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.

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.

You said that on the 990's 7.1 inputs that it applies A/D/A conversion, I was not aware of this. That means that if the 95 is connected to the 990 in this manner for BD movies to muti-chanel audio discs, than the 990 is doing additional A/D/A, I guess for bass management? But for regular 2ch CD output from the 95 using the dedicated stereo RCA out, and connected to the 990's CD RCA input, does it still do extra A/D/A, or will the "Bypass Mode" circumvent this? I do wish the 990 had 2ch XLR inputs like the 7500 amp. I guess if I wanted to, when only playing CDs, I could disconnect the XLRs going between the 7500 and 990, and connect the Oppo 95 directly to the 7500 amp - though this would not allow use of the sub.

The other reason I went with the Oppo 95 was for the Component video out, since my 2001 Panasonic Tube HDTV only has (two) Component inputs for 480p/1080i. I wanted to be able to play BD discs at 1080i. I understand that if the discs have a certain "flag" that the player will downconvert to 480p over Component, unless you "back up" the discs your self and remove the "flag". I wasn't aware that the Oppo 95 didn't upconvert DVDs to 1080i over component. Does it upconvert DVDs when HDMI is used? In that connection guide, you mentioned the HD Fury product. I'm wondering if that may be best for connecting to the Oppo 95's HDMI output, then have the HD Fury connected to the TV via Component. My only concern with that is any degrading or altering that the HD Fury does in the HDMI-to-Component process. The HD Furry 3 is $249, but the version 4 is $399 since it supports 3D, which I don't need, even though the video processor looks to be better.

The A/D/A is for bass management, and if I remember correctly (haven't used a Model 990 in a number of years) you can operate a stereo analog input in bypass mode without this processing.

For the length of run you're dealing with, I wouldn't worry about the lack of XLR input on the 990 - I would just use the RCA stereo output. It will work just as well as the XLR.

If you set any analog input to BYPASS mode, the 990 will not do an A/D/A conversion nor apply bass management. If you have a sub though, you should look at the 990's bass management matrix to see what it does with the L+R and sub. Depending on how your Fronts and Sub are defined (Fronts small/large or sub LFE/NONE/SUB), BYPASS mode in stereo analog will send either nothing or full range signals to the sub. So you could end up with more or less bass at some frequencies. I have it set so the sub gets full range in this mode and set the 2-channel sub trim down a couple of dB from the balanced multichannel calibration to help compensate.

The A/D/A is for bass management, and if I remember correctly (haven't used a Model 990 in a number of years) you can operate a stereo analog input in bypass mode without this processing.

For the length of run you're dealing with, I wouldn't worry about the lack of XLR input on the 990 - I would just use the RCA stereo output. It will work just as well as the XLR.



Technically, manufacturers have been forbidden from scaling DVD to HD resolutions at component outputs since the time that scaling DVD players started appearing. The limit was always 480p (deinterlacing only). Some manufacturers cheated with that rule, but it was rare and pretty much stopped by the time the HD format war got going. The result was a clear kick in the teeth to early adopters of HDTV who (like yourself) lacked an HDCP-complient digital video input, and it was probably driven in large part by a desire to steer HD video signals onto HDCP-compliant connections (meaning some DVI and all HDMI). It's a problem for some early HDMI displays, as well - my parents have a 26" HDTV from Panasonic with HDMI inputs that implement HDCP so poorly that not even Panasonic sources can establish a successful HDCP handshake. Device's like the HD Fury allow some flexibility there. It depends to some degree on how long you plan to hang on to that display, of course. If you do plan to wait for OLED to get well established and reasonably priced, the HD Fury with better video processing might be worth the extra money. Also consider that the Model 990's DVI switching or a separate HDMI switcher could let you share that HD Fury among multiple HDMI video sources (like your cable box) if you wanted to do that.

In one of the first Firmware updates for the Oppo 95, it states the following:
"For the BDP-95 model only, the dedicated stereo output ports (XLR and RCA) can now be assigned to use as the Front Left and Front Right output channels."

Does that mean that when playing a BD or multi-chanel discs, that you can use the Stereo RCA L+R output along with the 7.1 RCA output? Meaning that the left and right channels are sent through the stereo outs, while the center/surrounds/sub is sent through the mulri-chanel outs?

[quote=FAUguy]With using the 7.1 out (for me it would be 5.1), I would have to buy 6 RCA cables, then 2 more RCA cables for the 2ch stereo output (8 in total). But if I can use the 2ch stereo RCA out in place of the L/R RCA multi-chanel outs, then I'd only need 6 cables.

(I hope I explained that right).

For my current bass management, since I'm only using three Digital inputs, and I have the Fronts sets to Small and sub set to Yes, this digital bass management applies. With Fronts set to 40 Hz and Center at 60 Hz crossover.

If I use the 7.1 (5.1) Analog input for BD and the 2ch Stereo for CDs from the Oppo 95, then the 990's Analog bass management applies. Using the "bypass" mode sends full-range too all speakers including the sub. I guess this would mean I'd have to turn on the active crossover on the Outlaw LFM-1 Plus sub and set it to around 45 Hz, so it only plays frequencies below that point, which is roll-off of the B&W 804S speakers?

I'd like to get another 5 years out this 36" Panasonic Tube HDTV if possible. If it broke down and cost more than $500 to fix, then I'd look at getting a new set and entertainment cabinet. I know the new 55" OLEDs are going for $12K, so that would take 5-7 years for them to drop under $4K.

So I guess I'd have to look at investing in an HD Furry with the Oppo 95, so that BDs can be output at 1080i, as well the Oppo upconverting DVDs to 1080i. If I just use the Oppo's Component out, then all DVDs are at 480p (which I have now from my Pioneer DVD player), and it would be a toss-up as to if BDs get downconverted to 480p.

Yes, the BDP-95 can be set up to use the dedicated stereo output as the front left/right for multichannel, in which case you would connect the dedicated stereo output and the 7.1 channel's center, surrounds, back surrounds, and sub outputs (eight cables in all) to the 7.1 channel input on the processor. If you are running a 5.1 setup, you would omit the back surrounds and only use six cables.

This does rule out connecting the stereo output to a stereo analog input on the Model 990, of course.



Have you considered using higher crossover points for your center and mains? The fronts are -2dB at 38Hz, and the center is -3dB at 42Hz. When you consider the natural roll-off in output and the curves involved in crossover points, the rule of thumb is often to go one octave higher than the -3dB point. That would mean around 80Hz for the center and at least 60Hz from the fronts. That may be worth tinkering with.

The sub crossover setting is only going to apply if you use the stereo bypass mode, which you won't if you use the stereo output on the BDP-95 as the front left/right channels. If you do plan to use the stereo bypass mode, though, I wouldn't set the sub's crossover that low. No matter what you do with front channel crossovers, I'd think about setting the sub's crossover no lower than 80Hz or 100Hz. Going lower will almost certainly create a dip in frequency response due to the multiple crossover curves operating in the same area and will throw away a significant amount of the LFE channel. Going higher will likely result in a peak in the frequency response when the front channels contain these low frequencies, but there will be many times where there's no content this low in the fronts and it will avoid throwing away LFE channel content.



Sadly, component video inputs are very limited these days. What you're seeing is the real damage resulting from the industry's decisions regarding "analog sunset" (including decisions going back almost ten years now).

Ok, I need to simplify this down some.

For the analog audio connections, I can do one of two things:
1) Use the 7.1 out from the Oppo 95 to the Outlaw 990 (for BD/multi channel), and also the 2ch RCA stereo outs from the 95 to the 990 (for CD).
-or-
2) Use the 2ch RCA L/R from the Oppo, along with the Center, Surrounds, and sub, all to the 990's 7.1 input.

If I do option 1, then I'd have to switch inputs on the 990 between the CD and 7.1 depending on what discs and output I'm using on the Oppo.
If I go with option 2, then I would have to use the 7.1 input on the 990 for both CD and BD.

Either way, I'd have to place the 990 in Bypass mode to avoid its internal A/D/A, so that the sound quality remains pure from the Oppo. But with the 990 in Bypass mode, it sends full-range sound to all speakers. Because of this, would it then be best to just have the 990 set on "Large" and do the bass management in the Oppo? That way the crossover work is done by the Oppo and sent to the 990, which would be in Bypass mode. Does that seem OK? I'm just trying to find out which is the best way to set-up the Oppo with the 990, while maintaining a clean signal, but also proper bass crossovers.

When I got my B&W 804S/HTM3S speakers 5 years ago, I did experiment with the crossover settings. I started out with all the front/center set to 80Hz. I didn't like this, because I could hear it mess with the sound stage; such as if there was cello & double-bass that would normally be coming out of my left speaker, I would then hear it come from the sub that is on the right side of the room. I then lowered the crossovers to 60HZ, and it was better, but eventually went to 40Hz for the fronts and 60Hz on the center, which to me left the imaging in place, yet still sent the frequencies below that to the sub. Since I'm a musician, I have pretty good hearing and am picky when it comes to music and sound quality.

Regarding the video, instead of having to buy the HD Furry product, if I were to instead use an HDMI-to-DVI cable from the Oppo and connected it to the 990's DVI input, could I then send the video from the 990's Component output to the TV? The user guide doesn't really say if this is possible or not. Or does the 990 just to DVI input to DVI output and doesn't send it to Component as well?

Technically, if you go with option 1, then you have the option of switching between 7.1 Direct input and stereo analog input. The 7.1 Direct input works for any disc you are playing. In option 2, you will only have the 7.1 Direct input connected.



The only time that the bypass mode comes into play is when you are using the stereo analog connection. The bypass mode isn't an option when using the 7.1 Direct input. Aside from that clarification, you are correct.



That works - just wanted to make sure you'd tested the options. I still wouldn't set the sub's crossover too low because of the impact it will have when in a multichannel mode.



DVI switching in the Model 990 does not include conversion to analog video - it only feeds one of the two DVI inputs to the DVI output. Aside from the hardware costs that would have been involved in implementing that back in 2004 or 2005, there are the same rules that prevented others from pushing scaled video through component. Technically, HD Fury is doing something that is not supposed to be done, but they are small enough and have stayed under the radar enough that they've been able to continue.