DVD-A question

[Jad]

I'm finally getting around to getting a DVD player, but need to know my options. I'm pretty much an amateur in the audiophile area, so what do I need to make sure my CDs still sound nice? or should I keep my old Denon CD player handy?

[Kevin Bresnahan]

I've recently been through 3 different DVD/CD/SACD/DVD-Audio players in a search for a "one-for-all" player. I have eventually settled on the Pioneer Elite DV-45A combo player (DVD/CD/CD-RW/SACD/DVD-Audio/mp3) but it is a bit expensive at around $500. Prior to that, I had a Sony DVP-NS755V (DVD/CD/CD-RW/SACD/mp3) and before that was a Pioneer Elite DV-37 (DVD/CD/CD-RW). The switches have come at incremental price hikes as I used Tweeter's upgrade policy in almost all cases (they give 90 days where you can trade in your old machine at full purchase price if you buy a more expensive piece). Luckily, the guy let me keep my Sony DVP-NS755 for a day to check on the SACD playback versus the Pioneer DV-45A. I was able to determine that they were so close on SACD that I couldn't tell a difference.

So, why did I switch to the Pioneer DV-45A, other than the added formats? Well, as good as the Sony was at SACD playback, it's regular CD sound was brighter than I like. Since I had the Pioneer DV-37 before that and it was one of the best "regular" CD players I ever owned, I figured I'd go back to them. It was a very wise choice. The standard CD playback sounds better to me and I now have the bonus of being able to play DVD-Audio discs if I so choose. I can easily recommend it. The Sony is a very good SACD and DVD player so I wouldn't discount it out-of-hand. As for its standard CD playback, it may be that I was just spoiled by the previous machine and it may be fine. I just prefer the CD playback of the Pioneer. BTW, there appears to be some question about the quality of the Pioneer's video playback if you research it on-line. I see nothing wrong with the playback of DVDs with this machine.

Oh yeah, if mp3 playback is important to you (it's only a minor thing for me), the Pioneer's displays are miles ahead of the Sony. The Pioneer can display tracks, albums, artists and skips through visually on the screen. The Sony displayed hardly anything that I could tell. The Sony was very hard to manipulate in mp3-land.

Later,

Kevin

[Claude]

Oh yeah, if mp3 playback is important to you (it's only a minor thing for me), the Pioneer's displays are miles ahead of the Sony. The Pioneer can display tracks, albums, artists and skips through visually on the screen. The Sony displayed hardly anything that I could tell. The Sony was very hard to manipulate in mp3-land.

I don't know the latest models, but six months ago (when I bought a Sony DVD player) Pioneer and Sony both had a onscreen menues for mp3 playback, but only the Sony could display more than 8 caracters on directory and track names.

8 caracters is not much when you organize tracks in the format "track number - track name"

Example: "01 - Love for sale" will be displayed as "01 - Lov"

As I don't want to turn my TV on every time I want to browse an MP3-CD, I have printed a list with the album (=directory) names and numbers, so I can go directly to an album by typing it's number.

[Jad]

Thanks for the suggestions. But seeing as how I just dropped more than I should have for a pair of speakers, I was hoping to find something a little cheaper.

So how much sound quality am I going to sacrifice if I wanted to spend under $200? mp3 playback is not an issue, nor is SACD.

[Kevin Bresnahan]

Thanks for the suggestions. But seeing as how I just dropped more than I should have for a pair of speakers, I was hoping to find something a little cheaper.

So how much sound quality am I going to sacrifice if I wanted to spend under $200? mp3 playback is not an issue, nor is SACD.

mp3 playback capability is pretty much a "throw in" with nearly every DVD player on the market so don't worry, you'll probably get it.

However, could you clarify the title of your thread?? I was under the impression that you are looking for a "DVD-A" player. To me, DVD-A = DVD-Audio, a high-rez format being pushed by Warner music as a competeing format to SACD. Finding a DVD-Audio player for under $200 will be tough and besides that, it won't buy you a lot when it comes to Jazz. SACD has a lot more Jazz titles available than DVD-Audio.

I still say you should pick the Sony DVP-NS755V. As I said, the SACD playback is great, video is excellent (progressive scan, too). CD playback is "typical low-end Sony" which should be fine in most cases. See if you can find it at a Best Buy (should be around $200-240 around now) and if you don't dig it, trade it in for a different one.

Later,

Kevin

[Claude]

If DVD-A support is not needed (titles are much more scarce than SACDs), a good universal player would be the new Philips DVD 963 SA, which plays DVD, CD, SACD and MP3-CDs.

Dutch digital delight

Reviews say that the sound is outstanding for the price ($400-500). That's especially true for CD playback (upsampling option). Picture quality is excellent too. The machine is very well built, but only available in silver.

I will get one soon to replace my recently bought Sony DVD/MP3 and CD/SACD players ($250 and $400), which are both inferior in their domain. A few months ago there was no player on the market under $1000 that would offer DVD playback plus high quality CD sound. Apparently the demand for the Philips is so high that it is difficult to get immediately.

[Jad]

Well, looks like the card's taking another ding. Thanks for the suggestions!