I usually ignore this stuff but I heard today an Oppo "NuForce" BDP-93 that was killer. Story?

NuForce is a company that did their own hotrodded version of the Oppo player. Doesn't look like there's a current one. www.nuforce.com

 

Oppo does have their own higher end blu-ray player. I think most of the upgrades are in the audio circuitry.

 

link for info:
http://estore.nuforce.com/oppo-bdp-93-to-bdp-93-nuforce-edition-upgrade/

OPPO BDP-93 to BDP-93 NuForce Edition SELF upgrade for $400.



Extracting high-quality audio from Blu-ray players can be problematic in that the HDMI signal format interleaves video and audio data into a single transmission medium. While a convenient means of transferring A/V data between components, the process of combining these signals invariably imparts a level of digital jitter to the audio data sometimes as high as seven nanoseconds. For the purpose of comparison, a good CD player's jitter specification is in the picosecond range, i.e., three orders of magnitude less. In practical terms, it is difficult to decode HDMI audio without employing extensive re-clocking circuits, thus inflating the cost of a good HDMI audio pre-processor.

The simplest, most cost-effective way of dealing with the analog audio issue is at its source. And this is what we have accomplished in the NuForce BDP-93NE and BDP-93NXE. By replacing the analog output circuit board with a proprietary design, the 93NE and 93NXE delivers the highest possible levels of the natural, beautiful sound that has long since established NuForce’s enviable reputation. We’ve every confidence you'll agree that the NuForce BDP-93 Xtreme Edition equals or exceeds the performance of the world’s best digital audio disc players.

NuForce BDP-93 Edition player (MSRP $899) and 93NE upgrade board (MSRP $400) features:

• All 8-channels have been re-engineered to deliver ultimate audio performance.
• Onboard linear processing circuitry delivers highly regulated and filtered DC power to all analog output stages for lowest noise and distortion performance.
• Output stage designed to avoid the need for a signal-degrading muting circuitry.
• Advanced analog filters eliminate phase shifting within the audible bands.
• High performance op-amps for a warm, vibrant, seductive sound.
• The 93NE board's sonic goal was for 12AX7-type triode characteristics without tubes.

The analog board (this is the board that has the DAC and produces 7.1 analog outputs) can be replaced easily using a screw driver.

 

You can buy anything, you just have to sniff around for it...

 

Steve,

NuForce has worked with Oppo in the past and supposedly worked again with Oppo to design or enhance the output stage of the BDP-103, which is the replacement to the BDP-93.

http://www.audioholics.com/blu-ray-and-dvd-player-reviews/oppo-blu-ray-q-a

Member Tarnished Ears did a visual comparison of the boards between the BDP-93, the NuForce upgrade board, and the BDP-103 and noted similarities:

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

Now, does the BDP-103 sound like the NuForce BDP-93? Dunno. Anyone care to chime in?

 

Galen Carol Audio possibly might have the NuForce BDP-93 boards in stock. I say possibly might because the boards are not listed as out of stock and I successfully added them to my shopping cart. Galen Carol Audio could conceivably have some boxes of these lying on its shelves, although I am fully aware that they probably just drop ship them from NuForce. If that's the case, then their web cart needs to be updated to show the products as "out of stock" or "discontinued."

Anyway, if Galen Carol Audio does, in fact, have the boards in stock, finding a used or new-old-stock Oppo BDP-93 wouldn't be too hard. Installing the card is said to be pretty trivial.

https://www.gcaudio.com/cgi-bin/store/showProduct.cgi?id=726

Galen Carol Audio possibly might have Oppo BDP-93NE's (i.e., the player with the board already installed) for sale as well:

https://www.gcaudio.com/cgi-bin/store/showProduct.cgi?id=634

 

I've not heard the Nuforce mod unit myself, but I can say from personal experience that the BDP-93s can sound very good when modified (my own mods in this case). And the stock 103 is a significant step up from the stock 93 and I suspect sounds quite similar to the Nuforce unit due to its design heritage.

These are indeed very musical units, although these are not the last word in transparency. The Cirrus logic DAC that these use is a whole lot easier to make sound musical than is the ESS9018 that both the 95 and 105s use. Although the ESS DAC is significantly more transparent and detailed than is the Cirrus logic DAC, and ultimately has more potential, in the right design. But stock these players are not as "tuneful" IMO. YMMV.

 

A few years ago you wouldn't really have considered a Blu-Ray or a universal player over a stand alone CD player but that's not really the case anymore. Even the latest Cambridge multi disc players are getting great reviews straight out of the box, and what seems to be consistently surprising people is the quality of the analog audio output. This review suggests it performs better than the stock Oppo. I realise the Oppo in question here has been modified but it goes to show they're putting a lot more time and effort into these players now across the board.


http://www.carltonaudiovisual.com.au/images/cambridgeaudio/widescreen-review-752bd.pdf

 

Modwright is doing mods on the Oppo BDP-105 which is the current player.

 

This is the same for all digital disk players. You get a better clock, remove the mute transistors at the outputs, clean up the power supplys, use better analog components at the outputs. This what TentLabs, Lampizator and a host of others are all about. These mods work on every player. Some, though, really shine brightly when mods are done.

 

Yeah, but that doesn't mean that those mods will make the BDP-105 sound like the NuForce BDP-93.

 

Usually when the mods work well it is because the factory engineers underestimated the potential of the DAC IC.

 

Or the modders design a new circuit that is voiced more to their liking than the factory circuit.

 

Modders don't have bean counters looking over them.

 

For $2,495

 

What is your reference or otherwise favorite SACD player currently on the market?

 

Well, we all have different interests, but if I were a highly respected mastering engineer then I wouldn't hesitate to let it be known that I'd share my opinion with engineers at the top hi-end firms. Seems that having the best on loan from dCS, Playback Designs and many others in exchange for sharing ideas, etc would be mutually beneficial. Not to mention fun!

 

That $2,495 is the best money I've spent on any piece of audio equipment I own.

 

Cambridge Audio Blu-ray players are based on the same design platform and are also very nice sounding. They share many circuit paths and typically differ by some handful of parts and software.
-Bill

 

Although... you gotta wonder how much actual audible difference there will be. And I'm still skeptical that people can just remember differences like this an hour later (or several days later) after their player is modified.

I don't dispute that you can always tighten up performance in a lot of areas just with better power supplies, better shielding, and so on. And Oppo does make good stuff, plus I don't doubt that there's a lot of dodgy stuff in those HDMI outputs.

 

That's one of the reasons that a few companies have the ability to defeat the video processor circuitry all togther. Cambridge players have a feature to do this and when you are playing an audio only disc on a good system, it is noticeable. Bryston also used to make a surround sound processor preamp where the digital circuitry could be turned off and it had no video circuitry at all. You can probably still defeat it in their new unit.
-Bill

 

I think if the video circuitry and the digital audio circuitry had separate power supplies and good shielding, I don't see where they'd be any concern at all. What's true is that a lot of components jam all this stuff together and weird things happen; I can recall a case where the readout on the front panel of a CD player some years back turned out to be injecting high-frequency noise into the D/A outputs. Kill the readout, the noise went away. So bad design does happen sometimes.