Toshiba SD4700 vs. Toshiba SD5700 (1 Viewer)

[ToddJ]

What is the difference between these 2 (other than the color?) I read that the SD5700 is an older machine, but is it better?

 

[James Elvick]

The differnce besides color is the 5700 has HDCD decoding if that matters to you. They both came out at the same time and the 5700 is part of Toshiba Cinema series which was meant to be a step up but the players are almost identical.

James

 

[John E F]

You might look at the Mitsubishi DD-8020. It seems to be exactly the same as the SD-5700, but with a Toshiba SD-3750 remote and different case. The set up menus, features, and picture look exactly the same (including HDCD and DVD-Audio) and can be found for $229 at some B&M's. The was a pretty good review of this model in the current Sound and Vision, for what that's worth.

 

[peter_i]

does anyone know if the 5700 has an automatic scaling function - I hope that's the word - for 16:9 tv's? Trying to make up my mind between the 5700 and Panasonic rp82, which is part of the new models coming out.

 

[tony randall]

I don't know for sure if it's the correct the technical term, but what you are asking about is the aspect ratio. And yes, the toshiba does have an option for a 16:9 widescreen.
Have you checked out www.toshiba.com ? What I have found useful at their site is you can view the entire user manuals online. When you get into the dvd section, There will be several links on the left side of the page. I think the 'customer solutions' is the one to follow for on-line user manuals.

 

[Jeff D]

Peter, no. The All tosh models don't have the scaling. In that you you are asking for is the ability to scale the letterboxed 4:3 source like the Pana RP91 does? That would be scaling. There is also zoom, which is not scaling, but the tosh zoom is pretty nice. The tosh zoom is not a scale and distorts the picture (It didn't bother me).
One nice feature about the tosh zoom is the zoom out, which will allow you to take a image that fills your 16:9 display and zoom out slightly to see what is cropped off the left and right by the player. (try it you'll see what I mean)
One problem I have with the Tosh models is that I have yet to find one that plays MP3 audio discs well. An example can be found here...
http://www.geocities.com/iceweasel_14/tosh_mp3_bug.html
(I tried a number of players to fall in love with the Pana RP91, it's a pretty nice player.)

 

[peter_i]

damn, Jeff, that's a bummer. I've been driving people crazy trying to figure out whether to get the Tosh 5700 or wait for the panasonic rp82, which has dvd-audio. The only thing the Tosh has over the panny is hdcd decoding. I had read that the new Panny rp82 does not have scaling either for 16;9 tv's but the rp91 I'd love to get but too expensive. I just bought a widescreen toshiba tv so not much cash left over after buying the 5700 too. The good thing about the Toshiba dvd I have is the dealer agreed to let me exchange it for the panny rp82 once it's on the market so I can take the Tosh for a test run, see how the dvd audio is, chroma bug issue, etc. so far tried the dvd-audio and wasn't as impressed as I had hoped to be, maybe it was my mood or my sound system is off, I don't know.

Thanks for the info, Jeff.

 

[ToddJ]

If you could post on whether or not you notice the Chroma bug once you get it hooked up with your Toshiba I would greatly appreciate it.

 

[tony randall]

peter_i said:

so far tried the dvd-audio and wasn't as impressed as I had hoped to be

I agree with you. Sure, it is a little 'cleaner' than throwing in a redbook CD, but it doesn't use the effect speakers much better than my receiver can play a redbook CD using one of the pre-programmed surround modes.

I was much more impressed with multichannel SACD. Problem was there is not much multichannel SACD available. Further, you can't take these discs and play 'em in your car, boombox (for days at the beach), discman, etc.

I took back the SACD player and fot the Tosh 4700 instead. Since 'everyone' said that DVD-A was the same concept as SACD, I spent the extra $25 to get this unit as opposed to the 3750, which has same video capabilities.

The only thing I like better about DVD-A is at least I can put it in the computer's dvd tray and play it while I am working. However, until one of these formats becomes mainstream, I won't commit.

 

[Jeff D]

I find it amazing you guys don't notice a big difference in DVD-A or SACD (tony, you said that, right?).

If you connect up everything correclty. That's the key, correctly... DVD-A is pretty clean and better than CD. You must use the 5.1 output to the 5.1 input on your reciever. You must just the sub and you must make sure you have the DVD player is setup to do 5.1 analog out instead of the bitstream output. (if you are getting audio on the 5.1 inputs you have configured the dvd player correctly.)

Another option on some players is DVD-A vs. DD output. This is important because some players will play back DD over the 5.1 instead of the DVD-A 5.1 decoded stream. You must pay attention to what your player is telling you. DVD-A and any DVD-A lights are good, but make sure the settings are correct first and foremost.

The 5.1 DD mix sounds like crap, pretty close to what CD audio sounds like, the 5.1 DVD-A sounds different red is different than blue.

HDCD, that's a tough call, I've never heard a difference, and most people set this up incorrectly too.... you must make sure you connect the audio L&R jacks from the DVD player to the receiver's CD L&R in (pick any input source, but use the L&R input) otherwise the DVD player is just passing the analog CD PCM signal over the bitstream connection. You really need to let the DVD player do all the decoding and then take the output from the L&R channels to hear a difference. (Note: I never heard much of a difference)

 

[PaulKH]

peter_i, Jeff D: Ok one more time - zooming and scaling are the same thing.

And the 3750/3755/4700/5700 can all scale non-anamorphic letterbox titles to full 16:9 size perfectly. You tell the player to display 4:3 titles (which non-anamorphic letterbox titles are) in correct aspect - with pillars) and then zoom in one step and voila. They don't do it automatically like an RP91 does (although it doesn't work either on the many letterbox titles that aren't flagged properly).

These Toshiba players also have numerous additional levels of zoom in AND OUT so you can see overscan of video that normally falls off the edge of your TV. You can use the zoom in (sorry OAR zealots) to make a 2.35:1 movie fill the 16:9 screen if you want also.

These Toshiba players do have the chroma bug (the RP91 doesn't) but it's very slight compared to prior generations.

For the price, these Toshiba players are unbeatable.

 

[PaulKH]

Tony - when playing DVD-A on Toshiba 4700/5700, it's a PAIN to make sure you're REALLY listening to the real DVD-Audio and NOT a 5.1 or worse, pro-logic soundtrack.

I don't think computer readers listen to real DVD-Audio soundtrack.

Anyway, in HT, you have to setup the DVD player to do analog 6ch and set playback priority to DVD-A. You then have to make sure you're listening to the ANALOG inputs on your receiver and not the digital. That's the only way to really listen to DVD-Audio.

It's easy to mess it up and just hear regular stereo/pro-logic or DD5.1. DVD-A is SIGNIFICANTLY better sounding.

 

[tony randall]

Sure I have it hooked up right. I had a post about the disappointment, asking if I had it hooked up right, and got it straightened out there.

PaulKH said:

I don't think computer readers listen to real DVD-Audio soundtrack.

This comes off like an attack Paul. I AM NOT TRYING TO GET DVD-A out of the computer. I was only, and I mean ONLY, saying that the one advantage DVD-A has over SACD is that the discs can be played in a non-dedicated player. [Some SACD discs can, but Sony's (co-inventor of SACD) cannot.] I sure don't expect to hear surround sound out of my portable disc player (CD or DVD) hooked up to headphones, but its nice to know when you shell out $25 bucks for a disc that there is a 2 channel stereo track available for playing outside of your HT.

 

[peter_i]

Simply put, for me the dvd-a and the way it sounds isnot "the bomb". As stated in earlier posts, my connections are fine yet it sounds just ok. It plays really loud but don't be fooled on quantity rather that quality.

ToddJ, in response to your earlier question about how the 5700 looks with my Toshiba widescreen - well, that's DA BOMB! It looks friggin' amazing, much better than I expected. I tested the chroma bug problem with Toy Story and could only notice it after zooming in. In other words, hardly noticeable at all.

Does anyone know if the HDCD function will operate if the dvd is hooked up through the optical cable or does it have to be RCA's? Also, is optical better than digital coaxial or??

Now, my hardest decision is to figure out whether I return the 5700 and wait for the Panasonic rp82 which won't be out till August in Canada.

 

[PaulKH]

Tony - you misintepreted my comment, no 'attack' meant at all. I just thought you might have thought a computer DVD drive can read the DVD-Audio soundtrack. I didn't actually think a computer DVD drive could read a DVD-Audio disc at all - it can? Conversely I thought SACD could be read like a regular CD for non-SACD drives??? I guess I've got it all wrong.

 

[PaulKH]

peter_i - I think the higher precision HDCD is only output through analog. If that's true you'll get 'regular' CD audio out of the digital. As far as coaxial vs. optical - the concensus is that coaxial is better, but many also say it makes no difference at all.

 

[peter_i]

HDCD is best heard through analog? Really? Does anyone have any idea what to do if my system is hooked up through optical cable instead of analog? I don't really want to "rehook" it up again and go to lower grade analog cables after basking in the beauty of optical cable sound. Can I enjoy HDCD AND leave my optical hooked up still through the dvd player? Can I hook it up somehow through the analog outs at the same time or through a splitter maybe? Anyone know??

 

[PaulKH]

Although it's not that clear, maybe this will help.
Link Removed
I don't know of a receiver that can decode HDCD so it has to be done in the player (which means using the analog outs). This is no different than DVD-Audio or SACD.

 

[tony randall]

Paul,

I do agree with you that DVD-A is a pain to 'set up'. I started a thread, prior to participating in this one, because I was sure there was an error on my part during the setup. I knew there was a 'glitch' somewhere, because a menu would pop up on the TV that had a 'Audio Options' menu item. This menu would last for maybe one second. I brought the disc to my computer to see if I could get that menu item to pop-up there. That is when I realized at least it would play, albeit sterer, in the computer's dvd tray. Subsequently, I placed the disc in the Tosh. 4700, and, like magic, the thing works. I can get to the 'Audio Options' menu and select 6Channel or 96kHz stereo. I still have to go to the 4700 Setup Menu to switch it there to 6 channel output.

As far as SACD goes, some discs are 'hybrid'. SONY DISCS ARE NOT. Sony is the main company behind the SACD format. Maybe they have 'glitches' in the dual-layer required and don't want to release something 'less than perfect', I don't know.

Jeff D,

I do notice a difference between DVD-A vs. redbook CD, as well as SACD vs. redbook CD. Redbook CD is still enjoyable to listen to, though. What DVD-a and SACD promise is a multichannel experience. For the titles I have listened to, so far SACD has delivered a phenomenal multichannel experience. DVD-A has not delivered on the multichannel experience.

Here is what I have done to arrive at those statements.

1) Play a title in SACD or DVD-A format.

2) Play the same title in redbook on the same player as step 1.

3) Repeat step 1.

4) Repeat step 2, except use a surround mode on the receiver.

What I have found so far, is that the multichannel mix on SACD titles I have tested cannot be recreated from a redbook cd played as played in step 4 above, but the multichannel mix of DVD-A can be recreated.

If you just want higher res., both formats deliver. My disappointment with dvd-a is that it does has not delivered (based on the few titles I have) a multichannel performance that I cannot recreate on my system from a redbook cd.

 

[Rick_Brown]

"Can I enjoy HDCD AND leave my optical hooked up still through the dvd player? Can I hook it up somehow through the analog outs at the same time or through a splitter maybe?"

Yes, you can Peter. Simply leave your optical connection as is, and connect the analog output from your DVD to the CD input on your Receiver. Your DVD player should be able to output both at the same time when you play a music CD. Now, you can toggle back and forth to compare.