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Oppomod FEMTO TCXO clock module upgrade for Oppo 203


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Just want to hear your feedback/ suggestions if it is worth procced with better clock  Oppomod FEMTO TCXO clock module upgrade for Oppo 203.

I have already achieved significant performance upgrade in digital audio output (Both HDMI and Coax out) by replacing power supply with LPS.

I don't have option to try another unit with better clock before I buy  FEMTO TCXO clock module so your findings will help me to decide.

Not sure if anyone has done clock upgrade in this forum.

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Like you I've purchased the LPSM for my UDP-205 via Oppomod, but I also purchased the BD stabiliser as well. They only arrived mid last week and I won't get an opportunity to install them until the weekend. I'll post my thoughts......and some pics. I'll let you know my thoughts then.

 

Would the femto clock mod make a difference??? I suspect that you will get further improvement in sound quality, but I have my doubts as to any noticeable improvement in video quality.

 

I personally decided against the femto clock mod as its installation:

  • Exceeds my current skill set; and
  • You essentially reach the point of no return. Up until this point the other mods are plug & play and are fully reversible. This one isn't quite so easy to reverse.

In the meantime @SumonKabir I'll ask @betty boop if he'd be kind enough to move this thread into the Secret Sauces section.

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16 minutes ago, Happy Sacks said:

Like you I've purchased the LPSM for my UDP-205 via Oppomod, but I also purchased the BD stabiliser as well. They only arrived mid last week and I won't get an opportunity to install them until the weekend. I'll post my thoughts......and some pics. I'll let you know my thoughts then.

 

Would the femto clock mod make a difference??? I suspect that you will get further improvement in sound quality, but I have my doubts as to any noticeable improvement in video quality.

 

I personally decided against the femto clock mod as its installation:

  • Exceeds my current skill set; and
  • You essentially reach the point of no return. Up until this point the other mods are plug & play and are fully reversible. This one isn't quite so easy to reverse.

In the meantime @SumonKabir I'll ask @betty boop if he'd be kind enough to move this thread into the Secret Sauces section.

Thanks a lot. I wouldn't touch 205 for clock upgrade. I read somewhere 205 has better clock similar to femto.

Hopefully my skillset will not damage the mainboard. Agree with second statement. No point of return so harder to A and B tests once you have gone to that path. Another option Coris SAW clock which is battery powered. But again no comparison data available.

 

40128-9f4737eb26e25bb49c784759abf7fbae.jpg

Edited by SumonKabir
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14 minutes ago, agelessgoodguy said:

David Gatti in Glen Waverley Vic was providing mods for Oppo' players but they don't show on his web pages now but sure he'd still be on the job so to speak, maybe give him a call as he's well known for his mod capabilities boys.

certainly removes the heartache of some mods being DIY ! :D and especially some that need open heart surgery as the oppo do ! 

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On 22/03/2021 at 8:25 PM, SumonKabir said:

Just want to hear your feedback/ suggestions if it is worth procced with better clock  Oppomod FEMTO TCXO clock module upgrade for Oppo 203.

I have already achieved significant performance upgrade in digital audio output (Both HDMI and Coax out) by replacing power supply with LPS.

I don't have option to try another unit with better clock before I buy  FEMTO TCXO clock module so your findings will help me to decide.

Not sure if anyone has done clock upgrade in this forum.

Yes have done a clock upgrade but with JLTI rather than oppomod unfortunately sorry . Joe is a true engineer  who has worked with other firms like vacuum state in the past ie 

jlti phono stage (positive-feedback.com)

My oppo bdp83 was a stage 3 mod with terra firma clocking and Joe has produced many more variants since :)

Joe Rasmussen Pages (customanalogue.com)

He is worth having a chat with ; he doesnt just put in dearer capacitors . Jitter is not just a factor with lpcm or bitstreams ; with ess sabre dacs for example dejitter circuitry is part of the dac and some just put in the dsp thats offered .. A good component will have good buffering for the clocks timing.. hdmi using the video clocks timing is the 1st problem ? That old saying ; garbage in garbage out 

 

Your avr or pre may have very good buffering to keep up with the stream without dropping packets..some have things to do if you look through a few ASR oscilloscope readouts B|

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13 hours ago, cwt said:

Yes have done a clock upgrade but with JLTI rather than oppomod unfortunately sorry . Joe is a true engineer  who has worked with other firms like vacuum state in the past ie 

jlti phono stage (positive-feedback.com)

My oppo bdp83 was a stage 3 mod with terra firma clocking and Joe has produced many more variants since :)

Joe Rasmussen Pages (customanalogue.com)

He is worth having a chat with ; he doesnt just put in dearer capacitors . Jitter is not just a factor with lpcm or bitstreams ; with ess sabre dacs for example dejitter circuitry is part of the dac and some just put in the dsp thats offered .. A good component will have good buffering for the clocks timing.. hdmi using the video clocks timing is the 1st problem ? That old saying ; garbage in garbage out 

 

Your avr or pre may have very good buffering to keep up with the stream without dropping packets..some have things to do if you look through a few ASR oscilloscope readouts B|

Thanks for the info and links @cwt as it not only provides food for thought, but many of the accompanying articles provide worthwhile reading. Given that the majority of JR's work surrounds the improvement of 2 channel performance of the Oppos, the thing I'm most curious about is did you find an improvement in the quality of the video output and sound via HDMI? one of the things that's always been noticeable is how much better the UB9000 sounds than the UDP-205 via HDMI.

 

As I already have LPSM and BD Stabiliser from Oppomod in my possession and the process is fully reversible should I not be satisfied with the results, I'm comfortable enough to experiment with these first.

 

Curious to know if @Snoopy8 has ventured down the mod path with these things and how he's found them.

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54 minutes ago, Happy Sacks said:

how much better the UB9000 sounds than the UDP-205 via HDMI.

You are kidding ??  :shocked:

 

I have both the UB9000 and Oppo 205  ...both through Wireworld Silver Starlight Platinum HDMI cables and in my setup the 205 "trounces" the UB9000 ..

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1 hour ago, Happy Sacks said:

Curious to know if @Snoopy8 has ventured down the mod path with these things and how he's found them.

Sad to say my soldering skills are akin to a brickie (with apologies to them!) spreading mortar on bricks! ?  So no mods for me!

 

 

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2 hours ago, Happy Sacks said:

Thanks for the info and links @cwt as it not only provides food for thought, but many of the accompanying articles provide worthwhile reading. Given that the majority of JR's work surrounds the improvement of 2 channel performance of the Oppos, the thing I'm most curious about is did you find an improvement in the quality of the video output and sound via HDMI?

When I had the 83 in the system I also had a cary cinema 11a which had very good hdmi buffering so it was hard to perceive any improvement happy . I had the mod done for its multi analogue out and the carys true passthrough and Joes analogue stage mod certainly  helped its cirrus logic dacs . I should add I had at the time a separate dvdo video processor that processed the oppo source direct mpeg video into my epson tw6000 so you should filter that in ..

 

Theoretically the hdmi should have been superior but the 5.1 analogue in tara labs  sounded very analogue after conversion ; no digititus  :)

Edited by cwt
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So I finally got a few quiet moments to install the components I acquired from Oppomod into the UDP-205. I'll put up quite a few photos so others can have a go at this if they wish. So without further ado, here's the how-to insert a mod for dummies by a dummy.

 

Below is a picture of the LPSM and the BD Stabiliser. I pull apart and reconnect my system every 3 months or so due to the amount of dust I get here, but I've never performed surgery on my equipment before.

 

IMG_0129.JPG.c15b8199068d5ad36ce0d1c0d770dea3.JPG

 

The first step is to remove the screws on the back and sides to remove the top panel. Easy so far.

 

IMG_0132.jpg.f95e429f7e742834c86dd8594cd9cc90.jpg

 

Righty-O!!! Now the real fun begins with taking out the analogue board. There's eight screws at the back and five on top. If you're not familiar with doing this work I recommend putting the screws and washers for each section in a separate container and put it aside with the panel it belongs to. You also need to pull the plug out with all the red wires and the blue wire above it. I didn't realise that the blue wire is supposed to come free from the connector as there is no plug per-se. I nearly shat when the blue wire came free in my hands with no plug, lol. 

 

IMG_0133.JPG.f037281e6ef30d922de1cbd7609ea97a.JPG

 

I apologise for some of the photos, but my short sight ain't quite what it used to be. Reading glasses, sunlight and the overhead lights were used to full effect to make sure I could see what I was doing. With the analogue board removed you can see how much dust has accumulated inside the unit itself. 

 

IMG_0137.JPG.05dbe5cfb2725da04413b21781011f2d.JPG

 

I bought this accessory kit when I bought my Miele vacuum cleaner. It consists of a number of small heads and brushes specifically designed for cleaning the innards of electronic equipment, computers, nooks and crannies etc. The only other tools I used were two Phillips head screwdrivers and a soft paint brush for dusting areas where I couldn't use or fit the vac.

 

IMG_0138.JPG.52ff1031ff70ae962738a7926d48575b.JPG

 

The next thing you need to remove is the spine between the loader mechanism and the power supply (black box on the left). You'll see the spine if you scroll back up to the third picture. There are 4 screws here with two of them being at the base of the unit. You'll find a magnetic screwdriver very useful in lifting the screws out and also putting them back in later. Remember to keep the screws in a separate container with the spine. 

 

IMG_0139.JPG.2fa15d69d646f307d8b1f0bcb7c995bb.JPG

 

The next task is to remove the the black box covering the power supply unit. There are 3 screws along the top left and 3 more along the bottom right of the box to be removed. Once again, the magnetic screwdriver is very helpful here. There are another two screws to remove on the rear of the inlet plug which will make life easier when reconnecting things.

 

It is at this point that I recommend you unclip the 4 plugs from the power supply board while it's still firmly bolted down and the board is supported at 4 points. One plug connects to the Toroidal, the second to the voltage selector, the third to the IEC inlet plug and the final one powers the rest of the unit. 

 

IMG_0140.JPG.8b9248ac59dcb944df27382246ddf992.JPG

 

Now even though at this point there was still blood spurting out of the patient's arteries, I decided that now would be the perfect time to go from heart surgeon to brain surgeon and perform the transorbital lobotomy by installing the BD stabiliser. As @Darren69 would say, "Fuggit. Why not!!!". There are 6 small Phillips head screws to remove, but they're not so small as to require a jewellers screwdriver. Lift the rear of the top plate up and then pull backwards and its easily removed from position exposing the rotating device as shown above. Remove the two screw holding the rotating device in place taking care not to drop the screw into the mechanism. Lift the rotating device out you'll be left with item looking like the picture below.

 

IMG_0141.JPG.a03ad112492a137764ab096dd1fbca79.JPG

 

Next step was to bolt in the rotating device from Oppomod. Just line up the screw holes, bolt into place and voila. Both these pieces are heavy duty aluminium that have been manufactured precisely using a CNC cutter. They're supposedly essentially the same as the parts used on the Limited Edition BDP-105D released in Japan.

 

IMG_0143.JPG.d8c033663816cf0459b6eafa4213349b.JPG

 

So now it's time to screw the replacement heavy duty cover into place. When doing up the screws just do them up firmly without over-tightening them Both pieces should help to some degree to increase rigidity and hopefully reduce vibration. 

 

IMG_0144.JPG.db21bb0019fbd926a536df7ca3140089.JPG

 

With the transorbital lobotomy successfully completed it's time to complete the heart surgery before the patient bleeds out. Gently pull the 4 plugs from their connecters if you haven't already done so and then remove the 4 screws and washers holding the power supply in place and remove it so that it looks like the picture below.

 

IMG_0147.JPG.33ec1cd9b039755d9ef7357bfd456bc5.JPG

 

The following shot depicts the differences between the LPSM and old power supply. Be aware he LPSM from Oppomod must be ordered in either the 115V or 230V model. As such this means that there is no where to plug in the voltage selection switch which renders it useless.  The LPSM can also be ordered in an SE version which is the one used here.

 

IMG_0148.JPG.d884410445e0397f50eeee6fd30ee7f4.JPG

 

The LPSM fits in exactly same place as the original and the screw holes align perfectly. Fix it in place with the original screws and don't forget to use the washers. Connect the IEC input, toroidal transformer and main board cables to their correct plugs on the LPSM board. As stated earlier the voltage selection cable cannot be connected to the LPSM so I just left it pissing in the wind. I fell into the rookie trap of trying to reinstate the support rib before the black box as you can see below. You quickly find that the black box cannot be positioned in the correct spot if the rib is in place so, of course, I had to remove it...............again. 

 

IMG_0151.JPG.3c07382dc0090e91d76c103446ea34b5.JPG

 

With the rib once again removed the black box can be reinstated to its original position. You'll find a magnetic screwdriver mighty useful here to align the screws with their holes as there's no room for fingers between the transport unit and black box. Now you can get the support rib back into place.

 

IMG_0152.JPG.71deebee9502eae14dae286582ae6513.JPG

 

With the power supply now all connected up it's time to screw the analogue board back into place, stuff the end of the blue cable into its connector and re-insert the plug containing the red wires.

 

IMG_0155.jpg.9f1526f4a9becaebccd804728a65f048.jpg

 

All that's left to do is to put on the top cover, plug it in to see if it works........and voila. Wait! Where'd these two extra screws come from and what is that wisp of smoke coming out the back!!! Remember not to throw out your the old power supply or other parts, because if for some reason you don't like the end result everything that I've done here is fully reversible.

 

IMG_0158.jpg.d9328f5e52110feeb38712c0c318bb88.jpg

 

Like me, if you've never done this before, all you'll need is two Phillips head screwdrivers and couple of free hours. Those who know their way around the internals of electronics equipment will be able to complete this in less than half that time. If you're considering modding the UDP-203 where you don't have to remove the analogue board, the support rib and black box then I'd expect the process to take no more than 30 minutes for a first timer. 

 

 

Edited by Happy Sacks
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10 hours ago, Happy Sacks said:

I recommend putting the screws and washers for each section in a separate container

I find an ice cube tray is perfect for this, work form left to right, then one row down with left to right again in your dis-assembly order and therefore assembly is the reverse

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Time for some update.
Video:
Netflix, youtube, 4K content, 1080P content all has improved with better contrast, colours are bit more popping out.
Very smooth and overall engaging live like inprovement which is much more noticable through Sony 570es. Even my wife and kids noticed so it is not only me who noticed the difference.
Only drawback wrinkles from may favourite acctresses are much more visible which was masked before. 

Audio:
Top end and bottom end has streched bit more.

As for two ch music, the coax output now sounds incredible (Abbas audio 2.2 SE). Again I like to use terms 'Liquid', 'Sweet', 'musical' etc. I am using TDA NOS DAC which was already doing very good job, now few more instruments much more audiable and discrete.

For DTS HD and Dolby Atmos, for some reason surrounds/ effects are much more prominent. Not sure what is happening there. It looks like someone manually dialed up +3 db for rear/surround speakers. Vocals are muuch more forward like 1m towards listening position. Trust me I haven't tinkered with ch levels.

Now out of curiousity I fed just new clock module 15v from a li-ion laptop battery and it made slightly more improvement in video. Audio not much. I am thinking battery power supply for the clock only :)

So that's it for now. If you have an oppo 203/205, get those clocks upgraded!
 

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17 hours ago, Happy Sacks said:

@SumonKabir approximately how many hours use have you given the unit between your last report and when you first installed the LPSM???

 

Thanks HS.

LPSM is now two weeks. New clock was up for 2 days since last report :) Should I wait more? By the way now I have 14.6 volt Li-ion laptop battery feeding this clock with 12v relay circuit which charge battery while unit is offline :) Very nice color reproduction (Red, pink and green mainly) since battery power engaged. 

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