CUSTOM INSTALLATION HOW-TO

SETUP

I used two different setups to test the BDP-93. For the first, I ran a cable from the player’s HDMI 1 port to a Panasonic TC-P50VT25 3D TV and selected Video Only in the HDMI Options menu. (Of the player’s two HDMI ports, only HDMI 1 benefits from its Marvell QDEO video processing.) I then connected a second HDMI cable from the player’s HDMI 2 port to my preamp/processor to handle the audio when watching 3D movies.

For my second setup, I pulled out the second HDMI cable and used the player’s analog audio outputs to feed signals to my pre/pro’s 6-channel analog audio input. The BDP-93’s flexible speaker setup menu lets you select large, small, or none for each channel when the analog output is used, and it also gives you the option to set the crossover in 20-Hz increments from 40 to 80 Hz; 10-Hz increments from 80 to 120 Hz; and 50-Hz increments from 150 to 250 Hz. You can also the set distance and level (via a built-in test tone) for each speaker from this menu.

As a regular movie streamer, I was happy to see Oppo include that capability on the BDP-93, even though my PS3’s updated Netflix interface — not to mention 1080p video and 5.1 sound on some titles —leave it (and most other Blu-ray players) in the dust when it comes to Netflix streaming. Its DLNA support and FLAC decoding also gave me an opportunity to stream some high-rez 96/24 music that I’d downloaded to my computer from HDtracks. The Oppo comes with a USB Wi-Fi adapter that plugs into the rear panel (a 6-foot extension cable is also included) for connecting the player to your home network.

To get up and running with FLAC streaming, I first launched dBpoweramp’s Asset UPnP audio server software on my Mac (running Vista via Boot Camp). I also experimented with Elgato EyeConnect server for Mac, a program that let me stream music from my iTunes library, along with JPEG photos and AVCHD videos that I had shot with a Flip camera. In both cases, getting the Oppo to recognize the server over my home’s Wi-Fi network was a snap. Once things were up and running on my Mac, I simply chose the My Network option from the Oppo’s Home screen and then selected the Asset or Eyeconnect icon to browse content on the computer using the player’s remote control.