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Oppo BDP-83SE *Special Edition* & NU FORCE BDP-83SE *Special Edition*

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Oppo have just announced and on there website a new version of the great BDP-83, the BDP-83SE, this is a modified turbo charged version of the original with upgraded power supply and analogue section...

Ummm, very tempting :spend:

http://www.oppodigital.com/blu-ray-bdp-83SE/







Features


The OPPO BDP-83 Special Edition Blu-ray Disc Player is an exciting upgrade based on the highly acclaimed BDP-83. Already well known for its exceptional audio and video performance, the BDP-83 is upgraded with an an all new analog audio stage and improved power supply to become the Special Edition. Designed for the discerning audio enthusiast, the OPPO BDP-83 Special Edition Blu-ray Disc Player delivers an exceptionally wide dynamic range, ultra low distortion, accurate sound stage and jitter-free music clarity via its dedicated stereo and 7.1ch analog audio output.

The OPPO BDP-83 Special Edition uses the state-of-the-art Sabre32 family of Digital-to-Analog Converters (DAC) from ESS Technology. The Sabre32 family is known as one of the industry's highest performance audio DACs and are often found in high-end audiophile and professional equipments. The OPPO BDP-83 Special Edition uses an 8-channel Sabre Premier (ES9006) DAC chip for its 7.1 multi-channel output. The dedicated stereo output uses another 8-channel Sabre32 Ultra (ES9016) DAC chip by stacking 4 DACs for each of the Left and Right channels to achieve even greater audio performance.

Just like the BDP-83 it is based on, the OPPO BDP-83 Special Edition is a Profile 2.0 Blu-ray player featuring bit-stream and full decoding capability for high resolution audio tracks such as Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio. Designed for both home theater viewers and music listeners, it plays DVD-Video, DVD-Audio, Super Audio CD (SACD) and standard CD with excellent video and audio performance in addition to Blu-ray Discs. For a detailed list of features, please refer to the BDP-83 Features and Specifications page.

OPPO Digital recommends the BDP-83 Special Edition to customers who primarily use the analog audio output to connect to either a dedicated stereo or a multi-channel surround system. For customers who primarily use the HDMI output to connect to an A/V receiver or directly to a TV/projector, and for customers who primarily use the optical/coaxial digital audio output, the standard BDP-83 is recommended.

Retail Price: $899.00
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NU FORCE are even doing a modified version too, this seems like a common trend now, I am seriously tempted by these newer versions, the NU Force looks like it will be available as of the 18th November...

http://www.nuforce.com/hi/products/oppo_bdp83se/index.php


Extracting high-quality audio from Blu-ray players is problematic. The HDMI signal interleaves video and audio data which, upon decoding, produces an inherent jitter as high as 7nanoseconds (For comparison, a good CD player’s jitter is in the picosecond range). In practical terms, it is difficult to properly decode HDMI audio without employing extensive reclocking circuits, thus pushing up the cost of a good HDMI audio pre-processor.

The simplest way to improve analog audio performance is at the source. The Oppo BDP-83SE player incorporates ESS Technology’s state-of-the-art Sabre DAC, widely acknowledged as one of the industry’s best. The 7.1 multi-channel unit employs a single 8-channel Sabre DAC. The stereo channels’ dedicated Sabre DAC is achieved by stacking four DACs per left and right channel for utmost transparency and dynamic range.

The Nuforce Edition elevates performance yet further by replacing critical analog components with the high-grade equivalents NuForce uses in its high-end audio components. The result is a better power supply and optimized analog signal paths. As always, the proof is in the listening. The improvements in stereo (CD, SACD, DVD-A, BD Audio), and L/R/C movie outputs are clearly audible.

The standard Oppo BDP-83SE offers exemplary audio performance. The Nuforce Edition goes a step further in transparency, dynamics, and detail retrieval. As is typical of all Nuforce products, these benefits relate directly to our high-end product line in the preservation of musical truth.


MSRP $1295.00
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Hello,
For those who do not use HDMI, this is a compelling option/upgrade for existing owners. However if strictly using HDMI, even OPPO does not recommend the upgrade as all of the upgrades pertain to analogue performance. As John has laid out so clearly in his post.

Has this player been announced overseas? After hearing the unfortunate news that the ROW (rest of world) version BDP-831 had been cancelled, I was unsure if the SE was going to be available in Europe.
Cheers,
JJ
Hello,
For those who do not use HDMI, this is a compelling option/upgrade for existing owners. However if strictly using HDMI, even OPPO does not recommend the upgrade as all of the upgrades pertain to analogue performance. As John has laid out so clearly in his post.

Has this player been announced overseas? After hearing the unfortunate news that the ROW (rest of world) version BDP-831 had been cancelled, I was unsure if the SE was going to be available in Europe.
Cheers,
JJ
Hi JJ, this will certainly please a lot of people both in the US and also abroad, I'm sure it will not stop people importing these units to europe, and it may well turn out that the person who distributes the BDP-83 in the UK may well also start to sell these too...the analogue upgraded section sounds very interesting and the NU Force even more so, your right though, even Oppo say if you use HDMI then it is not worth the change, but a lot of people I know still use legacy processors and these 2 players will be of great interest to them :)
The analog audio on the Oppo 83 was already pretty good, but I'm very interested in hearing the sonic differences between the 83 and the 83SE and even maybe the NuForce edition!

Very cool news for audio enthusiasts.
It certainly is good news Jon and I might try and get hold of the Nu Force SE...saying that I know the Meridian boys have been interested in modded Oppo's and there is also this site that does some special modifications also... Oppo BDP-83 Modification
This sounds pretty nice. I'd also like to hear more about the sonic differences. Sadly for me though, $500 is about the max I can ever entertain for a player of any type. But it's still fun to kick the tires. :)
Hello,
OPPO is seemingly moving upmarket. Amazing considering, in the past, they were mostly known for their value multiregion NTSC/PAL converting DVD Players. Crazier still that the BDA (Blu Ray Disc Association) made it to where the BDP-83 cannot be made multiregion via a simply remote code entry before they would grant OPPO a license to build a BDP. Moreover, in the first few years, BDA did not grant licenses to any of the Chinese based companies. Much of this due to the rampant pirating of all media there.
Cheers,
JJ
This sounds pretty nice. I'd also like to hear more about the sonic differences. Sadly for me though, $500 is about the max I can ever entertain for a player of any type. But it's still fun to kick the tires. :)
So true, I would love to get one of these but even spending $500 on just a player would be near impossible unless I was to win the lottery :spend:
Oh well like you said its nice to dream about it. :daydream:
I think when you look at the price of the Denon A1UD and Marantz UD9004 players the Oppo upgraded players looks like incredible VFM, with the Denon coming in at $4500 and Marantz at $6000 :yikes:
Hello,
John, no doubt that OPPO offers excellent value for the money. It is just watching them grow in the States, they have really changed. They truly, at one point, were a budget brand.

Now, they have truly reached cult level status amongst videophiles. There are certain forums where if you utter a word of critique, you are branded a heretic. I do believe it to be truly well earned and because of the value they offer. That being said, while I love SACD/DVD-A, it is a small segment that collects and have let alone heard of these formats. Sadly. And with the inclusion of these formats, in addition to stellar DVD playback, being the reason these players are priced much higher than what most of the mainstream companies are selling BDP's for.

Denon's and Marantz's flagships are 40 pound behemoths priced in the stratosphere. In this light, the BDP-83SE is still cheaper than the sales tax for the Denon while still offering an almost identical feature set. And especially with the SE, offers comparable state of the art components. The OPPO's are only lacking the massively overbuilt chassis that the Denon and Marantz sport.

I actually own a DV-980H and a BDP-83 and find them to be excellent players. And if I was using the analogue outputs, my 83 would already be on it's way to California. All the same, seeing an OPPO BDP offered for 800 Dollars is just strange. For lack of a better word. No doubt, still a great value if you own many SACD's and DVD-A's.
Cheers,
JJ
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never a truer word spoken JJ :T I am actually interested in one of these upgrades due to the fact that the preamp stage on my Arcam really is first class and with a good analogue source it gives a truly exquisite sound...I'm hoping Henry (CRT) here in the UK takes some requests on board and allows us access to these as I believe there will be many willing to add to what already is as you say becoming a cult player...I have always stuck with the main stream top end Denon players in the past and was so suprised when I first recieved my 83, incredible performance for such a small outlay...I am one of those people who has a lot of SACD and especially DVD-Audio MLP coming from Meridian products in the past..
Hello,
John, in your instance, it would be a difficult call for me to upgrade. While the Arcam does have an amazing analogue section, the HDMI implementation is truly World Class. Unlike many HDMI processors, your Arcam has next to no jitter to speak of. With that being said, I would be unsure whether it would be worth the upgrade when you would also lose Bass Management and Room Correction being handled by your Arcam.

Again, you are in possession of one of a handful of HDMI processors where there seems to be only positives by using HDMI. The HDMI jitter levels in my Onkyo are concerning to put it mildly. All the same, I am still using HDMI as opposed to multichannel analogue inputs for my BDP. I do use 2 channels of the multichannel input for one of my CD players however.
Cheers,
JJ
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agreed, the HDMI implementation on the Arcam is probably one of the best, and I suppose in theory it does seem pointless, but in a statement that was made elsewhere Arcams new BD player suggests that using the Analogue outputs of the player into the AV888 will give the best results for SQ and then using HDMI purely for video, I'm just curious I suppose :huh:
Interesting. Given that the upgrade price is not that much, it might be worthwhile to go ahead and do it then. Denon also advocates using the analogue outputs of their flagship as well over HDMI.
I am somewhat conflicted that Arcam would recommend using the analogue stage of their BDP.
Then again, the analogue section is the only place where there are discernible differences between BDP's.

That is, if using HDMI bitstreamed, it seems to be almost impossible to differentiate between different BDP's. However, the aforementioned issues with jitter in many HDMI processors is cause for concern in many processors. Tough call.
Cheers,
JJ
I know it has certainly got me curious :whistling:
Denon's and Marantz's flagships are 40 pound behemoths priced in the stratosphere. In this light, the BDP-83SE is still cheaper than the sales tax for the Denon while still offering an almost identical feature set. And especially with the SE, offers comparable state of the art components. The OPPO's are only lacking the massively overbuilt chassis that the Denon and Marantz sport.
Actually, Oppo's feature set is more inclusive as both Marantz and Denon will only output 16/44.1 from SACD over HDMI while Oppo will do 88.2 or 176.4!
Hello,
Excellent point Kal. Are we going to be seeing a review of the BDP-83SE in a upcoming "Music in the Round"? I greatly enjoy your writing on Stereophile and your postings.
Cheers,
JJ
Hello,
Excellent point Kal. Are we going to be seeing a review of the BDP-83SE in a upcoming "Music in the Round"? I greatly enjoy your writing on Stereophile and your postings.
Cheers,
JJ
Thanks. I intend to do so.
Hello,
Look forward to that. Do you think there is anyway that you or JA (John Atkinson) could also provide a set of measurements? I realize that Music in the Round does not often provide measurements, but perhaps this player might warrant that. Or perhaps a Feature Review done by you. Given the amount of enthusiasm this player has engendered, I really think it would be a worthwhile endeavor.
Cheers,
JJ
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