NuForce/OPPO BDP-93 NE and BDP-93 NXE (Compared to OPPO BDP-95) Professional review

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NuForce/OPPO BDP-93 NE and BDP-93 NXE (Compared to OPPO BDP-95)

The Absolute Sound magazine review (October 2011)

Summary

1. If one already owns a excellent high-end HDMI A/V receiver with quality DAC’s and they have no plans on using the analog outputs on a Blu-ray player than the standard OPPO BDP-93 for $499 will offer the exact same sound quality when compared to the OPPO BDP-95, BDP-93 NE, and BDP-93 NXE. Digital connections from the HDMI and S/PDIF outputs sounds exactly the same for all players. Only if one plans on using analog audio outputs will the more expensive players offer better audio quality.

2. The OPPO BDP-95 analog audio outputs will outperform the BDP-93, BDP-93 NE and BDP-93 NXE when listening to two channel stereo source material.

3. The BDP-93 NXE analog audio outputs will outperform the BDP-95, BDP-93, and BDP-93 NE when listing to multichannel source material.

The following are select quotes from The Absolute Sound magazine, October 2011 review (review located on pages 18,20,21, and 22)

“Since Oppo has the $500 and $1000 price-points nicely covered, it might seem odd that Oppo would even allow NuForce to make $400 and $900 analog upgrade boards for the BDP-93, let alone join forces in their development. But according to Oppo CTO Jason Liao, “I am deeply involved in supporting NuForce for its implementation of the NXE and NE boards on the BDP-93 platform, so I totally understand and appreciate the merits of the NXE and NE designs. The folks at NuForce also helped us with the 93/95 design and understand what we put into the BDP-95, and that’s why NuForce has no BDP-95 NE or NXE modification plans.”

“While the NXE board clearly outperforms the NE board, its price puts it above Oppo’s own upgraded player, the Oppo BDP-95.”

“If you already own a BDP-93, the NE and NXE boards offer an almost no-brainer way to maximize your player’s analog audio quality while preserving all its other positive attributes. I found the NXE board outperformed the NE board in many important sonic parameters, and made a very convincing argument for bypassing the NE in favor of the NXE when you upgrade your player.”

“If you have no plans to use analog outputs because you already have an excellent controller, receiver, or DAC to handle your D/A conversion, there’s no point in buying a NuForce board or an Oppo BDP-95 as the stock BDP-93 delivers the same digital signal via its S/PDIF outputs as the BDP-95 or NuForce boards.”

“In my listening tests the NXE board performed on a sonic par with the BDP-95, but not significantly better. In terms of ergonomic flexibility the BDP-95 certainly offers more options, with both balanced and single-ended dedicated two-channel outputs. But the BDP-95 delivers its best sound only from these two-channel outputs. Multichannel music gets less attention.”

“While the Nuforce BDP-93NXE offers slightly less fidelity from two-channel only sources when compared to the BDP-95, it outperforms the BDP-95 on multichannel material. In the end it all comes down to whether you wish to optimize your two-channel or multichannel listening experiences. If two-channel is your bailiwick the OPPO BDP-95 would be your best sonic choice, but if multichannel is where it’s at for you then the BDP-93 NXE is the one you should bring home.”




Nuforce Inc website

OPPO Inc website