We began with CDs for our listening tests and popped in Marillion's Seasons End disc. I ended up cruising through half the album before I caught myself and went back for some more critical listening. This time, with more purpose. To set up the CD-based listening tests I first made two bit-accurate copies of the Seasons End CD (which I own). Using the two copies I compared the Oppo DV-983H to a Denon DVD-3930CI by feeding both into the new AVR-5308CI AV receiver and using its headphone out jack to a pair of Denon AH-D2001 reference headphones. These headphones have excellent resolution and their closed-ear design help to completely isolate the audio from the room. This test allowed me to do a real apples-to-apples comparison of the two players without having to deal with the room interaction. Later I repeated the exercise, using the same tracks, with in-room listening tests using my reference RBH Sound CinemaSITE.

The Oppo showed the exact same output level via HDMI as the Denon, so no level matching was required (I bypassed DenonLink for these tests). I did notice a pronounced lag in receiving HDMI audio from the Oppo vs. the DVD-3930CI. While the Denon would renegotiate the audio connection in a couple seconds, the Oppo took about 8 seconds before I could hear it when switching back and forth.

CD: Marillion - Seasons End
In listening to "The King of Sunset Town" via headphones the Oppo showed a smooth, pronounced low end. Detail was very apparent on the top edge of the male vocals and even the snap of the snare. I like to pay attention to how well vocals stay "afloat" during thick instrumental choruses like the one in this track. I noticed no difference between the players in my headphone or loudspeaker comparisons. In track 2, "Easter", the guitar solo during the bridge was crystal pure in its tonality and had that upper-mid clarity that so rarely makes its way into today's mp3-generation of music. The staccato keys interspersed with the following verse really rang true and there was plenty of definition when the backing chorus and drums really kicked in. During "Uninvited Guest", a favorite track of mine, sounded great. It's a hard-hitting song that has a lot of levels and the DV-983H rocked out as I expected - with wide drum pans and poignant keyboard pads which gently filled in behind the lyrics. It was an almost magical, smooth sound. Reverb was gentle and consistent, without the hint of a truncated decay or compression. On both headphone and speakers I paid careful attention to the width of the soundstage and the quality of the reverb decays. I simply couldn't tell the difference between the players.

SACD: Norah Jones - Come Away With Me
"Don’t Know Why" always serves as a well-rounded song for hearing the true nature of a source. Since I'm intimately familiar with its sound, it allows me to test multiple components and know what's truly present on the track versus what I'm hearing. The first place I listen is the drums. With the Oppo I heard the texture of the snare head as the brushes gently slapped the surface and slid back for the next quarter note strike. The piano was authentically represented and pure - devoid of the quick decays present when a track isn't allowed to breathe. With the DV-983H, everything sounds very natural and complete.

In "Seven Years" the upright bass, while subtle, just about stole the show. That is, until I began honing in on the finger noises sliding off the rhythm guitar. Wow. The Oppo is absolutely wonderful at picking up both the obvious and the subtle, demonstrating that its SACD functionality is up to the task at hand. The Oppo didn't miss even a hint of the breathiness present in Norah's vocals. Track 10, "Painter Song", made a unique impression as it placed acoustic guitar into the surrounds and allowed the player to really demonstrate its excellent multi-channel capabilities. The track's accordion was also masterfully reproduced in all of its vibrato-laced subtleties. Again, both headphone and the RBH system yielded the same results. At times, via headphones, I felt the Denon had a slightly more fluid reverb on Norah's lead vocals, but I never felt sure enough to call it certain.

SACD: Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of the War of the Worlds
This is simply one of my favorite SACDs - masterfully produced in surround. The disc, more than others, fully utilizes the surrounds to an almost hyper-realistic level. As such, it's great test fodder for reviews. The mix of "The Eve of the War" was thick, full and yet completely 'discrete', with pronounced synthesizers which dominated the ultra-wide soundstage. Acoustic guitars and percussion, which poked through at moments of respite, carried tons of wonderful, audible minutia. Vocals were "in-you-face" in that retro theatrical 70's style put forth by this disc.

Continuing through the album to track 2, the raw bass had an edgy fingering sound that was well pronounced and accurately represented by the DV-983H. While the DVD-3930CI did an equally impressive job, I couldn't help but acknowledge the severe price difference between the players. The effect of an unscrewing cylinder wrapped around the surrounds while Richard Burton's voiceover delivered his overarching monologue. During "Forever Autumn" the Oppo released the beautiful sound of Justin Hayward's voice, both with its solid presence and gentle decay that never sounded rushed. The accompanying guitar, synths and drums really contributed to the surround track, yielding a full mix that was quite impressive to hear.

I was listening for a difference between the Oppo DV-983H and my reference Denon DVD-3930CI but I couldn't hear it. Does that mean it isn't there? No, it could easily be my room that prevents me from hearing the minutia of differences between the players. However it did confirm to me just that - the differences are extremely subtle. And that makes the Oppo a bargain.

Conclusion

One thing is for certain - if Oppo had come out with this player two years ago it would have swept the market. In fact, if we had to go back and re-rate all of our DVD players, we'd have to re-do the value scale due to this player's exceptional performance. For a universal DVD player, the DV-983H puts many other players to shame. This reviewer, however, cannot ignore products like the closely-priced PS3, which handles most of the same formats plus Blu-ray (oh, and it plays games and allows access to network music). The DV-983H certainly tests as well as many flagship universal DVD players, and actually better than some costing much more. This begs the question: Is this possibly the best value universal DVD player on the market? The answer is a resounding Yes, provided you don't mind holding off on high definition Blu-ray. As we mentioned in our intro, the decision is simply one of practicality and choice. If you're a DVD buff and you want to get the most out of your DVD collection, then the Oppo does a fantastic job and the best bargain we've seen for a top-notch universal player... ever. Those wanting to step into the future may find that the age of the non-HD universal player has already come and gone. Ultimately, you'll be the one deciding.

Oppo DV-983H

MSRP: $399

http://www.oppodigital.com

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