DVD-A SACD CD... quality universal player (1 Viewer)

[John Garcia]

Well, I had the 2200 and the 2900, and I have to say that there was almost no difference in video, and the audio was noticable but not a night and day difference; IMO, not worth the vast price difference between them unless you are REALLY critical.

 

[Shane Harg]

According to the Audioholics review, the 2910 was superior to the 3910 on video performance (it scored higher on the rigorous HQV bench test) and was not far behind the 3910 in audio performance. I believe it would take a pretty stellar system to hear the subtle differences. And, forgive me for saying so (though you did ask), but your system, as it stands currently, does not fall into that category.

 

[DustinTaj]

Thanks for being so candid. LOL. But, I know it's not stellar (although, I've heard very few systems that sound FAR better). I just wasn't sure what it would take to hear the differences. I keep reading that the audio is so much better on the 3910, especially for redbook CD's so I've been a little worried that the difference was so obvious that the price would be warranted regardless of the system.

Thanks for clearing that up.

It seems like I may be okay with the 2910. It probably matches my mid-range system anyway.

I presume others will concur? I'm sure it will sound better than my cruddy Toshiba I use now, right?

-DD

 

[Shane Harg]

Hmmm...looks like they both scored same, which is to say, wonderfully on reproduction of redbook CDs. And although I wouldn't bank everything on this review, I'd put far more trust in it than a bunch of subjective opinions on a forum.



BTW, don't get me wrong. You have a far better system than most, but then, most people don't consider purchasing DVD players that cost over $100, do they? LOL.

 

[Jack Dotson]

If your price range is still under $600 then I would also recommend the Sherwood Newcastle SD-860. Have one in my system, video performance is outstanding and it does a decent job with SACD/DVDA as well. Honestly the audio performance is likely better than what you'll get with your other components. It will not be the weakest link. This is not a knock on your equipment, just an honest statement to show just how competitive this unit is.

 

[DustinTaj]

Jack, a couple of questions on the Sherwood:

First - I'm not all that familiar with how the multi-function players handle standard redbook CD's when listening to 2-channel music using the multi-channel outputs, so maybe they all do the same thing. But the Denon has an option called "bass enhancer" which, according to their literature, allows for audio to be sent to the subwoofer during 2-channel playback. This is a feature I want. I plan on hooking this unit up only to my multi-channel (analog) inputs on my receiver so as to not have any additional A/D - D/A conversions done on it. So, when I play back normal CD's I want it to do the splitting out of the sub frequencies on the DVD player, otherwise my sub won't come into play. Do you know how the Sherwood handles such a task?

Second - Do you know if the Sherwood decodes HDCD's? I have a few of these and would like to be able to take advantage of them. I'm not seeing it listed on their website, though.

Thanks,

-DD

 

[DustinTaj]

Giving this a bump.

Also, I may need to add that I do have a big-screen TV now. It's a JVC 56" HD-ILA. Scales everything to 720p.

-DD

 

[John-Miles]

For what its worth i love my Yamaha S2300 its been spectactualr since i bought it 3 years ago for 1300

 

[Dan Driscoll]

Destin,

The Sherwood is not spec'd for HDCD.

I do not use the SD-860 for CD playback, I prefer the analog output of my Carver, instead. But I don't think the Sherwood applies bass management to redbook sources. I'll try to check that tonight.

 

[DustinTaj]

One more quick question:

Being that the dvd-2910 came out in 2004, does anyone think Denon will be coming out with a newer version of it this year? I'd hate to put $700 into a DVD player and 3 months from now find out a new version is out at the same price and the old one went down $300 in price.

Just curious if anyone knew if something was coming. I've not read anything except that the 5910 is getting a 1080p version (5910CI maybe??? - i forget).

-DD

 

[Samuel_Fred]

I'm a bit confused. From another thread I understand now something I pretty much always suspected: just about every CD player is going to give you the same sound (it's the other parts of the system that make the difference). But this seems not to be the case with SACD players. Why?

I'm interested in buying a unit that can play SACDs and do not care about any bells and whistles, nor do I care at all about the video quality (if the unit also plays DVDs). I just want good sound. Is a $100 unit really going to sound different from a $800 one? If so: why is this the case with SACD, but not with CD?

Thanks.

 

[Chris Gerhard]

CD players can certainly sound different if you use the CD player DAC. If you just connect the digital output of the CD player to the amplifier digital input, then I don't think I can tell any difference between CD players although other factors might make it possible to tell some difference even then. With SACD, a conversion to analog is required with almost all players and the analog output connected to the amplifier analog input. Only firewire equipped SACD players can be connected digitally to an amplifier to allow the firewire equipped amplifier to decode. Therefore sound quality will be affected by the quality of the DAC in an SACD player. I would expect an $800 player to have better flexibility also, meaning better bass management and time alignment. Will an $800 player sound $700 better than a $100 player? That depends on how difficult it is for you to come by $700. If $700 is pocket change to you, then I would say the answer is yes but if not, the answer is likely no.

Chris

 

[LanceJ]

All I will say about this is that different CD players can sound different. And I've heard this with my own mid-fi gear, Pioneer vs. Technics to be exact (the Pioneer player definitely had more bass but it was more "blurry" than the Technics').

To many sacd super-fans, CD is a horrid, unmusical format so of course any differences are purely academic & not worth mentioning.

Anyway........

Different sacd players can also sound different because of different DACs (digital-to-analog convertors) but especially, because of different analog output stages. This portion of a player has much to do with its final sound, IMO much more so than the DAC's contribution. This stage is very "tunable" in other words.
>>> The analog stage issue also applies to CD players, MP3 players, dvd-video/dvd-audio players, tape decks, tuners, phono preamps, and any other device that has a set of analog outputs.

 

[Samuel_Fred]

And such players and receivers must be very expensive, no? But do they sound better than any of the others?

Oh, and what's "time alignment"?

 

[JeremyErwin]

SACDs and DVD-Audio are mixed under the assumption that each speaker will be equidistant from the listener. However, in many living rooms, the surrounds will be closer to the listener, the center, left and right speakers will all lie in a plane, etc. Time alignment allows you to specify that the the surrounds are 4 ft away, and the center is eight ft away. Some SACD players lacked this feature.

My current player, a Sony SCD-2000ES, incorporates both time alignment and levels control. However, it has a fixed crossover-- 120 Hz. Ah well.

 

[Chris Gerhard]

I have never owned nor heard one but I doubt they sound any better than a player with the same quality DAC. The biggest advantage is likely having one cable connecting player and amplifier.

Chris

 

[DustinTaj]

Bringing this thread up again...

My question is now about AL24 sound processing, which I can't seem to find a good answer to via search on this site, stevehoffman, or avsforum.

I have been saving for the Denon DVD-2910 and finally can get it. I've got my 6' of bluejeanscable multi-channel cable and a spot cleared off for it. I was going to buy it this week and happened to find this thread:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=666053

where people are talking about the NEW DVD-2930 and DVD-3930 players. The 2930 is $849 according to crutchfield's website and will be released in the next couple of weeks, while the $1499 2930 will be Aug/Sep timeframe (2006).

So, now I have a decision to make. 2910 or 2930. I understand the 2910 will be staying as a middle ground between the 2930 and the 1920 for a little while, so I doubt it's price ($699) will change any time soon.

The differences between the 2 are:
video processing: new reon chip (rumored to not have the macroblocking issue of the 2910)
audio processing: now AL24 Plus sound processing is included.

SO, MY QUESTION IS: Does anyone know if the AL24 sound processing is as good as the marketing literature says it is? It SEEMS to me like denon has improved both video and audio on this player. If so, I will pay for the 2930. If the audio will not be improved much, I will likely get the 2910 still.

BTW, does anyone know if macroblocking is an issue on HD-ILA televisions like it is on DLP sets? I expect it is.

Thanks, and sorry for all the questions. I promise a full report once I finally get the unit.

crutchfield link to DVD-2930CI, with specs http://www.crutchfield.com/S-Qg2rZwH...0&i=033DV2930C

-DD

 

[John Garcia]

I would get the 2930, especially if your set can display 1080p.

 

[DustinTaj]

Thanks John. It's only 720p native resolution JVC HD-ILA TV, though.

 

[DustinTaj]

So, does anyone know where to point me to find out information on AL24 sound processing and it's real-world benefits? All I can find is marketing stuff. I'm wondering if the 2930 will really sound all that different than the 2910.