Back on the hunt for a good DVD player...

Nick_the_'Nole

Nick_the_'Nole

Super Member
...because I made the mistake of buying a Toshiba 3960, and it is a complete and total POS. Got it out of the box and was greeted by a cheap plastic case, but I gave the benefit of the doubt and hooked it up, and now I'm just pissed. :grumpy: Video quality is terrible, and while I'm not extremely picky, I was at least expecting it to match my beat up old PS2 (which is run through rf modulation, no less) and it came nowhere close. An exchange of the player didn't get me anything better, so I'm gonna fault the player itself rather than a defective unit. Audio quality is impressive, I'll admit, but the lack of a track display irritates me to no end. Ultimately the shortcomings outweigh the few positive aspects of the player.

So, does anyone have any better recommendations? The Pioneer DV-578A looks like a good bet, but real-world impressions would be appreciated if anyone has any. For other options, I don't mind paying a little more for something that doesn't suck, but I'd prefer to keep price as low as possible. Audio is a bigger priority than video, and I kinda want to try DVD-A, if a decent player can be found without breaking the bank... I'd rather have a very good CD/DVD player than a mediocre one that'll also DVD-A.

Thanks.
 
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Hmmmmmmmm......
I just use my 3960 for CD audio playback and the occasional DVD, but hey, I mainly watch VHS and have it hooked up to a 15 year old 27" Sony.
 
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To say I hate I cannot stand the Toshiba 3950 would be an understatement.

The Pioneer 563A stomps its ass. And look ma no silly mods :D
 
grumpy said:
To say I hate I cannot stand the Toshiba 3950 would be an understatement.

The Pioneer 563A stomps its ass. And look ma no silly mods :D
Click to expand...

Holey Moley!!

Have the Lions won the Superbowl??? This is like Grumpy's second or third post on "coasters" :lmao: :lmao:
 
Didn't say i owned one now ! :D
 
I've found Pioneer makes about the least fussy DVD players around, especially with DVD-recordable discs. I've got a Denon DVD-2200, and it's a superb DVD player. The picture is the best of any player I've actually used, and it's got a memory buffer to ameliorate the hangup you normally get at the point where the layer changes. Pretty good for Redbook CD, too.

I've also got a slew of Pioneers, including a couple DV-260's (real cheapo's), a DV-563a (darned good universal player) and a DV-656 (with a bunch of silly mods! :banana: It's got Modwright Level I Transports mods, IEC power cord mod + a Bybee on the coaxial output). The Pioneers will play everything I throw at them. I'd rate the Denon better for video, but it's not entirely reliable with DVD-Rs (at least not in my experience- YMMV).

Even the very cheapest Pioneers (say $70 or so) are rock solid with DVD-R and seem to play everything I can throw at them. An engineer-type I know says often the cheapest players are the most tolerent of out-of-spec software, and there may be something to that. The cheapo Pioneers feel & look pretty slight compared to the class & heft of my Denon, but they work very very well. I have heard reports that the '563/578 has a few compatility issues with a couple of DVD-A discs, but they play all the ones I have just fine (probably 75 or so).
 
The DV-563a is a great little inexpensive multi-format player. There are some price/performance trade offs, but overall a great little player. This was my first multi-format player and I still have it, but it only use it occasionally now.

Personally I prefer a unit like my Pioneer Elite DV-47Ai, which is head and shoulders above units like the DV-563a, but also costs considerably more.

-Dave
 
Dave918 said:
Personally I prefer a unit like my Pioneer Elite DV-47Ai, which is head and shoulders above units like the DV-563a, but also costs considerably more.

-Dave
Click to expand...

The Elite is a very nice player. I actually had one of those, too. :lmao: I know- why the hell have I got so many players? :D The '47 is nice, but I think the Denon has better sound & video. The Denon was enough better that I gave the Pioneer to my sister. She loves it and has had no problem with it.

Eventually I may "upgrade" to a newer model of Denon, maybe one with a Denon Link output for DVD-A & SACD. It just depends on whether or not the new formats are viable enough...
 
I'm loving this Marantz DV4000 I picked up from Whell. But for overall for ease of feature accessability, my Sony 5 disc wins over every one I've seen.
 
I know I'm not going to get something amazing for $129, but if it's a good CD player, a good DVD-Video player, and a good DVD-A player, that's quite enough for me. I haven't gotten into any of the hi-res formats yet (aside from vinyl), so I'd imagine this little beast is capable of worlds better than the basic CD I'm accustomed to. Plus, if Grumpy isn't saying nasty things about it, it's prolly a little more than good. :thmbsp:

Edit - The Pioneer DV-578A, I mean. Just to clear that up.
 
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3960 or 50 for that matter prolly wouldn't be my choice for DVD playback but for redbook 2 channel playback it is common knowledge that they perform very well. Excellent Burr Brown Dac in them and they are especially easy to hot rod to elevate them even further. Where as most other players don't have the following with the large amount of people that love the Toshiba and post tons of great information about them. (See other audio forum sites) My 50 is excellent for seedee (if you can call zeros and ones excellent) and I'll put it up against many that cost much more...
 
Nick;

What do you want the DVDP for ?

Just movies ?
Good CD playback ?
Hi rez discs ?

And how much do you want to spend ?

If you want a cheap universal player the Pioneers are impossible to beat.

I've had the Asia/Pacific DV-676 model and it is superb !

Very good playback of all formats including SACD (a shock because IME most universals suck at SACD).

Video through it's onboard de-interlacer is very good, although if you have a really good display device you may get better results running the Pioneer interlaced and de-interlacing using your display.

A giant-killer BUT the build quality while good is still lightweight.

If you just want good DVD playback and perhaps good replay of Red Book CD's then may I suggest a used high end DVDP like the Sony 7000/7700 or the Pioneer DV-09 ?

These machines have unsurpassed build quality and will still perform almost as well as the best of today's players.
 
Toshiba model SD-900E is excellent. It plays DVD-Audio aswell. It's a full metal jacket and copper plated chassis. It's heavy (about 14kg), and lets you switch its video section completely off while playing music. It's discontinued, but you might be able to find it second hand.
 
I'd rather avoid second-hand or discontinued players, since I have rather bad luck with them breaking... It's going to be a cd player first and a dvd player second, and since I don't have an HDTV or anything, it doesn't have to be amazing for video. I just want it not to suck as bad as the Toshiba. Hi-res formats aren't a necessity, but since the Pioneer seems to be a good option, it might be a good time to try 'em out. I know that the Toshiba is really good for CDs sonically, but when I get a DVD player, I expect it to at least play DVDs at an acceptable quality. Since the Toshiba cannot, I will pay a little more for something that does what it's supposed to do.

Weight means little to me. I could add copper sheeting to the inside of the Pioneer's case and get plenty of weight and shielding. (And if there is anything I can do to it, I *will* mod the crap out of that thing, 'cause I can't leave anything alone.) I'm mainly worried about electronics quality.

The big thing is that I don't have much of a budget. $150 would be pushing my upper limit. But if it's agreed that the Pioneer is worth the money, and it will do what I want it to do, then I'm gonna go for that.
 
This is side-tracking the issue a bit, but last year I bought a Panasonic DMR-55EK DVD Recorder to go with my Panasonic Tau TV. I love the TV...hated the DVD-R. It wouldn't play some dual-layer movies and most frustrating, it played *den mother* and refused to record many TV broadcasts or copy some of my old home-made VHS cassettes, claiming on-screen that they were "copyrighted". How the hell is a 15 year old tape of off-the-air stuff copyrighted? It's totally useless IMO since I bought it for time-shifting. Anyway, just wanted to rant a bit and make you guys aware of it's probs.
 
With a $150 budget and new requirement the Pioneers are no-brainers.

Lightweight referred to the physical weight and build quality.
 
Alright, picked up the Pioneer. Gotta say, this thing rawks. Both video playback and cd audio quality are worlds better than that Toshiba, IMO. Haven't been able to try DVD-A yet, but I did put in an SACD and wow. :saywhat: Plus, I got the thing for $111 at a CircuitCity sale. So, thanks everyone for the advice.
 
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