Oppo Closing It's Doors

Yeah, mine is worth like $10,000 or something now.

 

Wow, that is all I can say. I've had a BDP103 for 4 years now and I count it as one of my best AV purchases ever. My HA-1 on the other hand has been very good but not great... hardly the "end-game" purchase I was hoping for.

I think I may actually pick up a 203 for my HTR just because the 103 has been so great.

 

Maybe they assume physical media is on its way out and better to get out now before they start losing money.

 

No. It’s all my fault. Any time I buy a player from a company, they either turn into crap and breakdown with no replacement parts to fix it (Wadia) or they go out of business. Oppo in this case. Sorry everyone. I’ll promise to stay away from Marantz.

 

And Sony please )))

 

If anyone currently owns, or is planning to buy, an Oppo player, I wanted to share a link to the Audiopraise site: http://audiopraise.com/vanityhd/details.php. 203 board thread here: http://www.audiopraise.com/forum/read.php?13,794.

Audiopraise makes modded boards that replace the analog boards in the 93/103/203 series that clean up and reclock the digital output and perform DSD-to-PCM conversion that is higher quality than the Oppo's internal conversion. Not only does this provide a more stable S/PDIF output for external DACs, it also allows the digital output of high-resolution DVD-audio and blu-ray audio formats via S/PDIF. This is usually not possible via any interface except HDMI due to copyright restrictions. If one wanted to, they could go nuts and run four external DACs for a 7.1 theater system.

I run one in my 103D and pipe everything via 2.0 downmix to my Yggdrasil's S/PDIF input. The U.S. distributor is JVB Digital, which sells the boards themselves and pre-modded units. I had a great experience with JVB. I bought my modded 103D used on Audiogon and had some issues with the board. I paid for shipping to JVB who replaced the entire board for free as it was defective. Wonderful customer service.

This announcement has got me thinking about upgrading to the 203 with a board before they're gone. The one thing I don't like about the 203 vs. the 103 is there are no native apps like Netflix or Tidal.

 

I always had mix feelings about Oppo. Amazing for Video, but for Sound they felt short by a few notches below an excellent DAC in my experience. I haven't heard the current models that Oppo put out, but I heard enough of the BDP-83 & 103 in various home setups that I don't want them near my rack.

When looking around other audiophile setups in my area (and be in a local audiophile group here), it's either Vinyl or Tidal Streaming. I'm still the only one in the group who still mainly spin CDs (been thinking about the Tidal wave that is hitting everyone, and streaming, but realized I have enough music on CDs to entertain me).

 

I would just like to add:

There is no evidence of HiFiMan closing. It is a rumor at this point with no other evidence that I can find. My apologies for posting such rumors without confirming. I have since removed it from the OP.

 

Aw this is too bad. I was kinda hoping that they'd release a wireless/bluetooth version of the PM-3.

 

I can't think of any wireless planar magnetic headphones. They require more power than dynamic drivers, and would need a heavy battery, or lighter weight with low battery life.

 

Audeze Mobius are up-and-coming wireless planar headphones! It also has some weird gamer tech in it and sounds bad.

https://www.audeze.com/products/mobius-series/mobius-headphone

 

The Oppos are relatively low powered in the planar realm of headphones, which is why I was hoping they'd wrangle something.

 

I had sent my PM-3's in for repair (pleather rubbing off headband) last month, I received back a replacement pair but now I'm afraid to use them as the only issue I've had with them is no lambskin option on the 3's. I'm shocked no other company has bought their headphone division as the PM-3's are a steal at their price.

 

Just seeing this, terrible news. Their headphones and portable DAC/amp are well regarded (and sound great to me) and I always liked their DVD/Blu Ray players. I suppose it's just a sign of the times with everyone streaming movies these days and the highly competitive headphone market.