Oppo's upscaling DV-983H universal player up for pre-order

by Darren Murph, posted Mar 3rd 2008 at 1:57PM

Though it's not the elusive Blu-ray player we're anxiously awaiting, Oppo's latest standalone deck is finally up for pre-order. The DV-983H universal player features 1080p upscaling of DVDs, SACD / Redbook CD / HDCD playback (no DVD-A?), optical / coaxial digital audio outputs, a USB 2.0 port, support for DTS, Dolby and Dolby Pro-Logic II, HDMI audio output supporting bit-stream and uncompressed multi-channel high resolution audio and a design that's actually not half bad. You'll also get a one-year warranty and a six-foot HDMI cable for $399, but we've got to say, picking this one up will be hard to do with knowledge of what's on the way.

[Via AudioJunkies]

Filed under: Other formats, Players, Others

Tags: DV-983H, HDCD, oppo, sacd, universal, universal player, UniversalPlayer, upconvert, upconverting, upscaling

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Neutral

Zach @ Mar 3rd 2008 2:35PM

There are very few Blu ray players that actually do a decent job of processing SD DVDs. While Blu ray is certainly the wave of the future many still have quite the collection of SD DVDs. Based on the specs this player should be about as good as it gets for SD playback.

Highest Ranked

1stGreg @ Mar 3rd 2008 2:52PM

The question being, is it really worth $399, a price that is now -above- most 1.0 Blu Ray players (who can also play DVDs, and upscale it reasonably well), and the same price as the anounced Sony S-350 (profile 2.0)?

Neutral

Mr. E @ Mar 3rd 2008 3:48PM

$399 for a semi-off-brand DVD player. So much for the sour grapes argument that Blu-ray is doomed because no one will ever pay above $250/$200/$100/Pick-a-price for a Blu-ray player! LOL.

Highly Ranked

Galley @ Mar 3rd 2008 5:51PM

They're not exactly no-name.

The DV-983H from Oppo Digital represents a lot of firsts. It is the first flagship design from Oppo, it is the first DVD player on the market to use the ABT-102 chip from Anchor Bay Technology(DVDO), and it is the first player to ever score a perfect 100 in the Secrets DVD Benchmark�. Oppo has continually impressed us with their attention to detail and their ability to continue to push the envelope of price/performance with their DVD players and universal transports.

Highly Ranked

Mr. E @ Mar 3rd 2008 7:59PM

Believe me, I have great respect for the hardware Oppo has produced, and I almost bought one of their DVD players myself a couple of years ago. But if you polled 100 people at random on the street, how many do you think will have heard of the Oppo brand? Maybe two? That's what I meant by "semi-off-brand", definitely not intended as a knock on their quality, just more of a jab at the idea that Blu-ray hardware is overpriced at this point in the format's life.

Neutral

Carney @ Mar 3rd 2008 3:48PM

What, no DVD-Audio?

Neutral

kcjones @ Mar 3rd 2008 4:42PM

Calling it a universal player is misleading, if it doesn't support DVD-A

Highly Ranked

Raptor007 @ Mar 3rd 2008 4:51PM

I would say it's misleading if it doesn't support HD-DVD and Blu-ray. :�P

Neutral

Raptor007 @ Mar 3rd 2008 4:50PM

What is the upconverting chip in this player? The HQV Reon found in some Samsung BD players and Onkyo receivers gives a better picture than Oppo's DV-981HD.

Even if it has a nicer upconvert though, I don't see this new player competing well against Blu-ray at that price point.

Highly Ranked

Jmac823200 @ Mar 3rd 2008 5:10PM

Hey people read the link posted Aaron McFarland. Apparently it does support DVD-A. I'm still curious to know what profile it supports though.

Highly Ranked

Peetah @ Mar 3rd 2008 5:18PM

I can't find any product info on Oppo's website, but you can preorder it. However according to hometheaterhifi.com: "The 983H is also a true universal DVD player, offering DVD-Audio and SACD playback via HDMI (v1.2) or analog outputs."

Neutral

David B @ Mar 3rd 2008 5:40PM

Who are they kidding? This is ridiculous, considering the vast majority of people who would even THINK of buying this already have or will soon have a BluRay player that will likely put out a picture that only a fraction of the viewing public could tell was any different.

Neutral

Andy Sullivan @ Mar 3rd 2008 7:10PM

Wow. Oppo must think this player is offering some new technology to compete with blu-ray. It's not just expensive, it's twice as expensive as Oppo's current top player, which is pretty darn good in it's own right. Maybe Oppo just preparing us for the price tag on their new blu-ray offering. Somebody earlier referred to Oppo as a "semi second tier player". What, do you think Denon is second tier because they don't sell as many machines as Panasonic. Oppo is right up there with the cream of the crop.

Neutral

cynic @ Mar 4th 2008 10:20AM

So why should we pay 170 more than the current head of the Oppo class? It does nothing that the DV-981 isn't doing right now. And by the way, saying Oppo is "off-brand" is like saying Maserati is off-brand.

Neutral

Kieran Coghlan @ Mar 4th 2008 4:48PM

Yes, Oppo is as much an off-brand as any other brand that's not carried in Best Buy. Ever heard of Von Schweikert speakers? No? Must be an "off-brand". But they are arguably some of the best speakers in the world. McIntosh audio components? Hard to find in Circuit City, but not exactly off-brand.

Anyway, the 983 does everything that the 981 does, yes, and costs $170 more, true... but it does all those things (or most) better than the 981. That's like saying, "why buy a Porsche over a Honda when the Honda gets me to church on Sundays just fine?"

The video processing chip in the 983 is the best that's ever been put into a DVD player. EVER. Yes, better than the HQV chip. Considering this is probably the best sd-dvd player that's ever been or will be made, $400 isn't too extreme.

On the other hand, I was disappointed when I saw the price of it. I was hoping it'd be closer to $300, with their (hopefully) soon to arrive BRD player around $400.

Keep in mind also that this is a "reference" player. Not everyone is expected to buy a reference player. In the past, $700-$1000 or more would be expected for a player of this quality... even during the times of the

Neutral

Kieran Coghlan @ Mar 4th 2008 4:50PM

continued...

Keep in mind also that this is a "reference" player. Not everyone is expected to buy a reference player. In the past, $700-$1000 or more would be expected for a player of this quality... even during the times of the

Neutral

Kieran Coghlan @ Mar 4th 2008 4:51PM

Why do I keep getting cut off?

This is for people who own a BRD player but want the best for their SD DVD collection too. There isn't a BRD player on the market that can come close to touching the quality of this player for SD-DVDs. In fact, most BRD players can be bested by a $70 Phillips player for SD-DVDs, they are that bad.

Again, all that said, I do agree that $399 is a little high for this product, and I hope they drop the price a bit. ~$300 is more appropriate for the market, IMO. But time and Oppo's sales numbers will tell the truth.

Neutral

Aaron McFarland @ Mar 6th 2008 4:53PM

http://www.hometheaterhifi.com/cd-dvd-player-product-reviews/dvd-players/oppo-digital-dv-983h-dvd-player---a-secrets-dvd-benchmark-review.html

Neutral

JBDragon @ Mar 11th 2008 10:45PM

I may just pick one of these up. Looks great, and I could care less about Blu-Ray. I hope Blu-Ray dies also. Long live DVD.

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