Oppo UDP-205 Announced

As far as I know there has been no firmware updates to address the MQA CD playback noise issue. I only have two MQA CDs (Aja and The Royal Scam) and in all honesty wasn't very impressed with the SQ of either CD. So I highly doubt I'll be buying anymore MQA CDs.

 

MQA CDs are a scam, folded inside a scam. A pseudo-solution in futile search of a problem.

For a rather complete picture, there are a lot of threads over at CA.

 

Whether it's a scam or not I bought the two Steely Dan MQA CDs not thinking the format was anything special. But was hoping the mastering of both would be better than other versions of Aja and The Royal Scam that I already had. Unfortunately the masterings of both were nothing special IMO. I wish the 205 had the ability to play the redbook layer of MQA CDs. But it does not and only the MQA layer can be played.

 

Could the MQA-encoded files simply be ripped from the CDs as in normal process? Then they could be played back via computer through the USB port if its firmware is up-to-date, I would think, thus avoiding the disc playback mechanical noise.

 

I'm not sure. But seems like a lot of work to avoid playing the disc. A disclaimer in that I only spin discs and have zero knowledge on ripping MQA encoded files.

 

Well, that's true, it may be a tad more work. One might be better off with a download instead of a physical disc, if the same recording/MQA encoding was available that way.

 

If we could pay for them with bitcoin, then we’d really have something!

 

There is a discussion of how the bass management of the 205 functions in the Sony UBP-X800 universal player thread. There is a 205 owner in that thread that claims bass management of the 205's 5.1 analog output will only output bass to the sub if there is LFE content on SACDs. His claims are that if the speakers are set to small with a 60 Hz crossover the bass frequencies below 60 Hz of 3.0, 4.0 and 5.0 SACDs will be "lost". Is this accurate? It's been awhile since I used the 5.1 analog output of my 205. But I could have sworn that when playing 3.0, 4.0 and 5.0 SACDs (PCM setting) my sub was getting bass frequencies below the 80 Hz crossover setting. I'm not home or I'd check it out on my system.

From page 66 of the 205 manual:

Crossover: Allows you to set the Bass Management kick-in frequency for all speakers. When the speaker size is set to Small in Speaker Configuration (see page 69), bass information below this frequency is not passed to the speakers to reduce possible distortion, and if the subwoofer is available, bass information will be redirected to the subwoofer.

http://download.oppodigital.com/UDP20X/UDP-205_User_Manual_English_V1.0.0.pdf

SONY UBP-X800 universal player

 

No, no claim at all about LFE content on SACDs. LFE is a digital preamp function whereby low frequencies sent to mains and surround channels are also directed to the subwoofer channel; and when mains and surround speakers are set to small the low frequencies below crossover point is not delivered to them. This relives those speakers of low frequency duty and thus they perform better. Now, what I said is this: If the OPPOs 5.1 analog bass management feature is applied and a multi-channel SACD which does not have a .1 channel, for example 5.0, sends output to an analog multi-channel preamp, the preamp will not be sending output to the subwoofer, since it has not received .1 input. If that same output from the OPPO is sent to a digital multi-channel preamp where the subwoofer is On, the LFE function will direct low frequencies to the preamp's subwoofer output and the subwoofer will output low frequencies. Finally, if a 3, 4, or 5 channel SACD is sent to an analog multi-channel preamp and the OPPOs 5.1 multi-channel settings have any speakers set to small, only the frequencies above the crossover point set for the speakers will output to the analog multi-channel preamp. Note: unless you are indeed using an analog multi-channel preamp, instead of a modern AVR or prepro with HDMI and/or multi-channel analog inputs, this whole conversation is totally moot. It is only meaningful to folks who do not have a modern preamp which has HDMI and/or multi-channel analog inputs. And, in fact that's why the OPPO has a bass management feature in the first place, since modern digital multi-channel preamps handle the bass management function.

 

It doesn't matter if one is using an multichannel analog preamp or digital processor with a 5.1 analog input. They should both receive bass below the set crossover for all speakers even when there is no LFE channel content. It's not "a digital preamp function" as the 205 is doing the processing and then outputting an analog signal. Maybe the issue you're having is due to the complexity of your system. The 205's bass management would have to be flawed if it worked like you claim it does.

 

If you are using the OPPOs 5.1 multi-channel bass management, with speaker/s set to SMALL, there will be no output from OPPO to any preamp below the set crossover for those speakers; and, only when the OPPOs bass management has speakers set to LARGE will full frequency of those channels be sent to your preamp. On anther note: interestingly enough, if you read the OPPO manual it recommends you use the preamp's bass management instead of the OPPOs since the OPPO does not deal with multi-channel SACDs where low bass is not recorded to the .1 channel, that's to say the OPPOs 5.1 bass management has no capability to extract bass from the SACDs stereo channels to send to the .1 channel. That's why low bass from SACDs without .1 do not get to you subwoofer but instead is produced by your mains, if the OPPO has mains set to LARGE. One more thing, if the OPPOs 5.1 bass management did indeed send full frequency from channels set at SMALL with crossover application and still sent full frequency then that would mean the OPPO was defective.

 

Then please explain the information below from the 205 manual. Also please point out in the 205's manual where it states bass management will not work with 3.0, 4.0 and 5.0 SACDs. So basically you're saying that the 205's manual is wrong.

Crossover: Allows you to set the Bass Management kick-in frequency for all speakers. When the speaker size is set to Small in Speaker Configuration (see page 69), bass information below this frequency is not passed to the speakers to reduce possible distortion, and if the subwoofer is available, bass information will be redirected to the subwoofer.

 

Wrong. What you describe is bass management and/or +Bass (or some other term for duplicating bass in mains and subs). LFE is a discrete signal from the source/disc, i.e., the .1 in 5.1.

You are confused and confusing.

 

Not wrong. LFE processing of analog stereo input to preamp is an example where LFE processor extracts low bass from mains channels and delivers it to the subwoofer output. When mains are set to large they still get the full frequency, when set to small they get what is set above crossover and may perform better.

 

I never said the OPPOs 5.1 bass management did not work with 3, 4, or 5 channel SACDs.
For example, when playing a 3 channel SACD you get output to mains and center channel, but, you get nothing to surrounds or subwoofer. If in this example mains and center are set to LARGE you get full frequency to mains and center, speakers set to SMALL will not get bass below what the crossover is set to. The manual is absolutely correct but it appearently requires .1 content.

 

Correction: speakers set to small do redirect bass to the sub.

 

You most certainly have said bass management does not work with the 205 when playing 3.0, 4.0 and 5.0 SACDs. Of course there is no surround or LFE output on 3.0 SACDs. Who said there is? I'm done as it really is apparent that you are confused and misinformed.

Wow ! It's what I've been saying all along.

 

Yes, since you presented the statement in the manual and that was not the result I was getting I played a 3 channel disc with speakers set to small and with amplification to mains and center turned off so I could hear if any bass at all was coming from my sub. There was no bass, so I turned up the master volume, still no bass, thus I was convinced no bass was being sent to my sub. This made me think perhaps my OPPO was defective. After all I knew my sub was working but, looking into it a little more I discovered that while my digital prepro has the bass level set at an audible level, my analog preamp's bass level control was turned down so low that there was no audible sound coming from the sub. I turned the sub volume up using a SPL meter to match to my mains and there was indeed bass coming from the sub on the 3 channel material. So sorry, I'm a complete idiot.

 

It happens and we all make mistakes. Glad that you got the issue with your system corrected.

 

This is one of the reasons I love my REL 528 sub with its "Neutrik speakon" connector. When playing 2-channel material (which doesn't have a dedicated .1 LFE channel) through the DAC of the 205 (i.e. not using the bass management of the pre-pro), it allows me to get low-frequency from the sub. Sounds amazing!

 

Uh... That functionality has nothing to do with the connector or subwoofer brand/model. I am curious, though: how is your subwoofer integrated into your system using Speakon? Are you using professional live audio amplifiers with Speakon outputs? Even so, it's pretty rare to have a non-powered sub in live sound/sound reinforcement (about as rare as in consumer audio). I'm used to using an outboard crossover to send line-level signal to the sub, or using the sub's built-in crossover and then amplifying the high-passed output before sending it to the mains.

 

My amp is a Sunfire Grand Series II. The Speakon is connected to the binding posts of the front L and R channels on the amp. There is also a .1 connection for the dedicated LFE channel. The sub is powered.

As far as I know, this setup is unique to Rel subs.

 

I was just prompted to update My 205 to the new firmware, which I did. Anyone else?

I was aware of one flaw - a VERY loud disc spinning sound when playing MQA-decoded CDs. I can happily say that they fixed this problem with this new firmware

 

Ewww, maybe I'll do my first ever update to my mid-production 105 then.

Or should I leave well enough alone?

 

That's good to know that the noise when playing MQA discs has been corrected. I have two MQA discs and have no plan to buy any others. For now I'm going to stay with the 205's present firmware (UDP20X-60-0625).