Oppo BDP-105D

[OldiesButGoodies]

Another quick note substituting for a lengthy review that I never have enough time to write.

You may be tempted to consider the Oppo 105 vs the 103 when shopping for a new player.  I recommend you steer away from the 105 and look at 103 - which sells for about half. 

The Oppo 105 has the ability to act as a DAC - but it is not that good a DAC!  Many current $300 DACs give the Oppo a spanking (including the frequently mentioned Schiit DACs,  Cambridge Audio, Arcam irDAC, etc.). And using the Oppo as a DAC is a pain, ergonomically.  If you are drooling for the XLR jacks in the 105 there is nothing I can do to fix that - other than tell you they make no difference to my 52 year old ears.  There may be a 2 year old baby somewhere in eastern europe that has special ears that could maybe detect an improvement over the RCAs.   

The headphone section added by the 105 is ok - I think I used it once in 1 year.  The Emotiva's pre had more power.  I also tried using the 105 as an AV pre.  Not a good idea - trust me on that.

The video quality of the 105 is not better than the 103 or even any of the earlier Oppo series.  Tempted by the Darbee video effects?  Worthless except maybe if you play video games in your system (and you can get Darbee in the 103).

So IMO save some dough and get the 103.


Yes: 


No:

[schwarcw]

Thanks for the review Pepe!  I do not own an Oppo product but I have heard this story from some of my friends who are HT enthusiasts.

[MacGeek]

Pepe-I've had a BDP 93 for about 3 1/2 years.  I there enough improvement in the 103 to justify an upgrade?  I should add, I don't need to use it as a DAC, don't listen to 'phones with it and don't have any SACDs.  It's purpose is simply to play movies and while I have been happy with its performance, upgrades are always worth considering.

[OldiesButGoodies]

I do not see any improvement in the playback of bluray discs to warrant an upgrade if you use a 1080p display.   If you have one of the newer 4K displays, then the 103 is capable of upscaling to that and may do a better job than (1) your TV or (2) your receiver. But before you jump, realize that your receiver may already have a 4K video scaler built in and it may do as fine a job as the Oppo 103. Also- if your current receiver is not able to handle 4K (I think your Macintosh is not) then what is the point of getting a 103 for the 4K?  you will never see the benefit unless you connect the display straight to the Oppo 103 (not sure if you are switching video on the receiver now).

To be candid:  I would put a hold on buying any new players until the 4K media format war shakes out (along with DTS X, Atmos surround and, most importantly,  the HDMI 2.x  standard for high-bandwidth encrypted HDMI).

Pepe

[MacGeek]

Thanks, Pepe.  I think I am doing what you suggest/assume.

I run my video gear to the video display; not through the pre-pro (always have to avoid depreciation inherent in new video gear).  Current TV is a 1080p plasma.  I will wait a while before I jump into 4k and based on your comments, a new disc player. 

[MasterBlaster]

I am disappointed to learn that Oppo delivered a new product that underperformed it predecessor. I have been considering the 105 myself. Guess it's off to eBay instead.

Smh. Thanks for the heads up Pepe!