OPPO BDP-103 Blu-ray Player Review Discussion Thread

Hello,
Excellent Review. I Reviewed the BDP-93 here and must say the 93 is my favorite Digital Source I have ever owned. Crazy thing is it cost $1000 less than my Denon DVD-3910, $300 less than my Pioneer Elite BDP-05, and less than many other DVD/BDP's I have owned as well.

Since getting my 93, I have not even used my OPPO BDP-83. In fact, it is now being used by one of my friends. The BDP-103 is quite similar to the 93 and shares the amazing Disc Loader that was co-developed by the Tohei Group of Japan. It was a major upgrade over the BDP-83's Disc Loaded made it feel like a lower end BDP.

The industrial design of these BDP's is amazing as well. It is awesome that the 103 added illumination on the Front Panel. I am guessing the 103/105 are going to be offered for a long time as it is fully compliant with the AACS Final Adopter Agreement thus has no analog video outputs. In addition, it has Cinavia Copyright Control. It is awesome that it can be used as a DAC as well, offers an MHL Input for connecting to Smartphones, 5.1 support for Netflix, 4K Support and more.
Cheers,
JJ

Hi Peter,

Nice review, I too have been looking at the various Oppo players for a few years. Needless to say, I occasionally have the 'spur of the moment' impulse as well, but typically take a bit of time to research and review. I noted with interest your Emotiva UMC-1 and I think you mentioned the USP-1 as well. I also have the UMC-1 and wonder how you are linking the two devices - HDMI or Analog? Also are you using the USP-1 (Analog or Coax/Toslink?) and doing Home Theater Bypass for Movies? I seem to have so many cables, cords, and connection options, that are in a cabinet, I almost can't make any work :gulp:! My current DVD-A/SACD/DVD player is an older Cambridge Audio (nice unit but doesn't really fit and only Analog/Toslink). For BluRay its a real cheapy, so would really be interested in your setup. Finally I have my DVD's "ripped" to an unRaid Server (does not really do well for me as a DLNA source), but am moving more to Apple every month. Is that going to be a duplication of effort or do you think that the Oppo as a "network" streamer will suffice?

Again thanks for the review and to others who have commented!

Regards,

Dave

Dave,

It does sound like you are moving toward a setup very similar to mine. My OPPO and UMC-1 are connected via HDMI, so the UMC-1 is handling the audio processing. So far I am quite pleased with that arrangement for both music and movies.

I do not have a USP-1 for 2-channel listening, although I plan to do that soon. I will either pick up a USP-1, which is on sale right now (and rather tempting), or a Parasound 2100, which also has the HT Bypass feature.

I have used the BDP-103 for streaming music and movies from my network and it does both very nicely. I don't feel the need to add another video streaming box to my setup. I would say the user interface on something like an Apple TV is a little more slick that the OPPO, but the nice thing about the OPPO is its compatibility with lots of different music and video formats.

Hope that helps. Whatever decision you make, we would love to hear your experience here.

Peter Loeser said:

Dave,

It does sound like you are moving toward a setup very similar to mine. My OPPO and UMC-1 are connected via HDMI, so the UMC-1 is handling the audio processing. So far I am quite pleased with that arrangement for both music and movies.

I do not have a USP-1 for 2-channel listening, although I plan to do that soon. I will either pick up a USP-1, which is on sale right now (and rather tempting), or a Parasound 2100, which also has the HT Bypass feature.

I have used the BDP-103 for streaming music and movies from my network and it does both very nicely. I don't feel the need to add another video streaming box to my setup. I would say the user interface on something like an Apple TV is a little more slick that the OPPO, but the nice thing about the OPPO is its compatibility with lots of different music and video formats.

Hope that helps. Whatever decision you make, we would love to hear your experience here.

Click to expand...

Hi Peter,

Thanks for the feedback. I too have been looking at the USP-1 though wonder if the BD103 doesn't really suffice. I like my music, but truly do more movies than music and have both Apple TVs (older ATV2 & new ATV3) plus an AirPort Express to send music to the whole house system. I've tried numerous devices to read my unRaid Server for Movies and must confess that the ATV 2 or 3 is the best at this point as long as they are in MP4 M4V or MKV format. Starting to re-rip/convert for the ATV's but if I go with the OPPO, might not have to do all of them. The one thing I was surprised at was the re-ripped size which is significantly less than .VOB and as best my old eyes can tell just as good.

I like the Emotiva line, seems solid and certainly above average without going so overboard that it startles the budget! Emo was supposed to have info on the new UMC-200 today which might offer an alternative to the USP-1 and UMC-1, also on Holiday Sale at $ 599 I believe. I probably should have waited but HDMI was calling and my LMC-1 just didn't cut it video wise. I think the 200 doesn't have the Video Processing Engine, but since the Oppo is outstanding, that might be more than enough.

Off this subject (please move if appropriate); FYI and others, BB has the PlayStation3 Monitor (240 Hz) w/2 HDMI & Component inputs at ~$ 179. For a 24" Monitor that can double as a 3D workstation/Game/TV/Movie device, there's not much better and according to the info, 2 players can each have a game screen at 120 Hz and not see the other's screen! I picked this up 2 weeks ago for my Mac Mini after deciding the iMac was too big for my space.

This possibly relates to the Oppo as a 3D device since my projector doesn't have that capability, so I might be able to send it a signal via the 2nd HDMI out, hmm not a bad thought! I don't plan to upgrade my Projector real soon, but in the short run, the Oppo might just suffice.

Thanks again for the info and update. I'll take a look at the Parasound (my amps are Parasound) but will probably defer that to another time even though the USP-1 is on sale.

Dave :whistling:

I may just invest in this deck; the BDP-83 I have been running since its inception, while built like a brick outhouse and exhibiting outstanding DVD upscaling abilities, is beginning to give me constant little issues, such as freezing up (even WITH BD Live disabled and constant dumping of Persistent Storage) and loss of HDMI handshake with regard to audio to my Onkyo AVR -- twice now, I have played a standard DVD and the bitstreamed Dolby Digital signal didn't come over my HDMI line to the Onkyo from the Oppo, instead indicating that the PLAYER was doing the decoding (which seems impossible because I'm set up in the Oppo for HDMI Audio to be sent BITSTREAM via HDMI) as evidenced by the lack of the little orange "Dolby D" light on the AVR's display.

This is getting frustrating now, and I'm beginning to think it's time for an upgrade, as much as I like my '83...

I really didn't want to consider a player outside of Oppo, to be honest; comparing the Oppos to the other decks out there like the Panasonics, Sonys, et al, the Oppos are heavily built with real nice aluminum faceplates and a businesslike approach -- the other players are plasticky in comparison, with tiny chassis dimensions and high-gloss looks that don't appear as rich and "serious" as the Oppos. Add in the affordability factor (well, perhaps not compared to the $200 or under players out there) and their DVD upscaling performance (well worth it to me), and the Oppos are a no-brainer...but I am concerned with reliability since living with the BDP-83 for a few years now...onder: