Oppo BDP-95 sounds GREAT?

Bought the Shunyata Venom 3 tonight. Looking forward to hearing it when it arrives.

I'm starting to come to some opinions on the 95; I assume it's close to burned in at 3 weeks.

On hi-res:

+: Tremendous soundstaging, & very nice tonally on male vocals.

- Not the best detailing, a bit bright (though at a bit higher frequency than most bright players; I'd sat the brightness starts at around 3 k), & very unforgiving of bad mastering.

I have a suspicion that when my finances improve, I'll be looking into the mod companies offerings.

On cd: Not as good as my 3x more expensive 90's system (Esoteric P-10->Illuminati->PS Audio SL3 but surprisingly close.

Video: tremendous picture into my old Sony 480o Wega CRY. Best dvd picture I've ever seen in my home

Performance/price ratio: Pretty amazing

I am aware it may still burn in a bit more; but since I', hearing what other users have also written, I suspect we're getting close. I do also plan to play a bit more with cabling; I've been using a set of 90's Tara Analog standard (the same brand & model of cable I use on my cd front end); but due to a repair I no longer am able to view the directionality of this specific cable.

I read somewhere that even using the HDMI for video (which I'm currently not) negatively impacts the sound. I hope that isn't true, as someday I'll likely buy a 21st century television!

Hi! did you set the FL/FR option( instead of down mix) out put in the Audio setup to take advantage of the Quad dac's (each stereo channel) for 2 channel playback ? You can use this for the dedicated rca stereo outs as well as the xlr's, also new cables would be a wise choice indeed rca/xlr and power cable. To bypass any video output use the pure direct button located near the top of the remote, it should take care of any video being out put during music play back.And just wait till your 95 hits 500+ hrs of playback before considering any mods!

Thank you much for the tips! I'll need to check on the FL/FR; all other settings are as you suggest.

Thanks again for the info on FL/FR VS Downmix. I did have it set for downmix. I re-read the owner's manual, & that portion is very poorly written. I still don't really understand what Oppo is saying there (I did understand your post though), & suspect I perceived that setting as focusing on 5.1 movie audio; with the assumption I needed to enable downmix for stereo playback. While I am also using the player for video, I only have 2 speakers (& don't expect that to change).

I also have a question on the burn-in, as I couldn't get a straight answer on this when I called Oppo.

When we talk about burn in, are we referencing:

1. Hours plugged into the wall
2. Hours in power up mode as opposed to standby
or
3. Hours playing a signal

Also, is standby sufficient to keep the unit warmed up for peak audio performance, or is leaving it in full powered on mode (as I have been doing) necessary?