Cambridge Audio Azur 751BD 3D Blu-ray Disc Player Review & Comments

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<img src="http://reviews.images.static-avforums.com/reviews/278/thumb.jpg" align="right">Reviewed by Stephen Withers, 18th March 2012. The Cambridge Audio 751BD is a fantastic player that is genuinely universal and offers a near reference level of performance in terms of video and audio reproduction. For those that are just looking for a digital transport, the 651BD offers better value but for those that are seeking an analogue audiophile performance from a player at a fraction of the cost of most of the competition, then the 751BD should definitely be on your short list. Highly Recommended.
Read the full review...
 
Any analogue audio comparisons with the Oppo 95?

Not directly, only from memory but they both sounded superb. However I prefer the look and build quality of the BDP-95, plus it has XLR balanced stereo outputs and a better remote control. On the other hand, the 751BD is £100 cheaper and offers incredible performance for the money.
 
My Denon DVD-3800BD has just started acting up, and the worst case scenario is it will need replacing.

My Onkyo Integra RDC-7 processor has no HDMI so only accepts the higher rez DD and DTS via the analogue outputs of the Blu-Ray player, which I read the Azur excels at.

How would my Denon stack up against the Azur for both video and audio?

Cheers in advance. ;)
 
Forgive me for perhaps sounding thick, but....

It has 1gig internal storage, does this mean I can copy my music files over, what ever the format into internal storage and play from there?

Would I also be able to copy my photo's over?

If so this would do away with the need for my media centre altogether.

Do you know if this can be controlled via my network rather than the remote.... Have an issue with angles at the moment and the other half is at the correct angle!!!!

Andy
 
:mad::thumbsdow:cool::(:lease::mad:

5. SACD Output
To select audio output format for SACD. The options are:
PCM – SACD Direct Stream Digital (DSD) data is decoded by the player
and converted into multi-channel, high resolution PCM data. The HDMI
output can be sent to an external AV receiver capable of receiving multi
channel PCM (HDMI 1.1 or higher inputs are required). The 651/751BD’s
own audio outputs are also active and playback of SACD material is
possible by the 651/751BD itself.
DSD – SACD DSD data is output over HDMI without any conversion. For
decoding by an external AV receiver capable of receiving DSD (HDMI 1.2a
or higher inputs are required and the receiver must actually include
support for DSD as it is not a mandatory requirement of the HDMI spec).:mad:
 
The Cambridge Audio offers the choice of outputting the audio from a SACD as DSD or PCM because not all receivers can accept DSD.
 
I don't understand. This is a modified OPPO, so why CA had to convert SACD to PCM, if OPPO doesn't??? That would be the main idea with SACD is in it?
 
Yes, but the dsd signal only available trough it's HDMI connections, so we won't get the advantage of SACD without HDMI receiver.
 
The Oppo and Cambridge Audio output the audio from SACD in exactly the same way, as either DSD or PCM over HDMI, what other connection were you planning on using?
 
SACD trough analogue of course:)
Yes, you are right! It was a bit miss leading.............:-(
SACD - The BDP-93 plays Super Audio CD (SACD) and supports both stereo and multi-channel high resolution audio programs. Users can select whether to output the DSD (Direct Stream Digital) signal in its native format or convert it into PCM.

Oppo does convert the dsd signal to pcm in the same way. Thanks for helping me out. You just save me to buy any of these players though.
Thanks
 
You're welcome, by the way both the Oppo and the CA can output multi-channel SACD over their analogue outputs as well.
 
Yes but it has to be, you can only send DSD over HDMI, if you're using the analogue outputs then it will always be PCM.
 
I think you wrong. Look at the spec of other players. I only had sacd player with native dsd out so far. I sold my Sony 5400 SACD recently, but I can see now, it was a mistake. There is no universal player on the market, which could touch the quality of the 5400, so I think now is time to go back to that route though, and buy a separate dvd player. Thanks for the opinions anyway.
 
I think the 5400 only has stereo analogue outputs, so for full multi-channel SACDs you would have to use the HDMI output - either DSD or PCM depending on your receiver. If you use the analogue outputs, then the player has to perform digital to analogue conversion internally before outputting the analogue signal, so you are dependent on the quality of the DACs in the player. The Oppo BDP-95 is a fantastic universal player, with superb DACs and 7.1-channel analogue outputs, it also has balanced XLR stereo outputs and it can output DSD or PCM over HDMI. I'd say it was perfect for your needs, wouldn't you?
 
Re the difference between the Oppo and CA751 relating to DSD options.

The Oppo has an option to send DSD direct to its internal DAC rather than first being converted to LPCM. The C751's has additional DSP located on the separate board that also contains the DAC circuit. This DSP only applies to analogue output and alters the sample rate of incoming data using an algorithm supplied by Anagram and to do this requires data in an LPCM format. Because of this requirement there is no DSD direct to internal DAC option on the 751 as with the Oppo. However the 751 and Oppo's support DSD output via HDMI AFAIK.
 
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Thanks Avi, now I get where yba_us is coming from, in which case the BDP-95 would be perfect for his needs. The Oppo and Cambridge Audio definitely both pass DSD via HDMI.
 
Hi
Can someone advise if there is a multiregion hack for this player?

Does it need surgery or can I input a code?:lease:
 
Hi
Can someone advise if there is a multiregion hack for this player?

Does it need surgery or can I input a code?:lease:

It's based on the same platform as Oppo 93/95 and these can be made DVD region free by running a CD that contains a region code mod. It generally only need to be applied once and the player is then DVD region free even following FW updates. I assume there is a similar process for the CA.

If you need multi-zone Blu-ray then as with the Oppo I believe you will need an additional hardware mod. I seem to recall an option mentioned on a Aus forum that will run from the USB port without surgery.

Avi
 
Are there still owners of this device around?

Is it possible to reverse the display to show time remaining on a networked mkv video file?
 

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