Universal DVD/SACD Players

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captain_tinker

captain_tinker

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Folks,
I have been just having fun looking around at different universal cd/sacd/dvda players. I currently have the Pioneer 588a, which works pretty well, but I am sure that there are players out there that probably sound much better. I have a few criteria for a player.

Must Play:

- redbook cd's
- HDCD's
- SACD
- DVD-A
- DVD-Video
- DVD RW's
- JPG
- don't care about mp3, or divx but could be a nice touch.
- would be neat to get something with tubes in it, but it's not a requirement.
- would like to have HDMI out with 1080p upscaling
- would like to have XLR outputs

I would prefer for it to be able to play the surround SACD and DVD-A through the Analog outs, but it's ok if it is just two channel analog out. There are a couple of SACD's that I have that are just awesome in surround, but most sound just fine in stereo only, and some DVD-A's actually have a higher bitrate with the stereo only tracks. I have not found many of the really good high end players that do all of these. Most will do everything but the DVD-A, and DVD-Video, or everything but SACD.

Some of the ones I've looked at so far were:

- Marantz DV7001
- Cary 306 SACD
- Meridian 808
- Denon 3930ci
- Pioneer Elite DV79AVi
- Krell SACD Standard
- Krell DVD Standard
- NAD T585


They don't all match all of the criteria, but that's ok. Now, they don't HAVE to do the DVD-Video and stuff, I can still use my current Pioneer for that, it works pretty good, but I would really like to be able to at least do CD's, HDCD, SACD, and DVD-A all on the same unit.
I also have no idea how much most of them cost, but right at the moment that's not my concern, as I probably can't afford most of them anyway right now, but I'm just having fun drooling and planning for future upgrades. Like a kid does with the toy catalog... I want one of these, and one of these and one of these... hehehe! :D

If any of you either own or have heard any of the ones listed, or even have another suggestion that meets as many of the criteria as possible, I would love to hear about it. I think it could make for a fun discussion.

-capT
 
I'll 2nd the Oppo.
the 970HD is the one that is universal...plays EVERYTHING. and I mean everything..right down to obscure formats.
even has a USB jack on it that you can hook up an HDD or thumb drive to and play music off of that (or the various CF slots as well).

you do need a monitor to get to the adjustments. You can't get to them w/o it.

I bought this $149 deck...and got rid of my $500 Channel Island VDA2 DAC. I could not really hear a difference between the two.
Plus, there is a stereophile review of this unit as of last month or the month before.
My favorite quote from that review "any concerns I had about matching up a $149 deck to a $50k system were quickly laid to rest".
that says a lot (out of that particular reviewers experience any way).

I've gone through a lot of decks. I've put this oppo up against some good budget componants, Marantz, Toshiba, Denon (2900) and it bests them all.
Its only annoying feature (and this is my personal annoyance...and only on paper as to the ear its wonderful still) is that it doesn't play true DSD from SACDs. it converts the DSD signal to 24/88.2kHz and then though its DAC. It will not pass this info out its S/PDIF jack though, only PCM from redbook or DVDs.
Oh, and its a kick ass transport too.
 
Last edited:
No SACD plays through the S/PDIF. It's not allowed in the industry. I think it's in regards to copy protection scheme.
 
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I have the Marantz 7001.. fits your criteria except for tube/XLR. I have it hooked up multiple ways.. 5.1 for DVD-A, SACD, stereo analog and COAX for Dolby Digital, DTS and PCM for whenI want to bypass the internal DAC. Really dont hear much of a difference between alanog and PCM for stereo.
It does upscale to 1080P and the scaling is quite nice (only have a 720P TV).
Overall, it's a nice unit and I'm pleased with it.
I am quite intersted in the OPPO and would like to compare. Price is reasonable for what it is, about $1K Canadian.
Good luck with your search.
 
rampage60 said:
No SACD plays through the S/PDIF. It's not allowed in the industry. I think it's in regards to copy protection scheme.
Click to expand...

I know...
but as the DSD stream is converted to PCM *before* going through the internal DAC...it could be routed (the 24bit converted stream) by theory.

there are SACD DACS, btw. they use proprietary I/O. Firewire and such.
Sony XA9000 decks, for example..have this output. As do the higher end Sony STR-DA7100/9100 receivers.

then of course..theirs Meitner gear and others...but thats a lot of scratch.

Another good thing about these decks is that they are firmware upgradeable. If they release the FLAC codec for this deck, i'm in heaven.
 
NicksPicks said:
I'll 2nd the Oppo.
the 970HD is the one that is universal...plays EVERYTHING.
Click to expand...

Actually the 970HD and the 981HD are both universal and play all the same formats. In addition the 981 will output the SACD (converted to PCM) and DVD-A digital streams (either stereo or multichannel) via the HDMI interface to and external DAC (or receiver in my case) so it functions as a great transport.
 
I'll completely concur with "Burke" on the OPPO DV-981HD. I have one, and it sounds FANTASTIC right out of the box, playing literally ANYTHING on a silver disc...

I am now running the PCM out of my Oppo DV-981DV through my newly-acquired Benchmark DAC-1 USB (using a White Zombie Audio "Nosferatu" digital cable) and it sounds FANTASTIC as a 2-channel source. In my opinion, the Oppo/Benchmark combo rivals any ditial source at TWICE the price for "redbook" CDs, AND it has the added bonus of being able to play DVDs as well.

Jump on the Oppo train...

--Richard
 
Wow,
I have to say I am quite surprised at the support for Oppo! Pleasantly surprised. I saw the price and thought, oh that can't possibly be all that great. With audio stuff, don't you get what you pay for? I figured that if it costs more, it is probably made out of better materials and would therefore sound better, right? Well from what you all say, the Oppo really sounds like a possible sweet deal.

I also liked the idea that a few of you have mentioned about getting a modded Oppo, or any of the other modded players there too. Do any of you own or have heard the modded Oppo's or any of those other modded players? Is it really all that? Is it worth modding it or is it really good just stock?

Maybe the next question would be, compared to the Pioneer 588a which I already own, would the Oppo be comparable or better? The Pioneer does play an awful lot of formats and is pretty good sound wise, but I was under the impression that a more expensive player would sound better, perhaps I am incorrect in my assumptions?

-capT
 
Bruke..
have you tried pitting the oppos analog output against the Benchmark?
how dramatic a difference?
I already know the answer on my end. ;-)

there are lots of Oppo mods out there, fwiw. I like Ric Shultz mods, personally.

I believe the 970 will pass HDMI digi (including SACD, post PCM converstion) as well, but I dont have a DAC that accepts that signal...., and since the analog output of the deck itself sort of made my DAC a paperweight..., analog it is.
All I need is a squeezebox now, and i'm golden. I have a mazzive library of music on my network storage boxes (RAIDs) and cant get to anymore w/o a DAC.
 
Esoteric

Esoteric Audio simply the best. I would start with a DV-60. Nothing comes close in its price range. Esoteric is in a different league than everyone else except for maybe MBL and EMM Labs.

You can get a DV-60 for $5600...
 
NicksPicks,

Will that oppo 970 play music from an external hard drive like my seagate 500gb? (anything I need to do special to get that capability) If it does that, I am sold and will buy one today.

does anyone know if it can play video from a hard drive if it can in fact play music.

thanks for the help as always guys.
 
I have not tried...I have no USB hard drives around...but it plays mp3s or .wav files off of my thumb drives.
 
you do need a monitor to get to the adjustments. You can't get to them w/o it.
Click to expand...

For most DVD players you can simply connect them to a monitor and then go into the menu and set it up for 2 channel front/left speakers only. Once you have the settings in there you can then relocate it to your 2-channel monitor-less system and it will playback CD, DVD-A and SACD to 2 channel playback.
 
marck said:
Have you considered the Theta Compli?
marc.
Click to expand...

I had not even heard of it until you mentioned it to me. I googled it and found that it sure does look interesting. I am intrigued by the SDI port I saw that it had. This does not seem to be a common thing found on many DVD players/transports that I have looked at so far. I think I have some further homework to do on that to learn about it. I was looking up the Ric Shultz mods yesterday, and found something on one of the mods somewhere had an SDI port on it. It did not explain much about it, so after seeing this on another player, I want to look into it. I don't recall ever seeing a port like this on any TV's, I wonder if this is just a new thing coming out?

-capT
 
captain_tinker said:
I had not even heard of it until you mentioned it to me. I googled it and found that it sure does look interesting. I am intrigued by the SDI port I saw that it had. This does not seem to be a common thing found on many DVD players/transports that I have looked at so far. I think I have some further homework to do on that to learn about it. I was looking up the Ric Shultz mods yesterday, and found something on one of the mods somewhere had an SDI port on it. It did not explain much about it, so after seeing this on another player, I want to look into it. I don't recall ever seeing a port like this on any TV's, I wonder if this is just a new thing coming out?

-capT
Click to expand...

It is an excellent player, both for redbook CD and SACD / DVD-A. It is not cheap, but well worth listening too. There are some very good reviews on the net (see below):
http://www.thetadigital.com/reviews/PDFs/compli-kk-o5.pdf

Marc
 
Diamonds said:
Esoteric Audio simply the best. I would start with a DV-60. Nothing comes close in its price range. Esoteric is in a different league than everyone else except for maybe MBL and EMM Labs.

You can get a DV-60 for $5600...
Click to expand...

You know, I went and checked this out tonight. Really liked it a lot, I even showed it to my wife online, but then she asked, So how much is it? I then looked at the price, and thought, uh maybe not. At least not yet.

I find that in all my searching so far, I keep continually coming back to the Marantz brand as a nice balance between both price and features. I have been looking at the DV-7001 and the DV-9600. I have not been able to audition either of them yet, so I am wondering what those of you who own them think of them. MickeyVee has already mentioned he has the DV-7001, and seems to be pleased with it. I have also seen several of the 9600's advertised on Audiogon, which may be a nice way to save a bit of ca$h. I have also seen a few of them that have been modified that sound like they may be fun to try out.

-capT
 
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