Review: Oppo UDP-205 4K UHD Player

Oppo UDP-205 4K UHD Player

Having snatched up one of the last UDP-203 players just before Oppo announced that they would make a final batch, I also put my name down for one of the final batches of 205 players. Well I was one of the lucky ones to get their delivery from the first of the final batches.

Build Quality and Electronics

Weighing in at 22 lbs, compared to 9.5 lbs for its smaller sister the UDP 203, this player is extremely well built, rigid and like a tank. The level of external finish is first rate as are the quality of the upgraded audio electronics and printed circuit boards that support the enhanced audio performance of this model.

Oppo UDP-205 Internal View

The new double layered chassis is almost twice as high as the 203 in order to accomodate the new audio printed circuit boards and associated analog power supply that drives all the audio circuitry in order to minimize noise from switched mode supplies. This new analog supply also uses a toroidal transformer in order to reduce the radiation of magnetic fields that could induce hum into the sensitive analog audio circuitry. The switch mode power supply that drives the remaining video electronics and front panel controls and display has been enclosed in a metal screen in order to reduce its RFI radiation into any circuitry.

Video Quality

The video performance of this player is identical to that of its sister UDP 203. Both players use identical video processing hardware, firmware and switched mode power supplies. So this is not surprising. Both models provide outstanding video performance for SD, HD, 4K and 3D.  Having excellent up-conversion from HD to 4K or down conversion from 4K to HD. Even the up-conversion from SD is acceptable. The range of user options to adjust video levels, HDMI output and input, screen size and closed captioning etc. are identical to the UDP 203.

With the significant improvements in the HDR to SDR conversion, addition of DV with its options and various widescreen presets, the only option that is missing is HDR10+ support. It will be very interesting to see if HDR10+ support will/can be added if it becomes a popular disc standard.

Audio Quality

That is what this model is all about; audio. It is designed and built to provide the very best audio performance and features supporting all disc and virtually all file audio formats, being recently upgraded to play both MQA discs and streaming.  At its price point, and probably three times its price point, this players audio performance is difficult if not impossible to beat or equal.

The rear LHS top analog board supports the 7.1 phono outputs while the RHS board drives both the balanced and unbalanced additional stereo outputs. Both boards each use there own eight channel dedicated ES9038PRO DAC chip. The high quality dedicated stereo only board may be configured to provide its left and right outputs for both stereo playback and multichannel sound. Thereby preserving its exceptional audio quality for the main left and right channels for all audio sources.

The UDP-205 features a high-stability, high-precision HDMI clock and a special HDMI audio jitter reduction circuit. This unique design significantly reduces jitter and eliminates timing errors, allowing you to enjoy your music with increased accuracy when you use the audio-only HDMI output port for connecting the audio signal. PCM and DSD signals rely on the HDMI clock directly, so the HDMI audio jitter reduction circuitry can improve the sound quality of PCM and DSD audio. For compressed bitstream audio, it helps to ensure error-free transmission, and may improve the audio performance depending on whether the audio decoder in the A/V processor or receiver uses a synchronous or asynchronous clock scheme.

To round of the 205’s audio support it provides a headphone amplifier with front outlet and volume control, and rear optical, coaxial and USB DAC digital audio inputs. The latter of which now supports streaming MQA audio. (with required USB DAC firmware upgrade).

The audio formats supported by the player include:

• Dolby TrueHD
• DTS-HD Master Audio
• Dolby Atmos -bit stream
• DTS:X – bit stream
• DVDA
• DSD – stereo or multi-channel
• PCM – 192Khz, 24bit
• MQA
• Lossless audio decoding of:
  • AIFF
  • WAV
  • ALAC
  • APE
  • FLAC
  • MQA

The 205 DAC filter menu does provide two additional DAC filters, and uses a more technical description as to the type of filter characteristic that they each are. Five of which I suspect are identical to those used in the 203:

• Brick Wall
• Corrected Mini Phase Fast
• Apodizing Fast
• Mini Phase Slow
• Mini Phase Fast (default)
• Linear Phase Slow
• Linear Phase Fast

I found the audible differences between these filter characteristics quite subtle and I will let you, the user, determine what you feel sounds the best. Trying to put the differences into words, would in my opinion, be a waste of words. Ultimately I settled on using Linear Phase Fast.

For those wanting a lot more technical detail on the players audio, DAC and filter performances please click on this link. This three part article provides plenty of detail and measurement graphs of the entire audio peformnce of all aspects of the player without getting into the technical weeds. It is very unbiased and clear in its presentation of the players truly outstanding and state of the art audio performance.

Other Features

Listing everything in the manual here would be pointless so here are a few of the more salient features:

All of Oppo’s efforts went into playing discs and decoding streamed video and audio files to the highest of standards, so there is no support for internet applications as in earlier models except for Roon.

With two rear USB3 ports, a front USB2 port, wireless 802.11ac support and a wired and wireless GigE network, access to media files stored on thumb drives, PC’s and home servers is fully supported using SMB, NFS and DLNA.

Control via the Apple/Android App, serial RS 232, IR, IP and Control4 makes integrating the player into a central media control system a delight. Especially as these players all use the same remote control and serial control/IP codes and protocols.

With dual HDMI outputs the dedicated audio only HDMI output can be used in Pure Audio mode. This allows most video circuitry and the display to be turned off in order to minimize any digital interference.

For those using Oppo’s iPAD application it allows you access to all the menu functions without putting the menu on screen. This is excellent for those of you who want to adjust HDR to SDR conversion and various video and audio parameters in real time without the menu becoming a distraction.

Can you Hear The Difference?

When compared to all my other players, the shortest answer to this question is yes, even my Denon A100 and A5900 using Denon Link 3 for jitter reduction. Using either the HDMI connection or the stereo analog outputs, the differences are immediately obvious. The imaging was more stable, the top end more refined and open and the bass was slightly tighter. The sound was astonishingly “clean” with no hint of coloration to any part of the spectrum. Some listeners might even think it “sterile” in its total lack of coloration. Simply providing the listener with a perfect rendition of what is on the disc. This was true whether it was a CD, SACD or DVDA. I preferred the analog output despite the additional AtoD conversion.

I did stream several FLAC, FLAC/MQA and DSF files using the network and a thumb drive. The on-screen network and music GUI’s were fairly easy to navigate but using the Oppo app on my iPAD was definitely easier and it gives you access to all the players menu features, PLUS you do not need to have your display on in order to manage and play all your audio files. I had no problems with decoding any file type, including multi-channel DSF. All file types sounded excellent but I did not spend too much time reviewing the quality as this is not how I listen to my music, I use physical media for 99% of my listening. Using the same digital processing and DAC’s etc. streamed data should sound just as good as physical media, depending upon the original source encoding.

The 205 audible improvements are NOT huge differences and you need a listening environment, amplifier and speakers that can resolve them. We are at the very pinnacle of audio performance here so I suspect that for most users, the Oppo UDP-203’s audio performance will meet all their requirements. For those of us searching for the very best, the 205 delivers.

Latest Firmware Update

The latest firmware version UDP20X-60-0625 includes the following updates:

1. Added the Dolby Vision “Player-led processing” mode for compatibility with recent Sony Dolby Vision TVs and firmware updates.
2. Added the “Dolby Vision” mode under the HDR Setting menu, which allows the player to convert the output to Dolby Vision when possible.
3. Added the “Dolby Vision Processing” setting under the HDR Setting menu. This setting allows customers to choose whether Dolby Vision processing is handled mainly by the TV or the UDP-20x player.
4. Added MQA support via the USB DAC In for the UDP-205 players. (More info can be found in the “USB DAC Firmware” section on the UDP-205 support page.)
5. Added the “Up-Sample DAC Input” setting under the Audio Processing menu for the UDP-205.

For a full list of all firmware versions and their associated changes click here.

With the recently improved mapping of 4K HDR signals to SDR, MQA streaming decoding, and DV processing options this player now provides the very best of what can be achieved in the combined worlds of audio and video playback.

Click here for more details on the players jitter reduction technology.

Other Related information:

• Review: Oppo UDP-203 4K UHD Player
• See here for the first in a three part technical review of the UDP-205’s audio performance
• Click here for an overall technical review of the Oppo UDP-205