Best Sounding Blu-Ray Player?

[johnn]

First of all, excellent website! I really appreciate all the information and expertise.

My old CD player (Rega Planet) is now kaput and I have an ancient DVD player that is not long for this world either. Ideally I would like to combine their functionality into a single Blu-ray player.

Any thoughts comcerning the best (or, considering price, near to best) sounding Blu-Ray player? I have a vintage, 2 channel amp and pre-amp (Kenwood Supremes), and would like to have as good a sound as possible.I would also like to stream Netflix.

Or, maybe I’m mixing apples and oranges and should just get a standalone CD player.

Thank you for any advice.

[MrBoylan]

First of all, excellent website! I really appreciate all the information and expertise.

My old CD player (Rega Planet) is now kaput and I have an ancient DVD player that is not long for this world either. Ideally I would like to combine their functionality into a single Blu-ray player.

Any thoughts comcerning the best (or, considering price, near to best) sounding Blu-Ray player? I have a vintage, 2 channel amp and pre-amp (Kenwood Supremes), and would like to have as good a sound as possible.I would also like to stream Netflix.

Or, maybe I’m mixing apples and oranges and should just get a standalone CD player.

Thank you for any advice.

Hi, John, and welcome to the forum!

Of the Blu-ray players that I have tested, the OPPO BDP-83, Panasonic DMP-BD85 and Denon DBP-2010 are probably my favorites in terms of sound quality. I might give the Panasonic the edge because it can also act as an excellent transport if you decide to use an external DAC at some point in the future (due to its anti-jitter processing). But the OPPO is a fine choice as it also plays DVD-Audio and SACD discs in addition to Blu-ray, DVD and CD. It's a little pricey though, at $499 (not discounted), with no streaming capabilities.

I think the value of spending a whole lot on a dedicated CD player is marginal. Yes, you can get excellent sound quality out of a dedicated stereo CD player, but you can also pair a good transport with a high-end processor or DAC and also get excellent quality, with more types of recordings. If you're really into high-end 2-channel sound, then consider the OPPO as it can also play SACD and DVD-Audio discs (though these are not exactly mainstream formats).

Another reason to consider a Blu-ray player is that it is capable of sound which is *far* superior to CD, in the form of PCM 24-bit/192 KHz audio and the lossless codecs - Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio. On many music and concert recordings on Blu-ray Disc, a high quality lossless 2-channel mix is provided, and in other cases, the mixdown logic is encoded into the stream. So even if you pop in a disc with a 5.1-channel DTS-HD Master Audio mix of a musical selection on a Blu-ray Disc, the player will have "instructions" of how to output this mix properly to a 2-channel system. It effectively stores multiple mixes within a single stream so you can enjoy the music (or movie) no matter how many speakers you happen to have in your system.

The BD85 doesn't have the same tank-like feel of a Rega CD player or an old Wadia, but it does include high quality parts in its digital and analog stages, and includes audiophile-friendly features such as the "High Clarity Audio" feature which disables the analog video processing if you don't need it, minimizing interference within the chassis. Plus, unlike the OPPO, it does offer a decent selection of online streaming features, including Netflix, YouTube, Amazon VOD and Pandora. It even comes with a WiFi adapter in case you don't want to run a network cable to it for streaming and firmware updates.

For around $180 for the Panasonic, it's practically a no-brainer purchase. Give it a week or so to break in, see how you like its analog outputs, and if you decide you want something even better, then pair it with an external DAC or processor. You can pick up formerly high-end 2-channel DACs pretty cheaply on the second hand market and you could use the BD85's fiber or coax output to play CDs through one of these outboard rigs, while using the standard analog outputs directly into your pre-amp for playback of DVDs and Blu-ray Discs.

Here are our links for the OPPO and the BD85 on Amazon (your purchase supports the site):

• Panasonic DMP-BD85 on Amazon
• OPPO BDP-83 on Amazon

Hope that helps!

-CB

[johnn]

Makes a lot of sense, particularly considering how reasonable the Panasonic is priced. Great info, and many thanks. I will try it and let you know my results.

[johnn]

Got the Pananosonic BD-85 late afternoon, hooked it up, and so far so good. Since it is, in effect, replacing both a DVD player and CD player, the first thing to say is that technology has advanced a bit in the last 10-15 years! The Blu-Ray part of the equation is extremely impressive, but of course everyone on this forum has known this for years. Still, when looking at a blu-ray of The Hurt Locker I was simply blown away. The level of detail and image purity was something to behold. Fortunately my 56' Samsung LED rear projector did at least some justice to the incredible signal it was being fed, but a recalibration is definitely in order.

The CD part of the equation was also impressive, altthough I'm holding back on a final verdict until after the unit has had a chance to burn in. Initially, there are things I like better about the Panasonic and things I don't. Keep in mind I'm using the Panasonic as a two channel player, so the surround sound aspects don't apply. But as a pure two channel CD player I'd say the Panasonic sounds a bit more full-bodied, particulaly with bass. The soundstage is certainly there (highly important to me), but some things sounded a bit more closed off or congested - Not quite the same level of definition or clarity or "space" the old Rega had. This may change over time as the Panasnic has had a chance to settle in, so we shall see. Still, it's amazing that a mainstream player right out of the box would be so competitive with an audiophile unit (granted it's 15 years old unit). But, as they say, time marches on...

All in all, this is an impressive unit. The net streaming is teriffic, the level of control amazing, and the overall presentation very nice. I've always thought of Panasonic as a great value, and the BD-85 definitely falls into this tradition.

By the way, thanks Chris for the great review of this unit. Tons of information and very helpful.

[MrBoylan]

I'm glad you're happy with the sound so far. It is a bit surprising how far audio has come in the mass market gear, but in order to support those latest and greatest digital codecs, the audio circuitry and internal DACs has had to come along, and the net effect is that the higher precision DACs and upsampling options do improve the overall sound, even with lower resolution recordings such as CD. To an extent, it's like upconverting a DVD to 1080p - sure it's not true HD, as there is only so much that can be restored when data has been thrown away, but even older DVDs can look pretty good on a good Blu-ray player. So the sound quality of a 16-bit, 44.1 Khz CD recording can benefit from 24-bit 192 KHz DACs, even if much of the audio data is interpolated.

Anyway, give it a week or two, and a few hours of playback and see if it breaks in a bit. CD playback may get a bit better. And if you want to experiment, then explore some used 2-channel DACs on the second hand market and do some A/B comparisons of your own of the built-in DAC vs. the outboard one, connected via fiber or coax.

Good luck!

-Chris

[roberth]

even though late on this, I felt the need to respond. I have a Toshiba XA2 HD DVD player along with a Panasonic BD80 that is designed for superior audio. Even though they both do an outstanding job for movies, neither will come close to my Naim CDX CD player. Granted this was a $5k player when released a long time ago but still holds it own when it comes to playing silver disks. It uses dual Burr Brown 20 bit dacs which might seem outdated with all the DVD players touting upper level DAC's. It seems too many look at specs on these thinking CD's will obviously sound better than a dedicted player. Truth is this isn't true. I wish it was since it could save me shelf space along with being able to sell my CDX but not the case. The CDX was designed as a highend player and built like a tank taking great lengths at reducing any type of noise with an extremely heavy and well shielded case. It will be a revelation to anyone out there in the market and room for a CD only player. It is easily worth the space. In fact, there are so many great older players on sale for a fraction of what they use to sell for.

I bet you will easily hear what I'm describing and know it is true since you had a Rega Planet CD player which was considered as a great bargain CD player able to compete with some CD players at much higher prices.

Good Luck!

Roberth

[johnn]

Thanks for the input Roberth. For the last week or so, I have hooked up a relatively inexpensive ADA DAC (under $300), using the Panasonic BD-85 as a transport and the results are interesting. I would say the DAC/blu-ray combo does a better job than the Panasonic alone. As Chris suggested, it's worth experimenting with. Compared to the Rega, the sound is "bigger" in that things seem scaled up in size. The sound is definitely fuller with perhaps a slight loss of focus. (I know these terms are not audiophile accurate, but maybe you'll still get my meaning.)

On balance, I'm surprised that a DAC would make such a significant difference, and it makes me wonder how a different manufacturer would sound. Moreover, I wonder how much the transport influences the sound.

Still, to me, the overall sound is pretty darn impresssive.

[Tieftoener]

even though late on this, I felt the need to respond. I have a Toshiba XA2 HD DVD player along with a Panasonic BD80 that is designed for superior audio. Even though they both do an outstanding job for movies, neither will come close to my Naim CDX CD player. Granted this was a $5k player when released a long time ago but still holds it own when it comes to playing silver disks. It uses dual Burr Brown 20 bit dacs which might seem outdated with all the DVD players touting upper level DAC's. It seems too many look at specs on these thinking CD's will obviously sound better than a dedicted player. Truth is this isn't true. I wish it was since it could save me shelf space along with being able to sell my CDX but not the case. The CDX was designed as a highend player and built like a tank taking great lengths at reducing any type of noise with an extremely heavy and well shielded case. It will be a revelation to anyone out there in the market and room for a CD only player. It is easily worth the space. In fact, there are so many great older players on sale for a fraction of what they use to sell for.

I bet you will easily hear what I'm describing and know it is true since you had a Rega Planet CD player which was considered as a great bargain CD player able to compete with some CD players at much higher prices.

Good Luck!

Roberth

Hi Robert,

For what it's worth, I perform DVD/CD player mods on the side. I did an upgrade on a Pioneer DV47A a few years ago for one of my clients. It uses 3x Cirrus CS4392 DACs. I made several upgrades to the analog signal path, the main power supply, and the sub-regulated power supplies for the DACs, Video proc, Video DACs, and DSPs/decoders. I didn't even touch the clock. He was utterly stunned with results. And he made the claim that it was easily on par with his Naim CD player (did not specify a model). And of course, it performed incredibly well on high-res material as well (SACD/DVD-A). As is the case with nearly everything in audio, there were a few minor subjective pluses to each player. But, he felt they were so minor that he was going to be selling his Naim and taking a vacation and buying another couple toys with the money. If you have a good baseline (good digital and DAC components), it's easy to make it sing like a $5000 player. Even a "bargain" $100 player from Best Buy can be brought to very high SQ levels for a few hundred dollars worth in mods.

I am not discounting the qualify of your Naim, just pointing out that you can do just as good for a lot less $$.

In addition, I believe MrBoylan was pointing out that with good external DACs (using digital outs from 'bargain players") you can perform close to or as well as dedicated CD player levels... and he is absolutely correct. With a stable reclocker, good quality DACs, and a good analog output stage, they eat "high end dedicated CD players" for breakfast. There are too many high-end DACs to even bother mentioning some. Many of the exemplary ones are DIY projects, not for sale, unfortunately.

For the record, I mean no disrespect! Just food for thought...