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REVIEW: Oppo DV980H

Category: Home Theater

I am now three years into a long and twisting road toward assembling a "permanent" home entertainment system including decent H/T as well as 2-channel audio. And along that road I've had pleasant surprises and I've had unpleasant surprises -- but I've never been as shocked and stupefied by the disconnect between what other people are saying, and the experience I had, as with the Oppo DV980H. The player (and the company) for which nearly everyone has only praise and nary a whimper of complaint was, in my experience, just about the most single overrated piece of consumer tripe, this side of the New Coke.

To begin with, the Oppo doesn't work properly even by its own standards without a dizzying assembly-line of firmware upgrades. (Note to self: Never again buy a piece of electronics that touts how easy it is to upgrade with a front-end USB port. If it didn't work when it left the factory, don't buy it.) Break point insertions either do- or do not happen from disc to disc, with the same set of keystrokes, audio decoding either works or it doesn't with no apparent rhyme or reason, and most personal DVD backups of old VHS tapes either don't spin up at all, or return perhaps one frame in every twelve to the screen, making every old recording in your collection look like it was made with clay-mation.

Picture quality is lackluster at best, with lots and lots and lots of false contouring, and the audio is peppered with so much midrange breakup at even moderate output levels that for weeks I thought I'd somehow managed to blow up both of my front-channel speakers. It took me three solid days of experimentation to figure out how to make DTS content play to all six channels including the subwoofer, and then when I changed to a second DTS-encoded disc the same switch-settings no longer worked.

Along the way I also learned that the company apparently staffs a team of thinly disguised schills, trolling the discussion forums under the guise of helpful enthusiasts who immediately close down all discussions of their products that aren't favorable. As soon as it became apparent in a different forum that the helpful suggestions I was getting were self-contradictory and ignored my previous posts, my ostensible hobbyist friend posted one more time to say that next time I should read my manual, and then had the thread closed.

Finally I just threw up my hands and bought a Marantz DV7001 and -- WOW! -- it's so much better, from picture quality to audio reproduction to user interface to support, that I just can't see how anyone on earth should patronize Oppo and their second-rate products, whatsoever. Granted, the Marantz will cost a bit more money, but these days it's not really that much more, and besides: in the words of one famous movie character, you *WILL* know where that extra money went.

Send an e-mail to author "at" escapeclause "dot" net, if you'd like more details.
dog_or_man
reubent
3,587 posts
 
Ponnie,

You bring up a good point about using the available functions of these units. The Oppos are kind of like a swiss army knife. They basically have nearly every conceivable disk player function ever designed built into them. They are designed to play nearly everything you could possibly throw at them. Heck they even have built-in remote controlled variable volume so you can connect directly to an amp or use it for level matching with your other sources.

HOWEVER, it is nearly impossible for any company to design a product that will be "all things to all people", especially on the first go around. Like you, my Oppo has performed flawlessly on everything I've thrown at it. But, I play mostly store bought disk. Some folks use a lot more of the avialable functions and some folks are on the bleeding edge of technology and push units to their limits and beyond.

This is why companies like Oppo produce multiple firmware updates over the course of a model's life. Users like Dog or Man will find a scenario where a unit does not perform to their requirement and firmware updates may be implemented to "fix" the issue or enhance the product to work for their scenario.

I've never performed an update on my Oppo either. And I likely never will. But it is good to know that companies like Oppo do listen to their customers and often provide firmware fixes as a result of their customers feedback.

It didn't work for Dog or Man, but it has worked for many satisfied Oppo customers.

Enjoy,

TIC
tgrisham
1,179 posts
 
I recently started using my Oppo 980 with my PS Audio DAC III and it is excellent. No functional problems with its operation. It needs a better power supply. I cannot tell the difference between my Oppo 970, Pioneer 563, or Jolida 100A as far as being a transport. I have compared it to the Oppo alone and there is no comparison, nor should there be. The key is the DAC. No doubt the Marantz beats the Oppo as a stand alone player. P.S. I don't work for Oppo, have no business relationship with them, and don't post on their behalf.
dog_or_man OP
68 posts
 
I didn't return the player because I didn't realize the problems I was having were hard-stops until after the return window had expired. A lot of what I went through was compatibility, and there were a series of firmware upgrades that were supposed to help in that regard (and didn't), so I burned up a lot of return-window with firmware upgrades instead.
ponnie
233 posts
 
Kudos TIC I could not have said it any better. I also bet
Oppo would have satisfied the customer regardless of the window. They appear to be pretty understanding and have good tech support.
ponnie
233 posts
 
Tgrisham I agree that they need to implement stiffer power supplies. Heck, to be honest every company out there including most exotic makers should invest in stiffer power supplies. Yes, I know it will increase the price of the product but a properly designed power supply will not only make that unit quieter but should actually make it produce a better soundstage too. To add to that it will make the product more reliable as well. You wonder why so many tube amps from the 50's and 60's are still on the market and still playing sounds. That's only part of the reason. IMO they used sound enginering in their power supplies then. Even though parts are superior today compared to 40+ years ago those parts still lasted over 40 and in some cases 50 plus years and still running.
Look at the Dynaco ST 70, Marantz 8B, McIntosh 275, 225, and the Eico amps. Don't forget the many other brands out there like Western Electric and Altec. If you are ever in the Destin, Fl or Pensacola, FL area look up Tom Tutay in the phone book. You will be surprised whatgood power supply design will do for the sound. Better yet Check out
Arthur Salvatore site (search for it on google) and look under modifications.
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