New Oppo DVD player - Model # DV-981HD

adds to 971H - SACD playback, 1080p upscaling (Faroudja), HDMI 1.1, better analog audio components

availability - sometime in 4Q, 2006

combines the best of both - audio q of the 970 and the video q of the 971.

Source: Oppo support email and advertisement in the Nov 2006 issue of Sound&Vision Magazine

Oh, and the price - my WAG - $249

We seem to share a WAG on the price, although it is still just a guess. I've heard folks batting around "this fall" as an expected arrival time frame for a while now, and I suspect that Oppo would love to get units shipping before the holiday season so it seems likely. What I wonder (since the folks who have seen the S&V ad say that the 981HD is using a black version of the 971H's face) is if the 971H will stay in the line-up. A $249 price point for the 981HD would leave a niche for the 971H to occupy for a while (possibly indefinitely, or perhaps just until they sell a final production run or two). Could be a curious few months for Oppo products.

The S&V ad featured the 971H also, so it may be sold concurrently for a while. My guess is that if they are very close to releasing the 981HD, they have probably stopped production of the 971H - they will just let the current supplies run out.

You had expressed interest in replacing the S1500 and the 971H with one product. I don't think this is the product. The SQ (same as 970HD) will be good, but you may not notice a difference between it and the S1500 (I guess ordering and testing one is the only way to tell for sure!!). For that, you may have to wait till 1Q 2007 when their "high-end" universal player is released.

For me to upgrade (and make it my LAST SD universal player), that player must have:

1. SQ better than the 970HD (better DACs, etc.,including native DSD to analog conversion)
2. Video same or better than the 981HD
3. HDMI 1.2 (PCM+DSD over HDMI).
4. Price less than $350.

A higher-end Oppo would be interesting, but I may still give the 981HD a try as a possible replacement for the 971H/S1500. I have never been overwhelmed by the S1500's SACD performance, and I've only got about a dozen or so each SACD's and DVD-A's that don't get a whole lot of time in the player. We shall see...

This will still do DSD to PCM to analog, but it may very well do it better than the S1500. When my wife and I have some time (kind of difficult with two sons, 4 & 1) I need to do a blind-test of the SACD performance of the 963SA and the 970H. My initial impression (non blind) was that the SACD performance of the 963SA was better, but I was using a different amp, my system was not properly calibrated, etc., etc., so I really need to do this again.

Knowing how thorough you are with your reivews, I can't wait to read it. Please get the 981HD as soon as it comes out.

Yeah, I figure in my price range any universal player is going to be doing DSD to PCM before the DAC, so I've long ago accepted that. And I sometimes wonder how much of my disappointment with the S1500 is due to its cumbersome interface. The 971H's interface isn't the most polished I've ever used, but it's a lot more useful than the S1500's.

Does it have a DVI output? I'm not buying into HDMI until a real, across the board standard is set within the industry. Not that I don't think it's a great idea. It's a great interface; but I'll keep my 971H's trusty DVI output until it becomes more of a standard.

The 981HD will have an HDMI output, not DVI - the 971H is likely one of the last notable DVD players you'll see with DVI on it at this point.

OPPO has officially added the 981HD to their web site , and orders placed now should ship next Friday. If you are interested in the details, there's a new thread at AVS started by Paul Bigelow just for this player, and I've got a write-up on my site as well.