We spent a good part of last year talking up the OPPO UDP-203 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray Player. Since the player started selling late last year, the company has been working on an slight improvement.
The newly released OPPO UDP-205 4K Ultra HD Audiophile Blu-ray Player does a lot of the same things as the UDP-203, but promises better audio than its predecessor. That's because it features a pair of HDMI outputs (HDMI 2.0 for UHD and HDMI 1.4 for audio), a 7.1-channel analog audio output, and a dedicated stereo output, as well as improved clock precision of the HDMI audio output and more power for the built-in headphone amplifier.
That stereo output is powered by its own ES9038PRO DAC chip, along with specially designed buffer and driver stages. It also has both XLR balanced and RCA single-ended connectors. It should also be noted that the headphone amplifier is connected to its own ESS SABRE PRO DAC as well, which boasts more power and a better performance.
Of course, the UDP-205 does play discs -- a lot of them. It supports 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray discs, as well as Blu-rays, 3D Blu-rays, DVDs, DVD-Audio discs, SACDs, CDs, and plenty of other formats. Other features include High Dynamic Range (HDR10) support, a USB DAC, coaxial and optical digital audio inputs, and an HDMI 2.0 input.
OPPO is also promising to make this player even more impressive; the UDP-205 will be eligible for Dolby Vision in the future, via a firmware upgrade.
As you can imagine, these upgraded features come at an upgraded price. While the UDP-203 is still available for $549, the UDP-205 is priced at $1,299. It's selling now.
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