Oppo BDP-83SE Special Edition Blu-ray Player (Feb 2010 Home Theater magazine review)

[HDTV1080P]

Oppo BDP-83SE Special Edition Blu-ray Player

(Feb 2010 Home Theater magazine review link)

The $899 OPPO BDP-83 Special Edition is almost exactly the same as the $499 OPPO BDP-83. The extra $400 for the Special Edition only improves on the analog audio outputs and adds a RS-232 interface. For those that use digital audio outputs only, the sound quality for both OPPO players will be exactly the same.

The Special Edition player just has an improved power supply with voltage regulation, improved Digital to analog circuit board, and it adds RS-232 interface as a standard feature.


The $1,999 Denon DBP-4010UDCI has better quality analog outputs when compared to the $899 OPPO BDP-83 Special Edition player. The Denon is still the leader in analog audio output performance on a BLU-RAY player.


When it comes to speed at loading discs the OPPO is still the fastest BLU-RAY player available.


The OPPO video performance beats the video quality of a $4,500+ BLU-RAY player. OPPO is the leader in video performance compared to all other players tested by Home Theater magazine.


The OPPO BDP-83 and BDP-83 Special Edition will not receive a firmware update for 3-D BLU-RAY's according to the review. This is not that big of a deal now since currently the 3-D BLU-RAY format has not even launched yet. If 3-D is a must have feature on your future BLU-RAY player then one should wait until late 2010 when a few 3-D BLU-RAY movies and players will be available from Sony and others. Of course a new 3-D TV will be needed also along with glasses and possible other equipment.

Here are some select quotes from the Feb 2010 Home Theater magazine Review

Click here to read the complete review at the Home Theater magazine website

"The Best Has Gotten Better "

"We test using HDMI connections exclusively, and we haven’t seen better picture quality with Blu-ray or DVD from any player at any price."

"When Oppo’s BDP-83 came along, it did everything that a Blu-ray player should do, and it did it right and fast. In short, it was a next-gen Blu-ray player that acted like one. That player earned Home Theater’s Top Pick of the Year in Source Components and overall Product of the Year for 2009 (HT, November 2009). "

"The BDP-83 I bought last year as a reference has been bulletproof during the time I’ve owned it. Compatibility issues have been few and far between. But when they’ve come up, Oppo has acted swiftly with hassle-free firmware updates from the Internet. It has been so bulletproof that it’s difficult to imagine changing it out or upgrading it."

"The BDP-83SE also has all of its interactivity bases covered. The player is fully Bonus View and BD-Live capable right out of the box."

"Unlike many players on the market, Oppo outfitted the BDP-83SE with BD-Live’s specified minimum of 1 gigabyte of local storage. It also includes two USB ports (front and back) that let you add storage as needed."

"To make sure we bleed at the edge, up to the minute, I asked Oppo as we went to press whether the BDP-83 or BDP-83SE will be firmware upgradeable to 3D Blu-ray. At press time, the answer was no. We don’t anticipate a yes answer to this question, but I suppose we’ll keep asking for a while. Just in case."

"Its Anchor Bay video processing provides reference-quality deinterlacing and upconversion performance with DVDs. In addition to allowing source-direct native rate output (what’s on the disc is what comes out of the player), you can force a 1080p/24 output with both Blu-rays and DVDs. Unlike other components that upconvert DVDs to 1080p/24 output, the Oppo seldom has cadence issues when doing so."

"Oppo claims an S/N increase of 7 decibels with the BDP-83SE—that’s 117 dB compared with the BDP-83’s 110 dB. This is where your $400 goes."

"To be crystal clear, aside from the improved power supply, the BDP-83SE’s aural improvements apply strictly to its analog outputs, and its two-channel analog outputs especially."

"A new feature (rolled out via firmware on the BDP-83 and BDP-83SE) that I didn’t get to test allows player-generated subtitles to shift on the screen. This is especially beneficial in constant-height projection setups and masking systems when subtitles appear in the black-bar area at the bottom of the screen."

"Like its sibling, the BDP-83SE’s video performance is very fast in loading and response times with all functions, no matter how Java-intensive the disc. It’s beyond reproach in pure video performance with Blu-ray Discs and DVDs. As our Video Test Bench shows, regardless of what you throw at this player, it deinterlaces and processes it flawlessly."

"We simply can’t trip it up. Its performance in upconverting DVDs is excellent, and Blu-ray’s high resolution puts it over the top."

"The BDP-83SE had better detail resolution and overall clarity with CDs and SACDs. In fact, the BDP-83SE sounded so good, I had to look above its price range to nail it down. Denon’s $1,999 DBP-4010UDCI was in the house, so I compared the two."

"However, I thought that the Denon revealed a bit more inner detail with SACDs. But it was close. At less than half the price, the Oppo does better than hold its own; it competes."

"The Denon had a warmer and richer sound, but it still resolved a lot of detail."

"Conclusion
Oppo clearly has another dominant performer on its hands. It will only appeal to a select group of audiophile-oriented videophiles whose systems can take advantage of this player’s two-channel analog outputs. But you know who you are. You also know that it’s common for incremental increases in performance to involve exponential cost expenditures. The BDP-83SE is an outright steal at $899. No matter how much money you’ve got to throw at a BD player, you need to look at an Oppo."

Click here to read the complete review at the Home Theater magazine website

[JAC]

Originally Posted by HDTV1080P

Oppo BDP-83SE Special Edition Blu-ray Player

The $1,999 Denon DBP-4010UDCI has better quality analog outputs when compared to the $899 OPPO BDP-83 Special Edition player. The Denon is still the leader in analog audio output performance on a BLU-RAY player.

? The ESS SABRE32 chipset is bettered by the DENON?

Haven't heard that before.

[LordoftheRings]

The ESS Sabre-32 DAC is nothing exceptional, and there is much more to the Dac(s) for absolute sound quality from the analog outputs. Nothing new about Dac (that). A good Dac was the Ring Dac.

[JAC]

Originally Posted by LordoftheRings

The ESS Sabre-32 DAC is nothing exceptional,

? It would seem that you know something others don't.

Those chipsets have been well received and when well implemented have shown improved performance over older technology.

and there is much more to the Dac(s) for absolute sound quality from the analog outputs.

Agreed, implementation is everything.

Nothing new about Dac (that). A good Dac was the Ring Dac.

What does the Ring DAC (circa 2002) have to do with the audio quality of the Denon over the OPPO?

Are you saying the Denon uses the Ring DAC?

I was under the impression that it uses the Burr-Brown 24/192 PCM1796.

I have not questioned that the Denon is not an exceptional AUDIO performer, just the assertion that it has a clear superiority to the SABRE 32 OPPO.

[LordoftheRings]

I only know what I studied about Dacs and their implementation.
...Plus how they sound in the final tests.

Analog input stage is a very important factor, so is output.
* I only mentioned the Ring Dac as it is one of my favorite that's all.

Personally, I much prefer the Burr-Brown Dac PCM-1704K (K as in top grade) in dual differential mode over the ESS Sabre Premier multichannel (8-channel in one chip) Dac, and that ESS Dac does not have the best bass management implementation around (check at Audioholics for more on this).

Burr-Brown has also a 32-bit Dac, the TI BB PCM-1795.
But that Denon BD player does indeed use the PCM-1796A, but with better bass management and Denon great implementation from its analog input & output stages, plus a good power supply and great quality parts (caps, resistors, ...).
Other Dacs that I also like are the BB PCM-1702, PCM-1792, ther older PCM-63, all implemented in dual balanced differential mode.

But the Oppo BDP-83ES does indeed use the ESS Sabre32 Ultra Dac in quad differential mode for his 2-channel stereo analog output (4 Dacs per channel), which is very nice sounding.

...Anyway, I'm just expressing my opinion. ...And you know, at the end it's pretty much a personal sound preference with your own system and the integration of all the other components that forms it.