Oppo UDP-205 audiophile 4k / universal player & media streamer

AZWink

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Jan 10, 2017
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Thanks Northstar, there's some good, informative banter there... and some questions answered that I haven't thought of, yet.

Dan
 

NorthStar

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Feb 8, 2011
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The Oppo 205 has various type of audio filters, but they don't say in the manual what they do exactly; this person has inquired Oppo about them:
Filter Characteristics

From Oppo:

The UDP-203 (AKM) and the UDP-205 (ESS) share similar filter technologies, with ESS not providing us with any real public domain documentation, while AKM has a brief writeup (towards the bottom of the website) for their Sound Color Digital Filter: http://www.akm.com/akm/en/product/fe...lvetsound/dac/.

In the UDP-205 we implemented the 5 filter types (except for the “Low dispertion [dispersion]”) and the 7 types are roughly mapped to the same 5 types of AKM filters (names in brackets [] are the AKM filter names):

• Brick Wall -> (Usually good for measurement results, not so good for listening)
• Corrected Mini Phase Fast -> [Low dispersion, Harmonic Sound]
• Apodizing* Fast -> (Some listeners like this due to the elimination of so called “pre-ringing”.)
• Mini Phase Slow -> [Short Delay Slow Roll-off, Acoustic Tone]
• Mini Phase Fast (default) -> [Short Delay Sharp Roll-off, Acoustic Sound]
• Linear Phase Slow -> [Slow Roll-off, Traditional Tone]
• Linear Phase Fast -> [Sharp Roll-off, Traditional Sound]


* The Apodizing Fast filter is interesting: Apodization

Apodization in Signal Processing

The term apodization is used frequently in publications on Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) signal processing. An example of apodization is the use
of the Hann window in the Fast Fourier transform analyzer to smooth the discontinuities at the beginning and end of the sampled time record.

Apodization in Digital Audio

An apodizing filter can be used in digital audio processing instead of the more common brickwall filters,
in order to avoid the pre-ringing that the latter introduces.

_____

? A short positive comment (205 audio): Spotify ? | Through DAC
 

rbbert

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Dec 12, 2010
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I've been listening with the apodizing filter, it sounds noticeably different and better than the default. I haven't tried any of the others.
 

NorthStar

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@ first I didn't see which one was the default filter from the manual's page you posted. Then after a short while I finally saw it between (parentheses), and I corrected my reply.
 

AZWink

Well-Known Member
Jan 10, 2017
149
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Phoenix, AZ
Haha! I figured it was something along those lines, which is why I removed my comment. Plus, without your initial reply, I thought my retort lost all of its comedic value.
 

AZWink

Well-Known Member
Jan 10, 2017
149
43
135
Phoenix, AZ
Thanks for the share. It is very well built for a universal player at a $1299 price point, that is for sure. I hope I am able to spend some time listening this weekend as I am anxious to compare the Sabre Pro DAC with the AKM DAC in my prepro. I'm also hopeful that it will be a good renderer for the FLAC files on my Synology NAS, without being overly bright.

Dan
 

NorthStar

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A simple comment from one owner:

"Listening through my Krell Pre (finally!), the 205 sounds fantastic! It betters the 105D in pretty much everything! Better imaging, bass, air and mids... But most importantly, it's less bright when driven HARD (100dB+)! Which is a huge win, IMO. I've listened to more digital than analog today, so that should tell you a lot."
______

Quick Preview
 

NorthStar

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Oppo 205 | Dual (2) ESS Technology ES9038PRO 32-bit HyperStream DACs (stereo and 7.1 channel analog)

Here's an informative post on DAC Filter Characteristics, with useful links, from AVS.

EDIT: And on that same page from that link above, few good following reading posts, by Bob Pariseau and one by dmusoke.
...Regarding the analog output (Oppo 205's DAC), the optional filters offered.
 
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NorthStar

Member
Feb 8, 2011
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From the Editor-in-Chief:

"Bench testing of the OPPO UDP-205 yielded what I believe to be results that are beyond the limits of my Audio Precision spectrum analyzer. There were a few tests that showed slightly better results than the BDP-105, and a few tests that showed slightly worse results than the BDP-105, but all of these were in the thousandths or millionths of a volt range. This is a world unto itself, where anything going on in the wall voltage supply could cause such results. None of the distortion seen in the BDP-105 or UDP-205 is audible. It is time to get the latest Audio Precision spectrum analyzer. In any case, the BDP-105 and UDP-205 are the best universal players I have ever tested."

John E. Johnson, Jr.
 

NorthStar

Member
Feb 8, 2011
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Would you say; it's almost perfect? And, it can only get better? Can it compete with the ultra hi-end CD players, @ a tiny fraction of their way way way up there in the stratosphere of over exaggerated/unrealistic/out-of-orbit cost?

Is the Oppo 205 for music lovers living on planet Earth? :b
 

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