[Norman Tracy]

A question for Oppo BDP-95 owners. My best friend now lives several states away and I am helping him with a setup question. He is the very proud owner of a Oppo BDP—95 and has just purchased active powered Dynaudio BM 6A mkII speakers. Yes I am jealous, but helping anyway.

The Dynaudio’s have XLR inputs (only) that are pinned out like the BDP-95’s dedicated stereo XLR outputs. We would like to direct connect the BDP-95 to the powered monitors using balanced XLR cables. So my question is when the BDP-95 is setup with variable audio outputs enabled can the level be controlled on the XLR outputs? The manual just says “On the BDP-95, the volume control only affects the analog audio output” with no references to the players having both XLR & RCA outs. Before I tell my friend to direct connect the BDP-95 to BM 6As I would like to hear from anyone who has actual experience that the volume control does in fact control the XLRs. The BM 6A mkII is bi-amped with 50w on the tweeter and 100w for the woofer so it would be really good not to send a full scale signal to them from the player because the designers were being purists and bypassed the volume circuit on the XLRs and that fact didn’t make it to the manual!

Thanks for your help.

[Russtafarian]

The powered Dynaudio's should have a volume control knob for each speaker.  Turn down the speaker volume before playing the Oppo, then adjust accordingly.

[srb]

The powered Dynaudio's should have a volume control knob for each speaker. Turn down the speaker volume before playing the Oppo, then adjust accordingly.

The Dynaudio BM 6A MkII does not have a volume control, but instead has a 3-position sensitivity trim switch on the rear panel (+4dB, 0dB, -10dB).  -10dB may not be enough attenuation at full input signal to prevent overdriving.
 
I would be surprised if the Oppo volume control didn't adjust both the balanced and single ended analog outputs, but it would be nice to have it verified for sure from a user .
 
Steve

[skunark]

Might google this some more.  I believe SACDs bypass the variable volume control. 

[macrojack]

I have something in my closet I would sell him for $75. The same thing is surely available elsewhere too. It is an NHT PVC (passive volume control). It has one pair of XLR inputs and one pair of XLR outputs.

Put the PVC in line with the gain down all the way. Then open it gradually until you have enough signal to test the volume control in the OPPO. If you need the PVC keep it and use it. If not sell it. Mine has never been used. I got it with the speakers and subs which I use with an active pre.

[BCRich1]

I have the Player; purchased earlier this year.  I could not get the volume to ramp up or down via either CD or SACD via both the Single Ended or XLR outputs, the Mute function did work for both.  I also looked through the Owners Manual was not very informative regarding Volume. My guess it is not enabled, maybe a firmware update might correct things. I would shoot Oppo a e-mail.

[FredT300B]

The critical issue is whether there would be any circumstance where the Oppo would default to full volume, sending its full output to the amps and potentially damaging the speakers. Two secondary questions I would ask are whether the available volume increments (0 to 100 in steps of 5) will provide enough flexibility, and whether the Oppo's output at low volume settings has audible noise. I have a BDP-95 connected to an Krell integrated amp via the XLR connectors. I checked the above senarios with the Krell's volume set to its full level.

The BDP-95's internal attenuator controls both the two-channel RCA and XLR outputs. When the BDP-95 is turned off, or even when it is unplugged and then reconnected, the unit remains at the previous volume setting (e.g. it doesn't default to full volume). The volume attenuator is active with CD's, SACD's and DVD's. I have never used the multi channel outputs, so I can't comment on the attenuator's effect on these. So the bottom line is that it's safe to connect the Oppo's two channel outputs directly to an amplifier.

I also checked the volume increments, and they are ok even for low level listening with 89dB spekers. I also put my ear to the speakers to listen for noise. There is no audible noise other than a faint hiss, even with the Krell's volums control set to its full setting.

Hope this helps 

[asset]

Hi, folks. I’m Norman’s friend Barry. I’m the one with the cool new stereo who was confused about volume control. I thank you all for your generous and expert help, especially Fred for thoroughly checking the critical issues on his own system. I’m now up and running and 100% happy with my purchase.

A couple of quick notes about my shiny new toy:

First, the sound quality is outstanding. I’d be talking through my hat if I tried to explain it technically. Since ACers know more about that side than I ever will or want to, I’ll simply refer you to the spec sheets on the Oppo (http://www.oppodigital.com/blu-ray-bdp-95/) and the Dynaudios (http://www.zzounds.com/item--DYNBM6AMKII).

Second, this is a very affordable rig. Because the speakers are self-powered, and the player provides all the disc playing, media streaming, and pre-amp functions I require, all there is to the whole system is speakers and player and two cables. The total cost is well under $2500. I paid exactly $2214.95, tax and shipping included. I think a college student could afford it.

In fact, if you or someone you know is shopping for a dormitory or apartment solution, this is really it. The near-field/mid-field soundstage and broad frequency response at even very low volumes makes it ideal for situations where the neighbors must not be bothered. Or, if the neighbors need a little bother, it’ll do that, too.

Thanks again! 

Barry

[Norman Tracy]

I wanted to add some details for anyone finding this thread looking for hard information, and some of my opinions because after all the Internet is 90% opinions.

First off let me echo Barry’s thanks to FredT300B for doing the hand’s on testing with his Oppo ’95, especially checking that it behaves after power loss to insure there are no inadvertent full scale outputs driving the very powerful speakers. With 100s of miles between Barry & I that was the info that gave us the confidence for Barry to just plug it in and fire it up. I will also say that BCRich1’s post is also correct, this seems to be a logical impossibility but it is not. Rather it is an example of when dealing with these very complex universal disk/media/streaming players being heads up on the setup menus and firmware revisions is everything. That is the point of programmability to change the behavior of the device in question. Oppo in particular is so focused on their involved technically savvy customers they give both options to have adjustable volume or not depending on if that feature is needed in your rig.

The following is heavily laced with my opinions. As context let me add that Barry is my best friend, a brother from another mother as the saying goes. Barry is a music and movie lover first with the equipment serving as a means to the end. I on the other hand while quick to plead my love of music and movies have to admit that for decades now I have immersed myself in the minutiae of the technology including working at one of my favorite hi-fi/home theater shops and starting my own hi-fi equipment and engineering company.

Those of us who are known as audiophiles are from time to time asked by friends for equipment suggestions or hear after the fact of a purchase of some mass market drek. In this case Barry did not ask my advice prior to purchasing the Dynaudio BM 6A Mk IIs to go with his Oppo BDP-95, and I am glad he didn’t! I say that because if he had asked how to best spend $2k on a system (he was already in for $1k on the ’95 leaving ~$1k for amp/speakers) I would have been thinking “too bad we can’t get him into something bi-amped, but that’s WAY over his budget” thus I fear I would gone down the well-trod paths of audiophile convention suggesting something like a $400-$500 integrated amp + $500-$600 passive speakers. As an example at Music Direct we find the Marantz PM5004  35 wpc @ 8 ohms amp for $449 and Focal 705V speakers for $495. Added to Barry’s Oppo BDP-95 this would have been a really nice system. But who want’s nice? We want this-thing-sounds-so-freaking-awesome-I-can’t-believe-my-ears-and-I-can’t-wait-to-hear-every-disk-in-my-collection. Thanks to simplification and bi-amplification Barry’s system is WAY past nice and deep into awesome territory.

The simplification part is twofold. First beginning in the 1970s when products like the Mark Levinson ML-2 and Audio Research SP-6 dropped tone controls while advancing the SOTA as audiophiles we have embraced circuit simplification as a means to the end of sonic purity. Leave out circuits like tone controls, multiple amplification stages, etc., and the result was a greater transparency to the music. In this system the entire separate pre/power amp is left out in favor of a variable output disk player and amps in the speaker boxes. Nix at least one set of interconnects and connector interfaces along with redundant line stages and power supplies. The second simplification is in box count. As a practicing electronics design engineer I can testify to the fact that a BIG chunk of a product’s cost is its casework. Metal boxes are expensive and nice metal boxes with fine finishes get really expensive. In contrast making the BM 6A Mk IIs’ slightly deeper to hold their amps has a small cost delta leaving money that would of gone to another box(es). And Dynaudio isn’t just saying “trust us we spent the extra parts budget on better caps”, no it’s right there in the first order specifications as each speaker has 150 watts of power (50 on tweeter 100 for the woofer) for a total system power of 300 watts. Try and get 150 wpc for $500 in an integrated amp. Some will argue that they have tried CD/DVD/SACD players direct into power amps and later got better results adding back the complexity of a pre-amp, typically citing better dynamics. This is where implementations count. So many disk players have wimpy output stages based on $0.15 op-amps that a pre-amp acting as a buffer stage becomes a vital ingredient. But in this specific case we are using the Oppo BDP-95 where extra resources have been lavished on its DAC, analog, and power supply stages.

Now let’s talk bi-amplification. After a few years with my system anchored by a DEQX I am a bi/tri-amplification bigot. Yes it is typically expensive to implement and Barry’s budget would not even cover a used DEQX much less the four channels of amplification plus suitable speakers. But by leveraging the economies of scale the pro-audio market gives Dynaudio with the BM 6A Mk IIs we leap over the “would my tweeter sound better with an upgrade to a $50 cap in the crossover” issue to the sonic nirvana of power amps direct driving one driver per amp channel with reduced bandwidth demands on those amps that come from crossovers upstream of the amps. And speaking of amplifiers and crossovers with this architecture the complete amp/crossover/speaker system is designed by the engineers at Dynaudio to work together as a closed system. Relieved of the requirement to make the individual elements work across a wide range of partnered gear the subsystems can be optimized for the exact requirements of the BM 6A Mk IIs. I have to throttle back here lest I take another two pages listing out all the advantages of bi-amplification (pleased to go there if anyone is interested).

Above I warned ‘opinions ahead’ so I will wrap up with an opinion and a couple of facts.

In my opinion the continued resistance among audiophiles to bi/tri-amplified system architectures is grounded in tradition, culture, and marketing; NOT the engineering that leads to the most musically satisfying result. Adherence to the passive speaker architecture results in pursuing heroic over-engineering efforts to improve performance with poor cost benefits ratios while ignoring or dismissing the benefits to be had going bi/tri-amplified.

The first fact is we see that given the very tasty Oppo BDP-95 source and ~$1k to spend on amp/speakers going with traditional passive speaker architecture yields a 70 watt system with those watts being squeezed through the lossy elements of a passive crossover whereas going to the pro-audio side yielded a 300 watt system with the amps direct coupled to the drivers yielding both transparency and very wide dynamic range.

Another fact is the tradeoffs in the number and types of sources serviced when comparing the example traditional Oppo-Marantz-Focal (passive speakers) system to the Oppo-Dynaudio (active speakers) systems. In the example passive system the Marantz integrated amp has 5 inputs including phono allowing connectivity to the user’s existing or future analog centric sources. The Oppo BDP-95 source Dynaudio BM 6A Mk IIs active speaker system has zero analog inputs to service traditional sources. Before we rush to dismiss the BDP-95/BM 6A as a one trick pony let us consider the new media inputs it will service. On the disk side it plays Blu-ray, (including Dolby TrueHD, DTS-HD Master Audio), DVD, CD, SACD, DVD-A, HDCD, and music files burned to CD/DVD ROM. With both USB & E-SATA inputs it plays music files from sticks and disks. And via Ethernet it streams content from Netflix, Pandora, et.al.. Barry and I are perfect examples of users whose needs fit the two examples. I am such an equipment junkie I have many analog and digital sources to accommodate so no matter how I admire the BDP-95/BM 6A system I need more inputs. In contrast Barry lives a more streamlined life and his software is biased towards digital disks and Internet streaming so the BDP-95/BM 6A is literally a perfect fit.

Enjoy it my brother, ‘ya done good!

[asset]

What he said!

[hddoc]

Is the volume control on the BDP-95 in the analog domain or is it digital?

If the latter, would there not be the potential for a loss of resolution as the volume is reduced?