02-02-09, I have just spoken to a customer service representative at Oppo regarding the status of the BDP-83 player. He told me they now expect the new player to become available to consumers sometime in March, but this is not yet set in stone. It could take longer as their engineers continue working to ensure that the machine will smoothly play DVD-A discs and decode Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio.

They expect a fairly long wating list once the unit becomes available. The rep said he didn’t have any idea how many players would be available initially. But if you’re on their list, you’ll be notified as soon as they are released for sale.

From everything I’ve read, this will be one great Blu Ray player. Add to that the ability to decode DSD direct-to-analog without any PCM conversion makes the BDP-83 well worth the wait. WP

VP wrote:
“I am not sure about video, but the differences in audio between oppo and denon will be day and night.”

I guess my ears aren’t good enough - I had a Denon 3910 before buying the Oppo 983 and I really didn’t notice any degradation of audio quality when I switched. And it most certainly was NOT a night and day difference.  That phrase gets bandied about far too much in the audiohpile world.

If the price differential was a few hundred bucks, I could perhaps see going with the Denon.  But the differential is $3,200 - *that* is a lot of money to me and, I suspect, it is to most folks reading this.

Frankly, I hear very little difference in sound quality between the various digital sources I’ve auditioned.  Granted, I’ve never heard a $10,000 player in my system, and I probably never will. No matter,  I’d much rather spend that money on better speakers, room tweaks,  or better source discs.  IMHO, that’s where you’ll hear the biggest benefits for the dollars spent.

And it makes NO difference at all to me that SACD and DVD-Audio are considered by many to be dead formats.  So what?  I have several hundred discs of those types and I most certainly want a device to play them back.  And, by having a single device to play ANY shiny disc I have, I limit my on-site tech support issues dramatically.  If my wife wants to play a disc, she doesn’t need to know which player handles which type of disc - wonderful!!

Thank you, Oppo, for building this superb unit and pricing it so that normal workiong folks can afford it!!

-RW-

Will this OPPO ,BDP-83 support DVD-a in high res 96/24 FLAC files?

I’m the only audiophile I know who appreciates surround SACD. I own almost every title available in the format featuring music I even remotely enjoy. I also have a pretty good system completely dialied in for surround music playback and having a single player that will output 5.1 analog signals is a must. I’m simply not willing to replace my very expensive processor with one that will accomodate HDMI at this juncture. Thus, the upcoming OPPO seems just the ticket. The Denon is probably a fine piece of equipment, but they are awfully proud of it given its price. And in this economy it’s just not realistic.

I looked at the Sony BDP S550 and almost bought it, but when I learned that the new Oppo is coming, I decided to wait. Sony helped develop a great format with SACD, but they dropped it like a hot rock when it didn’t catch on immediately.

Good things come to those who wait. I’m waiting for the new Oppo.  WP

New Oppo player is as much a competitor for the new Denon as a Hyundai is a competitor for Ferrari or BMW. Both drive and perform similar functions. If you think they are comparable, go for Oppo.
I am not sure about video, but the differences in audio between oppo and denon will be day and night. Yes, you have to pay a lot more for Denon and if you don’t hear the differences between the two (I would suggest comparing existing oppo models and denon 5910), then you should definitely go for the new oppo,