I bought an Oppo BDP 83 in the fall of 2009 for its improved audio circuitry and Blu-ray capability. Shortly after I bought it, Oppo released a new version with vastly upgraded audio circuits, the BDP 83 SE, and offered a program by which previous purchasers could send their machines back and pay to have them similarly upgraded. I took advantage of that program and was so impressed by the improvements that I wrote a review of it for Amazon that many people found helpful (it is the second review). That old review OPPO BDP-83SE - Blu-ray disc player - upscaling - black might be worth reading, since much of it also applies to the BDP 105, which I recently bought and which significantly expands some of those benefits. Like the BDP 83 SE, the BDP 105 also has a pair of ESS Sabre DACs plus additional circuit improvements. But unlike the BDP 83 SE, there are new ways you can use them.
When I bought my first multichannel player, I found that there was a significant improvement to be heard when playing the many wonderful RCA and Mercury 3-channel stereo (left , right, center) SACDs as 3 channels on 3 speakers in comparison to the 2-channel mixdown with a phantom center and this improvement was more apparent than ever when I bought the BDP 83. But with the significantly improved audio output once I upgraded my BDP 83 to a BDP 83 SE, there was a big trade-off and I ultimately found that the benefits of 3 channel play, of necessity through the multi-channel outputs, were considerably outweighed by the distinctly superior audio quality available from the dedicated stereo outputs, which automatically down mixed the 3 channels to two with a phantom center.
There are two Saber 8-channel DACs in the 83SE, and now in the 105. One is used to feed the 7.1 (actually 8) channel analog outputs. The other dedicates that 8 channels of processing power to just 2 channels, the dedicated stereo outputs, which undergo an extraordinary amount of processing, jitter reduction, etc., not available when the same processor is processing 6 or 8 channels of information What this yields is an extraordinary improvement in sound quality listening to stereo music through the dedicated stereo outputs as compared to listening to the same music through the front left and right outputs. On the BDP 83 SE listening in stereo through the Sabre 7.1 channel outputs was a major improvement over listening through the 7.1 or stereo outputs on the unmodified BDP 83. But listening in stereo on the BDP 83 SE through the dedicated stereo outputs was an even more dramatic improvement over listening through the lesser processing of the front left and right outputs. This is also true on the BDP 105. The problem with listening to multichannel recordings on the BDP 83 SE was that in order to listen to a 3 channel stereo recording like the Mercury and RCA SACDs of classic 1950s recordings the only way you could get a pure front left and front right signal was to use the 7.1 channel out front left and front right outputs. That meant that in order to listen to 3 discrete channels, you had to lose the advantage of the improved circuitry available through the stereo outputs. The stereo outputs automatically mixed down multichannel recordings to stereo at the stereo outputs. After listening to a few recordings, I found that it was better to listen to the improved stereo mixdown of the 3 channels with a phantom center than it was to listen to the comparatively degraded 3 discrete channels and consequently my center channel speaker has sat mostly unused for several years, except for an occasional DVD movie. But on most DVDs and all Blu-rays and music, I have been listening to the stereo outputs for front channels.
BUT, the BDP 105 gives the listener a choice. You can select to have EITHER a stereo mixdown of all channels through the dedicated processor feeding the the stereo outputs. OR you can have that dedicated processor just work on just the front left and front right signals with no mixdown. So you can have maximum processing feeding your front left and right speakers and the other 8 channel processor can feed the center, surrounds, and sub-woofer channels. This means your two most important channels have the best possible sound quality and the others have excellent, but honestly, not-nearly-as-good sound quality of an 8 channel processor dividing up the work of processing 8 channels, two of which you (front left and front right) you are actually listening to through another source.
We had heard the Baltimore Symphony perform Rachmaninoff's third piano concerto with Garrick Ohlson this weekend and my wife wanted to listen to the Rachmaninoff second. To maximize sound quality, and also listen to a fine performance, I chose the Mercury SACD of Byron Janis performing both concertos and decided to try out listening to the isolated left and right through the dedicated stereo outputs and the center channel using the regular center channel output.
Now, having sat down and listened to Rachmaninoff's 2nd and 3rd concertos, Respighi's Ancient Airs and Dances, and Hanson's Symphony #2 on Mercury 3-channel stereo SACD last night, I can say that this ability to switch the stereo output back and forth between processing a multi-channel mix down and a dedicated front left/front right signal is worth upgrading from the BDP 83 SE to the BDP 105 all by itself. Excellent center channel and extraordinary front left and front right is wonderful to hear--way better than 3 excellent channels or an extraordinary mixdown with phantom center, but admittedly probably not as good as 3 extraordinary channels. Now if Oppo would offer an upgrade to allow 4 channels of the second processor to be dedicated to the front center channel and the other 4 to the other channels, omitting either the subwoofer or the back channels but retaining the surrounds, that would be even better. I guess that will wait for the Oppo 125 or so in a few years. But to be honest with the front left and right speakers putting out such wonderful sound, the fact that the center channel was somewhat less wonderful was hardly noticeable. And it is a fantastic upgrade from 3 channels of somewhat less wonderful sound quality. My center channel speaker is going to working a lot more in the future.
There are also other reasons to buy the Oppo BDP 105. It can be used as an outboard DAC for processing signals from other sources. You can send the audio and/or video from a HDTV tuner or DVR, a computer, an ipod, another CD, DVD, laserdisc, or SACD player into the Oppo, preferably by HDMI, but it also accepts USB, coax, or TOS-link digital inputs, though some of those options might not allow maximum resolution. It has no analog inputs.
And it does streaming. And it plays 3-D if you have an appropriate display, which I don't, yet.
And in my few weeks of listening, I have found that the 105 does sound a little better all the time than the 83SE. There is better articulation of details. Front to back depth information is significantly improved. I used to really enjoy listening to music through my BDP 83 SE. Through the BDP 105 listening to the same music in the same way, it is better. But for me, being able to listen to multichannel recordings with isolated front left and right channels coming through the dedicated stereo outputs makes the biggest difference.
Update: 1/30/13
I played Bach's first cello suite on the Janos Starker Mercury SACD in 3 channel mode this afternoon using the dedicated stereo outputs for left and right and the regular center channel. It was wonderful. Then I pulled out another recording I am quite fond of, the CD of Edgar Meyer playing the same suite on the double bass. What a mistake! It brought back memories of the 1980s when I played a good record first and then put on a CD. The sound was SO disappointing. Back then there was a saying, if you want your CDs to sound good, don't play vinyl first.
I thought that CDs sounded very good on the Oppo, and they do. But I guess mixing SACDs and CDs is not a good idea in the same listening session, unless you listen to the CDs first. Next time, some other day, Edgar Meyer will have to come first. And this was with Starker's cello coming primarily from the reduced quality center channel (with the dedicated stereo channels providing mostly room and space and supplemental signal) and Meyers double bass coming exclusively from the enhanced dedicated stereo left and right! I had to put on another SACD of unrelated music just to clear my head of the sound.
A little later, just to be fair, I put the Starker first movement back on, first the CD layer, then the SACD stereo layer, then back and forth once more, and finally the 3 channel SACD track. The collapse of the sound was just as apparent on stereo CD vs stereo SACD. And 3 channel SACD was a significant improvement over stereo SACD, even with the relatively inferior center channel where, in this somewhat unusual case, most of the direct sound of this SOLO cello originates.
I have really enjoyed listening to CDs on the BDP105 and found that everything sounds a little better than it did on the BDP83SE. But I am also finding that SACD playback has apparently improved more significantly than CD playback.
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This Item  OPPO BDP-105 Universal Audiophile 3D Blu-ray Player (Black) | Recommendations  |  |  |  |  | |
| Price | $1,899.00 | -25% $147.99 List: $197.99 | -19% $404.70 List: $497.99 | -15% $934.95 List: $1,099.99 | -32% $178.00 List: $259.99 | -9% $255.00 Typical: $278.99 |
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| Sold By | ÀLACART | Amazon.com | Amazon.com | Amazon.com | Beach Camera Same Day Shipping | Alletrade LLC |
| media type | VCD, DVD, Blu-Ray Disc, CD | Blu-Ray Disc, DVD | Blu-Ray Disc | DVD, Blu-Ray Disc | Blu-Ray Disc | CD, Blu-Ray Disc, DVD |
| audio output mode | Stereo | High-quality audio output modes (stereo, possibly surround sound) | — | Optical, Coaxial | Surround | Surround |
| connector type | HDMI | HDMI, USB 2.0 | HDMI | HDMI, USB Type C | HDMI | HDMI |
| number of channels | 2 | 3 | 7 | 2 | 2 | 1 |
| connectivity tech | Infrared, USB, HDMI, RCA | HDMI | HDMI | HDMI | Wi-Fi | Wi-Fi, USB, HDMI |
| analog video format | NTSC | NTSC | NTSC | NTSC | NTSC | NTSC |
