Oppo BDP-83 Player Reviews

Best Blu-Ray and Audio player player I own

By Tony Tomato “ttony”

I almost didn’t buy the Appo because it was a name I had not seen before. However, the reviews here were so good, I figured I would try it out. Best move I made in a long time. This player is some kind of wonderful. Near instant start on BD’s, a big change from my Sony S301 which took till Christmas to crank up, which the BDB-83 replaces at my joint. The picture is much better, teriffic remote. Comes with a Spears & Munsil benchmark disk as well as an AIX Calibration disk. Took about 25 minutes to get it playing including a CD full update (even this runs quicker than the Sony). Another neat feature is you can update with a thumb drive as there is a USB port built in. Appo has looked at the Bluray player from the consumers standpoint – not from the engineers aspect, and done a splendid job. I can’t think of anything they could do to make the player any better, and even from an old cheapskates point of view, its WELL worth the $499.00 – you won’t go wrong with this baby! My daughter in college has been wanting a Bluray player. Tomorrow, she gets the Sony!

Best Blu-Ray and Audio player player I own

By D. Poulson “dino”

I’ll keep this review rather short since I’ve only had it 3 days.

Big impressions thus far:

Speed – this thing loads fast! With my Panasonic BD30 I had to press eject, wait about 30 seconds for the tray to come out, insert the disc, wait about another 90 seconds and then I would have the FBI warning. With the OPPO, I press eject and (gasp) the tray comes right out. Amazing, right? I put the disc in and I’ve barely gotten back to the couch when I have the FBI warning up on the screen. It’s as if I’m playing a regular DVD on a regular DVD player.

Picture Quality – upconverting on my BD30 was horrendous compared the Oppo DV-980H that I had. Not only does the BD-83 make my blu-rays look even better, it makes regular DVD’s tolerable again and they look better than ever.

Versatility – Handles my Blu-rays with ease and the sounds quality on my SACD’s and DVD-audio discs is superb.

Adjustability – the 980H had a few picture and audio controls, but it’s menu wasn’t the greatest and the picture adjustments were hard to notice and had negligible improvements. The BD-83 really lets you fine tune the picture processing coming out of the player to produce stunning picture quality. My Panasonic plasma is inherently a bit darker than most TV’s so I upped the brightness and gamma a bit on the player to compensate and it didn’t wash out the picture.

Improved remote – Oppo’s previous remotes have been a little stale and boring. This remote steps it up with big ergonomic keys, full backlighting, and complete blu-ray functionality with hot keys. There’s also quite a few shortcut buttons to a lot of the functions you previously had to dive into a menu for.

Classy look – the player looks great in the equipment rack. Very classy design and has a nice heft to it. The tray slides out smoothly and quietly and the front display has crisp, bright numbers that make the player look a cut above.

This player just about does it all. With Oppo’s track record of providing superior products at an affordable price, I don’t expect anything but great times with this player for a long way down the road. This player is well worth the price and then some. You simply will not regret buying this if you appreciate great video processing and want a true all-in-one player.

Best Blu-Ray and Audio player player I own

By D. Poulson “dino”

I’ll keep this review rather short since I’ve only had it 3 days.

Big impressions thus far:

Speed – this thing loads fast! With my Panasonic BD30 I had to press eject, wait about 30 seconds for the tray to come out, insert the disc, wait about another 90 seconds and then I would have the FBI warning. With the OPPO, I press eject and (gasp) the tray comes right out. Amazing, right? I put the disc in and I’ve barely gotten back to the couch when I have the FBI warning up on the screen. It’s as if I’m playing a regular DVD on a regular DVD player.

Picture Quality – upconverting on my BD30 was horrendous compared the Oppo DV-980H that I had. Not only does the BD-83 make my blu-rays look even better, it makes regular DVD’s tolerable again and they look better than ever.

Versatility – Handles my Blu-rays with ease and the sounds quality on my SACD’s and DVD-audio discs is superb.

Adjustability – the 980H had a few picture and audio controls, but it’s menu wasn’t the greatest and the picture adjustments were hard to notice and had negligible improvements. The BD-83 really lets you fine tune the picture processing coming out of the player to produce stunning picture quality. My Panasonic plasma is inherently a bit darker than most TV’s so I upped the brightness and gamma a bit on the player to compensate and it didn’t wash out the picture.

Improved remote – Oppo’s previous remotes have been a little stale and boring. This remote steps it up with big ergonomic keys, full backlighting, and complete blu-ray functionality with hot keys. There’s also quite a few shortcut buttons to a lot of the functions you previously had to dive into a menu for.

Classy look – the player looks great in the equipment rack. Very classy design and has a nice heft to it. The tray slides out smoothly and quietly and the front display has crisp, bright numbers that make the player look a cut above.

This player just about does it all. With Oppo’s track record of providing superior products at an affordable price, I don’t expect anything but great times with this player for a long way down the road. This player is well worth the price and then some. You simply will not regret buying this if you appreciate great video processing and want a true all-in-one player.

Best Blu-Ray and Audio player player I own

By D. Solomon “Film Buff”

I was hesitant to replace my expensive Denon 2900 Universal Player, but I wanted to get into Blu_Ray. I read all of the reviews, and noted that Home Theater magazine rated the Oppo BDP-83 Universal Player as their Product of the Year. I admit that I found it difficult to believe that a player priced at $499.00 would be able to outperform my Denon and offer Blu-Ray. Well, I’m a Believer now. This player has so many Bells and Whistles for the price, it is unbelievable. DVD, SACD, DVD-Audio, Blu_Ray, whatever you play on it, the Oppo performs flawlessly. I’m convinced that if the Oppo was sold in brick and mortar stores, it would easily cost twice as much.

This player comes beautifully packaged in a reusable, cloth shopping bag. Also included was a Spears and Munsil Calibration Disc and an Aix Records Audio Calibration and Music Sampler disc. All needed cables are included in an attractive box. This is one classy component. It is very easy to set-up, with a Quick Start on-screen menu. Later, you can use the extensive calibration menus to further refine sound and picture.

If you are in the market for a Blu-Ray Universal Player, I truly believe you cannot do any better than the Oppo for any price. The Sound and Vision Reviewer picked this as his new Reference Player, and even Consumer Reports picked this as the best Blu-Ray Player of the year. I agree.

Best Blu-Ray and Audio player player I own

By Kevin B. Davison

With so many decent players now in the 100-200 dollar price range it was a little hard to justify the 500 dollar price tag. Once you turn this on you realize this isn’t your average blu-ray player. The menus are clean, responsive, and EVERY change can be done on the fly while the movie is playing in the background. This was very useful when setting up my sound because I could compare differences in the settings without stopping the disc. I’ve used other blu-ray players where I put in a blu-ray disc and have to wait several minutes just to see something pop up on the TV. This player is so fast I’ve never had to wait more than 20 seconds for a movie to load. Amazing.

Yes, if you have a 400 dollar generic TV I wouldn’t go out and buy this player. Go buy a Panasonic BD60 for a fraction of the price. However, the Oppo is a videophile quality player for a fraction the price of its competitors. I plan on enjoying my Oppo for years to come.

Best Blu-Ray and Audio player player I own

By John Nachbar

This is my second Oppo BDP-83. The first was defective (random and abrupt crashes on all disks). So why five stars?

First, defects happen. My customer service experience with both Oppo, with whom I corresponded at length, and Amazon could not have been better. A new player arrived in two days.

Second, the correctly operating 83 is a wonder. I’ve had quite a few players over the last decade, and this is by far the best. And my experience is mirrored in the 83’s consistent praise in reviews: from CNET, Home Theater, Playback, Ultimate AV, Secrets of Home Theater, and on and on; even CU.

The consensus is this: the 83 is arguably the best player on the market, at any price, if you (a) want an easy to operate universal player, (b) will be relying on the player for upconverting DVD to the native resolution of your display, and (c) will be relying on another component (such as an AV receiver) for audio processing. If (b) doesn’t concern you, perhaps because you don’t watch much DVD, then you may be just as well off with a cheaper player, such as Oppo’s new BDP-80. If (c) isn’t true then the 83 is still a smart choice, but arguably better audio processing is out there if you are willing to pay; Oppo itself makes the BDP-83SE and you can also spend much, much more. Thomas Norton is running a series at UltimateAV on this.

The 83 lacks certain features that may matter to you but don’t to me: there is no built-in WiFi, it does not do Netflix, etc. The 83 is designed to play disks, and it does that really, really well.

In particular, the 83 will make DVD look as good as it can look. That’s not as good as BD. Look at the first minute or so of Dark Knight on both formats for a quick, decisive comparison. But with the 83, (good) DVD will look good, even if you are sitting close to your screen. But note that to get the benefit of this player on DVD, you have to use the hdmi output; the Anchor Bay processor, the heart of this player’s processing, is not engaged if you use the component output (see the review in Secrets of Home Theater).

Best Blu-Ray and Audio player player I own

By BennyBoy “ToyNut”

I got this player because I liked my 983 so much, but needed to know if this one was better. I found the Up converted DVD’s look better on this unit then on my 983. Not night and day better. the 83 has a richer film like look, a sort of depth thats lacking on the 983. Oppo must have noticed this as well? as they drop the 983 from the line. I’m not big on talking up products in reviews. I will say this, this is a super fine player and I have zero issues with it. If it were a Denon, NAD or Adcom it would be running around $1200.~$1500. IMO!

Best Blu-Ray and Audio player player I own

By Falco

I have recently purchased this music collection in 7.1 DTS-HD Master Audio:7.1 Music Classical Colletion – Acoustic Reality Experience [Blu-ray]
The OPPO BDP-83 performed beautifully in terms of the sound. You can use the 7.1 analog pre-outs if you have an older receiver, and the sound was very good. Distortion was low, and everything sounded crisp without being sibilant. The BDP-83 decodes DTS-HD Master Audio internally, and will deliver the sound through the 7.1 analog pre-outs. Of course, if you have one of the newer receivers with HDMI inputs, you can send your music from CDs, SACDs, DVD-As, SD DVD movies, and Blu-ray movies to the receiver in digital format.
We went through several movies, but also some SACD and DVD-A, and the player handled all of them without a hitch. The analog outputs had more noise than the HDMI connection, but that is to be expected, since analog cables pick up noise along the way from the player to the processor. Although you can select bitstream or PCM for the various media through the HDMI connection, and there are some measurable differences I didn’t hear and difference between them. However, SACDs and DVD-As both sounded more detailed than CDs but the difference between the high rez formats and CDs is more dramatic and noticeable.
7.1 DTS-HD Master Audio is the codec. I am delighted that we finally have players, processors, receivers, AND the movies with the high rez codecs.
The sound is just breathtaking.

Best Blu-Ray and Audio player player I own

By Paul Desrochers

I’ve been through 2 generations of Blu-Ray players and found them slow, quirky and undependable. Such problems as DVDs that wouldn’t play, aspect ratio issues, poor support. But the most vexing problem was that no matter how much I spent, the Blu-Ray picture wasn’t as good as hi-def TV.

In looking over the new players I found that they’ve added lots of gadgets and junk, but have made little effort to achieve the potential for hi-def playback.

I wanted a player that simply played DVDs superbly without all the gadgets. Not being fond of special effects and car crashes featured on most Blu=Ray disks, I find a greater need for a great picture from regular DVDs.

I found it!

The Oppo is substantial and good-looking with magnificent pictures and sound. It does it job well, from loading quickly to playing all kinds of DVDs without hassle. I hesitated over the $500 price– but after trying a unit selling for $349 (with a list price of $800– and after returning it after finding it a piece of junk with absolutely no support– the $500 is a bargain.

Best Blu-Ray and Audio player player I own

By M. Chaffee “Alpha_Geek”

The bottom line:
A BDP-83 playing Blu-ray is to a PlayStation 3 (PS3) playing Blu-ray as a PS3 playing Blu-ray is to the well-upscaled playing of a DVD. It is truly that differentiating. And, the PS3 is no Blu-ray slouch! If you are looking for a Blu-ray player, buy the Oppo BDP-83. If you can’t afford it, then wait and save up for it. The BDP-83’s Blu-ray and SACD performance is incomparable. Additionally, it will perform to as high a level as your other components allow it!

My system: Monster Power HTUPS 2700 power conditioner Monster Home Theater PowerCenter HTUPS 2700 w/ Clean Power Stage 2 v2.1, Battery Back-Up & Automatic Voltage Regulation 6 Outlets, Stage 2 v2.1, UPS, AVR (MP HTUPS 2700); [player] through Monster HDMI Monster MC 1000HD-2M Ultra-High Speed HDTV HDMI Cable (2 meters) to Onkyo TX-NR906 Onkyo TX-NR906 7.1 Channel Home Theater Receiver (Black) powering a 3.1 system with bridged left and right amps processing both video and audio. Video through Monster HDMI to Mitsubishi Diamond 73835 Mitsubishi Diamond Series WD-73835 73-Inch 1080p DLP HDTV (Glossy Black). Audio through Tributaries to Definitive Technologies (DefTech) Mythos ST speakers Definitive Technology Mythos ST 120v Supertower Speaker (Single, Black) (subs in each) left and right and a DefTech Mythos 10 Definitive Technology Mythos 10 On-Wall Speaker (Single, Black) Center. This is a high-performance, high-value, high-end system.

The first Blu-ray I played was WALL-E Wall-E (Three-Disc Special Edition + Digital Copy and BD Live) [Blu-ray]. This is truly a 10 out of 10 Blu-ray in video and audio. It begins with the excellent Disney intro with a train chugging in the distance down the rails at twilight then goes to a view of the castle in a fly around. The PS3 did a great job, even had a suggestion of dimensionality to it (as if in 3D). It had an immersive sensibility. The BDP-83 snapped it. Realize that the only thing changing here is the swapping of the players, with the BDP-83 only going through its initial setup. (I just wanted to see if the thing turned on and worked!) I watched the rest of the movie. I was not just fully immersed into the movie, I flowed with the movie’s reality. There were colors and depths that the PS3 missed completely. I did not even imagine this being present in the movie’s definition as represented in ones and zeros! And that’s all it really is – ones and zeros.

So, why the stark difference?? Imagine a wire with electricity running through it. Then let’s say that if there is 5 volts on the wire then there is a one (1) – if there is 3 volts on the wire, then there is a zero (0). If I put a component on each end of the wire and want to send the number 11001 between them, then the volts would be 55335. Simple idea if it were not for the fact that it will take some time to go from 5 volts to 3 or 3 volts to 5. Depending on the quality of the components on each end, if the sending one is a little, shall we say, sloppy in the transition from 5 volts to 3, then the receiving end may think it received 55535, or 11101. If it was also sloppy in the transition from 3 volts to 5, then the number could be received as 11100. This is not the intended 11001! So, what am I saying? The BDP-83 is a remarkably more accurate digital instrument than the PS3. Does this mean that the PS3 is junk? Not at all. Coupled with other components of matching performance it would be very acceptable and rewarding. But, under the circumstances, I was significantly, shockingly unaware of just how good the other components in the system were! Note: Getting into the setup menus, I found that the BDP-83 would ship up to 36 bit color (x.y.deepcolor) – even would put Blu-ray non-deepcolor bits into a deepcolor 36 bit word! The Onkyo and Mitsubishi also handle deepcolor. When I chose this option on the player, the Mitsubishi’s screen went dark!! I started sweating at about the 7 second mark and started thinking about weeping at the 12 second mark. And then the Mitsubishi popped back on with the Oppo deepcolor set at 36 bits! Apparently it talked to the Onkyo about it then the Onkyo talked to the Mitsubishi about it and once they were all in agreement – 36 bits! It would have been nice if they would have let me in on the conversation…

In other words, the BDP-83 is a superlative, high-end component for just $500! It will NOT be the weak link in your system.

The SACD stereo of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 ‘Choral’, Bernard Haitink, London Synphony Orchestra, 2006 Beethoven: Symphony No. 9 ‘Choral’ [Hybrid SACD] (especially the 4th movement with voices) was very nice from the PS3. I had to use Neural THX on the Onkyo to get the sound right. Using the Direct option made it sound dead. With the BDP-83, the Neural THX processing was excellent. But the Direct function was just plain REAL – overflowing with life and presence. The Direct function has minimal processing, mainly taking the raw bitstream from the BDP-83, putting it through some outstanding Burr-Brown DACs (Digital to Analog Converters), and amplifying it. It was sublime.

To finish up, the next Blu-ray I watched was Braveheart Braveheart [Blu-ray]. Magnificent. Audio and sound was a revelation. (FYI: outstanding soundtrack CD.) Longshank’s bout with consumption was truly sickening!

Nonetheless, you will rejoice with your purchase of the Oppo BDP-83.