For the past 6 years, I've been using an Outlaw 990 processor with an Outlaw 7500 amp. Connected to the 990 is a Digital Optical (Toslink) from my HD Cable Box and Pioneer Elite DVD player, and Digital Coax RCA from an Adcom 5 disc CD Changer. Then the 990 is connected to the 7500 via MIT Oracle XLR balanced cables. From the 7500 it's MIT Shotgun Bi-Wire MH-750 cables to B&W 804S and HTM3S speakers.

Since my Panasonic 36" Tube HDTV is from 2001, it only has HD Component inputs (480p/1080i), which I have the HD cable box and DVD player connected to.

The reason I want to get the Oppo BDP-95 blu-ray player is because it supports playing BD discs over Component at 1080i. All newer players are removing the Component due to the "analog sunset".

Since my Outlaw 990 is currently acting as the DAC, being fed by the CD changer, cable box, and DVD player, if I get the Oppo BDP-95, it would basically replace my CD and DVD player.

Naturally, I'd use the newer DACs in the Oppo BDP-95 instead of the Outlaw 990. This would means I'd have to connect the two Stereo RCA outs from the Oppo to the CD RCA inputs on the 990 (for use when playing CDs), and the 5.1 RCA outs from the Oppo to the 990 (for movies/multichannel).

What I'd like to know (before I buy the Oppo) is if anyone else has connected a BDP-95/93 to the Outlaw 990 in this type of set-up. If so, are there recommendations or advise that I should pay attention to? I'm hoping the CD playback on the Oppo BDP-95 with its 32-bit DACs sound better than the internal DACs on the Outlaw 990.

I read the other post on here about the bass management while using an Oppo connected to a 990. It basically said to have the Oppo set to Large/full-range for all the speakers, and continue to have the 990 do the bass management and speaker distance. This makes sense to me, as I have the 990's cross-over set to Small for all speakers, 40Hz Front, 60Hz Center, and 80Hz rear. This way everything below those frequencies are sent to the Sub. I did experiment with 60Hz and 80Hz for the fronts, but since the B&W 804S are good full range speakers, they actually sounded best set to 40Hz cross-over. Since the HTM3S center doesn't get quite as low, I have it set to 60Hz.

Thanks again!

Basically, that's what I did with my 990/7500, i.e., I used 7.1 Direct out from my Oppo 103 to 990 7.1 Direct In; I set that up as my Video Input for SACD's/BluRay in the 990 (I would choose 7.1 Direct on 990 remote, for 7.2 playback, etc.). Then I connected either coax or optical output from the Oppo to 990 coax/optical input and set that up as an Audio Input for 990 2 channel playback....
As you pointed out, I set all speakers as large in the Oppo Speaker Configuration menu so that the 990 would do bass management.

Why would you run a digital out from your Oppo 103 to the Outlaw 990, as doing that uses the DACs in the 990.Wouldn't you rather use the DACs in the Oppo 103 for CD playback? Even though it doesn't have a dedicated 2ch DAC like the 95/105, it still may sound better than the 990's DAC.

FAUguy:

I thought the OPPO support for 1080i over component was only for content that was not copy protected (e.g. for playing back bluray disks you created from a HD video recorder) and would not work for commercial recordings. The actual language used in the spec sheet is

You may want to lookup Gonk's 990/BDP-93 Setup Guide. He also has a BDP-95 review.

Just so I could compare either choice; the 990 vs. Oppo. I mean, the 990 has a wealth of connection options, so why not try them all?
Also, by using that option,(coax), I could compare it to the same setup (coax) out of my Rotel 1072 CD player, (I also had that unit connected thru analog inputs)...

That may be true, but if a person buys a BD movie, and makes a backup to a BD-R disc, using SlySoft AnyDVD HD, then there is no protection key, and should output at 1080i over Component. I looked at Gonks 93/990 setup, and he says that the better video processing chip is not used while using a Component output, and recommends using an HD Fury product. I looked those up, and are pretty pricy ($250+).

So for 2ch CD playback, did you find the sound better using the DACs in the Oppo 103, fed to the Outlaw via analog RCA; or by using a digital connection to the 990 and using its internal DACs?

The Rotel 1072? Yes, I had that connection set up, also. I usually would listen to the Rotel(thru analog inputs, Bypass mode in 990)that way. I think it sounded pretty much the same all the way around....I can't remember; I have recently updated my 990 to another unit...

Before I run through this, I'll offer a couple things about analog audio performance.

The OPPO Blu-ray Disc players (BDP-83, BDP-93, BDP-103) have consistently had analog sections that over-performed. The BDP-83's analog performance was better than the Onkyo 885P, at least in my opinion, even though the 885P had Audyssey processing in the loop. The BDP-93 offered some tweaks that preserved and possibly enhanced that performance, and from what I've heard the BDP-103 has further refined the audio quality. Since the Model 990 matched up well sonically with the 885P, that puts these players at or above par with the Model 990.

The "base" players are already good enough that you need a good quality signal path to get the full benefit. The upgraded OPPO players (BDP-83SE, BDP-95, and BDP-105) take that performance and kick it up a notch. You really need a good system to hear the benefits. I consider my system to be just enough to pull that off, although I will admit that in both systems (living room stereo setup and den home theater setup) the player is certainly the strongest link in the analog audio chain. OPPO tech support and sales support will likely steer most people toward the BDP-93/BDP-103 because of this, even in some cases where I think the upgraded player would make sense. Because the Model 990 applies an A/D/A conversion to the 7.1 analog output, there can be an argument made in favor of staying with the base player - it still represents an upgrade (albeit a less significant one) in DAC section, and there is less potential concern about what impact the A/D/A conversion for bass management has on the final signal.

(And I really need to get my BDP-105 review set up in HTML... It's sitting there, typed up, sort of proofread, waiting for formatting and a few pictures...)



I'd start by steering you toward the BDP-93/Outlaw setup tips I wrote a while back. They work equally well for the BDP-95, and there's a page there for the Model 990.

One thing to consider: you could use the 7.1 analog connection for both multichannel and stereo sources, avoiding the need for separate stereo connections. For the BDP-93, that's the only way to go (no dedicated stereo analog output), and it would work fine. Not saying you should do it this way, and it wouldn't hurt to go ahead and hook up the stereo outputs just so you can experiment with it, but you may find yourself getting into the habit of using the multichannel analog output only.

As for video processing, the industry has been pushing us all toward digital video output since probably the middle of the last decade. The BDP-93/95 were the last OPPO players to offer component video output because of the analog sunset rules. You can go back as far as their DVD players, though, and see the trend toward digital output. The only player to support scaling via component output was the 970HD, and that only using hacked firmware. The BDP-93/95 will output HD content at 720p or 1080i resolution, but it won't scale other content to those resolutions. Most users are going to be better off using HDMI output for video. You might think about how critical your need for component output is - a BDP-103 could be a less expensive option with some extra benefits (new features, etc.).



With the Model 990, it will apply bass management to the multichannel analog input unless you have all speakers set to "large". That means it is best to disable bass management in the player so that you only do bass management once.

Gonk,

Glad you're back and addressed the issue of the BDP-105/95 and the Outlaw 990. The BDP-105 has multiple digital inputs, I do not have that many digital sources (no games!), and I generally use BYPASS mode on my 990 for stereo analog sources. I had thought about skipping the next new pre-pro upgrade for now, getting a BDP-105, running my cable box and media player through the 105, disabling bass management in the 990 by setting all speakers to large, and doing all bass management of digital sources in the 105.

You mentioned the issue of the extra A/D/A and bass management in the 990. Do you think the direct multichannel analog of the 990 (with the extra A/D/A and bass management disabled) is good enough to make the BDP-105 a worthwhile addition? That way I'd be using the 105 for all processing.