OPPO 980 h dvd mod?

QUESTION: In order to benefit from the 980's excellent sound quality, do you need to use the analogue outs?

That is, if I use the 980 in my HT where I use optical out to the A/V receiver (not hdmi), would I really benefit from the 980s sonic improvement over my old 970?

Thx
Art

Artmaltman
Most likely not, the best thing is the two outputs your are skipping which is the HDMI and the ANalogs, a standard optical out will more or less probably sound like the same transport.. However it will give you better picture, much better features like it will memorize your last 10 dvd movies, better adjustments, and faster read times over the old model. For the price its still worth a shot.

For those of you that love the 980 sound - did you use it straight out of the box, analog stereo into your audiophile system? Or did you make any changes to the settings prior to using it?
Thx
Art

I used it straight out of the box.

Kal, the most recent column that I see on that Stereophile site is March 2008. I guess we'll need to wait in suspense?
Art