Sony DVP-NS755V in stock at Crutchfield. (1 Viewer)

[KeithH]

Crutchfield now has the Sony DVP-NS755V progressive-scan DVD/SACD player in stock for $299.99. In addition, Crutchfield is offering six-month interest-free financing for purchases of $300 and up, shipping excluded. I'm sure Crutchfield wouldn't deny one the financing option over the one-cent discrepancy. Here is a link to the 'NS755V:
http://www.crutchfield.com/cgi-bin/S...VP755V&o=m&a=0

 

[Craig Rosenthal]

They really must have them in stock because they have apparently shipped mine out today. Looks like a new toy for the weekend... I just hope that the darn bass management works for SACD, unlike the 500.

 

[KeithH]

Craig, please give us a review of the 'NS755V once you have put it through its paces. Do you own the 'NS500V? I'm just wondering if you have it available for comparison to the 'NS755V.

 

[Marty M]

I, too, am anxious to see a review of this player. I am trying to decide whether to get the Toshiba 4800 or this one. For multi-channel music, I have been leaning towards the SACD format. I just hope it doesn't become Sony's new Beta.

 

[Craig Rosenthal]

Okay, here's a first impression, as I only got home from work late on Friday night. I will play more on Sunday, and report back...
Background/Equipment:
The player is hooked up via 6-channel output to the 5.1 channel inputs on my Denon receiver. For Dolby digital comparison purposes, I also connected the coaxial digital output to the receiver. Component video cables run directly to a 56" ISF calibrated and tweaked Toshiba HDTV. Front speakers are Energy Pro 22's, with a matching center and a Velodyne HGS-series sub to provide a little kick.
Audio:
First order of business was to determine if this player has SACD bass redirection capability. My initial impression is that it does: 2-channel SACDs play from both front speakers and the subwoofer (my recollection is that this was my #1 gripe with the NS500V - it took the bass away from the main speakers but never redirected it to the sub). I still haven't figured out how one can prove that a player is redirecting the bass from multi-channel SACD disc (every multichannel disc I've encountered has a sub or full-range 6th channel encoded on the sub-track).
My initial impression is that both stereo and multi-channel SACD sound very good. I didn't try CDs or MP3s (although I was surprised to see that the owners manual implies that it doesn't handle MP3 playlists, which sort of makes navigating the 100+ songs on a disc a little difficult).
Next test was to take a quick listen to the on-board DD and DTS decoders. The Dolby Digital decoder sounds pretty flat and lifeless to me - switching on the fly to and from the Denon receiver's decoder showed the receiver's decoder to provide much more depth and detail. I wouldn't recommend using the on-board DD decoder unless you have no other option. For DTS, I don't have an on-board DTS decoder to compare against, but the DTS sound was full and satisfying. I also only own a few DTS DVDs, one of which is the Eagles: Hell Freezes Over, which is what I used to draw this conclusion.
There's still something that strikes me as a little odd about the Subwoofer level of this player. I seem to have to boost the level about 8-10db in the setup to get decent bass. This is somewhat surprising, as the gain dial on my sub is set to the proper level for the rest of my equipment (and I don't add any gain in my receiver's speaker level settings), so I didn't expect to have to change the sub setting in the DVD player at all. I seem to recall reading somewhere that the Sony players have anemic sub-woofer outputs - maybe someone else can share their experience in this area with me.
Video:
I am coming from an interlaced DVD player, and my TV's line doubler doesn't do 3:2. My initial impression is that the video was nice and solid; the line-doubling artifacts that I've learned to live with are gone. The picture seems to be as good or better than progressive players I've seen in action on other people's TVs (I haven't seen any on a well calibrated rear projection set), so I have very limited basis for comparison.
I tried desperately to look for signs of the dreaded chroma bug, but to no avail. My only previous chroma error experience was with a Dish Network receiver that would smear red, most noticably on the Dish Network logo - I've never seen the error on a DVD player.
I don't own Toy Story, but I do own the Fifth Element, and I played the panic-button sequence over-and-over again looking for the error, but I couldn't see anything out of the ordinary. I didn't see any streaks, smears or smudges (except for my son's fingerprints on the TV screen). I was really expecting to see it, as people have reported that it is very apparent on the NS715 model, which I had assumed has the same video section as the NS755. If chroma error is supposed to make the panic button from the Fifth Element look like the heavily streaked picture I saw either here or on AVS Forum, I saw nothing of the sort.
More to come on Sunday...
Craig

 

[KeithH]

Craig, thanks for the initial review. The 'NS755V sounds like a great player for the money. I would be curious to hear more about the CD and SACD performance. It's too bad you don't have the 'NS500V for comparison.

 

[Craig Rosenthal]

I did play a little more this morning with the bass redirection. I verified that the bass redirection appears to work for all modes (I verified 2-channel SACD, redbook CD and MP3, the latter two came as a pleasant surprise as I didn't recall the NS500V applying bass redirection to CDs). I have every reason to believe that it works on multi-channel SACD too, but once again I haven't figured out an easy way test that yet (one that doesn't involve physically disconnection all of my speakers). It seems like Sony responded to the lack of bass redirection effectively.

I have no idea if the time alignment (delay time) works for these other modes, but this is not an issue for me as my listening position is roughly equidistant for each of my speakers.


I'm still not crazy about the fixed crossover at 120hz, but I can live with it. If Outlaw (or someone else) comes out with a dual-input version of the ICBM, I probably would buy it so I can also buy a DVD-A player. This would all me to drop the crossover back down to 80hz.

I did a little DD/DTS comparison using Fantasia 2000, and the DTS sound via the player's internal decoder sounded significantly better than the Dolby Digital using my Denon receiver's DAC (as I stated in my earlier post, the DD decoder in the player is weak). I know the DD vs. DTS topic has been discussed ad-nauseam in the past, and I don't want to reopen that can of worms, since I don't know that these two soundtracks are from the same original mix.

To Keith's question: SACD sounds about the same as I remember the NS500V, which barring the bass management issues, sounded very good to me. I did a couple of CD vs. SACD comparisions, and both the Billy Joel disc and the Gloria Estafan discs sounded much more open and detailed on SACD. My Billy Joel discs were all replaced with the newly remastered versions in the past year, so I wasn't unfairly comparing the original CD version with the new SACD version.

Multi-channel SACD sounds really good - I found that even fairly low listening levels (i.e., after my wife goes to sleep) provide a very satisfying listening experience. Thus far, I prefer the multi-channel mixes where they are available, as I get the impression that most of the 2-channel mixes of what I own are probably a downmix of the multi-channel version. As others have pointed out in the past, some multi-channel mixes sound very natural and some sound strange (for example, one of the Billy Joel albums has some of the instruments directed to the rear speakers).

Craig

 

[MattCPT]

Craig,
Thanks for the review. I would love to hear more about the cd playback and how it compares to other units. Does it sound harsh/bright like some people stated that the 500V did? I'm about to buy the 755V or the 900V, and my decision is going to be based on differences in audio playback of each players SACD, cd and DVD sections. I get the feeling that a lot of people are interested in the video/audio performance of the 755V. Thanks in advance for future reviews.

 

[KeithH]

Craig, thanks for the information. It seems like Sony did a good job responding to the bass redirection issue that was raised with the 'NS500V. I guess you would assess the 'NS755V as a winner. Very cool.

I don't feel the Billy Joel SACDs are the best to show off the format, but I have found them to be noticeably better than the remastered CDs. The SACDs are more involving. Another way of looking at it is that the CDs sound flat by comparison.

 

[Marvin]

Craig, thanks for the review. Just out of curiousity, which interlaced player are you replacing with this? I have a second generation Sony DVD player (DVP-S300) which has done well for me but I'm looking to replace with either this one or perhaps the new one by Toshiba or Panasonic. Was the video performance of the 755V marginally better or was it more like night and day?

 

[MaxMenon]

Could someone tell me if the SACD is this player (in 2 channel mode) is superior to the 500V ?

I have full range speakers all around so ... the bass management is not an issue for me. I used to own the Sony 333ES SACD player and sold it because of the less than incredible sonics ... I currently own a Toshiba SD9200 DVD Audio player and it plays the redbook discs much much better than the 333ES ... however it does not play SACD :-(

So ... I am hoping that these new generation players are better than the 333ES generation.

I already own the JVC 723 progressive player (incredible video and no chroma bug) ... so the progressive video on the 755 is not a major deal for me. I will get the 755 only if it outperforms the previous *affordable* players.

Any info appreciated.

 

[KeithH]

Max, the 'NS500V is not as good as the 'C333ES, and I doubt the 'NS755V will be either. For an SACD player that beats the 'C333ES, I feel you will have to go beyond Sony's budget models. Check out the 'C555ES. I feel it beats the 'C333ES. The 'C555ES goes for $600 these days from authorized mail-order dealers like Oade Bros., J&R Music World, and OneCall.

 

[MaxMenon]

I think I will get the Marantz SA-8260 (it can be purchased from Japan for $650 !!)

 

[KeithH]

Max, if you do get the '8260, please let us know how you like it. I'd be curious to hear your thoughts.

 

[Craig Rosenthal]

I've only spent a few minutes listening to redbook CDs on this player, since I won't be using it for this purpose. It's also been a few years since I've auditioned various CD players, and I am more of a casual CD listener at home, so I am probably not the best judge of the redbook performance. My routine CD player is a Sony 333ES 300-CD changer.

That being said, in my quick comparison, I compared the player's internal DAC against my Denon 3200 receiver's DAC using the DVD player as the transport. The Denon receiver's DAC seems more open and airy; the DVD player's DAC seemed more two-dimensional.

Later this week, I'll try to play around with redbook a little more, and compare it to the Denon again, and run a little side-by-side with my Sony ES 300-disc changer. In the interim, I'd welcome any thoughts on the current opinions of the DACs in both my receiver and CD player, which I will incorporate in my comparison (they both represented excellent "bang for the buck" when I bought them a few years ago - I wonder how much has really changed in the last few years).

My previous DVD player was a second generation Toshiba (SD-2108), which has served me well for the past 3 years. I've been watching A Beautiful Mind as I type this, and thus far I am pleased with the picture quality - I really appreciate the difference that the 3:2 pulldown makes. The camera pans over complex textures (bricks, patterned shirts, etc.) lack the artifacts that I am used to seeing.

Craig

 

[KeithH]

Craig, thanks for the initial review. I have never used the Denon '3200 receiver, but I would have thought the the 'NS755V would be more competitive. Sony is using very good DACs in its SACD players, but it is true that the 'NS755V is a $300 model. The analog output stage is probably not up to snuff.

I would be interested to hear how the 'NS755 compares to the 'CX333ES megachanger. I have two 'CX333ES megachangers daisy-chained in my main system, so I am familiar with it. The 'CX333ES is good as far as megachangers go. Am I correct in assuming that you are using the digital output on the 'CX333ES in connecting it to your receiver? Since I have two units daisy-chained, I have always used the analog outputs. It doesn't matter anyway now since I have them connected to a stereo amp that has no DACs. When I bought the 'CX333ES players a little over two years ago, I was using them with an A/V receiver.

 

[Marvin]

Crutchfield is now saying this item won't be in stock until 9/5! They had previously moved it back to 8/10 and then 8/16. I think Craig must be the only one to own one of these.

 

[Craig Rosenthal]

Keith,

I have the CD changer connected via analog - my receiver only has 2 digital inputs, and I use one for DVD and the other for my Dish HD receiver. I don't think that I ever compared the CD changer DACs with the receiver's.

Regarding the DACs, I thought I read that the SCD-775 audio changer has 3 DACs; I never remember reading what the DVD/SACD players had (especially the NS-500V). Do they also use 3 DACs for multichannel, or does Sony use cheaper/fewer DACs for the DVD players?

Marvin, I am not too surprised that they are in such great demand - it's a pretty nice feature set for $300. All I can say is that I thank Keith for posting the fact that Crutchfield was taking pre-orders back in early May; I ordered mine as soon as I saw his message. I really wasn't expecting it until 8/10, based on the availability message on the Crutchfield site.

 

[David I]

For those of you looking for this player, I picked it up today at J and R for $299 + tax. They said they got a full shipment of them in yesterday. Not sure if they've posted it on their web site yet but they had it on the showroom floor.

I'll be hooking mine up over the weekend and I'll post my thoughts.

 

[MaxMenon]

FWIW - J and R sold me one today for $250 + $15 for double boxed shipping. (details in a previous post)

I am looking forward to this !