Oppo BDP-95 & Outlaw 990, questions

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.

It's an option. At that point, the Model 990 is acting as an analog pre-amp. Some people have talked about using the BDP-105 for that, but leaving the 990 in the loop as a volume control and way to pick up some miscellaneous analog sources could be a graceful solution too.



Absolutely. At that point, the discussion would focus on speakers only.

Thanks for the info and help!

I did end up buying a used Oppo BDP-95 on eBay over the weekend for $820, so hopefully by this time next week I'll have it here.

Since my speakers (B&W 804S, HTM3S), amp (7500), and cables (MIT) are pretty good, that was one of the reasons why I wanted to go with the Oppo 95, to get better sound quality from my CD collection, not to mention it being a universal player.

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.

Whenever I replace my Panasonic Tube HDTV, I also have to get a new entertainment cabinet, as it could not even fit a 42" widescreen. So with a new TV + cabinet, it would cost more than I could do for a while, so hopefully this Panasonic will last a few more years. Maybe by then OLEDs will come down in price!

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.

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.

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?

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).

How would using an SMS-1 factor into the bypass setup? As I recall, it does an ADA conversion but only on the sub input.

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.

So basically what you're saying is that if using the 2ch RCA out from the Oppo to the 990, the 990 can be in Bypass mode to bypass its A/D/A and the internal bass management crossover. But the 990's 7.1 input can't be placed in bypass mode, and therefor can't bypass the A/D/A and internal crossover?

What I was thinking was to just use the Option 2 that I listed earlier, and have the Oppo's 2ch stereo + center, surrounds, and sub sent to the 990's 7.1 input. Use the bypass mode on the 990 and do all the crossovers on the Oppo. But if the 990 can't do bypass with its 7.1 input, then I'd have to let the 990 do the crossovers instead of the Oppo.

I was planing to look for some pre-owned MIT cables for the Oppo, to match what I've got between the 990 and 7500. That's why I was thinking it would be more cost effective to use 6 cables (5.1) instead of 8 cables (5.1 and 2ch).


EDIT:

After thinking about this some today, if I had the Oppo's 2ch stereo RCA out connected to the 990's CD RCA inputs, and had the 990 in Bypass mode, would it still get a sub signal from the Oppo and direct it to the sub?

Yes, the two-channel analog input has a bypass mode that provides a complete analog signal path through the Model 990. No, the 7.1 direct input does not offer that bypass mode. If you use the 7.1 direct input, the only way to defeat bass management is to set all speakers to "large" in the Model 990 setup menu - thus disabling bass management for all inputs.



Correct, when using the 7.1 analog connection to the 990, you will need to rely on the 990's bass management unless you disable bass management for all of the 990's inputs.



I had to double-check this page (this diagram from the firmware update portion of my 990 review contains the same data). If the fronts are set to "small" the sub will get a signal when in bypass mode with a stereo input.

I'd been looking for years for some straightforward way to put 7.1 analog into BYPASS mode by switching all speakers to large and then be able to go back to all small for other inputs.

A while back someone here said they entered all the keystrokes into a programmable remote macro to go into the menu and switch all the speakers to large and then another to go back to all small. But you don't necessarily know which way the 990 is set when you turn it on, and it is not reversable with the same keystrokes to go back.

I have wondered if using the RS-232 port like a big HT controller or a computer can, could directly set all speakers to large or small directly.

Ok, so according to that diagram at the bottom, when using a analog stereo input (such as CD) and the front speakers are set to small, then it sends full-range to the two front speakers AND the sub (shown by the black lines)? That would mean I've have to turn on the sub's active crossover and set it to like 60Hz.

If instead, I used the Oppo's 2ch L/R Stereo RCA outs, plus the center, two surrounds and sub, all connected to the 990's 7.1 analog input, then I would have to set all speakers to large on the 990 to avoid the 990's A/D/A bass management. Doing this would provide a clean signal from the Oppo. Though I'd have to setup the bass management in the Oppo, so all the crossover work would be done by it internally before it is sent to the 990. That would mean for CD and BD/Muilt-Audio playback, all the crossovers would be done in the Oppo, and the 990 would be in 7.1 mode just asking like a pre-amp volume control.

But then whenever I'd watch a TV show (optical toslink from cable box to 990), I'd then have to change the 990's speaker size back to small and have the proper crossovers.

Then when I'd want to use the Oppo, I'd have to change the 990 back to large for all speakers to avoid its A/D/A bass management while in 7.1 (since I have the bass management being done in the Oppo).

That seems a bit tedious. It looks like it was discussed some in this thread and in this one.

Now if the 990 was able to do bypass mode while using the 7.1 analog inputs, that would pretty much solve this problem. Or I went with the newer Oppo BDP-105 and had the optical from my cable box connected to the digital input on the BDP-105. With that, then the Oppo would do all bass management for CD/BD and from the cable box, then send it all to the 990's 7.1 input, which again would act as a pre-amp volume control. Furthermore, if I wanted to, I could even go from the BDP-105 directly to the 7500 amp, not using the 990 at all, and do the volume settings right on the BDP-105...though I doubt I'd do it.

I read that thread today as well. I have a Logitech Harmony 700 and it does allow for macros. But I think it would be too tricky to have it so the Harmony would change the 990 speakers from small to large when using the 7.1 input, and then back to small with the crossovers when using a digital input from a cable box.

Saturday afternoon the Oppo 95 got delivered. As of now, I have the 2ch Stereo RCA L/R, Center, L/R Surround, and Sub (as 5.1) all going into the Outlaw 990's 7.1 analog input. I changed all the speaker settings on the 990 to Large so that it will not do any A/D/A conversion and apply bass management, then went into the Oppos settings and selected Small for all the speakers and set the crossover for 80Hz.

With this setup, I've played a couple BD movies with Dolby True HD, and the sound quality is quite good, and the 80Hz crossover seems to work just fine.

Then I tried some standard CDs on the Oppo (through the 990's 7.1 input). Since only the front two speakers have the CD playing through them, I lowered the crossover on the Oppo to 60Hz and then to 40Hz to see if I could hear a difference. With it at 60Hz there was actually a bit more "fullness" to the low end, but couldn't hear any difference with at 40Hz (remember that everything below those crossover points are being sent to the sub).

One thing I did notice (that I don't care for) is that when using the 990's 7.1 Analog input for 2ch CD audio from the Oppo (with the above settings), that I can hear some white-noise (ssssssss) through the center and two surround speakers. After some experimentation, I found that when using any input on the 990 (7.1 analog, digital) that the 990 is actually sending this white noise to the amp, which then outputs to the speakers. This is not noticeable when watching HDVT, DVD, or BD that has sound coming from all 5 speakers. But when only using the front L/R speakers for CD playback, having this white-noise from the center and surrounds is irritating. I went into the 990's menu and was able to turn off the two side surround speakers (which did help a lot), but for the center it can't be set to "none" while the surrounds are set to "none". Out of curiosity, I tried the optical toslink from the Oppo to the 990 (with all speakers on the 990 set to large), and had the 990 do the D/A decoding, and with the mode set to "Stereo". With this setup, there was no white-noise from the center and surrounds, since the 990 "turned off" that signal path internally as it was decoding a digital stereo signal and only sending out a L/R stereo signal. When I then change inputs on the 990 back to 7.1, the white-noise was back on all speakers, and again I had to change the surrounds to "none" to stop the output from the 990.

Overall, I'm please with the Oppo, but the 990 is getting me a bit irritated now because of this. So to sum it it, I have to do "work" depending on which source I want to use:
1) For HDTV (optical) from cable box, have the 990 set on "small" for all speakers with it using its internal bass crossover.
2) For DVD/BD playback through the 7.1 Analog input, change all the speakers size to Large on the 990, which will bypass its A/D/A bass crossovers, since the crossovers are already set on the Oppo.
3) For CD playback through the 7.1 Analog input, speaker size set to Large on the 990 (as in #2), but turn off the surround speakers by selecting "none" to stop the white-noise.

The only way around #3 is to connect the 2ch Stereo RCAs from the Oppo to the CD Analog input on the 990. That way the 990 won't send any signal to the center and surround speakers, eliminating the white-noise sound from those. But in doing this setup, having the mode set to "Bypass", and the front left and right speakers set to "Large", the Sub will not be in use. I'd have to set the front speakers to "small" on the 990, which then introduces the A/D/A that I wanted to avoid.

Hmmmm!

If you use the stereo analog signal path (bypass mode on the 990) and leave the 990's bass management enabled, you will get a signal to the sub. Also, have you done any listening tests with the 7.1 analog input and the 990's bass management enabled? It provides the "simplest" solution, and the only way to know for certain that the A/D/A cycle is objectionable is to listen for it.

I haven't tried that yet, but if you are referring to this diagram that you posted, if I did that using the 990's CD Analog input and set the front speakers to "small" and sub to "yes", then doesn't that send full-range to the sub (black lines on your diagram)? If it does, then I'd have to turn on the active crossover on the sub, right?

When using the 7.1 Analog input, I currently have 990's speakers set to large and Oppo set to small and is doing the bass management. I haven't tried the inverse of that; setting to Oppo to large speakers and the 990 to small for it to do the A/D/A bass management. I agree that would be the simplest solution, but I'm just wondering what all is involved internally with the 990's A/D/A, such as bit rate, sample rate, etc. It may not be noticeable on CD and DVD, but with BD Dolby True HD, It would definitely be a lower bit rate.

Yes, when using the CD analog input in bypass mode with front speakers set to "small," you would send a full-range signal to the sub.

The Model 990 uses a 96kHz 24-bit ADC chip, so the audio bit rate and sample rate will be 96kHz/24bit when using the 7.1 analog input. The DAC chip is 192kHz, 24-bit, so that bit rate and sample rate will remain at least 96/24 throughout the 990's digital domain. The 990 may even upsample to 192kHz, although I'm not real sure about that - the specs note that PCM is upsampled, but that could relate only to stereo PCM (received directly via optical or coaxial). Technically, TrueHD supports 192kHz for up to six channels (eight channels is limited to 96kHz), but I don't think anybody's actually used that capability. I know there are a few 96kHz/24-bit Blu-ray discs out there, but most are 48kHz/24-bit. That means the sample rate being used within the 990 will be better than that used originally in most cases, and in a few cases will merely be the same. Certainly not lower. Let your ears give it a try, see what you think. It seems counter-intuitive, but I think you owe it to yourself to give it a whirl before you invest too much time and effort into trying to work around the A/D/A conversion.

First a question: When using the 990's 7.1 RCA analog input and the speaker size set to large, does the 990 still apply the speaker distance that I have set in its menus, or is that not used? I have the speaker distance set in the 990, and have it set to 0ft on the Oppo, so that speaker distance isn't doubled.

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Earlier today I wanted to see if I could hear a difference in the DACs used by the 990 and the Oppo 95.

Had the Oppo RCA's connected to the 990's 7.1 analog. 990's speakers set to large, Oppos speakers set to small and crossover at 60Hz.

Played a CD track I know well a couple times over-and-over that only had a few instruments in it (Baroque) while using the 990's 7.1 input with the Oppo using its DAC. I then changed to the 990's optical input from the Oppo, so the 990's DAC would be used. With the 990 in Stereo mode, the instruments sounded like there was a veil between them and me, also some detail was missing. I then tried the 990 on Upsample, and even through there was more detail, the high-end became too bright for me, almost unnatural. I went back and forth on other tracks and with some other CDs, and each time the instruments and voices (especially solos) sounded more "life like" and "clearer" with the Oppo doing the DAC work while the using the 990's 7.1 input.

Then I decided to try it with the Oppo's speaker size set to large (not using its bass management) and settings the 990's speakers to small, so it would do the A/D/A bass management. So with this, the Oppo is doing D/A with no bass management, sent to the 990's 7.1 input which is taking the Analog and converting it to Digital and then back to Analog so that it can apply bass management. In doing this, there was some loss in detail, similar to using the optical out from the Oppo to the 990 that I tried earlier.

I didn't have time to try a comparison using a BD movie that has Dolby True HD, to see if I could hear a difference between:
1) Oppo speaker size set to small with bass management, 990 7.1 input set to large; with the Oppo doing D/A with bass management and fed straight through the 990 untouched.
-or-
2) Oppo set to large speaker, 990 set to small speaker with bass management; with the Oppo doing D/A and sent to the 900 doing A/D/A with bass management.

I think that at one time I knew if the 990's speaker distance settings were applied in the analog domain or the digital domain, but I've forgotten. Sorry.

I'll have to try that and see how it works in use. Since with the fronts set to "small", sub set to "yes", and Bypass mode used on the Analog CD input, it would be sending full-range to the front L/R and the sub. Since the B&W 804S says it goes down to 38Hz, and the active crossover on the LFM-1 Plus can be set from 40Hz to 180Hz, I'd have to set the active crossover just slightly above 40Hz (such as 50/60Hz). If I set the active crossover on the LFM-1 to 80Hz, then everything below 80Hz would be output by the 804S and the Sub, even though the sub would be going lower than the 804S. That would be like having "double bass" between 38-80Hz

B&W 804S Specs Sheet