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!

Albireo, you might be able to get some info from Oppo's customer service about your unit. If you have the serial number, you can use the service email address on the Oppo web site and they can tell you if it's come back to them and if it's been repaired.

Could you describe what happened regarding firmware? Some here have upgraded the firmware without problems. I'm reluctant to try it given your experience.

Hope Gary does deliver a working model to you and refunds your extra shipping costs as well. Good luck from JimK

Hi Jim,

Your recommendation is much-appreciated. I think I may have taken a couple pictures of the unit prior to mailing it back to Gary, but otherwise I unfortunately wouldn't have the serial number handy. Does Oppo really do service on modded equipment without the modder's direct participation?

I don't know how many people have gotten the BDP-83 RS232 serial version with Digital Transport Meridian Ed mods, but I'm fairly certain I was one of the first if not the first. Immediately upon receipt of the player I could not get any video to output through the HDMI port. I could still use the composite jacks to view movies, change settings, etc, and so was able for a short time to enjoy high-res audio from the 4xS/PDIF jacks. Thinking that the problem was the firmware-related, I tried upgrading the firmware from the Oppo site, but it never seemed to complete. The last time I tried, the BDP-83 simply went dead: red power button and totally unresponsive. I had to laugh because I'm pretty techie but had until then never bricked a piece of equipment using firmware. Guess there's always a first time.

Gary's reply on this thread seemed to indicate that it was a firmware bug on Oppo's part, which I assume was related to the RS232 port. But beyond that I'm afraid I can't shed more light on the issue, as Gary seems to have gone AWOL.

Did Gary refund your shipping costs while debugging the clipping issues? Yours must have traveled quite some distance by now!

Best,
KJ

I have certainly done firmware updates with my modded BDP-83 (Also Meridian digital transport edition) without incident, although I do not have the RS232 option.

Although Gary Murrell appears to have little time for his customers here, he still finds time to post at AVS forums, as recently as this last Friday.

I would alert anyone who is still in limbo that the Paypal complaints window closes after 45 days. I have given Gary until Friday to deliver or else.

Things that make you hmmm.

Apparently Hitchhikers are not the only ones having problems:

http://www.dtvforum.info/index.php?...p;st=820&p=1385719&#entry1385719

Sirs, (and Gary if he's still with us),

My Digital Transport Mod with SPDIF connections is emitting a low frequency hum, which is being transmitted through the analog outs of the G68-->Mac amp-->surrounds-->hummmmmmmm.
Nothing through the 5200s thankfully. Never had this issue with Pioneer player.

It's there whether the player is plugged into wall or line conditioner (which is also plugged into the wall), and whether turned on or off.
Everything quiet only when unplugged. Is this the dreaded ground loop hum?

Although I never had this problem before I am thinking about purchasing a ground loop isolator. Would XLR connections from G68 to amplifier help?

Thanks for any other advice. Hope it's not the player.....
Edwin

As a regular member of DTV, there have been many, many comments - but in fairness to those going straight to that post, DTV is an Australian forum and is quite robust discussion - everyone on DTV has received their players. The comments in the threads are all about lack of communication and delays, which is fair criticism based on what's been going on here.

Sirs, (and Gary if he's still with us),

My Digital Transport Mod with SPDIF connections is emitting a low frequency hum, which is being transmitted through the analog outs of the G68-->Mac amp-->surrounds-->hummmmmmmm.
Nothing through the 5200s thankfully. Never had this issue with Pioneer player.

It's there whether the player is plugged into wall or line conditioner (which is also plugged into the wall), and whether turned on or off.
Everything quiet only when unplugged. Is this the dreaded ground loop hum?

Although I never had this problem before I am thinking about purchasing a ground loop isolator. Would XLR connections from G68 to amplifier help?

Thanks for any other advice. Hope it's not the player.....
Edwin [/quote]

That sounds like a classic ground loop issue. Adding a component can cause that with many systems. It's clear indicator that it's ground loop since as you said there is no hum on 5200's and only on analog. You need to follow standard debug practices for finding a groud loop. Start a new thread in the main forum for advice.

I have tried giving Gary a time limit to deliver but it made no difference. All I got was promises that my unit was in the process of being shipped.

I then stated the Paypal dispute process.

The Paypal dispute procedure is more complicated than it first looks. You must lodge a dispute within 45 days but then the seller is given time to respond.You then have to change your dispute into a claim. The seller then has 10 days to respond and then the claim gets examined by Paypal which takes up to 15 more days!

I have been going down that process with Gary since the 6th of August and despite the fact that Gary has twice sent me an invalid tracking number, Paypal has not approved any refund yet.

If you can, I suggest you try for a refund from your credit card first

Albireo:
quote
Did Gary refund your shipping costs while debugging the clipping issues?
unquote

No. He said he would and I've sent email and PMs without a response. Might say he seems to have a unique and effective method of inducing buyer's remorse.

Good luck to both of us, especially you who need it now more than I. JimK

I received an email to an enquiry about my unit from Gary on the 28th August. He says:

"We have around 15 more orders to get out and yours is in that, we had a problem with the clocks we are using in the units, got a bad shipment, we have more arriving any day now

we will be shipping mid next week

thanks for your patience with this, appreciate it very much"

dpstjp