Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Home Theater DVD-A/SACD, upconverting (upscaling) players

Ravi,

The Oppo 970, which I've been using for about six months is outstanding for DVD-A and SACD. It sounds as good as any player that I've heard at any price. While its video processor does not have the Faroudja circuit, its DVD de-interlacing and upscaling via HDMI is excellent.

I've done comparisons of the DVD version of "Flight of the Phoenix" (the remake) through the Oppo 970 upscaled to 720p via HDMI with an HD version stored on my DVR, with both versions synced up. While the HD version is visibly superior--after all, it is HD-- the DVD version from the Oppo 970 upscaled to 720p via HDMI, is extremely close, so close that without the comparison it's easy to forget you're not watching HD.

Subtle video artifacts and differences between players can be spotted with test DVDs, but I tend to find some of the comparisons made at other sites of DVD player video quality are exaggerated or overblown in part because they are based on test DVDs. In day-to-day use, I seldom if ever notice any video artifacts from the Oppo 970. By comparison to earlier generations of low-cost universal upconverting DVD players (Pioneer, Samsung, etc.), the Oppo 970's performance is astonishingly good.

I don't get Bridgman's comment that it's ugly. It's very thin and streamlined looking, only 1.5 inches thick. It's silent in operation and its on-screen menus are easy to use. Compared to my clunky old 1st-generation Sony DVD player, circa 1997, which of course didn't play DVD-A or SACD and which cost about four times as much as the Oppo, the 970 is a spaceship.

Regards,

Hey Alan,

In case you didn’t get the memo, Oppo just released a firmware update a couple weeks ago for the 970. If you didn’t notice, SACD playback via HDMI would sorta pause between tracks. The firmware took care of that, plus some other minor tweaks.

I agree with Alan with these Oppo’s. It’s hard to believe they do what they do for what they cost…..say that ten times real fast. Plus, their customer support is outstanding.

I think one of these Oppo players is going to be my next purchase.

Alan,

thanks for the info. I'm debating now between 970 and 981, leaving towards 981 though due to video performance. Could the 981 be THAT much worst than the 970 for SACD and DVD Audio? I wonder.. Have you heard the 981?

970 it is!! Can't pass it up with Alan's endorsment.

Report back on how you like it, I am looking at this one too.

I'm interested between 3 Oppos as well, I only care about video performance only since I do not own any dvd-audio or sacd disks and will be using the DACs in my Rotel prepro. The tv for this will be Toshiba 50hdx82 rear projection HDTV. I hear Faroudja is best chip but also I hear it has macroblocking and other issues. So which is player for video only?

This place is evil. I ordered the 970 a couple of days ago because of this thread, and it arrived today. I get to go hook it up soon.

>>I don't get Bridgman's comment that it's ugly. It's very thin and streamlined looking, only 1.5 inches thick.

Sorry, I was thinking of the remote -- and, in fairness, it was the combination of Sony, Oppo and Sherwood remotes together on the table that looked ugly as a set.

Agree that the player itself looks very sleek.

My dim understanding is that the 971 was the original, the 970 added superior audio (SACD etc...) but dropped the Faroujda processor, and the 981 combined the better audio from the 970 with the Faroujda video from the 971 but dropped a couple of output connectors.

Does this sound about right ?