Oppo's newly upgraded Blu-ray/SACD/DVD-A player isn't just for audiophiles
Oppo doesn't claim any audio performance advantages for its new BDP-83 Special Edition Blu-ray Disc Player over the standard BDP-83--if you use the new player's HDMI output. It's ideal for buyers who still have receivers lacking HDMI connectivity.
For those of you with older receivers lacking HDMI connectivity, or perhaps for audiophiles with stereo home theater systems, the Oppo BD-83 Special Edition player is for you.
You see, the new Oppo player handles the digital-to-analog conversion at a higher standard than the original--and still available--BD-83 player. So rather than use its HDMI connectivity you hookup the Special Edition's eight analog (7.1) outputs to the multichannel inputs on older receivers or sound processors. Don't worry if your receiver is limited to 5.1, the Special Edition will work perfectly well with those systems. The Special Edition would be the go-to player for HT 2.0 (stereo) systems.
The BD-83 is known for its exceptional audio and video performance, the BDP-83 Special Edition is upgraded with an all new analog audio stage and improved power supply.
The Special Edition uses the Sabre32 family of Digital-to-Analog Converters (DACs) from ESS Technology. Stereo lovers take note: the player's dedicated stereo output uses another 8-channel Sabre32 DAC chip by stacking multiple DACs for the left and right channels "to achieve even greater audio performance" in stereo. The Special Edition's HDMI output bypasses all that good stuff, so it would be a waste of money to use it that way.
Just like the BDP-83, the Special Edition is a Profile 2.0 Blu-ray player featuring bitstream and full decoding capability for Dolby TrueHD and DTS Master Audio.