OPPO BDP-83 v Cambridge Azur 650BD?

Hi there

Am based in the UK and an I'm the market for a universal player...would have got a BDP-83 a while back, but Oppo decided against marketing them in Europe for some reason - although you can apprarently get 'modified' versions shipped from the US.

So my question - how does the modified BDP-83 compare to the Azur 650BD - the latter seems to be getting some good reviews at the mo?

Specifically, what is the BD, DVD-A and SACD playback like with each of these?

Thanks!

 

Just a tip - The 650BD is actually manufactured by Oppo's parent company, and is basically the Oppo BDP-80 in a different exterior packaging. For this reason, it is pointless to pay double for the same player, more than the BDP-83, and almost all the way to the BDP-83SE which is an audiophile CD player rated to compete with units in the $2-3k+ price range.

If it's between a "real" Oppo and this re-badged Cambridge - get the real one. I just took delivery on mine here a couple weeks ago and it is the finest disc player I have ever owned...even the packaging is a thing of beauty.

I am using mine for audio only right now with BD to follow when I get my new hoime theater room together later this summer. So far with CD and SACD - this thing is in another league for sound quality, build quality...everything.

I can hardly wait to get this going with DVD and espeically BD. Apparently it even makes average DVDs look spectacular....

Cheers!

VP

 

I believe the Cambridge Audio Azur 650D is a clone of the Oppo BDP-80 with perhaps some changes in analog audio output. I believe both players are made in China by Winbase Electronics, an Oppo affiliate and manufacturer of players for Oppo, BBK, Cambridge Audio and a few others. I would put the chances that Cambridge Audio owns a facility that manufacturers this player at approximately zero. Similarities compared to the Oppo BDP-83 primarily will be fact both use a MediaTek MT8520 SoC for decoding of the various formats. The biggest difference will be the Oppo BDP-83 uses Anchor Bay ABT2010 for scaling and that primarily means better DVD-V performance compared to the Azur 650BD. If someone has evidence that Cambridge is making this player in another Chinese facility and the design is in fact separate from the Oppo design, please let us know. I can find no information anywhere on this player that makes be believe it is based on anything other than the Oppo BDP-80, what differences exist if any can probably be found if I looked a little harder.

I have both the Oppo BDP-80 and BDP-83 and other than DVD-V find no difference in performance but I use HDMI for audio processing in my main system and my second system uses modest Energy Take 5 Classic 5.1 speakers with analog audio. If Cambridge has upgraded the analog audio section of the BDP-80 with the Azur 650BD, that could make some differences with high end systems using analog audio.

Chris

 

One thing though, the BDP-83 SE is a huge improvement over the stock BDP-83 for analog output, making SACD and DVD-A playback much better.

I have not heard of a similar upgrade for the Cambridge. It may be possible that there are modders in the UK who are upgrading the Cambridge.

Just another consideration to toss into your deliberations...

 

Now that the BDP-80 has been discontinued by Oppo, will the Cambridge Audio Azure 650BD clone also be discontinued?

 

If Cambridge is selling them, they'll keep producing them. Oppo is the supplier, Cambridge is the end customer.

 

The same part(s) that prevents the OPPO players from being produced going forward is needed by the Cambridge as well.

 

Ah. My guess is that the particular Mediatek chipset that the Oppo and Cambridge are based on has been discontinued.

 

That's my understanding - from a distance.

 

I mentioned this in other threads but if they are identical why won't the Oppo play all regions of DVD's like the Cambridge? There must be something different inside allowing the 650 BD to play the DVD's from other parts of the world?

 

Sure that's a difference. But you realize the difference between a player that can play all-region discs vs. one that cannot is often as simple as a 4-digit remote code? That's not to suggest this particular OPPO can be made region free in such a manner, rather that it doesn't take some huge difference in parts or design.

 

Right, I just thought it should be pointed out that there was a difference in the discs they played, the OPPO is the better bang for the buck, no doubting that.

The way the term clone was being used it made it sound like they both had the same capabilities.

 

What I meant is that they had the same hardware. Same boards and drive mechanism. Essentially (but not completely), the Cambridge Audio unit was a rebadged Oppo BDP-80. The differences are one tiny little additional board in back for the Cambridge Audio remote and region unlocking (probably just a firmware setting), as well as cosmetic differences such as front panel layout, silkscreening the Cambridge Audio logo on the boards, and probably a few graphics on the on screen display.

 

This is what Cambridge had to say on the topic: http://www.stereophile.com/solidpreamps/music_in_the_round_43/index4.html

 

Interesting...