Meridian Unplugged - Powered by MrTechGuy.co.uk Forums Discussion HiFi & HT Chat Oppo 93 v 95 sonic benefit?

I had both a 93 and a 95 at the same time earlier this year. They're both great players, and the 95 is much better with analogue, but I didn't hear any difference over HDMI. The 95 uses a switching supply for the digital board, which is slightly disappointing, but there you are.

I subsequently bought a 95 modified by David Schulte, and that was much better over HDMI. He performs a lot of work to screen, filter and damp HF noise and interference within the player, and this pays dividends with digital outputs. HDMI is a rotton connection for digital audio IMHO, but the best players like this (or the Denon A1UD) can make it acceptable - close to SPDIF.

Nick

What kind of benefits do you hear? Am curious because I've gone the modding route a few times and have found the results to be a decidedly mixed bag.

IMHO, 95 is better than 93 when I use HDMI via HD621.

Last month, I bought a 93. I found that 93 cannot fully decode MLP in DVDA playback of "Queen: A Night At The Opera". I cannot hear one channel of sound in one the tracks. I returned my 93 to the dealer and exchange for a 95, which does not show any problem in MLP playback of the same DVDA. Moreover, I also found that 95 sound better than 93.

Yes, modding is a bit hit and miss, and some of Schulte's work is more successful than others. The safe bets seems to be Onkyo pre-pros and Oppo/NuForce BDP's. I've had several of his products, and the improvement in HDMI output really struck me. I suppose a player can't have great analogue performance unless the underlying digital performance is up to scratch, too. The benefits I hear are improved clarity and micro-detail. Soundstage depth is much better, there's less grain, and less tendancy to make everything sound the same. Really worthwhile improvements that I would never have thought possible a year ago. Money-back gurrantee as well, so little to lose.

Nick

Really? I have no problems playing that disc with any(!) of the Oppo players that I have tried: 980H, 83, 83SE and 95. Never tried a 93 but I doubt your problem with it is due to anything more than a defect in that sample. What track, btw?

Kal

That disc plays fine here too . Sometimes a good clean is all that's required for audio/video defects to clear up .

M

When my 93 was playing back track 11 (Bohemian Rhapsody), I could not hear the sound from one of the singers. I did not know which channel it was. It happened only for this track.

I did not clean the disc and it worked well in 95, and I did not try another 93.

Best bang for buck for the front end. I've had Dune players for well over 1.5years and have not looked back.

I compared the Dune to the BDP83 and there was zero picture/audio quality difference in all-DSP setting. (Blu-Ray vs. Blu-Ray and Blu-Ray vs. NAS, etc.)

Newest Dune firmware gets you handsome GUI and a few tasty widgets. Plus TV and internet etc. etc. etc.

Can you get the Dune modded multi-region for BD playback like the Oppo? Not a biggie, as I suppose one could rip the non-region compliant stuff to NAS, but it'd be nice not to have to.

http://www.mpcclub.com/forum/showthread.php?t=18187

Not sure which firmware / patch works for what. Google...and/or search mpcclub.com.

Yes the Dune region patch works on both BD and DVD. Just select a different region if you need to before playing your BD/DVD movie. Works on all HDI Dunes.