Bought the new Oppo DVD981HD player...

"Even my new Sony blu-ray does 2 channel better".

I was told the new blue-ray players would not play music CD's? Was I told wrong? If so, how is the CD playback quality of these machines.

This was one of the primary resons I was holding off.

Groberts, I went with the Oppo 980H because it's supposed to be the best of their line for audio.

It has surpassed all expectations for both video and audio, but especially audio.

I figured SACD/DVDA might be decent, but didn't expect much from RB CD's. However, this is where is excells. Good with all formats; no I take that back, it's really good, period!

Nice solid and accurate bass with good extension, very good soundstage (width and depth), decent tonal accuracy and timing, and very good detail and air.

Vocals and intruments are nicely placed and distinct.

I like it better than my Sony NS999ES.

This is easily the best buy I've ever made. The fact that is sells for only $169 makes it an absolute best buy IMO and I am amazed at what I got for this amount of money.

I was also considering a used or new Denon, but not now.

My recommendation to anyone in the market for a really good uiversal DVDP is; don't walk. Run!

Dawgbyte, the 980H is actually their latest model and was built with improved auido as one of their goals.

I read their site thoroughly before making my decision. Here is an excerpt from the news release posted on their site:

"Continuing the OPPO tradition of extraordinary audio/video performance and immense value, OPPO designed the DV-980H with a focus on sound and picture quality. Taking inputs from audiovisual enthusiasts and world-famous high fidelity audio equipment partner companies, OPPO refined the audio portion of the DV-980H for precision rendering from Super Audio CD, DVD-Audio, HDCD and regular CDs".