Pre-emphasis and OPPO Blu-ray Players

My Oppo BDP-80 does not recognize certain pre-emphasis CD's. For example, my black triangle Abbey Road and Japan for US Billy Joel The Stranger (35DP-2 in the matrix). They both play extremely bright but play fine on my Pioneer Elite player.

Has anyone tried the BDP-95 with those CD's, or other 35DP discs? Before I buy this player, I would like to know if it will de-emphasize the older discs.

Thanks.

 

Anyone?

 

I have a few PE CDs, however I'm not sure if I have a reference player on-hand that I know for sure decodes them correctly. So, I'm not sure how much extra treble is appropriate to listen for.

I'll try to do some experimenting this weekend.

 

Thank you Sam. You have a good ear....so you will know.

 

So far, my tests are inconclusive. The only CD that I have within arm's reach that I know for sure has the pre-emphasis flag is Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark "Architecture & Morality". This CD doesn't sound so great to begin with, but the highs don't seem abnormally bright.

I've sent a message to OPPO engineering to get some more definitive answers.

 

It's a curve starting at 1k. At 4k it's roughly +5db. At 20k it's nearly +10db.

At lot, in other words.

 

There's a good 2006 discussion about how to compensate for pre-emphasis on this forum at this link.

I'm surprised Oppo let this go -- the chips are out there that will automatically detect and fix this.

 

Abbey Road is known to be problematic. My various players don't have a problem with it, but I know many computers don't decode it properly. (Its PE flag is set differently than most CDs, I believe.)

 

Some discs did not set the PE flag in the sub-codes and/or TOC properly.

We started a PE list in this thread:
http://www.stevehoffman.tv/forums/showthread.php?t=121188

and Forum member Lazlo Nibble started a Wiki with the info:
http://www.studio-nibble.com/cd/index.php?title=Pre-Emphasis_(release_list)

 

In measurements of an earlier Oppo:

http://www.stereophile.com/content/oppo-dv-970hd-universal-player-measurements

it is stated that: The CD playback response with a pre-emphasized CD was identical to that with a normal CD and is not shown. Sadly, the 8x-series was not measured, just reviewed as part of Kal Rubinson's Music In The Round section of the magazine.

 

OPPO confirmed that the BDP-93/95 handle the pre-emphasis flag properly, via a filter in the DSP.

Apparently this can be tested with one of the Stereophile test CDs. I don't have one, but I may try to acquire one.

 

Thanks Sam.

The Oppo BDP-80 handles pre-emphasis for "some" cd's but not all. I think it depends on where the pre-emphasis flag is located. As mentioned above, when the pre-emphasis flag is in the subcode, it does not recognize the disc as having pre-emphasis (ie Abbey Road BT) EAC also does not detect it.

It does decode Wish You Were Here (35DP) with no issue and EAC also detects the pre-emphasis flag with Wish You Were Here. (2 track version)

My Pioneer plays both with no issue, however the Oppo BDP-80 does not unfortunately.

It would be nice to know for sure that the 95 plays both types of pre-emphasis CD's.

 

I think I could test Abby Road BT... do you know of other discs that have the flag in the subcode?

 

Besides Abbey Road - BT, here are a few more early CD's that the Oppo BDP-80 does not recognize the PE flag in the subcode.

Michael Jackson - Thriller (Japan for US, EK 38112, 358p-11 in the matrix)
Toto - IV (Japan for US, CK 37728, 35DP-12 in the matrix)
Bill Joel - The Stranger (Japan for US, CK 34887, 35DP-2 in the matrix)

 

I do have this one... but how to tell if the player does not recognize? It just sounds brighter than normal?

 

Yes, .....very bright.


Per Foobar above:
"It's a curve starting at 1k. At 4k it's roughly +5db. At 20k it's nearly +10db. "

 

Is that why Rush 2112 from MFSL sounds so bright?

 

I don't believe any of the MFSL CD's (gold or silver) used pre-emphasis. 2112 came out in November, 1993.....so there's no chance it used PE.

Early CD's used it....circa 1982, 1983 or so.

 

Is there a way to use dBPoweramp to force embed the pre-emphasis EQ to a resulting output on burned CD?

In other words, can I make my own version of the disc with the appropriate filters already applied?

 

My BDP-83SE does not decode the Abbey Road BT properly. My Sony DVP-S7000 does, plus it sounds better on all redbook discs.

 

Not with dbPoweramp, but there are a few other workarounds:
http://www.head-fi.org/forum/thread/423506/ripping-cds-that-have-pre-emphasis

 

Thank you.

I have successfully been able to force pre-emphasis on the BT Abbey Road, and Thriller CDEPC 85930 (35P8-11 matrix Japan for Europe). Both sounded very bright via the analog outputs of the BDP-95, and via digital out, decoded by my processor. After the fix, both recordings sound "right".

I will work with OPPO to see if the players can be forced to recognize PE in the subcode. More to come in a couple of weeks.

I wish there was a way to ID discs that have PE in the subcode

 

Thanks Sam for following up. I would love to have my two BDP-80's fixed to recognize the sub-coded discs.

 

I've very interested in this topic, so please keep us updated. Thanks!

 

How do we determine PE flag in the Subcode? Apparently standard CDPs can recognize, but PC drives and some DVD players cannot. I'm wondering how to ID these discs.

I have read Lazlo's PE Wiki, but it is not clear to me.