Denon DVD-1600 suggestions? (1 Viewer)

[Mike Capulli]

Im looking into purchasing the Denon DVD-1600.

I have read some reviews about it being a great dual purpose device (DVD Video / DVD Audio). Does anybody have any suggestions? I currently have a JVC XV-S62SL DVD Player and I think the video quality could be much better. Also are there better DVD Players for this price range?
I also have a Yamaha RX-V520 reciever and a Sony 51" hiscan widescreen HDTV that I will be using with this player.

 

[Bob Segno]

Secrets of Home Theater had a very high praise for the 1600 in last months review.Great player for the money

 

[MikeSRC]

The Panasonic RP-82 has the exact same video section (deinterlacer and MPEG decoder) as the Denon for less than half the price.

 

[Mike Capulli]

The Panasonic RP-82 has the exact same video section (deinterlacer and MPEG decoder) as the Denon for less than half the price.

Yes but what about the DVD-audio quality ?

 

[MikeSRC]

You said you were looking for better video in your original post, so that's what I was aiming at. DVD-A sounds great on my RP-82, but I haven't A-B'd it with any other DVD-A player. The Denon may sound better with its Burr-Brown DACs, but there's not as much difference in DACs these days as there used to be. YMMV

 

[KeithH]

Mike Capulli, the '1600 has been discussed here quite a bit. A search should prove useful. Everything I have read says the '1600 is an excellent player in all respects for the money. My only gripe with it is that it was designed after the budget Panasonic DVD-RP56 (discontinued). As a result, the build quality of the '1600 is a bit lacking for $500 in my opinion. Just like the 'RP56, the '1600 also has no coaxial digital output, which is a major omission in a $500 player. Just my $0.02. Of course, my issues with the '1600 do not necessarily affect the peformance.

 

[Ken Custodio]

I recently purchased the Denon DVD 1600 and in my opinion its a great DVD-Video and Audio player. I was not looking to buy it for it's DVD-A capabilities but after listening to a couple of DVD-A's I was hooked. It doesn't have the chroma bug, some said it has the flicker bug, but I have not been able to see it. The bass managment feature is usefull but it only allows you to set the crossover at 100. Some of the lacking features are it doesnt have a screensaver, doesn't show time remaining, rca connections aren't as high quility as you would expect, and doesn't have a coax connection. But overall the good outweighs the bad by a wide margin. One feature I really like is that if you stop the dvd movie and turn off the power it remembers the spot you stopped the movie as long as you don't open the disk tray. Also the dvd player is dead silent. Which is tremendous since my old Toshiba 3109 would wake up the dead when you loaded a dvd, but it was a descent player.

The Denon DVD is well worth the price, you can most likely get it for around $400.

 

[ReggieW]

Mike,

I also own the Denon 1600, and so far, it is a solid performer in every aspect. My only gripes with it are what Keith outlined in his post, but so far, none of this has hampered it's performance. The audio quality via analog for DVD-A and redbook cd playback is very good for a player in this price range. One owner here compared it to his 300.00 Denon DCM-370 changer which is also Burr-Brown driven, and felt the 1600 at least matched it for CD playback. These days, if you can find a 500.00 DVD player to match an excellent 300.00 redbook CD player, then this is very good. I used to own a JVC 721BK DVD-A player which was inferior sonically to the Denon. It should also be noted that the flicker problem which was inherent in the RP-56 and later in the 1600 was corrected by Denon beginning with players that were produced in June on forward. Also the MPEG decoder is the same one found in the RP-82 not 56. I had considered the RP-82 as well but liked the refinement of the DENON better, and preferred the remote, style, Burr Brown DAC'S, and the limited bass management for DVD-A. It also matches up well with my Denon 1802. I paid 425.00 from the authorized dealer 6th avenue.

Reg

 

[Mike Capulli]

Thanks for the advice guys, I'm looking forward to using this player in the near future with my existing setup.

My only question now is, once I hook this player up to my Yamaha RX-V520 reciever, would I use the 6channel input for movies and dvd-audio or just for dvd-audio? Im thinking if I use the 6 channel input I wont be able to use any of the DSP processing on the reciever.

any comments?

 

[Ken Custodio]

My only question now is, once I hook this player up to my Yamaha RX-V520 reciever, would I use the 6channel input for movies and dvd-audio or just for dvd-audio? Im thinking if I use the 6 channel input I wont be able to use any of the DSP processing on the reciever

What I do is, I use the optical connection for movies then when I want to listen to DVD-A I switch the audio input on my receiver to 5.1 channel Ext. In.

 

[Mike Capulli]

I see so using the dd/dts decoders in the dvd player is not really a big advantage over the decoders in the reciever?

 

[Ken Custodio]

I see so using the dd/dts decoders in the dvd player is not really a big advantage over the decoders in the reciever

Well, my receiver does THX post processing, and I also have a 6.1 speaker setup so if I used the DVD DD or DTS decoder I wouldn't be able to take advantage of DD-EX or DTS-ES.

 

[KeithH]

Mike, most receivers do a better job at decoding Dolby Digital and DTS soundtracks than DVD players. Still, if you do get the '1600, you ought to try both the digital and 5.1-channel outputs for movies. You have to use the 5.1-channel outputs for DVD-Audio.