Review and Measurements of Oppo UDP-205 UHD Player

[yummy]

what happened with the graphs? at 1k the THD+n is -115db

and here 1k becomes around 0.0004%??? should ties below 0.0002%

the second graph tested with -20dbfs?

 

[mindbomb]

what happened with the graphs? at 1k the THD+n is -115db

and here 1k becomes around 0.0004%??? should ties below 0.0002%

the second graph tested with -20dbfs?

https://audiosciencereview.com/foru...layer-audio-dashboard-measurements-png.13710/
https://audiosciencereview.com/foru...-audio-thd-distortion-measurements-png.13714/

I believe the first graph has a bandwidth of 20 or 22khz, while the other is going all the way to 96khz. So there is more noise in that one.

 

[amirm]

I believe the first graph has a bandwidth of 20 or 22khz, while the other is going all the way to 96khz. So there is more noise in that one.

That's correct. I used to measure THD+N with 20 kHz bandwidth but I changed that to 90 kHz so that the response at > 10 kHz is accurate.

For Dashboard as you correctly indicate it is limited to 22 kHz as is noted at the bottom of the screen snapshots.

Kudos to both of you for having such careful eyes!

 

[yummy]

some guy does with 500k BW but that's too strict, even APx555 self test with 500k BW doesn't look so good

 

[yummy]

amirm, regarding the THE+n vs FR, could you consider add the analyzer self test result into the graph? We will know how much distant between DUT and the source.

Source performance could be added to IMD test and the jitter graphs.

plus channel separation, which is the key to sound stage

 

[amirm]

amirm, regarding the THE+n vs FR, could you consider add the analyzer self test result into the graph? We will know how much distant between DUT and the source.

Sure. But note that we are measuring both the signal generator in Audio Precision and the Analyzer so it is not just the performance of the latter.

As we see, the APx555 using its own (analog) signal generator (green at the bottom) is slightly better than Oppo UDP-205 (red).

The APx555 has a higher performance analyzer that uses dual analog to digital converters to lower its own noise and distortion. It has some side effects and for that reason, I have not used it much. But I probably should in this test. Here is the difference when I turn that on:

As to showing it in the future, it is a bit of a pain because the APx555 software will erase all measured data if you change the source type, in this case from USB to Analog balanced! So I have to export the data, then import it back in. Being the lazy type , I will leave these out unless asked.

 

[Veri]

Those results are damn close to the Oppo though, in retrospective that's damn impressive.

 

[bennetng]

The APx555 has a higher performance analyzer that uses dual analog to digital converters to lower its own noise and distortion. It has some side effects and for that reason, I have not used it much.

Can you explain more? I am interested, thanks.

 

[amirm]

Can you explain more? I am interested, thanks.

Sure. Please see my write up for when I purchased my APx555: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...s-a-new-audio-precision-analyzer-apx555.3442/

There is explanation and a nice video that explains it all.

 

[yummy]

btw, residual noise is one of the need-to-test objects (uwt better, well, clearer than awt), AP usually around 1uv uwt

 

[yummy]

the official output z for cans is less than 0.1 ohm...

they must add some resistors in order to avoid oscillating

 

[amirm]

they must add some resistors in order to avoid oscillating

That is my assumption too.

FYI, I boxed up the unit and will be dropping it off to go to its owner. Sad day in the ASR lab.

 

[c1ferrari]

Would anyone have a projection as to how the 205 would fare as a transport, only?

 

[amirm]

Wish you had asked me a day earlier and I could have measured it.

 

[Fitzcaraldo215]

Would anyone have a projection as to how the 205 would fare as a transport, only?

Probably no better than its sibling, the cheaper 203. The 205 is based on that, but with better DAC, audio power supply and audio output enhancements.

 

[c1ferrari]

Wish you had asked me a day earlier and I could have measured it.

Ugh!

 

[c1ferrari]

Probably no better than its sibling, the cheaper 203. The 205 is based on that, but with better DAC, audio power supply and audio output enhancements.

Okay, so would that be an endorsement of the Oppo 205 as a transport?

 

[Bhargu]

@amirm I see that you have compared this to DX7S. How will this comparre to D50? I wasn't sure as it seems you have used different analysers for the reviews.

 

[Fitzcaraldo215]

Okay, so would that be an endorsement of the Oppo 205 as a transport?

Amir's tests really have not shed any light on optical transports, pun, pun! But, I don't think you can go wrong with an Oppo, any model. But, frankly, others may be just as good as transports. It is the DAC and audio circuitry that really sets the 205 apart, although Oppo has also always had benchmark performance on video as well. I have had a number of Oppos over many years, and I always found them excellent, though I never had a 203/205.

However, I play all my files either as ripped from PC hard drive or as played by the cheap optical drives in my PC. I have detected no noticeable audio or video differences from using a separate player as a transport vs. the internal PC optical drives. But, I find file audio playback from hard drive subjectively a bit more "relaxed" sounding, meaning slightly preferable, but nothing to get excited about. No noticeable difference on video quality, though. There is speculation in some circles that servo motors and the electromechanical optical drive assemblies might slightly modulate power supplies or generate slight variable EMI internally, more so than with PC hard drives. But, that might also be a total myth.

I think it might be fair to say that no measurement studies have indicated anything significant about most optical drives in PCs vs. separate players or confirmed the superiority of hard drive playback.

Note also that use of an Oppo as a transport might restrict player output options, such as with SACD, due to DRM. No issues with CD, however.

 

[amirm]

@amirm I see that you have compared this to DX7S. How will this comparre to D50? I wasn't sure as it seems you have used different analysers for the reviews.

The D50 doesn't have balanced outputs so was not a good comparison. The D50 is pretty comparable to DX7s so relative gap would be the same.