Are all DVD players equal in the department of putting digital sound to a receiver?? (1 Viewer)

For example, would a DVD sound just as good playing on a $79 DVD player vs. a $299 one? Thanks guys.

At the outset, I predict this thread will take off into a lengthy debate...not that that is a bad thing, but this is likely to be a pretty polarizing question.

So, to get it started, in my opinion, there should be no difference. But, in the high-end, you will find outrageous claims of sound quality differences between various players used as transports. Most of that refers to PCM only, but there are those that claim that DD or DTS data streams are affected as well. I seem to recall that Audio Advisor sold a magic box that was supposed to reduce jitter in DD and DTS bit streams, and somehow improve the sound.

I am of the school that thinks thats a lot of hokum, but if someone says they can hear a difference, who can argue?

BGL

The key phrase is "in the high end". I doubt that even the most determined audiophile would be able to hear a difference between a $79 player and a $299 one, with both feeding the same external decoder.

M.

Agreed. Maybe between a 79 player and a VERY-High end player/transport, but there probably will be a significant difference in terms of features, and far more important: video. The 299 player may be progressive, probably has better guts all around, which may help the audio a tad, but the difference in video and options will probably be more significant, what with better video dacs and all. THAT's where the difference will be.

There should be no differences between players as long as you are talking about a DD/DTS bitstream. I am of the opinion that there really is no difference when handling a PCM stream either, but there are many who will argue that there are "huge" differences between different players used as transports.

You could say that most receivers are poor external DACs so the PCM quality won't differ much between a $79 and a $299 transport. Since DD and dts are compressed, the whole clocking effect would be overwhelmed by the loss of quality due to the compression.

Well what about all the Burr Brown talk with Denon, or SHARC chips with Pioneer, or all that buzz? Surely sound of a >$100 player is not equal to that which uses high end, not to mention several converter chips.

I think the question relates only to players used as transports.

I would agree that there can be differences in D/A, but when talking transports, you are just passing a bit stream for processing elsewhere.

BGL

I can tell you that I've noticed a BIG difference between my two DVD Players. I have an ultra cheapo (Mintek) player, and a Sony DVP-NS999ES. I compared them with a (high quality) Kimber Illuminations D-60 Coax. The Sony has more dynamic headroom, *incredibly* more channel separation (5.1), and overall cleaner dialog. It was like going from my old AR Optical cable to the Kimber D-60 Coax - and then some! Just don't ask me WHY the Sony sounds better... I'd just say "because it cost a heck-of-a-lot more."

Cliff

No, All DVD players on not created equal for video or audio.

I don't buy it. Bits is bits, you know? I have very good ears for these things, and I cannot notice a difference. I've listened VERY HARD. Unless there is something egregiously wrong with the hardware AFTER the digital info is read from the disc, it should be the same signal...minus jitter of course. And jitter has been proven to be imperceptible by the human ear.

Cliff:

Cliff, I don't want to come off as rude, but I just want to find out if you are being serious or not.

I wouldn't call you rude unless you get personal Everyone has their own opinion, thankfully. If you are not a believer of what high-end cables/internal components can do for your signal - be it analog OR digital, there is no arguement I might give, to change your opinion. I can only speak from my own experience. I am not an engineer or a scientist, just an A/V enthusiast, so I couldn't even begin to tell you why it sounds better. It just does (to ME). Always remember that sound quality is a subjective measure. That said, I am always open for an audition if anyone is in the North Bay Area (CA), as long as you bring the beer

Cliff, glad you're enjoying your gear. Wanna give me the horrible AR optical cable? I'd stop by to check the stuff out, but the beer wouldn't be cold anymore by the time I get to California from the midwest.

If I hadn't already given it away... Sorry, Derrick. Thanks for the response.

Thanks Cliff, I've come to realize that I'd like to be the garbage can for all you audio nuts constantly upgrading!

I can state that I've always connected via a digital cable to the receiver. I had a Toshiba 2109 and JVC that sound very similar running through the digital cable. I had a Panasonic RP82 and the sound was extra bassy and very boomy! The sound was also shrill through the Panasonic!

Hope this helps!

Guys, let me throw in my 2 cents.

Some friends and I have been making some tests (just for the fun of it) on using a PC CDROM as a Transport. Since this new units are capable of read, write and rewrite at speeds of 52x, we thought it might have some very good accuracy just to read a cd and drive it to an external DAC.

So far, we found the sound of this cheap units (such LG, Sony) is very nice indeed when compared to a dvd player or a (not hi-end) cd player used as transport.

Has anyone ever tried something like that ?