Comments for Oppo DV-980H Universal DVD player: Audio Performance at http://www.hometheaterhifi.com , comment 1 to 34 out of 20 comments http://www.hometheaterhifi.com Fri, 10 Feb 2012 01:27:23 +0100 FeedCreator 1.7.3 http://www.hometheaterhifi.com/universal-players/234-a-secrets-dvd-player-review.html#comment-3681 Hi, I noticed you're using a Linn LP-12, I'm very jealous but what's the Valhalla? A special version? Cheers, Bob. - Bob Jenson Thu, 16 Sep 2010 07:26:26 +0100 http://www.hometheaterhifi.com/universal-players/234-a-secrets-dvd-player-review.html#comment-2438 I JUST NEED A DVD PLAYER THAT WILL PLAY FRENCH GERMAN AN OTHER COUNTRYS. must have visual optical - marion Mon, 30 Nov 2009 07:35:02 +0100 http://www.hometheaterhifi.com/universal-players/234-a-secrets-dvd-player-review.html#comment-2096 Is anyone using this dv980h with a Bose V-class system? According to Oppo's utterly worthless technical support, I have all the settings set correctly. We reseated hdmi cables and so forth, but on every sacd I play, it comes out as pcm 2.0, not 5.1 over hdmi as it was advertised to. I bought this piece of junk because it's supposed to convert 5.1 dsd to 5.1 pcm. It works fine with dvds, 5.1 no prob. Anyone know of any settings that can be adjusted to make this work like it's supposed to? I asked for a supervisor in the tech support department, and the imbecile indicated that he was a supervisor, and kept giving me attitude like he had been through the entire call, and said he has no solution for me. - Evan Landry Fri, 14 Aug 2009 10:19:16 +0100 http://www.hometheaterhifi.com/universal-players/234-a-secrets-dvd-player-review.html#comment-2071 Do any of you audiophiles have comments on the comparative audio qualities of the Oppo 980H (now that the track truncation problem seems to have been solved) and the Yamaha S1800? They are priced in the same range right now though the Yamaha used to be priced at $400. I am looking to buy a universal player but am primarily interested in plain CD (not necessarily SACD) playback audio qualities. Thanks in advance. - Sam Thu, 06 Aug 2009 22:50:26 +0100 http://www.hometheaterhifi.com/universal-players/234-a-secrets-dvd-player-review.html#comment-1698 For Audio the Sony SCD-XA5400ES is best especially for SACD surround sound.much better than the Oppo 980H which Kal Rubinson Stereophile says has an etched treble and his has been modified. - High Fidelity Mon, 30 Mar 2009 01:55:02 +0100 http://www.hometheaterhifi.com/universal-players/234-a-secrets-dvd-player-review.html#comment-1690 First off, the video performance is wonderful. However, I already had a great DVD player when I bought this. This unit was purchased strictly for audio purposes based upon its touted audio performance coupled with its ability to play SACD, DVD-A and HDCD formats. When I bought this unit, I was unaware of its design flaw wherein it cuts off the beginning of each audio track. I should say this only occurs when using the HDMI output, not the analog output. But I consider this serious. I further consider it unforgivable that there is NO mention of this flaw on the OPPO site, even in the Support/FAQ area. Why? OPPO touts the audiophile ability of this player's HDMI capability saying this player is "an ideal source device or digital transport for audiophiles." As unimpressed with the fact that there was no mention of this on the OPPO site, I was even less impressed (quite annoyed, in fact) at the response from OPPO. I asked why there was no mention of this. The response was: "Due to digital handshaking and acquisition limitations it is impossible to remove truncation of the first track using HDMI. This is a limitation of the hardware we use in the players." I then let them know this did not answer the question. The next response was even more infuriating: "The website does not have to list all the caveats and limitations...We make no claims that there will be no audio truncation issues with the player." While I certainly appreciated the fast responses, perhaps they'd have been better served by taking a little time to consider their responses. I will say the analog performance is quite good but I bought this with the intention of using the HDMI which I really can't due to this issue. No soup for you--NEXT! It's too bad they don't make an audio-only unit without this problem. - Ed Wed, 25 Mar 2009 06:38:38 +0100 http://www.hometheaterhifi.com/universal-players/234-a-secrets-dvd-player-review.html#comment-1549 Despite some saying all players used as transports sound the same, I find the Sony although costing considerable more for audiophiles sounds much better. On the Oppo bass is not as well controlled as on the Sony and the treble on the Sony is very muxch better. Flutes are reproduced naturally ,they sound shrill on the Oppo. Most importantly females vocals are far more intelligible on the Sony. The Oppo can be fatiguing for long term listening. - Gerald Wed, 18 Feb 2009 00:13:42 +0100 http://www.hometheaterhifi.com/universal-players/234-a-secrets-dvd-player-review.html#comment-1508 unplug a/c cable from all component(tv,receiver...& oppo)with interconnect(disconnct digital/optical hdmi...etc) with the oppo 980,(Wait for 30 second or more)reconnect all as above,then plug in all component a/c cable to main socket. I solve mine. Hdmi connection is very sensitive hope will help you all. - Gary Then Sat, 07 Feb 2009 20:19:38 +0100 http://www.hometheaterhifi.com/universal-players/234-a-secrets-dvd-player-review.html#comment-1478 Lots of the files from the Megaupload system at the global web are available for downloading at http://megaupload.name/ without registration! - eric2345 Sun, 01 Feb 2009 11:54:43 +0100 http://www.hometheaterhifi.com/universal-players/234-a-secrets-dvd-player-review.html#comment-1463 Peter, With a bitstream output like Dolby digital, the output of the player is basically the same on all of them. These bitstream formats are not susceptible to jitter. For PCM audio data, this is not the case. The timing between samples in the audio data stream is used to directly reconstruct the analog waveform. Any timing errors that cause jitter in the time between samples directly translates to distortion in the analog waveform upon decoding. If the jitter is not random (most isn't) distortion can build up at specific audio frequencies, allowing a seemingly inconsequential amount of timing jitter between samples to degrade the sound quality. This is why the quality of a digital transport matters, at least when the DAC that decodes the incoming signal does not have high quality reclocking capability. Audio over HDMI is either PCM or the raw DSD stream. Analog audio is not passed over HDMI at all, as far as I know. The analog outputs on the 980 do output directly decoded DSD->analog. - CG Wed, 28 Jan 2009 15:22:28 +0100 http://www.hometheaterhifi.com/universal-players/234-a-secrets-dvd-player-review.html#comment-1461 Does the Oppo DV-980H decode DSD straight to analogue via HDMI for multi-channel SACD without internally converting to PCM ? How does it sound compared with the DSD via HDMI of the Sony SCD-XA5400ES, My receiver is the Onkyo 706. - Gerald Wed, 28 Jan 2009 12:33:02 +0100 http://www.hometheaterhifi.com/universal-players/234-a-secrets-dvd-player-review.html#comment-1460 Is the digital raw audio output stream (coaxial or optical)any different from any other dvd-player ? I mean, isn't any DVD-player just passing on the raw audio stream as it is on the CD/DVD ? Can you please explain a little about this subject. thanx - Peter Ter Burg Wed, 28 Jan 2009 10:37:21 +0100 http://www.hometheaterhifi.com/universal-players/234-a-secrets-dvd-player-review.html#comment-1335 im REALLY enchanted by the prospect of this 980h. im one of the fools thats totally devoted do SACD/DVD audio, altho the formats arent going anywhere for pop music it seems. my pioneer now doesnt recognize formats properly half the time or more & its old despite firmware upgrade. my problem is that im not well educated as an audiophile but my ears are too good to listen to junk. so im only half understanding the reviews here sadly. so hopefully you folks can answer a few questions for me? 1) am i likely to be at least as happy with the MULTICHANNEL/SACD/DVD AUDIO sound on the 980H as I was with my Pioneer DV-563A? Heres a link to the unit @ Pioneer.com http://www.pioneerelectronics.com/PUSA/Support/HomeEntertainment/Blu-rayDisc DVD/PioneerDVDPlayers Recorders/ci.DV-563A.Support 2) As the VIDEO upconvert only works over HDMI & I only have one HDMI on my tv, once i get blu ray or similar, can i get the blu-ray or other hi def signal to the TV through any other means besides HDMI without noticable picture loss? 3) Im also a little unclear about what the reported "clipping" actually is and whether its really been addressed. Again, Im only really buying this for sacd/dvd audio as im sure ill get blu ray fairly soon if prices continue to tank. Finally, as regards price for OPPO in general...any clue as to how likely prices are to fall? I scanned the reviews for the top of the line & my sense is that it may be even better for sacd etc. Am I right? God I hope not LOL I cant even THINK of that price point right now Im using a SONY STR-DA 1000ES & mostly Infinity speakers THX! - mike in buffalo Sat, 27 Dec 2008 08:19:17 +0100 http://www.hometheaterhifi.com/universal-players/234-a-secrets-dvd-player-review.html#comment-1213 to me, August 31, 2008: I've tried the latest firmware, DV980H-19-0722, as well as a recent beta version whose release notes specifically mention solving the clipping problem. Still missing the first beat of both the first and subsequent tracks on discs like Helmet's Meantime (really exposes the problem). I've read elsewhere that Oppo thought they'd fixed it with that beta firmware, and it did make improvements for some but not all owners. Hopefully they'll get it in an upcoming release. Anyone who's seen performance improvements in PC video cards just by upgrading drivers knows what a signficant difference software can make, hopefully such a difference can be made here, too. - onesandzeros Sun, 09 Nov 2008 12:41:26 +0100 http://www.hometheaterhifi.com/universal-players/234-a-secrets-dvd-player-review.html#comment-990 Newest firmware as of July 2008 fixes the clipping at start of first track and in between tracks. - me Sun, 31 Aug 2008 16:51:26 +0100 http://www.hometheaterhifi.com/universal-players/234-a-secrets-dvd-player-review.html#comment-967 No we are not planning on reviewing the video at this point.....waiting on the BluRay product! - Susan J Tue, 19 Aug 2008 12:35:42 +0100 http://www.hometheaterhifi.com/universal-players/234-a-secrets-dvd-player-review.html#comment-964 Will the site do a benchmark review of the 980H's video performance? - Sam Mon, 18 Aug 2008 00:28:55 +0100 http://www.hometheaterhifi.com/universal-players/234-a-secrets-dvd-player-review.html#comment-789 I purchased a DV-980H player, partly because of the great reviews for its audio playback abilities. I wouldn't have done so if I had known about the issue with clipping at the start of audio tracks. This happens at the start of audio discs, and at times throughout a disc when a song starts with a sudden note...very annoying. I downloaded and installed the beta firmware upgrade (DV980-07-0328), hoping it would address the problem, but the bug persists. It's really too bad, because the 980 could have been a great little player. - Gary Wed, 04 Jun 2008 09:43:41 +0100 http://www.hometheaterhifi.com/universal-players/234-a-secrets-dvd-player-review.html#comment-772 I'm thinking of buying one but am concerned about this problem. Does this apply to all audio CD's - i.e. plain old CD's, SACD, DVD audio etc.? or just, say, SACD? Is it just the first track or does it happen when skipping to any track? I assume its okay if you play an album start to finish without skipping tracks? - Julian Wed, 28 May 2008 01:28:16 +0100 http://www.hometheaterhifi.com/universal-players/234-a-secrets-dvd-player-review.html#comment-758 Has any benchmark been done to this great little player? - Breadvan Mon, 19 May 2008 21:56:40 +0100