Meridian Unplugged - Powered by MrTechGuy.co.uk Forums Restaurant at the End of Universe Hitchhikers - Meridian Equipment Oppo BDP-83 Universal Player with 4x SPDIF Powerbuy!

digital transport ed consists of:

-upgraded main power supply with filtering and toroidal isolation transformer
-upgraded 27mhz main clock with its own dedicated transformer based power supply
-disabling of the analog audio board(can be reconnected should it be needed later)
-rear analog audio RCA outputs are capped off with terminating 24k gold shielded connectors, this finishes off the complete removes the analog signal chain from the component
-replace the IEC power input with a grounded version
-shielded grounded power cable is included
-the entire top chassis is shielded with copper shielding material
-vibration reducing/isolation feet are added to the bottom of the chassis

digital transport Meridian ed consists of:

-4x SPDIF output with high-end 24k gold RCA connectors, uses Shawns very capable board and high quality wiring inside(Oppo decodes all sound formats internally and the mod supports up to 192KHZ)
-upgraded main power supply with filtering and toroidal isolation transformer
-upgraded 27mhz main clock with its own dedicated transformer based power supply
-disabling of the analog audio board(can be reconnected should it be needed later)
-rear analog audio RCA outputs are capped off with terminating 24k gold shielded connectors, this finishes off the complete removes the analog signal chain from the component
-replace the IEC power input with a grounded version
-shielded grounded power cable is included
-the entire top chassis is shielded with copper shielding material
-vibration reducing/isolation feet are added to the bottom of the chassis

thanks

region free and HD-SDI options:

-Region free mod will apply to both DVD and Blu-Ray and is a manual switch that uses the remote while the player is powered down
-HD-SDI is the highest end video signal output possible today, direct digital decoder output with no HDCP, HD-SDI supports 480i, 720p, 1080i and 1080p/24, the Oppo 83 HD-SDI will also have support for 720p/50, 1080i/50 and 576i modes as well, which covers all Blu-Ray and DVD media from anywhere in the world

thanks

After another week or so of listening, I've found a number of CDs for which the Meridian player sounds much better then the Oppo... its more 3 dimensional and less edgy on these discs... the Eagles 'Hotel California' is a prime example. Now I'm wondering if I should have had the entire digital mod (at least the new power supply and clock) done, assuming that that is the root cause of this performance discrepancy. I'm really hoping that I can get down to just 1 digital transport, but as it stands, I don't think I can.

Anyone in the sunny (not so much today) San Jose, CA area, that has a fully modded Oppo DVD player who would be willing to do an A/B test against my partially modded Oppo BDP-83? I'll supply drinks and snacks. If you're interested, send me a PM/email and we can work out the details. Thanks....

EDIT I should say we found both players very close sonically.

was the 980H fully modded (i.e. with upgraded PS and clock)?

Meridian equipment is the G68J and G98DH... amp is a Bryston 9BSST... speakers are Tannoy TD8s
all cables are from Analysis Plus (except for the Meridian supplied ICs for the MCH).

No, just the 3xSPDIF mod. We ran it through a 861v4 into DSP5200 L & R, DSP 5000's surrounds and a DSP 5500 hc. I've heard the Oppo measured high for jitter but then you would think the G68 would help that. Maybe the DSP's are adding an extra layer of buffering? I use that player in my 2 channel system running directly into a pair of DSP 5000's and the sound is superb. I can't believe the BDP83 is worse in any way than the earlier Oppos but who knows. I'll find out soon enough since I have one on the way from Oppo to Gary.

Ken

both systems should be plenty revealing enough to spotlight any issues... maybe the 861v4 does a better job of dealing with jitter on the inputs then the G68... hopefully someone will have a fully modded 980 in the San Jose area and is willing to come by for an A/B comparison.

I wanted to post my honest opinion on the Oppo units, hopefully this will be appreciated by those here

in my experience modifying Oppo units they do have a reasonable amount of jitter in the circuits, this is due to their mid to lower cost price range, they use standard off the shelf clocks that any 75$ DVD player would use, not high-end clock setups like a Denon 3800 or Pioneer 09FD

this is the main reason I developed the digital transport mods, the Oppo is very strong in all areas except jitter and are a little weak on the power supply side, that is why I recommended everyone here go with the digital transport version, it was a honest assessment not a sales ploy

with the clock mod and other tweaks jitter is greatly reduced and that doesn't mean 300$ boutique clock setups, something nice and simple gets the job done quite well, my simple clock mod uses its own dedicated power transformer(unlike other cheaper alternatives), and does not use a DC signal from the players own power supply

the clock mod in the Oppo replaces the main 27mhz clock that is used by all digital circuits in the unit including HDMI etc., updating this clock improves everything in the player including the SPDIF mod and even error correction on the optical drive

thanks guys

Turns out that coachjay lives about 3 minutes from where I work... we are going to get together for a couple of listening sessions (my place, then his) where we can do an A/B comparison of my partially modded Oppo and his fully modded version (he's one of the guys getting one of the early units from Gary). Once he receives his unit, the fun will start... we will of course post our results.

Do you have the equipment to measure the jitter improvement with your mod? If so, what are the before and after rates? Is the reduction significant?

Hi Gary

Could you please confirm the following:

1. I seem to remember reading somewhere that the region free would be automatic for DVD and manual for Blu-ray. Is that incorrect?

2. I assume that all the output formats mentioned above as available from HD-SDI are also available on HDMI. Is that correct?

3. Any confirmed date for availability of region free?

Thanks

I notice there's a sticker next to the IEC connector that says "no balanced". does it not accept balanced power ? (I use a ps audio power plant.)