I guess I need some information on whether the 970 would be the best for my system or whether just to buy something like the new Pioneer 696 (coming sometime). I have a 4 or 5 year old Toshiba 57HX81 RPTV that does not have DVI but only component inputs. I believe the tv does 480i/p->540p upconversion whatever that means. Anyway I have read that the Oppo 971 model would not work the best with my setup but would the new 970 work with my tv? The 970 has everything I'm looking for, the ability to play any media out there, does SACD and Dvd-Audio and does PAL to NTSC conversion along with several other things plus being under $200.
>
> On the subject of PAL/NTSC conversion, how well does the Mediatek chipset handle this, do you get a stable or jittery screen when trying to watch PAL movies? I have read at some online sites that sell modified players with PAL/NTSC conversion chips saying that you need a 14 to 16MB converter to achieve a good picture on a screen larger than 34", what is the Mediatek rated at?

Also do the Oppo players have a sharp picture or are they kind of soft (which I wouldn't like). My current dvd player is a several year old Pioneer 626 which I like but it is pretty outdated.

I have a feeling the Oppo 970 is going to be a great player but is it a fit for my old tv? And is it region free to play some of my son's PAL disc?

Your Toshiba converts the incoming signals (480i or 480p) to the native resolution of the display (which may be 720p or 1080i). It sould also accept HD signals over component, although some older HDTV's would only accept one of the two standard HD resolution (they lacked the video processing to switch from one to the other).

Both OPPO players (and I think the Pioneer 696 you mention) scale DVD video (which is 480i) up to HD resolutions for the DVI (in the case of the 971) or HDMI (in the case of the 970) output. The 971's component output is limited to 480i, which is why it isn't recommended for displays that lack a DVI or HDMI input. The 970 will deinterlace the video to 480p at the component output, and for non-CSS discs it'll provide 720p or 1080i at the component output.

No DVD player is going to be able to upscale CSS-protected DVD content (which means most commercial discs) over component video outputs. A few players have in the past, but anymore the manufacturers really can't get away with it in the US market. That means you're going to only get 480p (progressive scan) via component. It's still too soon to know just how the 970's going to perform (it started shipping on Wednesday). The beta testers at AVS have said that the 971 has a bit of an edge on the 970 for PAL (thanks to the Faroudja processing, apparently), but that the 970 still does a very respectable job for PAL. Theh 971 has been accused of being soft (due to the Faroudja processing that removes some of the artificial sharpness of DVD video), but the 970 is apparently not as soft. There is a code to make the 970 region-free, at least based on comments at AVS this week. The principal market for both OPPO players (and in a way all the upconverting players) is DVI/HDMI displays, with a secondary market for the OPPO player being folks with external scalers.

Question from me is this: I wonder whether DVD's that we make from other material (VHS tapes, Hi-8 or S-VHS tapes, or off-satellite to DVR-to-DVD will be up-converted by this Oppo.

An inquiring mind wants to know.........

Question from me is this: I wonder whether DVD's that we make from other material (VHS tapes, Hi-8 or S-VHS tapes, or off-satellite to DVR-to-DVD will be up-converted by this Oppo.

An inquiring mind wants to know.........

Looks like it from the Oppo FAQ: "Q: Does the DV-970HD support up-conversion over its component output?
A: The DV-970HD offers limited up-conversion over its component output...all CSS-encrypted contents (almost all commercially pressed DVDs) will be limited to 480i/480p (576i/576p for PAL) output over component. The DV-970HD only supports up-conversion over component output for non-encrypted contents, such as home video DVDs."

A DVD-R made by DVD recorders from video tape dubs or other recorded content would generally not be CSS encrypted. Based on what I've read, that means the new OPPO 970 would upscale those discs to HD resolutions. Those discs are generally not going to be the best candidates for getting full benefit from upscaling (less sophisticated compression than a commercial disc and less detailed master sources), but still...

Gonk some of this stuff is over my head but you seem to be saying that with having to use the component inputs of my older tv that you are somewhat limited as far as picture quality with today's current crop of dvd players, is this correct? Also are you saying that either the Oppo 970 or Pioneer 696 (similar to 588) would both work equally well within these limitations, any preference? Surely either of these players would provide somewhat of a picture improvement (besides the extra features) over my old Pioneer 626 wouldn't they?

I think I will watch for the user reviews of the Oppo 970 to see how things shake out. I certainly like all the features it has plus you said you can make it Region Free.

You are exactly correct - the newer upscaling players are restricted to providing those higher resolutions over the DVI or HDMI output only; component outputs are normally restricted to no higher than 480p. The original OPPO player (the 971) was focused solely on that upscaled digital output (the DVI port), such that the component output was simply 480i - that's why the 971 is generally not recommended for people without DVI or HDMI inputs. The 970's still so new that it's hard to say just how well its component video output really is - it's very likely that it would be an improvement over your Pioneer 626, but we'll have to wait and see what the consensus is.

Thanks Gonk I'll keep reading the different forums about this player and see how it shapes up. My main concern with the 790 is how acceptable it is to use with larger screens like mine since Oppo doesn't recommend it, although it's hard to imagine it would be any worse than other competing players using component inputs.

On Oppo's website at Comparison Between 970HD and 971H there is a side-byside feature comparison chart.

At Oppo 971H and Oppo 970HD they list the specs for each of them.

I guess one would go with the 971 if not concerned about SACD and DVD-A playing on their Oppo and choose 970 if wanting to play them. Still, there seem to be some unanswered question in the comparison chart for both.

Distilling it down. it seems that if you want the better versatility in video and better picture (unless I'm misreading, and please correct me if I am), you would want the 971. If more interested in the DVD-A/SACD go with 970

Or if you have an external video scaler or a display that has trouble with macroblocking, go with the 970. I still think we need to get more feedback on just how the video performance of the 970 stacks up.

Gonk:

I think you are right.
My confusion shows above, I hope.
The comp chart was interesting, but I still am not sure which I would want.

Looking at comp-specs, one would think 971 = better video?

I just purchased a 971 to compair to my Samsung HD850.
I am using a Sony HS20 feed thru HDMI on a 106 da-lite screen.
The Oppo handles motion deinterlacing so much better...I no longer get those jagged blocky edges that I had with the HD850.
Picture looks less digitaly...thats the only way I can disribe it.
result....971 in rack...HD850 in closet.

Later
RayJr

RayJr wrote;

result....971 in rack...HD850 in closet.

Now, if someone has the opportunity (somehow) to compare 970 vs. 971.........

Re: OPPO DV-970HD http://www.oppodigital.com/
Oppo just got new shipment today, and is shipping a 970 to me on Tuesday. Oppo said the picture will be equall to my broken Samsung 841 via the HDMI cord that will come with the oppo 970 for $149+14 ship.(silly inexpensive). They had me order a DVI male to HDMI female from www.monoprice.com for $4.97. (just to cheap to pass up) lol
They gave me the impression that the audio will be much better than the samsung. Anyways I am planing on a BluRay or the like when someone does a player with SACD. I need the sacd player.
I have a 8 foot screen off a Sharp projector and the Oppo guys said the picture will be just fine.
I plan on testing the input quality vs direct project via div adaptor as well as direct into my outlaw 990 via dvi and componet, and will let you know what looks best.

Outlaw 990 Pre
Outlaw 7700 Amp
B&W 703's
B&W HTM7 Ctr
Sony SAWX700 Sub
Jvc's Surround
Sharp XVZ-90U DLP Projector
OPPO 970DVD on the way

I'm looking forward to your comments, PapaBear - especially regarding SACD performance (the planned successor to the 971 will also have SACD, and I'm guessing the 970's analog output is going to be a good indicator of what that player's DVD-A/SACD performance is likely to be like).

I have been looking at buying/upgrading my DVD player. The OPPO is on my short list. In reviewing the comparison chart I noticed the 971H has "For Use with DLP Rear Projection TVs: (requires careful calibration). The 970 just states yes. I wonder why the 971 would require careful calibration vs. the 970? This is of particular interest to me as I have a 52 Mitsubishi DLP. Anyone know?

Most of the Outlaws have a lot of money invested in expensive gear and worry about "dirty" power and voltage surge This may have been dealt with before, but a limited search has failed to find discussions. My questions are about voltage surge protectors and AC line filters. Does one need both? I am using Chang Lightspeeds for AC filtering which are relatively expensive and have relatively low energy clamping (35-45 joules). Surge protectors with energy clamping up to 3000 joules can be had for relatively modest cash outlays. If we need both, does a proximal (nearer the wall AC outlet) surge protector degrade the perfomance of a distal line filter? This should be a softball for the electronic engineers among the Outlaws.
Thanks, John

The issue there is macroblocking - the Faroudja chip (used by the 971 but not the 970) is prone to exhibiting macroblocking on large digital displays, whereas the 970's Mediatek chip is not susceptible to the condition. Calibration can apparently reduce or even eliminate macroblocking with the 971, but I'm not sure how complex it is to perform that level of calibration.

Thanks for the info Gonk. Very interesting. Macroblocking is a new one to me. I think I will do a little more research on this issue.

The crew at OPPO can be quite helpful - they may be able to help get your research started if you e-mail them or give them a call. I've traded e-mails with them before and after buying my 971, and they're a good group - much like Scott, Steve, and the crew at Outlaw, they'll help you out with good information both about their equipment and in general.

I took your advice and called the folks at OPPO. They confirmed what you said "the Faroudja chip (used by the 971 but not the 970) is prone to exhibiting macroblocking on large digital displays, whereas the 970's Mediatek chip is not susceptible to the condition"

He further explained that the issue is with DLP! LCD and Plasma displays are not susceptible. With careful calibration the effect can be minimized but not eliminated. I have been reading through a number of threads on other forums and it appears to be an issue with a number of people with DLP's.

Given that I am more of an audiophile then videophile it wasn't difficult to choose the 970. The list of audio features is outstanding for the price range. I would concede the “DCDi by Faroudja" technology and video chipset by Genesis/Faroudja will provide for better video (except issues noted with DLP). However I think the difference is subtle at best and not worth taking a chance with the macroblocking issue.

I pulled the trigger and ordered the 970.

From all I've read, I think you made a very good choice. If you get a chance, let us know what you think of SACD and DVD-A with the 970 (I'm eyeing the 970 or the planned replacement for the 971 as a candidate for replacing my Yamaha).

Gonk wrote I'm eyeing the 970 or the planned replacement for the 971

Of course I'll check with Oppodigital, but are you aware of what the replacement's will be or its model #? I would imagine that Oppo will want to rid itself of the macroblocking issue.

edcon -- Thanks for reporting back what Oppo said about the Faroudja chipset. I have never noticed macroblocking with my Denon 1920 (which uses the same chip), but my HDTV is the 40-inch direct view Sony XBR700. I wish the Oppo 970 had been out when I bought the Denon -- I could have saved a few bucks. Enjoy!

nfaguys, I'm not sure if they've announced a model number for the 971's replacement yet. I've traded a couple e-mails with them after lurking around in some AVS threads, and it sounds like the replacement won't be out until August or so (at least that's what some of the 970 beta testers at AVS are guessing). It will retain the Faroudja, I believe, but will use HDMI instead of DVI and will add SACD as well as the analog refinements that the 970 has.

RCF051, my 971 has been free of macroblocking on my display, but like you I've got a direct-view CRT display (32" Zenith/LG HDTV with DVI input) - I haven't seen it paired up with a DLP display.

Yes via phone OPPO gave me the impression that the 971's replacement was in the works and will have SACD added to it. Sounded like a few months before it would be avalible.
As you know my Samsung 841 shot craps and left me w/o the SACD player. Actually the SACD on the Samsung was ok, but I am looking forward to compairing it to the OPPO 970.
If I was not needing the sacd right now I may have waited for the 971's upgraded model that OPPO says will include SACD along with Faroudja chip.
As you know OPPO said that the 970's video will be about the same as my broken samsung 841, and it was a respectable picture off my Sharp dlp projector on a 8ft screen. OPPO did give me the impression that the Audio on the 970 compared to the samsung 841 will be much better.
In that the OPPO 970 was shipped this past Tuesday I hope to give my input to you soon.
My ultimate goal is to have a hd-dvd type player that would also play my SACD's. If anyone hear's about such a beast please let me know. In that the 990 has 1 set of 7.1 channel inputs I need a all on one player for Blu-ray,hd-dvd video hi-res audio sacd etc.

With the DLP, you may end up being better off with the 970's MediaTek chip than the 971's Faroudja, anyway (or at least just as well off). I look forward to reading your impressions of the 970's SACD. Di you have any DVD-Audio discs as well?

Last I heard, LG had announced plans to pursue a combination HD-DVD/Blu-ray player, which would at least offer a foundation on which to build a "do it all" sort of player. Samsung had also talked about trying it, but apparently they got into the engineering and licensing a bit and decided not to do it for now. So far the few HD disc players we've seen have been focused just on getting the new formats on the market - I've got spaces in my HD disc player chart for DVD-Audio and SACD, but so far there's nothing coming (at least from the information I've scrounged up so far).

My Dad couldn't resist any longer and recently bought a 37" Panasonic plasma HDTV. The Panny has a every input option including two HDMI, component, S, and composite. His old DVD didn't have progressive scan so I suggested he get an OPPO 970 knowing it had HDMI output. The video in my system is all component so I was anxious to see if there was a difference between component and HDMI on the new Panny. Well, the HDMI video was signifcantly better than the component. Images were much sharper; the colors were not "smeared" where they changed. Now I didn't do any set up; my test was right out of the box with factory settings using Star Wars II. Regardless, for $150 plus shipping the HDMI video performance is terrific.

I plan on borrowing the 970 to test its SACD, HDCD and DVD-A performance. I can't take advantage of the digital video as my 3-year old plasma only has component video inputs, but I'd like to compare the 970's component output to that of my Pioneer 45A. In the meantime my Dad is very happy with the 970 and not likely to let me borrow it for an extended period of time!

Guys I'm also very interested in the 970's performance with SACD and DVD-A, but does anyone have any PAL disc to see how well they work?

Papabear:

Did you get your 970h yet? Want to know your opinion re: SACD playback (quality).

I posted a quick review at avsforum + I am having an issue with the SKIP button while playing SACDs.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=7851074#post7851074

SB

I ordered the OPPO 970 last Monday, the told me it would ship the following day Tuesday....
Has not shown up yet
I will let you know when it gets here.
Infact I plan to give OPPO a call on monday.

The OPPO 970 arrived yesterday. Hooked up last night to play with it. My My how the hours pass when your having fun.
Connected the 6ft hdmi cable that came with the player to my 990 via a hdmi to dvi adaptor.
Picture is good and I am happy with that. I do not understand what the issue on picture quality is via a large display, but I have a 8ft screen with a sharp DLP projector and it is as good as that Samsung 841 if not better, and that samsung picture was no slacker with the video. No its not Hi Def but this player is just biding my time untill I get the BluRay/SACD/HdDVD type player to do it all.

Audio connection is optical to the 990 and sacd is via 5.1 connections into the outlaw.
So far my impressions of the audio and sacd is wonderfull. OPPO told me that the audio would shine, and he was correct. Actually I was pretty much blown away as to what I had been missing in upper end Hi frequency, detail and seperation on sacd and cd information compared to that pos samsung's poor audio. This oppo 970 is a great deal and I may actually order a second one as a back up. Yes the cd tray is floppy but is no big deal. I thought that the remote had back light on it, but mine either does not have that or may not be working.
Of course I need more time to get a handle on the players best settings, but so far its a keeper.
Oh I will report in more detail the sacd/dvd-A
soon.
Video=good
Audio=great

Thanks for the feedback, PapaBear - I'm glad to hear that the 970 is performing so well for you.

If it's like the 971's remote, the buttons glow briefly (no backlight).

Encouraging to read your intial feedback of the OPPO 970. The scheduled delivery date for my OPPO 970 is this Thursday 6/22/06. Just in time for the weekend Can’t wait to hook it up and give it a run down. Anyone know if Harmony has the codes up for the 970?

I think the 970 is using the same remote as the 971 (the black remote, not the 971's original white remote) with only about three minor buttons different, so even if the 970's missing from the Harmony database I bet the 971 codes will work.

I was thinking that might be the case. That makes it easy either way, I'll just program the different buttons using the direct mode from the 970 remote.

My son Kane an accomplished 11 year old audiophile for his age, (he's been listening to dad's Rhapsody classic rock and jazz files) has better ears than his old man ya know, and a kido who picked the B&W 703's out over many other speakers. Yes he know how to spend dad's $ already,and know's when I'am no longer on this earth will get all my toys, put Maynord Ferguson (Jazz) into the OPPO 970 last night.
Well Kane was grinning ear to ear. He said this new player just leaves the old samsung in the dust.

Then we put his favorite sacd Elton John's Captain Fantastic in. His look was priceless as he was hearing details from the surround speakers that were not present on the old samsung.

I guess my point here is that I spent all this money on my B&W speakers and Outlaw gear and failed to support it with a audio player that was able to reproduce the music to its fullest detail & frequency. I also have a pioneer cd/dvd recorder and a sony 5 ch cd player and neither of these players from an audio respect can compete with the OPPO 970.

Outlaw 990 Pre
Outlaw 7700 Amp
B&W 703's
B&W HTM7 Ctr
Sony SAWX700 Sub
Jvc's Surround
Sharp XVZ-90U DLP Projector
OPPO 970DVD

Papabear:

Did you get your 970h yet? Want to know your opinion re: SACD playback (quality).

I posted a quick review at avsforum + I am having an issue with the SKIP button while playing SACDs.

SB

SB, You are correct the skip will not work to move to the next song in SACD as it does in CD. This is how you do it: use the OPPS up and down arrows to scan to the next song, you will see the tracks change on the OPPO then push Select button in the middle. This works just fine and lets you change sacd tracks in the event you dont have the TV/Projector turned on.

Papabear,

How is the sound from regular CD's compare to the Samsung H841? I had the Samsumg 841 and like the picture quality, but not audio quality. I'm thinking about buying this 970.

Thanks,

audio newbie,
I did a nice bit of listening last night, and will try to report later today when I get some time.

Thanks Papabear

OPPO 970
Hands down the OPPO 970's audio is better than the Samsung 841. Foward presence is enhanced and upper frequency mid and low opened up compairing the oppo 970 to samsung 841. Actually I am reexperiencing my B&W 703's again, its like a sheet was removed from my speakers when the OPPO 970 entered my system.
To be quite honest I had become a little dissapointed in my hi frequency detail and clairity of my system and recently visited an hearing Audiologist, my audiogram test reported my hearing as excellent in all frequencys.
I decided that my dedicated home theater room with carpet, padded walls, curtains either side of the projector screen and padded furniture may have deadend my room.
My problem was the Samsung 841 was my weak link in my system and that became apparent when the OPPO 970 showed up.
Here's a few songs on cd I previewed:

Crusaders (Carmel) Excellent Hi hat on drums and base. I have seen Crusaders live and this was equall to live.
Yellow Jackets (Revelation) cranked up in Bypass is awesome. Is it live or my HT. It is like someone turned on my tweaters.

DVD-A Peter Frampton. This sounded poor on my Samsung 841 and I never listened to it again untill the OPPO 970 showed up. Well the oppo 970 made me a believer in dvd-a sound quality again and I am very satified in that Frampton dvd-a now.
On the oppo's remote you can toggle the angle-zoom keys to view the gallery photos via dvd-a.

SACD Diana Krall (girl in the other room) Excellant on the OPPO 970 but I had to set my speakers to small to use cross over on my outlaw 990 to handle base. Actually I prefer large settings on all my speakers and do not utilize the outlaw 990's cross over to much, but I may need to reevaluate this setting for SACD.

NOW HERE IS THE KICKER:
Video: I used CREAM (Royal Albert Hall 2005 reunion) DVD..You have to get this dvd it is great and Eric Clapton Ginger Backer, Jack Bruce really get it done. Song White Room just really kicks ass
I did alot of messing around with my hdmi/dvi/componet connections. Hands down the RGB Componet connection into the Outlaw 990 for switching with RGB componet into my Sharp 90z projector was a very good picure in comparison to hdmi to dvi. Not only was the RGB componet picture quality brighter, clearer, contrast nicer I could make all on screen adjustments with this connection.
I ran Cream with DTS setting for audio on the dvd disc and then made sure the outlaw was also DTS and I tell you guys this is a must have DVD for your system and most likely be used for demo's to your Audio Buddies. I was lucky to record Cream's White Room several weeks ago on mtv's new MTV HD channel via my cox HD-DVR and the oppo's picture while not in HiDef is pretty darn sharp:)
Take care papaBear

Nice review Papa. I'll have to get the Cream DVD. I received my oppo Thursday and have limited information to report back. I did watch a couple of movies. Aeon flux and Eight Below. Upscaling to 720P over the HDMI does provide for better picture quality. Not a major improvement but an improvement none the less.

I am surprised that your picture was better with the Component vs. the HDMI/DVI connection. I am going to hook up my component connections to see if I get the same result.

Initial impression on the audio: Big difference. Definitely more dynamic for the movie soundtracks . I listened to Pink Floyd’s Dark Side Of The Moon in SACD.. The sound quality is absolutely incredible. Looks like I’ll be buying some more SACD’s.

edcon,

I'm looking forward to your review of the Oppo's component vs. HDMI performance. The HDMI video was better than component on my Dad's new Panasonic plasma and Oppo 970. My tv is about 3 years old so I don't have DVI/HDMI input.

Papabear,

Its great to hear that the sound quality of the 970 is such an improvement over your last player. Sound quality alone may be enough reason to buy the 970.

Keep in mind that the component output will upconvert to HD resolutions for non-CSS encrypted discs, but it will only do 480i or 480p for CSS discs (which is basically every movie studio title around). If your TV's scaler is better than the 970's MediaTek, then feeding it 480i or 480p might work out better anyway - a small number of folks at AVS have reported such results using the HDMI input at 480i where the set has a really good internal scaler. If you had better results with component, you might try setting the HDMI to 480i or 480p and seeing what your results are.

If you go to www.hometheaterhifi.com there is oppo 970 Product Review on that home page

The video quality using the HDMI to DVI connection from the OPPO 970 to the Outlaw 990 is definitely better than the component connection, at least with my set up.

As Gonk noted above, due to copyright protection requirements, when playing copyright-protected DVD discs, the component output resolution is limited to 480p. If the component output resolution of the DVD player is set at 720p or 1080i, automatic resolution downgrade occurs. HDMI output resolution is not affected by this limitation as it is copy-protected with HDCP.

My Mitsubishi supports scanning rates of 480i, 480p, 720p and 1080i. The best picture quality I have observed is when all components are set to 720P.

I also connected the HDMI and component directly from the OPPO 970 to Mitsubishi DLP. I did not notice a difference in quality vs connecting through the Outlaw 990.

More on sound quality: In my rush to listen to music I neglected to properly set the LPCM Rate. The default is set at 48K. I reset to the maximum 192K. Big improvement in the CD sound quality.

I set the SPDIF Output to “Raw “ which passes the encoded multi-channel digital audio unaltered. This lets the 990 do the processing which in my opinion is the way to go. I am using the optical connections from the OPPO to the Outlaw 990.

The OPPO does allow you to calibrate or set speakers for small or large and turn the output on or off for the sub, center and rear speakers. As I said above I perfer to process through the 990.

All in all a pretty impressive set of features and outstanding quality for a player costing $149.

Nice write-up. It makes sense that 720p worked out best for you - I'm guessing that your Mitsubishi DLP's native resolution is 720p (or 768, actually).

Thanks,
You guessed correct 720P and or 1280x720. 768? You got me on that one?

Many LCD and DLP displays (and plasma, for that matter) actually have 768 pixels of vertical resolution - borrowed from the PC world and the old 1024x768 resolution, although when going to a 16x9 aspect ratio they end up at 1366x768 instead. This is closest to the HD resolution of 720p, so that's the resolution considered to be native for those displays.

Ok. I follow what you have said for the most part. You have peaked my curiosity. This is from the owners manual: "Your TV is able to accept video signals in the standard video scanning rates of 480i, 480p, 720p and 1080i. It is also able to accept signals with PC resolutions from VGA (640 x 480) through XGA (1024 x 768). When using a compatible graphics card and controlling software, this TV is also able to accept the custom PC resolution of 720p (1280 x 720). All signals will be converted to 720p for final display".

So true 720P ?

That's an excellent question, and one that I don't think I've ever seen a really definitive answer. It could be that the display uses 1280x720 mirrors on TI's chip and leaves the other fringe chips alone, or it could be that the display makes everything 1280x720p and then scales it to 1366x768p. Some things I've seen would suggest it's the latter (768p projected) but since I ended up going CRT two years ago I never really figured out for certain which it was.

I finally received the 970 yesterday and I am having a couple problems. I can not get SACD to play in multi channels, it only give me 2.0 channels. Also, I was not able to see the menu of the SACD. On my Samsung 841, I can see the menu on my TV. I wonder if my setup is wrong, below is my setup.

Cable setups are HDMI connection from the 970 to the LCD TV, optical and 6 analogue RCA cables from the DVD to my AVR. I also have S-Video connection from the DVD to AVR and AVR to TV. I just want to see what a big difference between S-Video and HDMI

My speaker setup page > downmix is 5.1 and Audio Setup Page>SPDIF Output is Raw and HDMI Audio is off.

Please let me know what the corrected setup is.

Thanks

When connecting the six analog cables from the DVD player to your 970, I assume you used the 7.1 analog input (left and right channels to the left and right inputs for the DVD and center, surrounds, and sub to the corresponding inputs in the cluster just above there) and that you selected the "7.1D" input. If any of those are not true, then that's probably the problem you are running into with the stereo only of SACD's. Also, make sure the SACD in question is multichannel - many SACD's are stereo only. As for the video side, I assume that in addition to the HDMI from 970 to TV there's also an HDMI from the DVD player to the 970.

Thanks Gonk,

I found out what the problem was. My son put a wrong CD in the SACD cover and I did not check it before I put it in the 970.

I agree with Papabear, the 970's audio is a lots better than the Samsung HD 841.

audio newbie,
Glad to hear that you have your Oppo 970 up and running. It is sad that we both had a weak link in our system. The oppo 970 is a really inexpensive upgrade for our systems untill the bluray/Hd,Hi res ,or sacd gets worked out.
I like the Oppo player alot can not beat the price.

Another review of the Oppo DV-970HD:

Review at CNET.com

I've finally gotten my money together and have a Oppo 970 on the way and also the Outlaw 990 preamp. I'm going to need lots of help setting up both the 970 and 990 as technology has passed by my knowledge of such things. I currently have my old Pioneer dvd player setup as follows, dvd digital coax out into a MSB Gold Dac digital coax in, MSB 2-channel analog out into my old Chiro preamp/processor analog in, 5.1 channel outs to my Chiro 5.1 input (DB-25 type connector). My Chiro didn't do digital processing. For video I'm using Component from Pioneer to my older Toshiba HDTV.

I know some of the setup selections won't be the same with the Oppo since the 990 can now do the digital processing. Questions:

1. If I end up using my MSB Dac for music (don't know for sure) won't I need to pickup a digital optical cable to run from the Oppo to the 990? If so what could someone recommend?

2. Will my current 5.1 cable ( 6 individual plugs at one end and a DB-25 connector at the other) work between the 970 and 990? If not, again what could you recommend?

3. Since my Chiro preamp is outdated I've always just used an analog stereo cable to connect the audio of my Direct TV Tivo to my tv but would I want to get a digital optical cable to use to connect the audio from the Tivo to the 990?

If you use the MSB DAC for music listening, then you'd need to run a digital cable from your transport to the MSB and then run stereo analog cables from the MSB to the 990 (presumably the CD input, which would then be set to "BYPASS").

The 5.1 cable you currently have will not work with either the Model 990 or the 970HD. Both use six RCA jacks. You'll need six analog audio cables for DVD-Audio and SACD. If you don't have any music in those formats, then you can just connect the 970HD to the 990 with a digital cable, but if you have or want to experiment with those formats then you'll need the six cables. Both Outlaw's PCA's and Blue Jeans Cables are good quality options for those six cables.

If your Tivo offers a digital output, definitely use it. Outlaw's PDO optical cable is a great value.

Gonk so you need to use both the 5.1 cable and a digital cable from the Oppo for both dvd audio and DVD-Audio/SACD?

If you buy the 5.1 cables from Outlaw you just order three stereo pairs?

DVD-Audio discs (different from regular DVD's) and SACD's must be output as analog, so for those you need the six analog cables. Regular DVD's and CD's are best off using the digital output, however, which is why I don't suggest investing in the extra six cables now unless you have or plan to get any discs in those two formats - especially since neither format is very healthy these days. You can get a three-pair set of PCA's from Outlaw (they're listed on the order form for this very purpose).

Thanks Gonk I know I will have more questions later on. I always thought I wanted to try SACD and DVD-Audio disc just to try them out but since I now have to buy extra cables I'll have to think about it. I was probably most interested in trying some SACD hybrid disc but maybe there wouldn't be enough I'd like to warrant the extra cable expense.