Meridian Unplugged - Powered by MrTechGuy.co.uk Forums Discussion Meridian - Systems Official Blue ray options - Denon, Arcam, Pioneer, etc.

Merged topics but I don't know why it didn't bump it to the top. This post should.

Excellent. Thanks, Kal.

Any idea when the release date is? I hit some links on Google and they say the unit was released to some early adopters/"testers" in December/January.

I am considering getting the HD621 and would desire to get the new HD audio codecs into my 861V4. I currently own a Pioneer BDP-95 which doesn't decode DTS-MA in the player so I am cosidering getting a new player. My question is -- is there a difference in the internal decoding capability of high end vs. lower cost Bluray players. I am considering waiting for the new Pioneer Elite model 23 or should I look at the BDP-05 OR is the BDP-09 a better player. My thoughts are that over HDMI it will not matter. Any thoughts would be appreciated.

I would think if a player decodes a codec to PCM over HDMI they should be nearly the same. Especially from the same company and vintage (no so much from model to model). HD621 is supposed to also clean up the signal quite a bit.

It will be more speed, features and physical build quality that vary more.

Joe
You need to ensure that your future player decodes BOTH TrueHD and DTS-MA.

As near as I can tell, most of the Pioneers don't do DTS-MA, even though they have promised Firmware Updates for several Players to include DTS-MA decoding (e.g. Pioneer 09) I'm not sure how many of these Firmware Updates have actually been delivered though

Once the Decoding ability is in the Player, I don't think anyone has been able to identify any differences between Decoding in different players. The Quality of DAC's used in the Player can influence the result, but when outputting Digital over HDMI, I don't believe that there are any differences currently. Maybe in the future.....

Thank you both George and Ronnie for your input. I think you both confirmed my own thoughts that over HDMI it will be the same result sonically going into the HD621 and then the HD621 and 861 will work their magic.
Ronnie thanks for the warning on Pioneer players -- I am aware of it but hopefully they will come up with the firmware upgrade to have DTS-MA on board by the time the new BDP-23 comes out. The Oppo is also a possibility. We will see.

Oppo sent out a new email yesterday to those signed up on their Bluray interest list (I think you can still sign up on www.oppodigital.com). Basically, by tomorrow they will pick 50 people randomly from the list and offer them the chance to purchase the device with 2-3 days. Those people then get to beta test for a short while and answer some questions on whether to open up the test to another 100. There was no details on the final release date, but they did say they had Dolby TruHD and DTS-MA decoding done and were working on DVD-Audio support.

Here's the official announcement:

From Oppo Digital:

We would like to thank you for the tremendous feedback that we have received from the community in response to our first BDP-83 Blu-ray player notification update. There were many great comments, suggestions and concerns which we will try to address in the release of the BDP-83. In particular, we would like to address the Early Adoption Program.

We have decided to take a democratic, by-the-people approach to the implementation of the Early Adoption Program. For the initial batch we will randomly choose 50 customers to participate in the Early Adoption Program. These 50 customers will have the opportunity to purchase the BDP-83 for $499 before the official release. After using the player for about a week, they will be required to vote on whether the program should be expanded or suspended based on end-user experiences. If a supermajority (at least 70%) votes in favor of expanding the program, we will expand the Early Adoption Program by another 100 randomly chosen customers. The player will be shipped with a pre-production firmware version. Firmware updates will be available from time to time.

The initial 50 Early Adoption Customers will be chosen no later than February 25th using the random number generator at random.org. After being contacted by us, the customer must place the order no later than 3pm February 27th Pacific Time; otherwise the opportunity to participate will be passed on to another customer. A simple "Yes" or "No" vote on whether to expand the program needs to be cast no later than March 15th.

Terms and conditions for the Early Adoption Program, as well as the current program status, can be found at our web site:
http://www.oppodigital.com/blu-ray-bdp-83/EAP.aspx

We would also like to take this time to update you on the status of BDP-83 developments. The last two months have been very fruitful, as the player now supports BD-Live (Profile 2.0) and can internally decode Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio formats. DVD-Audio has yet to be implemented through firmware, but we are working diligently on this feature. A preliminary features and specifications list will be available on our web site on Tuesday March 3rd.

I am looking for a disk spinner that supports CD, SACD and DVD-Audio and puts the sound in PCM on the HDMI. I was looking at the Pioneer DV-610, but it seems that it puts SACD as DSD on HDMI. I know that Oppo is mentioned a few times on this forum before, but what players can you recommend?

Bump

I am not looking for a Blu-ray player, so I do not really understand why my question is merged with this topic.

Sorry feel free to start another thread then.

I thought you were looking for a Universal player.