Has the Oppo carried the AV industry?


I looked through my last Widescreen Review magazine the other day (March issue), and I came accross the latest Oppo Bluray player review -didn't read it. In fact, I refuse to read yet another all-universe, all-everything, "the end-all-be-all", "greatest thing since sliced bread", "MUST HAVE", "there is none better", "will revolutionize your home theaters picture and sound quality, to world class levels" article, about the mythical Oppo player!!!..can't do it..WON'T DO IT! NO!!!
Over the last 13 years, I probably honestly read two (maybe three) entire Oppo Universal disc player reviews -start to finish -and other articles discussing Oppo mods and upgrades, articles/discussion that REFER to an Oppo player, as part of some reference system, and inevitably, I find that the Oppo reviews will JUST WON'T GO AWAY, APPARENTLY! They're like bunnies! They keep producing more of their kind, whether you want them to or not!
Lol -I'm just simply amazed by how much attention and press that a lowely disc player has obviously gotten over the years! Surely, owning an Oppo player must bee a system transforming experience! ..a "must have" item, no less. I must have missed out..cause I never owned one. In fact, never really cared to own one! I've been dazled by how good the quality of video processing has been in all the plain-Jane disc players, flat pannel display's, and even high end video projectors I've owned continue to supply me wiht! But, apparently, every one else bought the Oppo. Cause I surely, honesly, can't remember a year that's gone by in the past decade, where I don't rememer NOT reading somwhere about an Oppo player!
It's really felt, to me, like home entertainment AV products, and home theater in general, have been on a "demand" slide over the past decade! 7.1 and 1080p, Bluray, etc, have all been around long anough now, that it's kind of a "been there, had that" kind of feeling I get when I think about this hobby anymore. I guess life and priorities has weened me away from being a die-hard enthusiest now-a-days. And yet, I can't get the Oppo topic out of my thoughts, whenever I look at my gear!..and I don't think the hobby is going to let me forget much about it neither. lol!
Anyone else get the oppinion that this product surely has been single most important product in the AV industry, these past 10+ years?! Because it's certainly been the most talked about brand/topic I can remember reading about, if nothing else.
I really do think they'll be making Oppo's for the next 100 years, period! -even if they'll do 4k upscaling, 4k/8k future exact pixel mapping, wifi-HD streaming, toast your bread and make you breakfast, whatever! I'm thinking that these Oppo's just must have been so good, that no serious enthusiest, whatever-phile, or system owner should have ever considered "going without!"...otherwise, they missed out!?
Well anyway, anyone here who's used the Oppo think that the product has been a make-or-break, indespensible, product that really made all the differnence to the picture quality they achieved, or the sonic experience they got using these things? (I'm tickled pink by the digital AV processing advances I've gotten just upgrading processor and displays, year after year) I just want to somehow hear that I really missed out all these years, and the only important consideration I should have made was BUYING the Oppo! Cause at the very least, I'm not totaly convinced that Apple and Oppo aren't the same company, ..secretly.
100 more years of Oppo players?..servers?? -probably
avgoround
Avgoround,

Yes, the Oppo can do all the things you listed but it can also play downloaded music files that have much better fidelity and a wider dynamic range than CDs. And the Oppo will receive and playback music files sent wirelessly to it from the hard drive. I know, it all sounds too fantastic to be true, but it happens in my house everyday.

'In my house', just like the singers and musicians seem to be when I play those hi-resolution files back through that awesome Oppo in my system.

Just buy one, Av, you've resisted long enough.
Avgoround, seems Tim (especially) and others have pretty much answered all your objections. Go on. Just buy the Oppo. And, if you don't like/need it, maybe PM me as I might pick it up from.
I have the new Oppo BDP-105 Darbee edition on order. There was a short wait as they were sold out.

I think the success of this product is without question and this new version offers superior image quality plus ability to process DSD from a music server via USB.

Is it perfect?

Hardly, but what other player offers this kind of price / performance ratio? My current Oppo 105 sounds good, this new one is better.
Noble100, thanks. Sooooo which one does all this streaming and wifi downloading, and server and such??? Is it the 105? Otherwise, which of all of these should I look for that does what I want? Also, what would I expect to pay for one, used? Can only get new on these, likely?? What's the deal-io, yo?!
Yes, Im probably interested now.
Thx...guess im a Born Again convert again.
Oh wait! So really, the 4K upscaling isn't really all that important, say, hooked up to my JVC Eshift projector choice? I mean the JVC is kinda scaling already, yes?? Thx
Albert,

I see you're already familiar with the outstanding performance of the Oppo 105 and have ordered another, adding the Darbee.

I've been on Audiogon for awhile and have always noticed that you have had very nice systems with excellent equipment and speakers. Your decision to incorporate the Oppo-105 into your own system just confirms its excellence.

No, it's not perfect, but it's a great performer in my system. I can honestly say that I consider my 105 the best system upgrade I've ever made in my system.

I replaced an older Sony universal DVD with the Oppo and I'm gradually taking advantage of all its functionality:

1. CD playback improved from good to excellent. I decided to go direct from the 105 to my ClassD Audio 440CS amp via xlr cables and bypass my VTL 2.5 tube preamp. I thought I would miss the very good combo of a tubed preamp with a class D amp for CD music playback. I found that the Oppo, with its very good Saber dacs and analog audio stages, delivered just as sweet a sound but with a quieter background and increased detail.

2. Directv satellite hdtv even looks better on my plasma hdtv. I run an HDMI cable from the small 'client' satellite box to the Oppo's HDMI input and then another from the Oppo's video output to my hdtv's HDMI input. This allows the video signal to take advantage of the Oppo's very good built-in QDEO video processor. The result is excellent picture quality on all HD channels.

3. Surround sound decoding is also handled internally by the Oppo 105. I found I no longer needed my older Parasound AV2500 preamp/processor for decoding duties for my 5.1 HT system

4. Bluray playback not only has DVD pq beat by a mile, but the newer surround sound codecs also has DVD sq beat by a mile.

5. High-Resolution music downloads are able to be played back utilizing the 105's ability to be a DMR and DMP(Digital Media Renderer and Digital Media Player). I now have all my CDs'ripped' as digital media files on my Synology NAS(Network Attached Storage) and playback is controlled via my laptop running JRMC(J River Media Center)software. The 105 is able to receive the digital stream the NAS sends to it wirelessly via its included wi-fi receiver dongle.

I have also downloaded a few hi-res 24 bit/ 96khz music files (Miles Davis-"Kind of Blue" and Carmen Gomes- "1,000 Shades of Blue") to my NAS. They both sound stunningly good with that 'in the room' quality that sounds so right.

There are a few Oppo 105 capabilities I have yet to explore such as 24bit/192khz and DSD music downloads.

I'll be testing these out soon but, in the meantime, I am thrilled with the performance of the Oppo-105 and my system has never sounded better.

FWIW,
Tim