Meridian Unplugged - Powered by MrTechGuy.co.uk Forums Discussion Meridian - Systems Oppo BDP-83 compared to the Meridian G98DH

Can someone help me figure out if there's anything I would give up by replacing my Meridian G98DH and Sony Bluray BDP-S500 with the Oppo BDP-83 Bluray player modified with the 4X SPDIF Shawn Fogg board?

I am currently using the G98DH for CD, DVD, DVDA playback with HDMI connected to a Panasonic HDTV and 3 x digital coax main outputs with MHR Smart Link connected to my G68.

My Sony BDP-S500 provides Bluray playback and is connected to the G68 with a digital coax cable.

So, can I effectively replace my G98DH and Sony BDP-S500 and get the same (or better?) functionality with the modified Oppo BDP-83?

By the way, I have a 7.1 speaker set up with 2 X DSP5.5k, DSP5k Center, 2 X DSP5k rear, 2 X DSP33 sides. All speakers are 96/24.

Many thanks for helping me sort this out!

Hi Gautam

It looks as though you can get the functionality in the one unit with the Oppo (although I think DVDA is still for a future firmware upgrade?) but the big question is how it will sound compared to the G98. Unfortunately, short of trying them side by side in your own system I doubt that there can be a definitive answer.

Cheers

George

I assume a stock Oppo + HD621 is not an option? This would probably have a better jitter profile vs. the modified Oppo and be eight channel future-proofed.

Does the Oppo-83 support DVDA?

This question is really timely. I can't compare Oppo to Meridian today...but I probably will in the future thanks to the early adopters and their comments. We get a lot of advantages with the mod 83, but what do we give up if we replace our M spinner of various types?

My guesstimate:

* CD: Possibly the G98DH is somewhat better, hard to know if it will be audible.
* DVD: Picture quality/upscaling is much better in Oppo compared to G98DH, don't know if it will be noticable better than in the BDP-S500 though.
* DVD-A: The current firmware plays DVD-A, though it's still some work to do (mostly since about half of the existing DVD-A discs are "non-standard" in one way or another, mostly regarding menus). The G98DH can send it as bitstream and that would top what Oppo can offer.
* SACD: Does the Sony play SACD? Otherwise it's an easy win for Oppo, can send SACD out on analogue or HDMI (both DSD and PCM), and a modified Oppo will always win since it can go digital to the Meridian processor.
* Blu-ray: The picture quality would probably be equal for Oppo and Sony, but since you know only can connect audio from the BDP-S500 by one coax it's an obvious win for the modified Oppo since it gives you the HQ audio. The S500 would probably be more "mature" until Oppo has released one or two more FW updates (which they however usually are quick to do), I've read that a few DTS-HDMA discs have some glitches with the current FW.
* Other: You can connect a FAT32 USB disc to the Oppo and play some other formats, I believe FLAC is one of them.
* Support: Meridian and Oppo beats Sony hands down.

I've not been so impressed by an Oppo DVD I bought recently. It's an unmodified unit and the analogue multichannel outs are just not good enough to listen to SACDs/DVD audio. That didn't really surprise me but when I recently upgraded to dsp5200s I experienced great difficulty controlling the bass from redbook CD. For some reason it didn't occur to me that the problem might be the transport and I spent a few weeks fiddling around with MRC to try and solve the problem. Anyway, an ex-demo G91 I'd bought was off for a service from Meridian and it was only when I started playing redbook CD through the G91 that my bass problems disappeared. I've compared the Oppo to the G91 a fair bit since then and it's - to my ears anyway - very obvious that the Meridian is much better.

I've been pretty surprised by this. Previously I'd come to the erroneous conclusion that it was much more worthwhile investing in processors and speakers than sources. It's now clear to me that digital sources are not created equal and that, for audio at least, Meridian's transports are still well worth considering. I plan now to hold on to my Meridian transports even if over time they're mainly used for redbook. Of course, whether or not the Oppo Bluray would be a better transport for redbook than the Oppo I have I don't know.

Ian

I'd never consider an Oppo as anything other than a digital transport. For analogue, I think you get what you pay for.

George, that probably makes the most sense - to compare the two side by side before making a decision. If I can't discern the difference the decision will be much easier - just go with the Oppo.
Thanks.

Sorry at current prices the Oppo + HD621 option is too pricy for me. Perhaps if Meridian adjusts prices to get more wholesale adoption this might be the best option.
Thanks!

Sorry for the naive question - could you please explain the difference between the way that the G98DH sends DVDA as compared to the Oppo. I understand that the G98 can grab the native 96/24 off the DVDA tracks and transmit that over the proprietary MHR to the G68. Will the Oppo also send 96/24 to the G68? How about the new TrueHD and DTS MA (?) formats - will these be decoded by the Oppo or by the G68?

The Oppo ability to play audio files over USB is a big plus. Will this allow me to play native 96/24 audio files without using a computer? Will this sound better than the Apple Airport Express?

Thanks very much!

Ian, most of my library is redbook CD so if the Oppo is not as good a source as the G98 then I would have to think carefully about giving up the Meridian spinner. Of course I'm gradually digitizing my 200+ CDs collection and listening to more music over the Apple Airport Express. Perhaps with the Oppo I can play audio files over the USB port and forgo the Airport Express.
Thanks!