Dilemma: Emotiva ERC-1 v. Oppo BDP-80

[psychotropic]

No no, it's not as simple as that. I know the Emotiva would kick the ass of the Oppo in terms of audio and so on. This is a slightly more complex dilemma.

My andy and ungle (or aunt and uncle, if you're not mallu) are coming down from New York in August. Now I know and love them enough to ask them to bring down something for me. All this while it was going to be the Oppo BDP-80. I needed a BD player with analog outs, and the Oppo seemed like the best option on a budget. And I would finally do justice to my HD Ready plasma.

But then all of a sudden these Emotiva guys seem to have dropped the price of the Emotiva ERC-1 CD player to 359 dollars and free shipping which amounts to roughly 16,500 bucks. By all accounts the ERC-1 for 16,500 sounds like a steal on wheels.

Now the dilemma is multi-faceted. If I went in for the Emotiva, my video section would have continued its record of not getting any love for a long time. Whereas my audio setup has received constant tinkering and swapping and new components. And I would still not have started on my HD journey.

If I went in for the Oppo I would be losing out on what sounds like a pretty serious audiophile steal.

And yes, I need analog outs on my video source, since my cheapo philips 'home theater' (chuckle) takes only analog ins and has no decoding capabilities.

What do I do?? 10 points for useful answers. 10 extra points for funny answers. 100 points in advance for Suri.

 

[subhash]

If its 2 channel listening that u are looking to upgrade then i doubt that there wud be anything close to the ERC-1 @ abt 17K with regard to CDP

whereas if u want to get going with HD Audio and Video then am sure it shud be the OPPO BDP ,but it will be no where close to a stand alone cdp for stereo ,but then HD audio is another experience all together---u will no doubt enjoy

IMO get both and enjoy both worlds at its best :yahoo:

 

[unleash_me]

If I went in for the Oppo I would be losing out on what sounds like a pretty serious audiophile steal.

Here's an option worth considering ModWright Oppo BDP-83 or BDP-83SE This should take away your audio related concerns!

I know that, you know and love them enough to ask them to bring down something for you. So it might be worth trying your luck - provided your/their pockets are deep enough?!

 

[dillihifi]

Go for the OPPO right now and enjoy your HD ready plasma you will not regret it. Further you can always order near to chirstmas it will be cheaper

 

[thevortex]

Any particular reason why your Hifi system could not or should not become your movie system as well?

I watch all my movies on 2 channels and I do watch quite a few . For sure the movies would sound better on your 2 channels than a budget 5.1 channel HT system.

 

[asliarun]

Personally speaking, I find that music has a great deal of repeat value. Movies on the other hand do not have repeat value for me. Even a really really good movie - I will probably watch it again after a few months or a year.

A good song however is something that is listenable practically every day or even multiple times a day.

Based on this fact, I would consider a BD player a waste unless you can rent BDs from BigFlix or something. Plus, HD TV is coming, slowly but surely, so you WILL be able to see high definition content on your television. However, buying BD movies and/or making a movie collection does not make any sense to me. I don't mean to upset anybody - I am only expressing my personal taste.

So, my long winded answer to you - if you are an avid movie buff and see yourself with a movie collection that you will watch again and again, the Oppo probably makes more sense. However, if you see yourself down the road with a predominant music collection, and if you see yourself only renting movies and watching cable TV etc, a good CD player probably makes more sense.

One more thing - BD players and DVD players are fast becoming obsolete. The future is a Roku like internet device that will stream HD content to you like movies on demand on a subscription basis. Netflix has already moved on to this kind of a delivery model - and it will become popular in India very soon as well, when decent internet bandwidth become ubiquitous. By the way, Logitech will soon launch a Google TV device.

In fact, even music is fast heading towards this direction. If you ignore the DAC aspect, think about it, a solid state device like a device that uses Flash memory to store digital content is so much superior to a electro-mechanical CD player with all its moving components.

 

[suri]

hi psychotropic,

real men- the good ones - the ones who make a difference -

BBC News - Hitler memorabilia 'attracts young Indians'

do not sit and watch TV (even HD plasma)

that is abject surrender -

 

[esanthosh]

Get ERC-1

1. It's a steal now @ the offer price (Vs Oppo BDP-80 + Region Free Mod + BR media)
2. Could make a difference once you upgrade the speakers (Post S-520 sale)
3. Helps me since you'll compare 63SE and ERC-1

 

[malvai]

Go for the OPPO right now and enjoy your HD ready plasma you will not regret it. Further you can always order near to chirstmas it will be cheaper

i'd second this!

 

[malvai]

hi psychotropic,

real men- the good ones - the ones who make a difference -

BBC News - Hitler memorabilia 'attracts young Indians'

do not sit and watch TV (even HD plasma)

that is abject surrender -

on second thoughts... i second THIS!

 

[psychotropic]

@subhash - it's your tip-off that created this dilemma, and i definitely can't afford both, but ten points to you anyways

@unlesh_me - hehe, the pockets are going to be mine, and they definitely aren't deep enough for that. and anyway, currently due to space/configuration issues my audio and video setup are in different locations.

@dillhifi - this is exactly what the video half of my brain is arguing! but after christmas my andy and ungle won't be coming down soon.

@thevortex - space/logistics issues. and i do prefer cheapie 5.1 to good quality 2-channel sound for movies. just the 'surround' aspect adds another dimension for me which i enjoy, and when it comes to film sound, i am nowhere as finicky as I am about the quality as when it comes to music

@asliarun - and the music side of my brain completely agrees with what you're sayign in the first couple of paragraphs. I don't buy too many movies, and almost never watch a movie twice, but i do watch tons of movies, rented, borrowed etc.,

@suri - yeah this is an interesting and bizarre trend. we truly are a strange country!

@esanthosh - yup, i've factored in these aspects. the slight tilt i have now is towards the Emotiva.

@malvai - what i said to dillihifi

okay 10 points to everyone and as promised a 100 points to suri, so suri is in the lead. Do keep the thoughts coming, i am still looking for that one clinching argument, the tipping point, that will decide in favour of one over the other.

 

[suri]

@subhash - it's your tip-off that created this dilemma, and i definitely can't afford both, but ten points to you anyways

@unlesh_me - hehe, the pockets are going to be mine, and they definitely aren't deep enough for that. and anyway, currently due to space/configuration issues my audio and video setup are in different locations.

@dillhifi - this is exactly what the video half of my brain is arguing! but after christmas my andy and ungle won't be coming down soon.

@thevortex - space/logistics issues. and i do prefer cheapie 5.1 to good quality 2-channel sound for movies. just the 'surround' aspect adds another dimension for me which i enjoy, and when it comes to film sound, i am nowhere as finicky as I am about the quality as when it comes to music

@asliarun - and the music side of my brain completely agrees with what you're sayign in the first couple of paragraphs. I don't buy too many movies, and almost never watch a movie twice, but i do watch tons of movies, rented, borrowed etc.,

@suri - yeah this is an interesting and bizarre trend. we truly are a strange country!

@esanthosh - yup, i've factored in these aspects. the slight tilt i have now is towards the Emotiva.

@malvai - what i said to dillihifi

okay 10 points to everyone and as promised a 100 points to suri, so suri is in the lead. Do keep the thoughts coming, i am still looking for that one clinching argument, the tipping point, that will decide in favour of one over the other.

then, psychotropic -

get the emotiva -

and over a period of time - get a PS3 slim (it has wifi - and you can access the WWW on your HD plasma).

regds
suri

 

[suprateep]

then, psychotropic -

get the emotiva -

and over a period of time - get a PS3 slim (it has wifi - and you can access the WWW on your HD plasma).

regds
suri

i second that. ps3 is not that bad plus an ocassinal game, streaming and the works. guess getting a emotive is the best deal i guess.

 

[rallynut]

psycho,..now,any more headbanging/hairpulling reg this and i'll have to assume that ur taking part of ur forum handle a little too seriously !!!video content is goin to go the HD/streaming way for sure,and as mentioned,the only infrastructural requirement is bandwidth.its gonna happen,whether we like it or not.our wireless/media convergent world is taking shape as we speak,..get the emotiva!!!!cheers

 

[thekinge]

then, psychotropic -

get the emotiva -

and over a period of time - get a PS3 slim (it has wifi - and you can access the WWW on your HD plasma).

regds
suri

Couldn't agree more. Exactly my setup except that mine is a PS3 "Fat" and even it has wifi support. Alternatively psychotropic, you can buy my Marantz Cd 6003 which will be put up for sale very soon in HFV

Btw psychotropic, this is an unfair competition - why 100 points in advance for suri?

 

[gobble]

hi psychotropic,

real men- the good ones - the ones who make a difference -

BBC News - Hitler memorabilia 'attracts young Indians'

do not sit and watch TV (even HD plasma)

that is abject surrender -

Oh! That's old propaganda being recycled time and again! Its freakonomics or plain fraud article. How many Hitler T-shirts have you seen in the last 10 years? I have been scanning bookshops regularly since decades , rarely saw Mein-Kampf stocked for sale.

This is a long winded game being played. :lol:

Cheers

 

[venkatcr]

Build an HTPC with a Asus sound card, a Radeon 5450 graphics card, and a 100$ Blu-Ray player, and you have both Emotiva and BD-80 in one box, and you have an advanced media player to boot. If you choose the parts carefully, it takes about 4 hours to put it together. And the results are fabulous. I just completed building mine

Your Ungle and Ayndty could get you the player.

Cheers

 

[suri]

Your Ungle and Aunty could get you the player

the correct (malayalam) pronunciation is-

"Ayndty"

cheers

 

[venkatcr]

Post edited. Thanks Suri. If someone curses me, I shall happily make you an equal partner.

Cheers

 

[anm]

@psycho - I think everything I wanted to say has already been said. Since there is 3D stuff coming soon, maybe you would like to get a 3D enabled bdp. I guess that either oppo 83 is going to get upgraded, or a new version would come up, making older version cheaper. Christmas would indeed be the time for that.

@venkat, are you done with both the video and audio pcs?

Build an HTPC with a Asus sound card, a Radeon 5450 graphics card, and a 100$ Blu-Ray player, and you have both Emotiva and BD-80 in one box, and you have an advanced media player to boot. If you choose the parts carefully, it takes about 4 hours to put it together. And the results are fabulous. I just completed building mine

Your Ungle and Ayndty could get you the player.

Cheers