Is anyone with a 990 using an oppo bdp-83?

I have a problem that I have not read anyone else mention on the early adopters forum for oppo 83 - avsforum.com
When I am running bitstream out of the oppo via the coaxial or optical outs to the respective ins on the 990 and playing a cd, the audio drops out when I change tracks. The only way I can restore audio is to switch to the other input.
So if I am listening to cd via optical, I have to change to coaxial, and vice-versa.
This does not happen if lpcm is selected on the oppo, nor on the analog outs, so it's a bitstream issue.
Also, I have had no problems with bitstream out with dvd's.
Oppo said they were having "issues" with the 990.
I have hooked up the 990 to 3 other dvd players and no problems with cd's.

Any ideas much appreciated.

Same here. I called them a few days ago. They told me the same thing. I have it hooked up optically, and when I hit the "next track" button, no audio, but the track is playing. I hit the "mute" X2, and the audio returns. Personally, I don't think the "issue" is with the 990. I hope they resolve this. It's a very nice player other than this.

Thanks ceddc

Then it's not only my 990 so I would guess it's an Oppo issue.

Hopefully they have it on their to-do list.

Yeah, I'm very happy with it otherwise too.

Hey again. I hooked up my old HK 47 dvd player thru the coax digital input this AM. The HK is a garden variety upconverting dvd player, that also plays SACD via analog. I set it to bitstream, and like your experiences, everything worked fine. Looks like the "issue" is OPPO's, in that the HK is competent, but nothing special. If I can think of anything else as a workaround, I'll let you know. Later.

I've traded some email with OPPO on this. They are looking into it. I'll post more if I hear anything from them.

In the meanwhile, I'll toss out a possible "workaround" that occurs to me: use the 7.1 Direct input on the 990. The BDP-83's analog section is quite good (at least on par with my Onkyo 885). That could be a good solution for listening to CD's while they get a firmware update ready that fixes the digital output problem.

I agree with Gonk on using the analog outputs as opposed to using optical/digital outs. IMO, the DACs in the BDP-83 do a much better job than the 990. Also, if you are listening to 2-channel material then I recommend the stereo analog outputs on the BDP-83 as those DACs are higher quality then the multi-channel ones. I did quite a bit of A/B testing and even did some blind testing and I always found the analog outputs, especially the stereo ones, to sound much better. Admittedly having a large number (in my case 7; 5.1 and stereo) of analog cables running between the BDP-83 and the 990 can be cumbersome, but I think it is well worth it.

I do not use any of the digital signals for audio from my BDP-83. When I am watching BD-DVD I like to use the latest audio formats, which the 990 can't decode so again I am back to using the analog.

BTW, when you are looking for analog cables you don't need to spend a ton of money on them. I have the Outlaw PCA cables and they do a great job for a relatively inexpensive cable. My only complaint with those cables is they are the kind that has a locking collar that you twist to make a tight connection. This was a great idea, however they are very difficult to use on the 5.1/7.1 connections since the connectors are so close together and the cable ends are somewhat larger than normal. If I had to do it over again I would probably go with another brand that had smaller connectors.

Hey fellow Austinite mdrconsult. I finally connected my new BDP-83 last night and am simply amazed. I'm using multi channel analog connects since my old Onkyo 777 has no HDMI. I skipped the optical connects this time around. I sampled BD, SACD, DVD-A, HDCD, CD, DVD, all through this connect and all were super. I also want to take advantage of the superior DACs on the stereo out. Are you just simply switching to CD at your 990?
On another thread I inquired about using a combination of multi-channel analog and HDMI for the 997 when I get one. Gonk indicated that the HDMI should sound as good as the analog (and less cable of course). I am all for a cleaner connection, but I will keep the analog connections if they provide better sound.

AusTexRocker,

The simple answer is yes I am connecting the BDP-83 stereo outputs to the 990's analog CD inputs. The more detailed answer involves my using a Logitech Harmony 880 universal remote. I have 3 different activities programed using the BDP-83 as a source. The first as mentioned above is called "Oppo-CD" and it is for 2-channel listening using the analog stereo outputs of the BDP-83 connected to the analog CD inputs. The second, "Oppo-SACD" uses the analog multi-channel outputs of the BDP-83 connected to the 7.1 (in my case 5.1) inputs on the 990. The third case. "Oppo-BD" is similar to the previous except it turns on my Mits. TV and switches to the appropriate HDMI input. Furthermore, since I have an SMS-1 in my system it also sets it correctly for the different listening modes. I have found these 3 setups to be very versatile and covers all the different modes I would use my BDP-83 for.

Your second question is a little more difficult to answer definitively. I generally will defer to Gonk's superior knowledge in all things AV. I think what he was saying is probably going to be true. Probably being the key word since I don't (nor anyone I know) have a 997 yet to make a more informed statement. However, I believe that Gonk's assumption is based on the belief that the 997 is going to have as good or better DACs than what the BDP-83 currently is using. That being said feeding the 997 a digital input via HDMI should produce as good or better sound. However, if it was comparable or even slightly less I would still consider going that route as there are some clear advantages of letting the processor do the DA conversion. For instance, I believe (but I am not certain)that the Trinnov processing will only be applied to digital inputs and since it is intended for multi-channel room equalization that means HDMI as the digital input source as the other methods would not have sufficient bandwidth. In addition, I think there will be a few more processor features that can only be applied to a digital input signal. Please note, I am saying " I believe" and "I think" because a) I don't have one yet and b) even though I have read the r-972 manual (which is really poorly written and basically useless) I don't recall any real technical information contained within it that would clarify these points.

I am assuming for now that the 997's analog section will be at least equal to the 990's, which means of course that it will be close to as good as the BDP-83's (although possibly not better). Using the HDMI connection with a 997 will allow you to use the 997's Trinnov room correction, though, and we need to hear a 997 with Trinnov dialed in before we can predict how much benefit that will impart. In the absence of that first-hand experience, I would say that it's at least best to plan on trying HDMI.

Very helpful answers from each of you. I had not considered the Trinnov issue with analog and that is one of the primary reasons I'm holding out for the 997!