New Universal Changer on the Market, Marantz VC6001

Re: New Universal Changer on the Market, Marantz VC6001

Hi Dave. That Marantz looks interesting. I've been waiting for the Denon DVM-2845CI, http://usa.denon.com/ProductDetails/3420.asp. They said it's due out towards the middle of this month.

Re: New Universal Changer on the Market, Marantz VC6001

I'd be interested in hearing what they tell you.

Re: New Universal Changer on the Market, Marantz VC6001

I have one on preorder from Abt.

Re: New Universal Changer on the Market, Marantz VC6001

Cool, let us know when it's available.
I'm guessing you're right about that.
Not sure how it'll compare to the 1930ci, but I bet It'll be better than the Sony DVP-NC685V I'm using now.

Re: New Universal Changer on the Market, Marantz VC6001

Will do. I currently have Sony 555es. Hopefully this will improve the picture with the upconversion. Would have stayed with Sony but wanted carousel, upconversion and sacd and no new models did this. Wonder if much diff betwen Denon and the Marantz that's out?

Getting Back to the Marantz VC6001

I don't own the Marantz, but it looks like a Yamaha DVD-C950 (which I own), accept the Marantz can go up to 1080P. I am curious to know how the 'ALL DISC' repeat mode works during DVD-VIDEO playback. Does it play through all the titles and chapters on disc one, advance to disc two and play through all its contents, or does it return to disc one's root menu like the Yamaha DVD-C950? (It is important to be out of a disc's menus and start playback of the main movie before hitting the repeat button to be sure the desired repeat mode is activated.) I know that other changers such as Sony and Onkyo can bypass DVD-VIDEO menus during the all-disc repeat mode, but they cannot play Pal DVDs. By using a DVD ripper such as DVD Shrink, I can make new versions of DVDs without there menus and the Yamaha works fine. Or I can keep their menus and use IfoEdit to change Pal references to NTSC references after I have ripped the DVDs to my hard drive. I am pretty good at either method actually. However, between the money and time involved with DVDRDL, ripping, and burning, a multi-region, multi-system, multi-format player would be the best way to go. So if the Marantz returns to disc one's main menu, all you would have to do is hit disc skip (no big deal). The Marantz VC6001 and all of Yamaha's current changers are multi-region (tray open | 9 9 9 9 0 on remote | close tray), multi-system, and multi-format. I am also curious about disc loading for the Marantz. Does its disc tray rotate, allowing only a few discs to be loaded at once, or does the tray come way out and two of the discs are loaded towards the back of the tray like Yamaha's changers? If anybody is brave enough to take the cover off, please let us know if it uses an LSI, MediaTek, Panasonic, or Zoran Vaddis as its MPEG decoder. Thank you.

Re: New Universal Changer on the Market, Marantz VC6001

It's inevitable given that Marantz and Denon share the same parent company.

Re: New Universal Changer on the Market, Marantz VC6001

Would you expect the Marantz and Denon be the same internally then?

Re: New Universal Changer on the Market, Marantz VC6001

Kinda think they may be philips like the Yamaha if they obey the same code to go region free. Oddly, the Denon doesn't have HDCD in the specs but it has burr brown DAC's and Faroudja. Does the Marantz have Faroudja listed? I have a feeling that HD format players are bringing the price of regular SD dvd players, even multi-format players prices down. I kinda wanted to upgrade my Yamaha C750 to the C950 but the audio glitches and other issues have scared me off. The C750 rarely slips discs and is still nice for CD's, SACD's and DVD-Audio for now but it's not my dvd player.

Re: New Universal Changer on the Market, Marantz VC6001

Yes. The Marantz does have Faroudja. However, I'm not sure if it is only available via the Component Video outputs and not via HDMI. I understand that Denon is #1 in A/V performance, but I've heard that the US models cannot play Pal material. Therefore, I feel that the Philips-based changers are a perfect compromize in my case. I got my Yamaha DVD-C950 around 11/27/06. If I had known about the Marantz back then, I probibly would have waited for it to come out because of its 1080P capability and 3-year warranty. However, I can't afford a plasma. So after my 8-year-old Magnavox CRT dies, I plan on getting a CRT HDTV. I believe they only go up to 1080I anyway. Is that correct? If so, at least I won't have paid for a feature I have no intentions of using. Also, what kinds of issues are you having with your Yamaha DVD-C750/DV-C6770? I use that one for bedtime entertainment. Truthfully, I am happy with my Yamaha changers even with the 'ALL DISC' repeat DVD-VIDEO playback flaw I mentioned in my previous post.

Re: New Universal Changer on the Market, Marantz VC6001

My C750 sometimes slips a disc and goes wacko on me. Doesn't respond to commands and must be powered down. It's very rare. Also, I can tell it's flaky because the elapsed time of discs, more often than not is going in fits and starts instead of a steady clocked time. By slips a disc, I mean I hear it jerk when it's turned on and the carousel spins and hear odd noises, then when it tries to load a disc, it won't work and the spindle is spinning really fast, and when you eventually turn it off and open it up, you see a disc has slipped out of place. It rarely happens, but once in a while...

Otherwise the C750 is good because it does just about everything for me. DVD-A and Video, CD, HD-CD (although skipping and starting tracks results in a mini-dropout at the start), SACD, DPL II, Divx, MP3, multi-region and both NTSC and PAL etc etc. The DAC's may not be the burr brown of the C950 but they still sound very nice and smooth.

I would like to find a C920 so I can mod it with SDI and multi-region. The C920 had a faroudja and burr brown DAC's and I don't need 1080p because I have an iScan HD+. The only reason I was ever interested in the C950 was to use a CD/HDCD and SACD/DVD-A player with DPL II and burr-brown DAC's.

What issues did your C950 have?

Re: New Universal Changer on the Market, Marantz VC6001

I have no issues with my Yamaha DVD-C950 whatsoever. I believe Dave said that he did. I was curious to know what they were.

Re: New Universal Changer on the Market, Marantz VC6001

Chris, I was studying your post and it has come to my attention that you have either a separate video upconverter or an upconverting TV. I'd get your 750 repaired and use its 480I component video output. Also, when you mentioned opening it up, did you mean ejecting the tray or taking the cover off the player? If you meant taking the cover off the player, did you happen to observe if it has the MediaTek MT1389EE as its video chip?

Re: New Universal Changer on the Market, Marantz VC6001

I don't think there is a simple repair for the C750 and it may not be worth looking into it. I think the chipset is buggy. I upgraded the firmware hoping to fix the issue and nothing happened. To be honest, I have been collecting SD dvd players. I don't use this for video dvd's really. I have an older Panny CV51, a Panny CP72 and a Panny F85 and I use the CP72 for dvd's. I use the Yamaha for CD's, HDCD's, DVD-Audio and SACD's. And of course, it CAN play all-region too, but my other CP72 is region modded (although it's away being repaired at the moment). I am planning to eliminate one of my CP72's and the F85 may no longer get used so it'll just be the SDI modded CP72 for dvd video and the Yamaha for audio discs I haven't opened up the Yamaha but I have been told by numerous people that it does in fact use a mediatek chip. Incidentally I opened up my seemingly lowly 5 disc panasonic cv51 and it had the second best Panasonic Mpeg decoder inside...of course it's interlaced, but that's why I have the iScan HD+. I use the non-SDI CP72's component outputs for dvd now, and it supposedly has the top-of-the-line MPEG decoder but quite frankly I don't know if I could tell the difference. Of course, the CP72 also has progressive via Faroudja and other nice features that the CV51 doesn't...but anyhow...

Re: New Universal Changer on the Market, Marantz VC6001

Where did you get firmware for your C750? What benifits were you supposed to gain by upgrading?

Re: New Universal Changer on the Market, Marantz VC6001

Whatever floats your boat. I love the Philips-based changers such as Yamaha and Marantz because so far, I find little fault with them whether I pop in something I bought (CD, DVD NTSC/Pal Regions 1-6, and SA-CD) or burned myself (CDR/RW, MP3 CD, MP3 DVD, DVD-VIDEO, DVD+-R/RW, Etc.). I also like the fact that these changers keep SA-CD in its original DSD form as opposed to changing it to PCM. I wish they included an option to turn off the cutoff frequency which only brings SA-CD up to 50 KHZ instead of going up to its original 100KHz, but then I would have to look at single-disc models and I am a big fan of Musical Theater and Opera. Many of the titles in these genres consist of double- or tripple-disc sets. So therefore, I think these changers are a perfect compromise in my case. Jack-of-all-trades, master of ... pretty much all. I haven't tried DVDRDL yet, but I'm not sure if I am going to because of the time and money that would involve. Besides, I'm thinking that my next investment should be either a BlueRay or HDDVD player because more and more movies seem to be coming out in those formats quicker and quicker.

Re: New Universal Changer on the Market, Marantz VC6001

I have no idea what the Yamaha's new firmware was supposed to do, but I updated it anyways. I think there is a link to it somewhere on AVS. I just listened to some songs off of 5 different CD's this afternoon. No Means No -WRONG, XTC Singles (The Disappointed, Peter Pumpkin Head etc), 60 Minutes with Tom Cochran, Gordon Lightfoot, and The Northern Pikes. How's that for a mix of artists! I really like the Yamaha C750's DPL II. It sounds good, especially now that I have gone back to fully matched speakers. Not quite as much bass as regular stereo, but still very nice. My Marantz SR8000 does not have DPL II, so that's a bonus on my setup

btw..I have used the Yamaha's dvd video output through the iScan HD+ and it looks fine..

Re: New Universal Changer on the Market, Marantz VC6001

FWIW, I've had a Yamaha 6770 for two+ years now without problems. Use it constantly as my everyday player. I also recommended the 950 to DaveHo. Still feel bad about that. As I recall, he was quite happy with the audio/video but he must have got a bad one. Things just didn't work for him the way they should have. I also have a Denon 756 and H/K 47 but overall I prefer the 6770. I'll keep it 'till I make the jump to HD-DVD. Then it goes into the back room. I took the top off mine and it does have the 1389EE chip in it.

Re: New Universal Changer on the Market, Marantz VC6001

Hi, Gene. Telling me that the 6770 uses a 1389EE boosts my selfconfidence when it comes to filling in missing information based on technical discriptions of other machines. Also, Gene, if you are interested in DVD-A/SA-CD, you might still want to keep your 6770 in easy reach even after you switch to HDDVD/BlueRay.

Re: New Universal Changer on the Market, Marantz VC6001

I forgot to mention that once in a while, the tray on my 6770 jams when closing it. However, if I push upward on the underneath part of the tray immediately before it closes, I have no problems. So far, my 950 hasn't done that to me yet (knock on wood).

Re: New Universal Changer on the Market, Marantz VC6001

What is the curiosity with the MediaTek MT1389EE chip? That's the MPEG decoder, right? Is it good, is it bad? Is it average? What's the importance of that particular chip?

Re: New Universal Changer on the Market, Marantz VC6001

Yes. The MediaTek MT1389EE is an MPEG decoder. The things that chip has going for it include speed, breakless layer change, support for DivX and SA-CD playback, Pal, NTSC, and converting one to the other. I understand it is not the world's best deinterlacer, but it's not the world's worst either. Also, if coupled with DCDi by Faroudja, that combination is said to be one of the world's best video solutions.

Re: New Universal Changer on the Market, Marantz VC6001

You bet I am. I bought the H/K 47 just for it's analog BM but other aspects of it are lacking. That's why I'm waiting to see if an HD player will include hi-res audio someday. I'm planning to sell the H/K and Denon eventually but I'm hanging on to the Yamaha.

Re: New Universal Changer on the Market, Marantz VC6001

I didn't think the mediatek was as good as the Panasonic MN677531KA Mpeg Decoder. My CP72's have that one, and my olde CV51 has the Panasonic MN67753MP Mpeg Decoder which is next to the highest end. Of course, only DVD-Audio on the CP72 and no other toys. Once my setup settles down I'll do some comparing. The interlaced output of the Yamaha C750 works well through my iScan HD+. Today while demo'ing my PSB speakers I had the dreaded slipped disc. I turned on the player and it went clunk. I have to power it down and open it up and sure enough, one of the discs is out of it's place in the carousel. I really need to try and fix the carousel somehow.

Re: New Universal Changer on the Market, Marantz VC6001

Gene, so far, I haven't heard of a BlueRay/HDDVD machine capable of DVD-A/SA-CD. However, there is Dolby Digital HD and DTS HD on BlueRay/HDDVD audio streams if that might be of interest to you. Chris, have you ever heard of the Secrets Benchmark? They have played a big part in my A/V decisions. How well do the Panasonic MPEG decoders handle Pal-to-NTSC conversion? Any subtle blinking or jittering effects? Not so with the MediaTek MT1389EE. Again, this is all based on MY experience and demands. It's ultimately up to you as far as your choices in the end.

Re: New Universal Changer on the Market, Marantz VC6001

Dave, exactly what trouble did you have with the Yamaha DVD-C950? Just so you know, I own two Yamaha DVD changers (the DVD-C750/DV-C6770 and the DVD-C950. The carousel on my DVD-C750/DV-C6770 jams, yet the one on my DVD-C950 so far runs smoothly. So if it was carousel trouble, I would give another Yamaha a try if you don't want to wait for the Marantz.

Re: New Universal Changer on the Market, Marantz VC6001

I have an iScan HD+ so I let the CP72 output PAL to the iScan HD+ and then the de-interlaced 576i is upconverted to 720p and sent to my projector (which can actually handle PAL too if need be) so that's not a problem. ...but if I need NTSC, like when outputting to a TV, the Yam C750 is there. I am all about having options - In fact, I'll never need it, but I can play an NTSC disc in the C750 and output PAL


One of my main interests in the Yamaha C950 is the burr brown DAC's that you can use for the many disc formats it handles. How many channels use burr brown in the C950? Do you notice the difference in sound between the C750 and C950? Mind you, the DAC's in the C750 are pretty good themselves.