jt1stcav Posted January 8, 2008 Share Posted January 8, 2008 Jim, Email sent. It's the one that hates older Redbooks. New ones seem to work fine. Ask anyone who has heard my Cornwall system and they'll tell you how good it sounds. I don't know if $100 is a steal or a ripoff. I know I paid quite a bit more for it from another forum member and it has never done well with the older Redbooks. It's black and cosmetically perfect, as is the remote. Let me know if you want more info or pics. - Gary Gary, another e-mail sent your way![] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garymd Posted January 8, 2008 Share Posted January 8, 2008 Jim, Can you PM me instead? I can't access that email from home. Darn bank security. Or...................use gdpowers_7@hotmail.com. Thanks, Gary Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jt1stcav Posted January 8, 2008 Share Posted January 8, 2008 Gary, new e-mail sent to the above address... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ByteWrangler Posted January 9, 2008 Share Posted January 9, 2008 Ding-dong-dang it Mallette! Based on no more than your review, subsequent comments here (and elsewhere) and a comparison of features on Oppo's website, I ordered a 980H a few days ago, sight unseen and sound unheard. [] I was starting to think about a new CD player anyway, and at $169, why not? It should arrive Friday; I'll let you know if you're in trouble! I originally thought about the 981 but since this is intended primarily for audio rather than video, the 980 seemed to be the better choice. I did, however, spring for the $36 25-ft HDMI cable so I can connect the 1080p Mitsubishi LCD panel and "sample the wares". If it's sufficiently better than my pedestrian JVC DVD player it may become the DVD player of choice even if that means pointing the remote in another direction. I plan to wait for the BluRay - HDDVD war to shake out and go for an HD source in the next DVD player. Maybe Oppo will have one then, too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mallette Posted January 10, 2008 Author Share Posted January 10, 2008 Ding-dong-dang it Mallette! Based on no more than your review, subsequent comments here (and elsewhere) and a comparison of features on Oppo's website, I ordered a 980H a few days ago, sight unseen and sound unheard. I was starting to think about a new CD player anyway, and at $169, why not? It should arrive Friday; I'll let you know if you're in trouble! I originally thought about the 981 but since this is intended primarily for audio rather than video, the 980 seemed to be the better choice. I did, however, spring for the $36 25-ft HDMI cable so I can connect the 1080p Mitsubishi LCD panel and "sample the wares". If it's sufficiently better than my pedestrian JVC DVD player it may become the DVD player of choice even if that means pointing the remote in another direction. I plan to wait for the BluRay - HDDVD war to shake out and go for an HD source in the next DVD player. Maybe Oppo will have one then, too. Can't say I am overly worried. If you don't find it worth 169.00 you have issues with your hearing and eyes that need to be addressed. [] Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ByteWrangler Posted January 13, 2008 Share Posted January 13, 2008 The Oppo 980H arrived as scheduled on Friday and I set it up and started using it that evening, and continued much of the weekend. Very, very nice sound, unquestionably better than what I had. It drives the Mitsubishi LCD perfectly at 1080p thru the optional 25-ft long HDMI cable. The video quality is quite good, but I haven't done a direct comparison against the old DVD player. It played everything I've thrown at it:: CD, DVD-A, SACD, DVD and home-burned Audio CD - without dropping a bit, near as I can tell. It's easily worth $220, delivered, including the long HDMI cable.[Y] On the down side, there is a noticeable hum when the HDMI cable is connected. Disconnect the HDMI from either end and no problem. I'm sure this is a ground loop since the audio out from the Mits is also connected to the 2-ch preamp by a long pair of RCA cables. This needs to be dealt with - maybe lifting the shield on one end ofthose long RCAs will work. Can you lift the chassis ground on one end of an HDMIcable? This is designed to be a DVD player with extra attention paid to the audio section. Audio playback is superb, but the user interface has some shortcomings as an audio CD player. For instance, after loading a CD, it automatically starts playing Track 1 with no way around this other than standing with the remote poised. Much of the time this is fine, but with my old CDP you could have it do that, or start paused; the latter is good when you want to start with a different track. It also does not appear to support Indexes. These are an under-utilized feature of CDs to be sure, but I have some disks with them and do use them occasionally. The time display shows track elapsed time only; sometimes I like having total time or remaining time. It really wants a video screen for much of its user interaction. Because of the hum issue, I prefer to leave that disconnected most ofthe time. [N] These complaints are minor, and some of them may have solutions that I just haven't found yet. Time will tell. It is very slow to load compared to the old CDP. Part of that may be because it's a universal player and it has to figure out what's loadedbefore it can decide what to do with it. Overall, on the strength of its sound and picture quality, it's a keeper. [Y] It's certainly better than what I had, and I'll probably get used to the lost features. [edit] OK. I found the counter mode. Pressing OSD (On-Screen Display) on the remote cycles through Disk Elapsed, Track Elapsed, Disk Remaining, Track Remaining (not necessarily in that order). Perfect! Pulling the the L & R RCA audio connections partway out so that the shield connection is broken but the center is still connected eliminates the hum. So far, so good. [Y] [/edit] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mallette Posted January 13, 2008 Author Share Posted January 13, 2008 I am using discrete RCA with the 981HD and no noise or hum. You might try that. No way anyone can say it's not worth the price of admission. After that, I suppose individual milage varies. I certainly haven't heard anyone suggest anything near the price as competitive. Takers? Needs to do DVD-A, SACD, CD, upsample DVD minimum to compete. Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stormin Posted January 15, 2008 Share Posted January 15, 2008 Mine will be here Friday. Thanks for the reviews. [Y] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tk49 Posted January 15, 2008 Share Posted January 15, 2008 On the down side, there is a noticeable hum when the HDMI cable is connected. Disconnect the HDMI from either end and no problem. I'm sure this is a ground loop since the audio out from the Mits is also connected to the 2-ch preamp by a long pair of RCA cables. This needs to be dealt with - maybe lifting the shield on one end of those long RCAs will work. Can you lift the chassis ground on one end of an HDMI cable? I ran a RCA connector from the video output on the OPPO direct to my TV and the stereo mix to my Blueberry Extreme/Aleph 30 and found the same hum problem. I then ran a ground lead from the screw directly above the HDMI output to the ground on the Blueberry. It resolved the hum issue. This is my second OPPO, I had the 970 and now 980, I can't believe the machines are doing for that price. I had a drawer issue with my 970 and OPPO was on top of it with a quick solution, I would rate their customer service at an 10. Tom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ByteWrangler Posted January 16, 2008 Share Posted January 16, 2008 Thanks for the insight, tk. I have kind of an odd setup and am trying to decide the best approach to permanantly eliminate that hum. Great to hear about their service, too. Here's what I'm doing; Rube Goldberg would be proud: My preamp (McIntosh C33) is too old to have a remote. The HDTV (Mitsubishi 37132) does not have variable audio out (why the &%#%@ not??!!? The 13-year old Sony CRT it replaces did!!). The preamp and Oppo are about 20' (as the cable runs along the baseboard) from the TV. To use the 2-ch stereo for the TV's audio, I needed some way to make the volume change using the TV's remote, so I bought a cheap Denon receiver that has a remote (DRA-37, about $200 Internet), and set that up as the TV's "AVR" and ran the preamp out thru long RCAs to the main stereo. Now, the TV controls the Denon's volume setting. TV ======> Denon =======/ 35' /==========> C33 ===> Amp & Klipschorns This worked pretty well. Now, with the introduction of the Oppo, I added: TV <-----------/ 25' /-------- Oppo ======> C33 ------ indicates the HDMI cable, ====== indicates an RCA stereo pair. Note the nice long TV > Denon > C33 > Oppo > TV loop. I'm sure this is the problem since disconnecting the HDMI from either end, or only partially plugging both the long RCA's so that the shields don't connect, fixes it. The easiest "proper" fix would be to just use another set of speakers and drive them directly with the 50W/ch Denon, disconnect the long RCA pair, and be done with it, but I'm trying to avoid the extra speakers. I just love stuff like this! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stormin Posted January 19, 2008 Share Posted January 19, 2008 The Oppo DV-980H has been up and spinning for about 8 hours. My 2 cents is the "Audio Only" makes a hell of a difference on this model. The amount of resolution for 169 bucks is actually hilarious. This little player is quite the performer. The reviews have been right on with this one. Another nice treat from the Klipsch forum. Thanks ! PS: Zero problems with hum or noise. So far not the slightest hic up. And it plays everything I throw at it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kev313 Posted January 19, 2008 Share Posted January 19, 2008 The Oppo DV-980H has been up and spinning for about 8 hours. My 2 cents is the "Audio Only" makes a hell of a difference on this model. The amount of resolution for 169 bucks is actually hilarious. This little player is quite the performer. The reviews have been right on with this one. Another nice treat from the Klipsch forum. Thanks ! PS: Zero problems with hum or noise. So far not the slightest hic up. And it plays everything I throw at it. Agreed on the use of the Audio Only mode. I also am having no problems with hum, but I have it sunk in the 2 channel system with shielded IC's as opposed to in the HT. I AM having a hell of a lot of fun with the oppo, though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kev313 Posted January 23, 2008 Share Posted January 23, 2008 I'd be interested to hear from anyone else who recently picked up an oppo. Any reports? Good/bad/neither?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rcarlton Posted January 23, 2008 Share Posted January 23, 2008 Looks like someone on the McIntosh forum has discovered the Oppo....http://audiokarma.org/forums/showthread.php?t=145247 Won't let me post links again...grrrr. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mallette Posted January 24, 2008 Author Share Posted January 24, 2008 Ron: I note you have the 981HD. Any thoughts on the claimed (which, not having heard, I am neither denying nor supporting) superiority of the 980H in the audio area? I find it hard to imagine better audio from digits on plastic than I am hearing from the 981HD, but such is not my strong suit. Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Islander Posted January 24, 2008 Share Posted January 24, 2008 I'd be interested to hear from anyone else who recently picked up an oppo. Any reports? Good/bad/neither?? My buddy in the Toronto area recently picked up an Oppo 980 for his home theater and was very happy with it, then one of his friends suggested that he get a second one for his serious 2-channel system downstairs. He was amazed! He found that the Oppo 980 was comparable to his $3000 Meridian CD player. He doesn't know whether to laugh or cry... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rcarlton Posted January 24, 2008 Share Posted January 24, 2008 Dave, Haven't made any comparisons, so don't know about the 980H. It would be neat to have a shootout with various players. I think there would be some interesting surpises. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wallflower Posted January 24, 2008 Share Posted January 24, 2008 This is my assessment of listening to the DV-980H for the past month: There are some very distinct similarities between this player and my Rega Saturn. The more the OPPO plays in the more similar it seems to the Saturn. The thing that stands out the most is the sense of a black background (or said another way, the lack of hash or noise in the background). I remember the first time I heard the Saturn I was struck by how quiet the background was and how instruments and voices seemed to leap from nothing to images in the air. The more I listen to the OPPO I’m hearing the same quality. The top end is silky smooth and the bottom end is substantial and tight. It’s very revealing and yet never unpleasant to listen to. I’m going to go out on a limb and say this OPPO is a giant killer (no a giant annihilator). Honestly I don’t know how the other manufacturers are going to compete with this product. It’s ridiculously good. And that's just Redbook. On a slightly different note... I have to thank forum member Tom Mobley for graciously sending me his copy of Soular Energy by the Ray Brown Trio. Tom couldn’t use this disc because it’s DVD-A and his player wouldn’t play it. Thanks Tom!! What a wonderful gift and gesture. This recording is simply unbelievable. The OPPO plays it spectacularly. It’s worth spending the parsimonious sum of $169.00 just to hear this disc on this player. OH MY GOD! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arky Posted January 26, 2008 Share Posted January 26, 2008 Where do you buy these oppo players at? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jheis Posted January 26, 2008 Share Posted January 26, 2008 www.oppodigital.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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