Price Paid:  $131.00 from manufacturer

Summary:
hmmm...i purchased the oppo 970 based on all of the press that it's gotten lately. i've been looking for an inexpensive universal player for some time. i considered the denon 2900/2910, rotel 1072, nad 541i, and sony ns999. none of these were true universal players. some have hdcd playback and others have a mix of hi-def and hdcd.
i bought the oppo b/c the reviews and price were so favorable. while i haven't broken in the unit, i am so far very unimpressed with it for audio playback. i know many extole it's video playback, but many have said how fantastic it is as an audio standalone player or as a transport. as a standalone i find it lags far behind my 10yr old parasound cdp/dac combo.
i plugged the player in and connected it with homegrown audio super silver cables. head to head compared to my non-hdcd parasound combo, the oppo sounds compressed and lacking in dynamics. it doesn't sound bad, just not on par with what i've lived with for many years. i didn't have the unit hooked up to a video monitor and there was no display indicating hdcd so perhaps that feature needs to be turned on via an on-screen menu. i don't know. i haven't decided at this point whether i am going to keep the player or not. i can only hope that it simply requires some burn in time and a menu selection to bring it to life.

Strengths:
price
format flexibility

Weaknesses:
mediocre audio quality

Similar Products Used:
b&k
parasound
adcom
audible illusions
nad
jolida
vandersteen

Price Paid:  $159.00 from oppodigital.com

Summary:
I had been casting about for sometime for a good “universal” player so I could listen to both SACD’s and DVD-A, but was having a hard time justifying spending the money for the Denon or the Pioneer. Then I heard about the Oppo 970 and couldn’t beat the price. Just as I was about to pull the trigger, Oppo announced the 981 which I would have bought and will once I upgrade to hdmi and an HDTV. For now, I have had the 970 since December and couldn’t be happier. I’m neither a vidophile nor an audiophile, but I was after better than average sound and better than average picture. I have been very satisfied with the 0970 on both counts. I have an older Yamaha receiver, decent Klipch speakers with a Toshiba TV using decent component cables. All in all a modest set up that sounds pretty good in our living room. I’ve been enjoying SACD’s like Dark Side of the Moon, Zenph’s re-performance of Gould’s Goldberg variations, among others. DTS DVD-A’s like the Genesis releases and Led Zeppelin and regular CD’s sound pretty as well. Picture-wise I have seen improvement in clarity and color with richer, deeper blacks. My favorite movie’s like LOTR or Terry Gilliam’s movies look better than ever.

I’ll be upgrading everything to support HDTV soon (probably a Sony SXRD), the 970 will become our second DVD player, and I’ll buy the 981. I won’t go BluRay or HDDVD until one side wins or Oppo makes a player that will play both! I’m surprised there aren’t more reviews for the Oppo line here at AudioReviews. Oppo Digital is making a quality product for an excellent price ( I am not being paid for this, Oppo if your listening, I am not beneath it) so I hope more folks will give them their business.

Strengths:
PRICE, quality, customer service a free HDMI cable!

Weaknesses:
None for my needs.

Similar Products Used:
Sony, Yamaha, and Denon DVD players all @$500

JacquesH

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Used product for
1 to 3 months

Visitors rate this review
5.00 of 5, 1.00 votes

Price Paid:  $150.00 from Bestrated.com

Summary:
This universal player, stand alone, is as good as any CDP I have owned below $1,500 and the best DVD player, period. When connected to an external Monarchy Audio 18B DAC, it equals or even beat my Lexicon RT20..not bad considering the RT20 costs $4,000, my combo $700..!!!!! How do they do it is a mystery to me but could it be like my Dusson D9 multi integrated that is the OEM version of Mark levinson Red Rose for $1,000 instead of $5,000? Oppo could be, apart from casing, OEM to some Esoteric players at $7,000 for what I know...

Strengths:
sound, image and aout-of-this-world value...deserves a 8* for value!!!!!

Weaknesses:
plastic CD tray appears to be very minimalist but at this price....

Similar Products Used:
Lexicon RT20

Price Paid:  $149.00 from www.oppodigital.com

Summary:
My Oppo player failed after less than 3 months of use - it would not output sound through any of the analog outputs. Based on this lack of reliability, and the cheap/flimsy build quality of the unit, I would not recommend purchasing this product. That said, while it was working, here are my opinions about the DV-970HD: (NOTE: I purchased this player primarily for its SACD capabilities - and thus my review/opinion is based on its audio qualities, not the video quality) I found the Oppo player to be good on SACD material, good drive/sense of rhythm and pace, good bass. On SACD, compared to the Sony DVP-NS90V ($199) - which I also own - the Oppo had better bass, but the Sony had better clarity with vocals and was better at revealing subtle details. Overall, though, I still would give the edge to the Oppo in terms of sound quality on SACD. On standard CD's, I preferred the sound of the Sony - more detailed, airy, open sounding. Overall, I hate to have to give the Oppo a negative review and low rating, but when any piece of hardware fails within months, even one that's priced at $149, I cannot give it a positive review.

Strengths:
Multiple format capability, sound quality for the price tough to beat

Weaknesses:
Questionable reliability, poor build quality: disc tray is a piece of junk - loading and removing discs is a pain, and the tray is SO flimsy that you feel it could fall apart just inserting a disc. For audiophiles, another weakness is that you have to use a TV and on-screen menus to set up the player. Also, using hybrid SACD/CD discs, the player does not indicate which layer it is playing - presumably the SACD layer by default?

Similar Products Used:
Sony DVP-NS90V

Price Paid:  $149.00 from Direct from Oppo Dig

Summary:
Good product. Plays everything you can throw at it. SACD's sound very good. HDCD Playback is nice. DVD Video quality is superb.

Strengths:
Features and price. Can be programmed for multi-region operation from the included remote control.

Weaknesses:
On screen display very simple and basic.

Similar Products Used:
APEX DV-500