After a couple of years after release of Oppo BDP-105D, the model was updated up to UPD-205. It was initially known that the device would be tooled for 4k, and in general it would not bring anything new in the rest. And it turned out that way. After primary inspection of the analog part, my opinion proved true. It remained practically the same. Nominal values of elements were changed a little, but on the whole the circuit design is similar. There are deficiencies of course, as usual. There is space where to apply efforts.



The sounding in style of Oppo is somewhat sharp and unnatural. Which I absolutely don’t like both with 105 in original version and with 205.

After deeper analysis, more significant deficiencies were found which in general should not have been done at the stage of designing.

In the UPD-205, the DAC Sabre ES9038 is installed, it is more modern than the one installed in the BDP-105 (Sabre ES9018), but it is not necessarily better. The hardware components, in my opinion, are somewhat more interesting than those in the BDP-105.

And here is what was done in the end in the analog part of the player:

1. The low-frequency filter was re-calculated (it filters the analog part against foreign noises and additional sounds).
2. Power supply of all units was improved.
3. Electrolytic condensers were removed from the signal circuit.
4. Other insignificant improvements.

And what came out in the end. The sounding has become more natural and analog, the annoying brightness has disappeared. On the whole, with small investment of money we get a good gain in the quality of sound.

Author: Timur Sheykhov