Oppo UDP-205 Announced

Ok, so 3 more months i guess ! ; -)

 

New review.

Oppo UDP-205 Universal Sensation - HeadPhone.guru

 

Have a look on Tor. See what the Dark Web says.

 

Right... "Any" music lover...

 

I'm glad he touched on the headphone amp. It easily measures up to many standalone headphone amps I've heard.

 

Really? That's good. Amazing what you can do with a couple of op-amps.

 

54-1108B firmware is now available as a Public Beta

**** Once Installed, You Can Not Roll Back to any Earlier Firmware *****

"Added support for MQA audio files on the UDP-205.

Improved compatibility for recently released and upcoming Dolby Vision UHD Blu-ray discs and TV firmware.

Improved compatibility for non-standard 4:3 aspect ratio media files.

General fixes and disc compatibility improvements based on recent and upcoming UHD Blu-ray releases as well as user-submitted samples."

 

Kind of funny, really. It makes one wonder (well, me at least) how complicated MQA can be if it can be implemented with a firmware update.

 

They probably just added an EQ function.

 

This one about 4:3 aspect rations sounds odd, no?

 

I thought that not rolling back Beta firmware is unusual for Oppo. I've never installed any Beta firmware on the Oppo units I've owned, but I thought that historically their Beta firmware could generally be rolled back to the previous official release. So is this just an abberation or a trend for them? Or is this more typical of the 20x units? Or am I mistaken?

Doug

 

SamS could best answer your question, or you can ask Oppo directly, they usually respond pretty quickly. I agree that this is unusual, perhaps even unprecedented, and wonder if the MQA compatability has something to do with it?

 

It is completely a software algorithm I believe. No hardware involved. All companies need to do is license the code from Meridian, AFAIK. You can even get MQA decoding on one of those tiny USB/DAC sticks, Meridian Explorer 2.

 

Judging from the hoops some manufacurers have gone through to get MQA “certification” (or have decided to pass on MQA capability), I suspect it’s more involved than just software in most cases. The fact that it is only on the 205 lends some support to this hypothesis. It may be that with some DAC chips, and some filter sets (that already include an apodizing filter), a software implementation is possible. The Meridian Explorer is a poor example; any Meridian product designed since MQA was conceived is certainly going to be compatible.

 

When it comes to user-generated media, it can be the "Wild West" out there.

Some of the non-rollback restrictions may be due to licensing or other 3rd party situations outside of OPPO's control.

 

Why? Which video formats are supported on USB? It was probably stretching 4x3 to 16x9 rather than keeping the oar.

 

OK, but the Audioquest Dragonfly Red DAC stick also incorporates MQA. There may be partial and complete implementations as well, some of which could involve hardware, too, I don't know.

 

It can’t be retrofitted to an older Dragonfly, though; AQ brought out updated models to include MQA, and the cheaper one needs TIDAL to perform the first “unfold”.

 

This question has likely been answered already, but for those who have the BDP-205, can you state if it is faster in response than previous models?

I really like my BDP-93, but it is really slow when using the remote to change tracks and find myself using a dedicated CD player when I am not just playing a CD all the way through.

Thanks!

 

I never owned a 93. But the 205 is faster than the 103 and 105D that I did own. Much less lag and loading times.

 

i bought my 103 for it's superb video not it's sound. use a NAD D 1050 coax out for audio. no contest

 

What about lossless multichannel?

 

The 103 does wonderful multi-channel from disc or USB files. So convenient and pleasing sound quality. Stereo sound quality is not notable for this player. For stereo there are an endless number of low cost DACs that out perform this unit.

 

My point was that @rudym457 can't get lossless multichannel over coax, and surely the sound quality matters when combined with the picture (stated reason for purchase). There seem to be a dearth of high-quality, dedicated multichannel DACs with HDMI input. I suppose it's because most home theaters should use room correction.

 

HDMI is not a audio standard, it is a video standard with audio facilities. This is why you don't see many DACs with it.

Most home theaters should not necessarily use room correction. Nothing to do with hdmi imo.