OPPO DV-980H 1080p Up-Converting Universal DVD Player with HDMI and 7.1CH Audio
by OPPO Digital
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Our Price: $175.00 Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Category: Home Theater See more product details |
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Customers in the UK,
Buy this product at amazon.co.uk
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Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of OPPO DV-980H 1080p Up-Converting Universal DVD Player with HDMI and 7.1CH Audio
Customer Review: An excelent dvd at very low price
Summary: 5 Stars
Well, I feel bad for that other reviewer of this DVD player, because, at least based on my experience (and you always need to wonder whether a sample size of one is statistically significant enough to make any sort of judgment - I believe in logic, it's an ad hominem fallacy - other liberal arts folks, feel free to correct my terminology).
Anyhow, I also wanted to say that I'm not an Oppo schill (though, if they wanted to throw a little cash my way for this positive review, I wouldn't complain ;) ).
So it sounds like my experience with my Oppo 780H has been the polar opposite of the former reviewer. I love my skinny little Oppo 780. I'm using it to replace a Denon DVD-1920, which, though acceptable as a universal disc player, had some issues, among which were it being only an HDMI 1.1 interface (the Oppo is HDMI 1.2 compliant), problems I had with the Denon playing multi-channel SACD, and an annoing tendency of the Denon to pause for a couple of seconds when switching layers in the middle of a movie. So, when the Denon decided to quit working (it was only two years old), I decided it was time to seek out and explore strange new universal disc players.
When I started seeing rave reviews for this machine and its predecssors at Stereophile.com and Audioholics.com, two web sites that seem to have radically opposed philosophies, I thought, what the heck! It's fairly cheap for a universal disc player. Let's get one.
When the Oppo arrived (it's only available over the internet), I was pleased by it's packaging. It was in a sturdy box, with an instruction sheet being the first thing you see when you open the box. It contained very clearly explanations about the need to, once you physically connected the machine, to enter its setup menu and confiigure it before you ever attempted to play a disc.
Connecting the Oppo was simple as I only used the good-quality HDMI cable included with the player. Since the player was HDMI 1.2 compatible, it was supposed to be able to provide my receiver (a Pioneer Elite VSX-82TSX) with a complete, multi-channel signal from an SACD - something the Denon, again, because it applied an earlier version of HDMI, was unable to do; btw, I don't fault the Denon for this, it was the standard when the machine was manufactured - as now HDMI 1.3 is the standard, but the benefits that provides seem more relevant to BluRay).
Anyhow, hookup was a breeze, the setup menus were a breeze, and it's been nothing but a joy to listen to. All the rave reviews I've read about the Oppo are right on. DVD-Audio discs are rich and detailed. Listening to Talking Heads' Speaking in Tongues (DVD-A) rocks. Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon (SACD) is as full and rich as my MoFi vinyl recording.
DVDs on the Oppo are awesome, too. I used the Oppo's internal scaler to bump up the signal to a 1080i signal, and, while it's obviously not BluRay, the picture on my 5-year old Sony 57-inch 1080i RPTV is spectacular. No pauses when the disc switches layers. Images are rich, colors are incredible, and definitely no jaggies (check out the flyover view of Rome in Gladiator).
Lots of slick little features. Especially that USB port on the front of the player. It recognizes a number of audio formats, but it's easiest if you just use MP3s. Check out the Oppo web site for all the supported formats. It doesn't support FLAC, though, so Hi-Res downloads won't work via this mode of delivery.
Still, if you have a universal disc player, why aren't you listening to your SACDs and DVD-As instead of crappy MP3s and other lossy codecs? And if you're just going to listen to MP3s, doesn't your receiver have a connector for your iPod?
You can also view movie files via the USB port, but you have to convert them, first, to DiVX files. That's kind of a time-consuming process, but it does work.
The USB will also play photos. They're kind of slow to load, but it is cool.
Overall, I'm incredibly impressed with my Oppo. Audio and video performance rivals that of players several times the cost. It has tons of cool features that I like. For instance, you can capture a frame from a movie and use it, instead of the Oppo flash screen, as your screen saver image when you pause a movie or fire up the Oppo without a disc in its tray.
If you're looking for a universal disc player in any price range, and don't want or need BluRay, definitely check this player out.
Customer Review: WOW......
Summary: 5 Stars
...that's what your gonna say the first time you fire up this baby with your favorite standard-def DVD. This is not your average Big Box Mart or Big Buy DVD player. I did a fair amount of online research for upconverting DVD players and the OPPO DV-980H quickly rose to the top of the heap ...and I had never heard of this company 'til now. Here's some of my comments to add to all the other positive reviews.
This player is different from the moment you open the box, and even the box is a bit different: most consumer electronics are wrapped and taped in a white foam liner, this unit was encased in a custom fit, velcro fastened soft black envelope with "OPPO" printed across it. The unit is slim yet has a bit of heft to it. The DV-980H is a very sophisticated DVD player and has adjustments well beyond those of mere mortal players ...in short, READ THE INSTRUCTION MANUAL. If you're the type who "doesn't do instruction manuals" or is "technologically challenged", then maybe you should stick with the lesser fare DVD players. You can get a truely amazing picture by setting this unit up properly BEFORE you begin feeding it your DVD collection. The manual is quite thorough and the adjustments are really not hard to figure out.
Word of advice: if your TV/Monitor does not have an HDMI or DVI connection, don't waste your money on this DVD player. There are four ways to make video connections with this unit: HDMI,Component Video, S-Video and Composite Video. Upconverting of commercial DVD's occurs *ONLY* through the HDMI/DVI connection; in any other mode you are limited to standard definition (480i/480p) video. The only exception is home video/consumer-created DVD's which can be upconverted using the component video connections. DVI connections can be made using an HDMI to DVI adapter plug with no loss of visual or audio fidelity.
I have this unit feeding my hi-def Hitachi 51F59 50" wide screen RPTV; the difference in video quality from a standard DVD player is INCREDIBLE. The overall effect is that of a theater film ...three-gun RPTV's typically don't have the razor sharp picture most flat screens do but with this player I truely have a home cinema. With the DV-980 set for 1080i upconverting, my standard-def DVD's come across beautifully cinematic with zero artifacts from the upconversion that I've been able to see. Decoding surround sound (Dolby and DTS)can be done through the player with both 5.1 and 7.1 preamp channnel outputs or sent digitally "raw" (via optical or coaxial digital cables) to your reciever/amp for decoding.
If you have a large collection of standard-def DVD's and your TV/Monitor is able to accept the HDMI/DVI connections, then this is the player to get. It has a lot of adjustability and a wealth of video and audio connections and capabilities. What it won't do is play any type of hi-def DVD; but with as oustanding an image as you get from this player using standard definition DVD's, you really won't care.
Customer Review: Biggest Bang For The Buck!
Summary: 5 Stars
I'm surprised that this player would receive any negative reviews at all.
I purchased this player mainly as an audio player to handle the various audio formats that my CD player cannot support. Having previously tried a highly rated Pioneer budget universal player and an entry-level Sony SACD changer two years ago, my experiences with these players' CD playing performance was very mediocre. So I wasn't expecting a whole lot when I ordered the OPPO 980H.
I was completely stunned by the quality. Not only is the price dirt cheap but the sound quality is extremely good. While the aforementioned players sounded similarly tinny, compressed, and bass-anemic, The OPPO 980H sounds very well balanced and dynamic. In fact, compared to my old Marantz CD63 MKII CD player (a 13 year-old model), it outperformed it in just about every respect. This is no small feat, considering that the Marantz was a top rated "budget" audiophile player that I bought for nearly twice the 980H's price on sale. What really stands out about its CD playing performance is that it is airier, which gives it a much better ability to reveal musical timbre and texture. This makes it easier to hear the breadth of a saxophone or a vocalist and the delicate detail from string instruments, including guitar string plucks. In this respect it seemed to bridge the gap between CD sound and good vinyl sound. It had the tight bass of a decent CD player (with adequately extended bass) with much of the treble sheen you'd normally hear from a well-made LP. In a nutshell, the CD playing quality is the best I've heard so far.
Another big plus is the ability to properly decode HDCDs, DVD-Audio, and SACDs. While these formats are really products for small niche markets, it's nice to know the player can handle pretty much anything under the sun. The sound quality from the few HDCDs and SACDs in my collection were also extremely good. Definition was about as good as I had hoped for.
The only thing the player couldn't do was play the two enhanced CDs (audio tracks with Quicktime video) in my collection. Since I didn't have a video monitor connected to the player I don't know if menu navigation is required before play starts.
Another pleasant surprise was the ability to play MP3s. The user manual and product description don't mention (only WMA is mentioned as a compressed format) this but it was a nice surprise. The OPPO 980H played 128kb/s MP3s with better punch and transparency than I even expected.
The packaging is also first rate. There is a minimum of mess, no styrofoam, and the player even comes in a re-closable bag using velcro. Even the manual comes in a re-sealable zip-lock bag. The remote also contains glow-in-the-dark buttons.
I'm definitely keeping this one!
Customer Review: Near-AUDIOPHILE sound quality, excellent video too...
Summary: 5 Stars
...this product truly lives up to its reputation!
I bought this mainly for listening to redbook CDs, since I was already pretty happy with the component video output of my DVD player. The 980 produces a wonderfully clean, detailed sound with punchy bass and solid imaging, quick transients, lots of air around the instruments. Easily bettered my old Marantz 4300 dedicated CD player, and livelier than the NAD c542 to my ears. Its only weakness was during sustained high notes, especially female vocals, during which a sort of wavering thinness came out---something that you have to listen carefully to hear, rather than something that jumps out at you. No, it will not have the poetry and musicality of a $1000 Rega Apollo, but at $170 who can seriously complain?
The video quality also surprised me. Initially I was very disappointed with how standard-def DVDs looked at 720p upconversion through the HDMI output, on my Pioneer plasma: grainy, jagged, overly dominant blacks. After about a week, it finally occurred to me to turn OFF all of the Pioneer's internal video processing...and TA-DAAAA! I now have a gorgeous, yes very much near-HD/BlueRay quality image: deep blacks but with many subtle shades and details within them as well, vibrant stunning colors and sharpness without the grain and jagged artifacts created by the TV's internal video processing that totally screwed up the Oppo's output, just pure buttery smooth visual bliss! Easily matches, if not exceeds, my brother's $900 Denon DVD player. And no way do I want to pay out the nose for a BlueRay player and for BR-DVDs when I can get my huge library of SD-DVDs to look this good for so little money.
Other reasons I love this player: sleek, classy looks; multi-region capable so those cheap DVDs from China that you buy on eBay will work just fine; top-notch customer service; regular firmware updates; bass management; compatible with a vast array of different video and audio formats. I also noticed that a lot of my older DVDs, and well-worn rental DVDs, which would freeze up or skip or have artifacts on my other DVD player, play just fine on the Oppo...an extremely practical and essential quality.
Oppo joins the ranks of many other stellar Internet-direct manufacturers of electronics and audio gear: SVS and Hsu Research (speakers and subs), Ascend Acoustics (speakers), Outlaw Audio (speakers, subs and electronics), etc. Simply blows away the mass-market brandnames you find in most local and especially big-box stores...superior quality at much lower prices, and top-notch service/support to boot!
Customer Review: 154 5 star ratings can't be wrong!
Summary: 5 Stars
Well I guess I must join the rest of the reviewers as being impressed with "Oppo". Who is Oppo? I hadn't heard of them until I came across them in Amazon. I had 4 dvd's that would not play in my old Denon 1500. One of them played for the first viewing and then later would not play. I decided to look at what was on Amazon and read the reviews. I was sort of thinking of a Sony and for some reason I saw the Oppo. Normally I wouldn't even bother with a brand I never heard of but I saw how many reviews there were and so many 5 stars I thought I better read about this one. Well after reading what others had said and the price was very reasonable I figured I couldn't go wrong. I received my Oppo this evening. I set it up following the easy step by step instructions and was blown away. I couldn't believe my dvd's could look better without buying an hdtv. I have a JVC AV-27D302. It's not an HD but it's a good TV. It's like I bought a step up in TV"s with the Oppo. I wonder how good an HDTV will look now. I'm waiting a while for the price to come down. This Oppo will keep me happy until then. Oh and the dvd's that didn't play on the old player all play on this one. I even had my neighbor try them in his dvd player and they would not work. I happen to be an Anime fan and I put "5 Centimeters per Second" on and was not able to stop watching. It was absolutely beautiful.
The unit is light and thin.Plenty of input and output connections. It comes with the cables you will need. You don't need to buy an HDMI cable if you have an HDTV. It has one with the unit. The instruction book is easily read and to understand. You can use the setup menu while a dvd is playing. You can see the results of your setup change right away. Not happy with your setup change you can go back and change it back or to another selection. Very easy. There is a red light that is on when the unit is off. Turn the power on and it goes to blue. I didn't realize it was not on and couldn't figure out why the remote wouldn't work. You have to push the power on button. Duh! Then the blue light comes on.
Believe me you can't go wrong with this Oppo. I would buy their HDTV if they made one. Highly recommended!
If you decide to buy one buy it from Amazon for $169. Why would they advertize one from Toyzz for $299? I don't get that.
One other feature I found was the fact that the player will remember where you left off if you stop a DVD, take it out and play another, then put it back in it will start from where you stopped. Unusual to me. Maybe other players do the same, I don't know.