I got one of these from Amazon a year ago. It wouldn't play most DVD-A's (even with the latest firmware), wouldn't output DSD from SACD's even over HDMI, external USB drives were limited to 2TB and H265 was not supported (note that none of this is mentioned in the owner's manual). Not even worth $300 (and it only cost $220 from Amazon at the time) to me.
Good to know Sony hasn't changed with their crappy implementation and poor support, as your anecdote keeps Sony firmly in my "never, ever buy again" list.
Having the Oppo Modwright 105D and 205, I can use both for a streaming DAC, not to mention digital files etc. I like to use the front USB input for my memory card. I can get a lot of music on a 512gb memory card that plugs right into the front of the Oppo's. I have a firestick plugged into the back of my 105 and that works great too. I just don't get why the Oppo went obsolete.
You answered your own last sentence. Young people stream, not sit in front of a stationary player no matter what you can plug into it.
It's not just the younger generations which stream. It's pretty much every generation. I can count on 1 finger - with a finger to spare - the number of people I know who still watch/listen to physical discs. In fact, I'm the only person I know who even plays audio files from a server rather than streaming. I don't even know how to share music with people anymore because none of them has any sort of hardware to play it or knowledge of how to get music from, say, a memory stick to their phone. I have an Oppo 105D and Sony x800m2 for UHD discs, but I use the disc drives of the two for <0.1% of my viewing/listening. Physical digital formats aren't dead yet, but they're on life support. I wish Oppo was still making their products, but frankly they were effectively making wagon wheels. We're lucky they're still supporting the wagon wheels they made.
I haven't heard much about the Reavon players lately, but they were touted as the closest to Oppo in terms of functionality despite being a half class below from a quality perspective. I have the Sony 800 unit, and it played the discs fine in one system. Then I moved it to a Sonos Arc sound bar system, forgetting that Sonos can't process hi res audio. I changed the DVD-A settings to play the DVD-V layer in order to listen to the surround mixes but am out of luck with SACD.
Do you have the first version of the x800 or the x800m2? I have the latter and it will play off a 4TB USB drive. It is limited to HDMI output, so you have to use the player to convert DSD to PCM, but I'm OK with that. I'm also think I have played a DVDA, but usually I use it to play files from a network server. Plays both 5.1 FLACs and DSFs. It won't play 7.1 FLACS and it also has trouble with 4.o FLACs.
Very true. The one issue, though, is that all of these digital-only Blu-Ray/multi-format players can only output the SACD digital stream from their HDMI outputs. Because of SACD copy protection, SACD will not play out of the machines' other digital outputs. That, in turn, means that one needs a DAC with an HDMI input. If one is content with an AV receiver, that's very easy. But if one wants a higher-end, dedicated outboard DAC, there are vanishingly few with HDMI inputs, and they tend to be quite expensive. The other option is an HDMI de-embedder, which will take in an HDMI signal and output an optical audio signal. But even there, you have to be sure to get one that won't convert the SACD's DSD digital stream into PCM along the way - and the documentation on that particular question is often sparse, nonexistent, or inaccurate with these units, requiring word of mouth or trial and error. Now, with all that said, I totally agree that this particular use-case is not sufficient to sustain the market for something like the Oppo UDP-205. I have one and love it, but I can totally see how the market disappeared for such a unit. There's still a thriving niche market of course; hence the very high prices for these units on the secondary market.
I moved home in 2011 and bought a Sony network TV. Back then, it came with Netflix, an early version of Amazon Prime, the BBC iPlayer (another early service) and I was set. I bought a Netflix account, hooked up my stereo to it, and had movies through my stereo. That was the way to go back then and it was pretty obvious. When Oppo opted to be the Swiss Army Knife with the 105, I couldn't work out why they bothered to have so many streaming services onboard. Made no sense. The traffic was going in another direction entirely and it wasn't going to be so long before the means to get there was delivered. Oppo - to my mind - failed for a number of reasons, and, really, not just the young. The wider demographic bought into this too. Stable broadband/internet connectivity with reliable speeds, the upturn in Netflix and Amazon Prime as content producers, the awareness of the bigger studios of the trend in home streaming, and the need to develop simple interfaces that older and younger generations can easily use all helped bury Oppo. In addition, the parent and owning company in the same timeframe saw the march of the smartphone and portable audio with great sound (yes, it is) for little outlay. Today, we have phones and tablets everywhere, great connectivity in a large portion of, but not all, communities. Video and sound quality are excellent and the market went forth and the uptake went, well, up! Throw in the pandemic and you're good to go. But Oppo, to a great extent, were architects of their own downfall by failing to see the prevailing trends in the wider markets.
LOL. I just used it. Watched "Fatman" BD with Mel Gibson playing Santa. Worked like new. Not as film for kids I still prefer physical disks but I'll only buy them these days if I want to enjoy the movie in the best possible image and sound quality, such as Top Gun Maverick, or if a movie is a sleeper not readily available via streaming or if it's a special collector's edition, like the Midsommer package.
Because they were underpriced & in their stupidity, the parent company didn't consider the option of raising the prices (per a local dealer).
The Oppo 05's have a decent analogue stage, so I don't feel the need for an external DAC (I'm not a millionaire). a $300 Sony is NOT going to have quality audio. It's probably fine for video.
A friend recently shared her Netflix subscription with me. To my taste, it's 99% junk. The only thing I've watched so far is a comedy series about cats. And my friend is paying for the top tier Netflix.In the day when they mailed dvd's, title quality was MUCH higher. I find much more on Roku Free & the free titles on Prime.
I was referring to the titles that don't require EXTRA payment, as someone corrected me on that the other day. Guess I can't win no matter how I phrase it! My point is I don't get why people pay for Netflix streaming. It wasn't even like I'd already watched the cool stuff; their isn't any cool stuff! While I like it, Hotel Transylvania is in their top 10!!!; & all three volume have shown up on disc at Big Lots for $3-$5!
Actually, I think they fell into a gray area, too expensive for the general consumer and not expensive enough for the audio/video enthuasist. It was an unfamiliar brand for most and they simply weren't selling.
But the used 205's sell for twice what the new one's were priced at. And they don't just sit at $2.5-$4k; they actually sell. & it isn't like there's a scarcity of used 205's on the market.
The parent company is not at all focused on the niche disc player market. Oppo is one of the biggest mobile device companies in Asia. The "general consumer" has no interest in the disc player market either. Consumers have moved on to streaming. The Oppo-205 sold out almost instantaneously when it was first available and as noted went skyrocketing in price after that. To say they weren't selling is a complete falsehood, then and now.
And about a month after the last batch sold out, I then had the money to buy one, but it was too late........... At least my 95 still works. It's the only good sounding player I'm aware of ever made that will play SACD iso's from disc.
There could be a challenger to the Oppo 205 coming soon. A new company came out with a universal player, recently. It's a Chinese company named Magnetar Audio. Their first player is similar to the Reavon X200 with some different details. But word on AVS Forum is that they plan a higher end machine coming soon. Links are in this post: New 2022 MAGNETAR UDP800 universal disc player coming soon
I checked it out. It looks interesting. Assuming it sounds good; All I'd be losing from my 95 is multi region & SACD-R.
I get your point here, and I generally agree. At the same time, the issue is that the Sony isn't going to have quality or not-quality audio per se, because it has no analogue stage. It's just a digital transport and spits the digital stream out to a downstream component that must contain the DAC and analogue stage.
