Oppo's Facebook page announces UHD 4K player: UDP-203*

My comment was prompted by an article in this month's Hi Fi World which admittedly was more aimed at AVR amps and their plethora of options which need a 200 page user guide, but Universal players can't be that far behind. Oppo were more incidental but the thread here reminded me of the piece.


To my knowledge, Cambridge hasn't pulled gapless playback, but that doesn't mean I think they're perfect.

 

The comment still doesn't have any relevance in regard to Oppo players IMO. It just isn't true that it's a "hindrance" for Oppo to offer all the "bells and whistles" in their universal players. It's what Oppo does and has been doing for quite some time. Whether its AVRs or universal players quite often manufacturers are going to offer as many features as possible so they can to get customers.

I'm not sure of the capability of gapless playback on Cambridge Audio players. But I'd assume it's the same as Oppo players. In that there are issues with gapless playback of DSD files and maybe other files as well.

Bill

 

I'm familiar with Oppo and have been for about ten years now, going back to their 970 and 980H players. Have to say that I disagree. If they've pulled gapless and now the SACD/DSD ripping update has been causing issues of late, then that's a problem for them.

I get that it's important for smaller companies to establish their niche, but sometimes they overstretch themselves. I think this is an example of that. Trying to be too much of an everyman isn't a service when the functionality falls over. Work at it, perfect it and then put it on the next player.

Cambridge offers gapless on the 752BD and the CXU. I don't believe that it's been withdrawn, but I don't use mine for that at the moment.

 

What do you mean by Oppo has "pulled" gapless? They still offer gapless playback, but it only seems to work reliably with attached USB drives and not for DSD files. Is it really different for the 752BD? That would surprise me, given their common components. And how has the "SACD/DSD ripping update been causing issues"? It's not an Oppo feature, it's just a nice coincidence. Which works for the 752BD as well, btw.

 

I've followed some of the forum posts in here of late, so borrowing from those comments. The SACD ripping feature was introduced recently wasn't it? That was the thrust of the latest flurry on the 105D thread I think. Noted some folks on there had problems. You might be better off asking those users what problems they had.

Gapless has long been a bugbear of mine. I've had gapless playback for about a decade from Apple now. I've little time for companies that can't make it work reliably, regardless of who they are.

 

Are we still talking about the upcoming 4K player?

 

Sure, I seemed to be getting the third degree around my opinion from the fanboys, but hey, it's the internet.

 

Oppo did not introduce an SACD ripping feature. Someone created a hack that allowed it (and several Pioneer players) to rip SACDs. Since it is a hack with some complicated steps, lots of people had problems implementing it.

Calling that an Oppo problem is misguided.

 

The SACD ripping capability hasn't been "introduced recently", it has only been now discovered as far as I know. It must have been there all the time in the 103/105 and if I'm not mistaken in the 752BD as well. And it hasn't been causing any problems for the players, only some people had problems getting it to work properly (because of their network connections). It's nothing Oppo or Cambridge implemented.

I have gapless with Foobar or my Denon receiver as well. But I still would love to have it on my Oppo too? Wouldn't you like to have it on your Cambridge as you have it with your Apple devices?

 

No offense but you really need to check your facts before posting IMO. Fact one is that Oppo hasn't pulled gapless playback. Fact number two is Oppo didn't provide an SACD/DSD ripping update. That function is through a hack similar to the PS3 hack and has nothing to do with Oppo as a company. The issues are that the SACD ripping process is quite complex (well beyond my limited computer skills) and that is causing issues. If you read deeper before posting you would have seen that.

Wow ! You're getting the "third degree" because your opinions are misguided IMO and your posts are a bit inaccurate. One doesn't need to be a "fan boy" to see that . It's interesting that when someone posts a somewhat negative comment about Cambridge Audio players you get up on your high horse defending them. But of course that wouldn't make you a CA "fan boy" now would it .

Hopefully the new Oppo 4k players will be out soon so the thread will be all about that .

Bill

 

Thanks for the update. I'd missed the post in the many pages of the Oppo thread that detailed the hack. Can't be all places at once. Happy to withdraw my comments there.

 

As it's a hack, I've no interest in ripping it. My phone does DSD playback via Onkyo's HF player, but I've no real need for the functionality on the 752, nor any great desire to implement it.

As for gapless, it already has it I believe, as does the CXU. I don't use my 752 for that though, just hi-res discs and movies. The info is on the Cambridge site.

 

I should do a lot of things but wading through a 70 page thread isn't going to be one of them Bill. But well done on being third to the party! Top boy!

My view that Oppo tries to be all things to everyone? That's valid I think. Likewise with comparing them to issues affecting customers with AVRs. Happy to defend that and stand by it. You'd need to read Noel Keywood's article to get the full fat on that.

I'll make a comment about a post if it's incorrect, just as you've done, so you can't cry foul there. Nae luck there son. Though I'm not a "love is blind" type. Their current line is good, likewise the last few years, prior to that, they were average.

As for anything else the firm does, good luck to them, as I'd say for many firms in the industry offering good quality gear that's well designed, and sensibly priced. But blind fanboy love? Not me. I use a Kenwood DP7090 now for CD playback for one thing.

 

From the Cambridge site it seems that the 752 supports gapless playback for USB only, just like the Oppo does. No difference here, as I expected.

Anyway, back to the 4k player. I hope they will get the gapless functionality right for that one from the start.

 

Yes . I do hope the gapless playback is improved as well. I'm looking forward to what the new Oppo 4k players have to offer. From what I have read the "113" will be the first player released then the "115" will follow later (totally guessing on the model numbers ). I don't have a 4k display so unless there are new and improved audio features I'll most likely stay with the 103 and 105D for awhile.

Bill

 

Yes, same for me. I don't see myself going 4k any time soon, but if the new players are designed as proper streaming devices, I might be very tempted.

 

Not a problem for me, I can use either my amp or the 752. Agree that proper implementation of gapless is a priority.

 

Perhaps we should talk about the "competition" that OPPO will have once they release their 4K player? I'm aware of 5 players currently on the market:

• Samsung UBD-K8500 $319 First on the market, no analog outputs at all, but does have optical (for a soundbar?) and a secondary HDMI output for audio-only (legacy HDMI receivers that don't accept/pass 4K).
• Panasonic DMP-UB900 $699 THX-certified, 7.1 analog outputs, however no SACD/DVD-A support.
• Panasonic DMP-UB700 $399? Cheaper version of the above player, lacks analog outputs and THX certification.
• Philips BDP7501 $299 - Small "puck" style player. No analog audio or optical/coax, just dual HDMI.
• Xbox One S $299 - no analog output, a video game console (obviously).

Sony showed a prototype of their upcoming 4K UHD player at IFA a few days ago. No word on price or availability.

One interesting tidbit, it would appear that all of the players above (Sony TBD) use a custom "decoder" chipset for the Blu-ray/UHD functionality. The MediaTek MT8581 was announced earlier this year, and certainly will find its way into upcoming players.

What features would you like/expect to see in the upcoming model from OPPO?

 

I don't feel that any of those players would actually be "competition" for Oppo as none of them are universal players.

The features I'd like to see in the new Oppo 4k players would be:

Gapless playback with DSD files.
The same quality and focus on audio playback as well as video playback of course.
Dirac room correction. If that was a reality I'd be more than happy to use one of the new Oppo 4K players as hub for my system. I'm sure that's not going to happen but it'd be nice .
More HDMI inputs.
DSD/PCM button on the remote. That way one can switch between DSD and PCM without having to go into the menu.

Bill

 

If I could make a wishlist, these would be my wishes:

As already mentioned, gapless playback without any restrictions (USB, NAS, etc.) as a default setting (not something you have to activate every time) for all formats (including DSD).

Acceptance of FLAC and DSD multichannel through the USB DAC (though not really that necessary if gapless works as described above). Not sure if that's even a possibility.

If the SACD ripping possibility would still be there, that would be the icing on the cake, though I wouldn't expect it.

 

Ah yes, it would be totally cool if you could set the DSD/PCM output setting seperately for stereo and multichannel.

And seperate crossover settings for each speaker.

 

Both excellent ideas! It'd be nice to have a DSD/PCM button on the remote. I'll have to add that to my wish list!

Bill

 

The continued product support (regular firmware updates/parts availability/ease of servicing) will make the ps4K an attractive player for many people. Not to mention all the other features and the competitive pricing compared to the other players on the market. Seems more and more likely that's the way I'll be going, guess I'll finally find out in 2 days time.

 

The already mentioned gapless playback of flac and dsd for stereo and multichannel files. Also gapless when the Oppo is used as renderer. This way we can skip the Oppo app and settle for something more convenient like iPeng. Although the new app for the Oppo speaker looks a lot better than the Media Control app, perhaps a new Media Control app is in the works also.

hopefully the new Oppo still have analog outs, dedicated stereo and multichannel, so the Oppo can be connected directly into power amps. Personally no need for a headphone connection.

 

Sacrificing audio and video for gaming? If you are familiar with Oppo, firmware and servicing is not a negative for Oppo, especially compared to Sony. Maybe you should find a gaming forum?