself some time to adjust to the new sound, but that's a few days at most. But weeks?

 

I agree.
Not that I don't believe in burn in, but I think it's shorter than we think, the majority is getting used to the new sound.

Maybe a poor analogy, but I recently put new tires on my car.
Couldn't believe the difference at first but after a couple of weeks it felt normal.
Logically, the difference/improvement isn't gone, I just don't notice it anymore

 

I had a chance yesterday to spend about an hour to do a direct comparison between the 205 and 105D. I connected both players to my Emotiva XMC-1 using Signal Cable Analog 2 interconnects. I have duplicate copies of Bill Evans' Moon Beams XRCD and Pete Townshend and Ronnie Lane's Rough Mix Dual Disc. I played Moon Beams then Rough Mix switching between the analog 2 and 3 inputs of the XMC-1. It takes about two seconds when switching inputs so it's a quick transition.

What I found was that both players sound excellent with a very slight edge to the 205. The 205 had a slightly more open and accurate SQ to it but the differences are extremely subtle when directly comparing both players. When switching back and forth with my eyes closed so I didn't know which player was playing it was somewhat difficult to tell any differences. I wonder if knowing which players were playing skewed my thoughts. I found with CDs and DVD-As both players had identical load times. I didn't have a chance to try the load times with Blu-ray Audio discs.

If the 205 didn't have the relay clicking when starting and stopping SACDs and the audio pause issue I'd be happy with it. But that's not the case as the beta FW did not correct the audio pause issue I'm having when playing SACDs. I could live with the relay clicking but not the audio pause issue. By keeping the 205 I'd be giving up Darbee video processing which I do use. The 105D is going for around $800 used so that's about a $500 difference if I keep the 205. In all honesty the very subtle SQ differences I found are just not worth $500 IMO. Others might disagree but that's just me .

So I'm going to contact Crutchfield and request an RMA for a refund. I was hoping the 205's analog SQ would openly better the 105D's but in my system it doesn't.

 

Thanks Bill. I won't disagree with you. Your findings mirror mine. The biggest plus I found with the 205 was it sounding less harsh than the 105D when really wound up. But it is indeed subtle. Several posts suggested the difference between these two units should be drastic (with the new DACs, etc). So I'm glad it's not just me who finds the differences subtle!

 

Thanks Bill - most informative. (You've just saved me quite a lot of money!)

 

When What Hi-Fi reviewed the Cambridge CXU when it came out, I vaguely remember they said it had an edge on the 752BD. Fair enough. But they said this regarding the audio aspects of the player.

This was remarkably interesting as the CXU, aside from adding a cosmetic refresh to the case and the addition of Darbee to the video functionality, was otherwise the same damn player as the outgoing model...

 

Cliff,

If I pushed both players I'd probably find the same as you did regarding the 205 being less harsh at higher volumes. Subtle differences are usually another for me but the other issues are what pushed me to return the 205. Some wouldn't be bothered by those minor issues which is cool with me .

Isaac,

My pleasure ! But if you have any doubts definitely order the 205 to try in your system. If it doesn't impress you all it'd cost you is shipping fees.

 

There is an new beta FW update for the player that has some audio fixes. It may not deal with Bill's problem since relays are usually a mechanical issue. Note, usually Beta's can be rolled back to the official FW, but not in this particular case.

UDP20X-45-0525B

OPPO Digital - Ultra HD Blu-ray Disc Players - Buy Direct from the Manufacturer

Video related news. All you audio only guys please skip this part.

News on Dolby Vision. The Beta testers have been working on this and from what I read in another forum (not AVS) it's ready to go. The only holdup is Dolby who have to
authorize it's release. Oppo will then add it to a future update. It should be a visible improvement over HDR-10. Simply put, it will offer the potential of 68 billion colors (!), while HDR-10 can only offer 10 billion.

 

50% correct

 

IMO, there isn't drastic difference in SQ with today's DAC's vs DAC's of even 10 years ago. (Obviously there are improvements with features). But there are other more crucial forces at play, like analog output, power supply, circuit design, etc.

 

I have not heard the clicking yet, just starting to try it out. I will note, however, that the only time I have noticed a "pause," which was on my 105 as well, was if I let the TV turn on while playing music, which I rarely do. Apparently the HDMI handshake causes a brief pause, at least it did with the 105. If its part of the HDMI standard, I'd expect the same thing with the 205. I have not heard any of the random pauses, or issues with SACD clicks that you are mentioning.

 

Thanks for your report.

 

I've spent a good part of today playing the 205 with Blu-Ray and mostly SACD's. I have not experienced ANY clicking either in stereo or surround mode.
I definitely think that this is a nice upgrade over the 105. The background of quiet parts is outstanding. While the 105 was great on PCM material, I never thought DSD was up to the same level, SACD playback is significantly improved on the 205.