The Oppo has landed

Sometimes I can't help myself.

Unless you are running long cable lengths (which you're not in the setup I saw), I don't think the balanced outs will make that much of a difference. At least not a difference that you can't mitigate by nudging up the volume pot. Nice to have, but not necessary.

I do have my preamp and amp hooked up with $600 worth of XLR cables (that were purchased in the "old days," shall we say. And those are simply one meter cables. Hooking my Oppo to the preamp would require 2 meter cables, mostly for practical purposes (short cables can be deuce difficult to hook and unhook.) You are correct that there would likely be little if any audible difference. I am just biased against single-ended cables.


My repaired Oppo should return today. I have been sitting on the SACDs for 461 Ocean Boulevard and Slowhand that I picked up for $6.99 each. It will be nice to shake them out.

Were did you pick those up for $6.99? Was that new? Nice find!

Not sure if you can use this site north of the border, but I have subscribed to them for a long time and been quite happy -- all discs $6.99 with free shipping. They still have the two Clapton SACDs (as well as Layla):

http://www.yourmusic.com/home/

I remember you telling me about that site. And, sadly, no, they do not ship to Canada.

How is 461 Ocean Boulevard on SACD? Do you have the standard CD to compare it with?

Well, oddly enough I only have 461 on multichannel DTS CD. DTS CDs were lossy, not lossless but a higher sampling rate and bit resolution. They really sounded pretty good for the time. What that means is that I have only heard the multichannel mix from that CD (which may not even be the same mix that is on the SACD.) So comparisons will be tough. I had a meeting last night and got home late, but I did get the player hooked back up this morning and put both the discs in for a spin, but only listened to the 2 channel layers. I will listen in detail this weekend. (Initial impressions were that they sounded good, but not in the league of the tremendous SACD for Layla.)

I only have the standard CD. It is mediocre at best, which is why I was asking.

I am sure even the CD layer of the SACD is likely superior to it. I will listen to both this weekend. I am in a hi-res mood right now -- I may play with my Talking Head DVD-Audios as well. (Speaking of which, the Blu-Ray for Stop Making Sense sounds spectacular.)

I've never gotten into watching music videos. For some reason, I prefer audio-only. However, I really should give some of the Blu-ray concerts a chance.

Secrets updated their review to include the video portion. No real surprises: Link.

The video performance was the least of my concerns, at least as far as Blu-Ray is concerned. My one question is how the Meditak chipset does with upconversion compared the the Anchor Bay chip in the 83, but they did not even test that.

You should start experimenting with Blu-Ray music titles. Even with the video switched off, you are talking about lossless 24 bit 96khz quality (depending on the master, of course.) It can sound spectacular.

You are quite right.

While Secrets did not test DVD upconversion, the current consensus is that the QDEO processor in the 93 and 95 produces a slightly softer image from standard-def DVDs when compared with the image produced by the ABT processor in the 83 and 83SE. Some are speculating that that slight performance difference will be addressed in a future firmware release. Also of note with the 93 and 95 is that upconversion depends on which HDMI output is used. HDMI 1 uses the QDEO processor; HDMI 2 relies on the Mediatek chip.

Well, you are just going to have to get off the schnide and buy one. Make it one of the Nuforce versions so we really have a benchmark.

Of course, it is tempting. However, at this point, I wouldn't know which one to get. If Johnson Jr. can't hear the difference between a 93 and 95 using $20,000 worth of amplifier equipment, what hope do I have of hearing a difference? As for the NuForce editions, I have only read Secret's review of the 93NE. Not sure if the added board is worth it. That said, since it is user installable, I imagine it must be a simple plug and play that only requires attaching a cable and using a screwdriver. So long as it is done in a static-free environment, it should be an easy tweak to play with.

It is only money.

True. Spending it will only affect my bank balance.

(Which, incidentally, is taking a $1200 hit because I need to replace the brakes on my car!)

Eeek. What do you drive?

Just a Mazda. But the rotors and pads need replaced, and the E-brake needs some work.

Well if it makes you feel better, Eve said that she thought that she heard something in the front end of our Chrysler so she had a tenant who is a mechanic drive it and he thinks that it is the struts.

Ouch. I thought that I had to replace those a year or two ago. It turned out to only be the end links. When I had them replaced, the mechanic looked at me and commented that I must corner hard!

Bwahahahah. Sadly, that might be the explanation with our Chrysler, too -- Eve is a trifle aggressive behind the wheel.

Good for Eve!

I thought you two were driving a Buick?

If it makes you feel any better, I will need to replace my summer tires this year.

I drive the Buick. Eve drives the newer 300. And no, bad Eve!

It could have been worse. You could have gotten her the model equipped with a Hemi. Or is that part of the problem?

----------

How much weight would you give to Johnson Jr.'s review versus say that of some of the AVS folks? You've read JJ's review and he couldn't hear a difference between the 93 and 95. Some AVS members (who appear to be respected) are claiming to hear differences. Placebo effect?

Of course, forums are notorious for creating a following. All it takes is one influential member to utter something and everyone else follows. Hmmm.

----------

Lastly, thank you for recommending Heavy Rain. The game was a treat. I am tempted to play though again to see some of the alternate storylines, but I know that it would not be as much fun with a second time through. Incidentally, I did turn down the difficulty setting, or so I thought. Some of the scenes had me entering some crazy key combinations and I had to react very quickly. I checked my settings after finishing the game and realized I had it on the most difficult setting. Oops.

Boy, I do not know what to say. The one where I think that there may be a clearly audible difference is with the Nuforce edition that shifts the distortion into second-order harmonics. Otherwise it is hard to see. The placebo effect is always a part of things whether people will admit it or not, but that does not mean that there is still not an audible difference -- the placebo effect may just amplify it. But the bottom line is that I suspect most people would be perfectly happy with the 93.


Glad that you enjoyed Heavy Rain. I have thought about replaying it, but I liked when the designer said that he preferred that people only play it once. There is no "right" or "wrong" path; everyone has his or her own experience.

The one thing I really like about the 93 is that it doesn't use a fan. Fan noise always bothers me. If there is a fan whirring in the background and it is slightly audible, it drives me up the wall.

The one reason I'd like to play through Heavy Rain again is so I could see the story progress and end with a darker tone. I think I'd purposely fail a few things or maybe kill a person off (if that's possible). My ending felt too perfect, since everyone survived and everyone was happy. I have heard that it is possible for the origami killer to get away. That'd be cool.