Oppo 93 with vanity v Meridian 598

jmsjabb

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Can anyone honestly say if the CD standard DVD playback is as good on an Oppo 95 or the older Meridian 598?
I am thinking about selling the 598 and buying an Oppo for the Blu ray but don't want to sacrifice much in the sound quality I like with the cd / dvd_a playback the Meridian gives.
I would have a vanity93 lite fitted to the Oppo to use the multi channel digital out into my G68J Meridian processor.
Thanks Guys
 
Can anyone honestly say if the CD standard DVD playback is as good on an Oppo 95 or the older Meridian 598?
I am thinking about selling the 598 and buying an Oppo for the Blu ray but don't want to sacrifice much in the sound quality I like with the cd / dvd_a playback the Meridian gives.
I would have a vanity93 lite fitted to the Oppo to use the multi channel digital out into my G68J Meridian processor.
Thanks Guys


Do you mean the Oppo 95 or 93 ?

If you really mean the 95 (it's probably a typo) the Vanity93 solution won't fit because the case for the existing analogue board doesn't share the same physical analogue output layout as the 93. Also the 95 is really all about analogue output.

I suspect the question may be a bit too niche for AVF but I think George provided some feedback over at meridianunplugged. There may be additional audio benefits from swapping out the existing SMPU for a linear unit. The Oppo George compared is using the stock SMPU with the Vanity93 mods.

Mr Meridian said:
Hi Jabb
I've been trying out both of the Vanity 93 boards for the Oppo 93, and I'm about to purchase the full board rather than the Lite. Both boards offer multi channel digital out, so you have access to the high res BD codecs, DVD-A and SACD. The lite board is astoundingly good value for money, but the full version is noticeably better. Either one turns the Oppo 93 into the perfect machine for a Meridian system if you want to avoid the cost of an HD621.
For some context here, I also owned a 598DP, but whilst it was a very capable transport for CD and DVD-A, I bought an 808.2i for the former, and had very few of the latter. It's sound on DVDs was superb, but video was bettered by the Oppo, so in my system, there were better performing options in the key areas of interest. The Oppo with Vanity board (full) is excellent with movie sound (nasty HDMI is bypassed altogether for the audio), very good with DVD-A (still behind the 598) but it's given a startling lease of life to the multi channel SACDs which I own, such as the Genesis box sets.
So, all in all, I have a splendid all round machine with the modified Oppo, which has meant one less box and associated cost compared to the HD621.
Hope that's a help.
Cheers
George

Avi
 
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It was a typo, sorry.
I do mean the 93.
I have posted on here and the Hitchhikers in the hope for more varied answers. George has been great, but sometimes I feel some of the HH are in the pursuit of the holy grail and nothing below that level is any good. I was hoping for real world comparisons like George.
I wanted to know if the Oppo is capable against the Meridian and wether I, a layman, would be able to tell the difference.
You also seem very knowledgable AVI, can I ask what you do / have to be able to comment?
 
It was a typo, sorry.
I do mean the 93.
I have posted on here and the Hitchhikers in the hope for more varied answers. George has been great, but sometimes I feel some of the HH are in the pursuit of the holy grail and nothing below that level is any good. I was hoping for real world comparisons like George.
I wanted to know if the Oppo is capable against the Meridian and wether I, a layman, would be able to tell the difference.
You also seem very knowledgable AVI, can I ask what you do / have to be able to comment?

It's very difficult to comment on what someone else may or may not notice or prefer. It's also very difficult to judge subjective feedback from forums no mater how well meaning.

I don't use a Meridian 598 so I can't provide any first hand comparison regarding audio or video. I've used an Oppo and other players extensively using HDMI via an HD621 and I commented on this in the audio processor thread.

I'm currently planning to compare an Oppo using a Vanity93 and both SMPSU and linear PSU options. I don't know how this will sound relative to HDMI via the HD621 or the affect the selectable output options may have on different content especially DSD.

Unfortunately it's time consuming to compare whilst trying to avoid/minimise expectation bias and/or other setup related variables.

Avi
 
Thanks for your input Avi
In your personal experience, is the Oppo range the best Blu ray option or are there others I should look at? Are your findings and observations based on personal home use or professional?
 
Thanks for your input Avi
In your personal experience, is the Oppo range the best Blu ray option or are there others I should look at? Are your findings and observations based on personal home use or professional?

Unfortunately "best" is a relative term and really depends on the individual feature and performance requirements. If you want to avoid HDMI for audio the Oppo is the only platform I've come across that is very easy to mod i.e. Vanity93 products. It may be possible to achieve a similar output configuration on other platforms but at greater expense/complexity.

It's just a hobby for me but I try to ensure my AV system is calibrated to the appropriate professional standards.

Avi
 
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Well, hobby or not, many thanks for your input. To me it seems mad that no one offers an out of the box option for multi channel digital out of a blu ray machine. Meridian do it with their standard dvd players.

Anyone else want to comment, please feel free!
 
Well, hobby or not, many thanks for your input. To me it seems mad that no one offers an out of the box option for multi channel digital out of a blu ray machine. Meridian do it with their standard dvd players.

The issue for licensed player manufacturers is content protection on a high resolution capable digital output interface. HDMI provides HDCP which is cheap and ubiquitous to implement.

Meridian developed MHR (proprietary encryption) that was approved by the DVD licencing authority before HDMI and Blu-ray came along. Hence they have an alternative legal HD capable interface option for multichannel audio but I don't know if this was susequently approved (of even needed to be) by the Blu-ray licencing authority.

Manufacturers of modifications aren't bound by the same licensing restrictions as the player manufacturers.

Avi
 
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I see now. Legal reasons I didn't think about that.
Cheers
 

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