Right out of the box this unit looks sharp, is well constructed and has easy to read input and output sections for termination. The front display is easy to read and is not too bright as I have seen in other displays. The remote is easy to use with the access wheel and set up was easy as well. The overall look of the dvd's are clean with no edge enhancement or colors bleeding over. There is great balance in the sense of color and clarity for audio and video. I am very pleased with this unit.

The remote buttons are little bit small and that could be a problem for customers that need larger buttons. The unit did not play a CD-R that I have with photos that plays on other units I have.

I needed a multi-channel Super Audio player and an updated dvd player for display at my store for demonstrations. As a rule I do not purchase multi-disk units for display or personal use as they will break down over time. This unit is a single disk, as all of my other units. If you need nuts and bolts info on this unit go to www.pioneerelectronics.com.

Customer Service

No need to call customer service. No issues to report.

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Onkyo DV-CP704
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Great sound and picture compared to the now ancient Sony I replaced it with. It's a real thrill to be able to listen to both SACD and DVD-audio discs on the same player. This unit really reminded me of how quickly technology is moving. I think I'll have this player for awhile (untill blu ray grows up a bit!).

I wish it had an hdcd chip...also this player has a severe problem with it's subwoofer output. With so much going for it it's ashame to have to complain about the sub output level. I can't believe that the engineers at pioneer didn't notice this. Also the bass management is limited. If you know how to tweek these flaws you'll be quite Impressed. I miss the multi-disc resume and more elaborate on screen displays of my old sony but wouldn't trade them back for the improved audio and compatibility features. If pioneer could adress these obvious shortcomings they would have a true winner.

If you want to upgrade from a wimpy budget unit this is a good choice. The ability to play both sacd and dvd-audio is where this player will attract customers. The video performance is alright for smaller screens, but the sound is the real winner. If only it had hdcd capability, and properly balanced sub outputs it would get a more enthusiastic review from me, personally.

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Too many to list!

Well, I actually own the DV-655A PX model, which is the foreign version of the Elite 45 but with all the proper bass management and with SACD capability installed. It's sold to US service personnel and was bought for me by my brother. I feel sorry for all of you who overpaid for the American market version that has bugs, just so it could say Eliet on the front. Mine has no bugs of any kind. At first I thought the sound was a tad bright, but I just bought some NHT ST4's and have been using my ER4S earphones with an amp. I can tell you it does an extraordinary job on CD's. Even NIN disks that I thought were bright and harsh now sound warm, transparent, and full bodied. It's not perfectly neutral (extra mid-bass and slightly extra highs), but it's very slight and tends to by welcome on a lot of music. Goldfrapp's Black Cherry album is so perfect sounding on this system. Beck in SACD sounds very good, with mids that sound frighteningly analog. Flaming Lips in DVD-Audio is startlingly transparent, and though a tad bright, it's never ever harsh. I'm fairly certain it was mixed that way. Why? Because Vespertine in DVD-Audio has the sort of warmth of The Fragile on this unit, but with unparalled transparency and resolution, and that's actually just a 24/48 recording. DTS on this unit sounds a lot like Paul Van Dyk's vinyl records through a Stanton 500AL II cart. Very dynamic, and thus requires more volume. A bit warm and bassy overall on DTS, but the transparency is there for the taking. Dolby Digital is extremely transparent without any extra warmth, though not as analog like as DTS. It does make up for it in a startling level of high frequency extension. Bjork's Volumen collection is excellent sounding in just DD. What I'm so surprised with is that all of you are saying these units are native DSD all the way through, with no conversion to PCM. I thought all the sub-$500 players converted it first. I honestly can't make a single complaint about this unit, then. For a while I thought it was producing a green caste, but that was actually my 30" widescreen TV that has since been fixed (though it is now slightly blue in the blacks, which the TV repair people apparently thought I was imagining...not the player's fault though). There was previously luma to chroma distortion, but that is common to a lot of units when using composite. When switching to component it totally went away. The interlaced jaggies on moving vertical high-contrast lines is still a problem, but that is a product of interlacing and would go away if my TV did progressive. You guys can actually find my type of unit on worldwideimports.com for about the price I paid. Highly transparent, warm, non-dry sound. Great picture with fine focus feature if you want it. TRUE SACD. My unit doesn't have bass management problems. MP3's actually sound good on this. Haven't had any problems playing anything. Can play Pal on plasma screens and Pal TV's. Can be made region free (though cannot do Pal to NTSC conversion). Audio images (like the size of the guitar or voice) are a bit larger than life, compared to the Denon DCM-370 (w/ mod). Also not quite the level of finesse and neutrality of that unit, but there is none of the gray scrim over the otherwise fine low-level resolution on the Denon, either. So it's a toss-up. Pioneer for electronic & produced rock, techno, and jazz CD's (like Reference Recordings). Denon for more acoustic rock and orchestra CD's. Some HDCD's actually sound better on the Pioneer. Beatles best of HDCD's, for instance. POD's Chinese HDCD of "Sleeping Awake" is missing some of the background synths on the Denon. Can't zoom and play/slow-mo at the same time. That other cheap Pioneer universal player sucks, by the way. We got one for my parents. Sounds Ok with SACDs, but bad on everything else. The 711 receiver sounds much better on CD,DD, and DTS. Better MP3 management and zooming on that other one, though.

Progresive scan Brown Burr DAC's

Remote not backlite No Remote button for video on/off No Remote button for progresive on/off

I just pick up this unit this week and have gone through the basic setup. The multi play format was not as important as the progresive scan output and the built in DAC's (Burr Brown). I used Blackhawk Down (High Def transfer) and SPR (DTS)to conduct some quick in house test. Viewing BHD was a visual treat on my 55"WS Mit's HD ready. I could see the sweat coming out of the pores of Sgt Evermans face. The shot of the Blackhawk flying over the water is breath taking. Viewing SPR I was impress with the DAC's picking up minor sounds that I had missed, When Hanks is running on the beachhead I could hear him grunting with each breath. The real impressive part about that is that I had the volume lower than normal (-30) on my Pioneer Elite VSX 26TX. I usally listen at (-15-20) level. I am looking forward to re-playing other DVD's on this unit. From the reviews I have read most are very positive, but people fail to list what equipment they have connected to the unit that may enhance or degrade the output. Mit,s 55805WS HD ready Pioneer Elite VSX 26TX Center Jensen CCS L/R Optimus Pro LS3's Rears Optimus X77's Sub Optimus 200PSW

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Pioneer DV-525 outstanding beginner unit Pioneer DV-37 another great unit

Excellent DVD-A and SACD once setup correctly. Good value for a multi-format audio player.

Chroma Bug (CUE - Chroma Upsampling Error) NOT FULL bass management...set all speakers to small for best results. Poor DVD-A / SACD audio balance without extreme cuts / boosts of each channel. Use an SPL meter.

I am updating a previous review I made concerning this unit. I have learned a lot about the unit in the past few months. There are many inaccuracies in the reviews on this site concerning this product. I intend for this to be the best review of this product, so I will be detailed: First of all, this unit DOES do bass management but not FULL bass management. You cannot choose crossover points for one, and secondly if you choose large for a speaker, NO INFORMATION from that speaker will be routed to the sub, regardless of frequency. It does have issues with 5.0 DVD-A mixes. If you have 3 hours to really learn what it does in detail concerning bass management...read this 9 page thread: http://www.hometheaterforum.com/htforum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=118892&perpage=30&display=&pagenumber=9 The high points are...1) Changing speaker sizes may not "stick" unless you press enter, not SETUP. Double check any changes you make. 2) In order to have bass management work well with most all speakers, you must set all speakers to SMALL and subwoofer to yes. If you choose large for the fronts, no bass information from the front mains well be routed to the sub, and your overall bass impact will suffer (Try Peter Gabriel's " Shaking the Tree" two channel SACD mix for this demo). 3) The audio level settings require quite a mismatch to balance things out so they sound correct. Use an SPL meter (Radio Shack has them) and set a volume so you can shoot for around 75 Db...then you will see that your sub needs boosted +6dB, your mains may need cut 3.5-4.0 dB, and your surrounds / center may need cut up to 6 dB. Obviously this all depends on your speaker / amp choice, but in general most users find if zeroed out the unit lacks bass and is bright on the center and surrounds. Even using the SPL meter, you may find that you need a bit more bass when done. 4) If you are a videophile, this unit is weak. It suffers from CUE (Chroma Bug Error). Do a Google search on "Chroma Bug" and you will find this player is a serious offender. You can see jagged edges on the Monster's Inc. THX setup video demo on the grill of the red car...look for "stairsteps" and "Bleeding" of the edges of the diagonal parts of the car's grill. Yes, I checked mine, and it has CUE as well. Overall, I think it is a good value for its ability to play DVD-A and SACD. I can tolerate it with CUE error, but if you have the money, drop the extra money and buy a Denon that plays both formats, has FULL bass management, and does not have CUE error. I will be upgrading when I can because of the CUE error. Lastly, many audiophiles who own this player have chosen to use an Outlaw Audio ICBM bass management device to correct the shortcomings that Pioneer should have addressed when they claimed the unit had "full" bass management. Still, even with an ICBM, all Pioneer users will stuffer suffer from CUE.

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JVC XV-FA900BK

This unit does not provide any form of bass management for SACD or DVD-Audio. I have had this fact confirmed by Pioneer, and in fact I ended up swapping the unit for a Denon 2900 because of this. Bass management is only available for decoding Dolby Digital and DTS. The unit sounds good when bass management is applied with an external unit such as the Outlaw Audio ICBM. But to me bass management is a key feature that is not included and precludes me from rating this unit highly.

Does it all and does it all well

hmmm...well, HDCD and CD-Text display would be nice but I can live without. Also would be nice to switch between SACD stereo and SACD multi-channel without having to change intial set-up. Nothing actually needed but would be cool to have.

I normally don't write reviews but I'm a little drunk and wanted to respond to the dumb-ass below ;-P NO SACD players can output a digital signal. The players that claim to first convert DSD to PCM. Like everyone else I got this because it was the first to do everything right at a realistic price. Yes, it uses a very good Sony DSD processor chip and keeps SACD DSD all the way through D/A conversion. Yes, its DVD-A performance will put many DVD-A only players to shame. Is it a great CD player? I don't know, I didn't buy it to play CDs. Not to get off on a rant here, but where the hell is the chroma bug? I hooked it up to a Mitsu HD-ready TV and played scenes pointed out by the infamous Secrets of HT and HiFi review site and didn't see any evidence. Not just me but my friend and our girlfriends couldn't see the problems pointed out by "Secrets" either. Bottom line: if you're not happy with this you're the type that is never happy with anything.

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good sound quality, possible picture qulity

does not play SACDs through digital outputs!!!!!

I have not played any dvds yet. I tried to play a couple cds and a SACD. It plays CDs very nicely through digital outputs. However, it is incapable of playing SACDs through digital outputs. The manuals says that it is supposed to be like that and that "it is not a [****ing] malfunction." The previous reviewer wrote that this DVD player can play SACD trough COAX or OPT cable. IT IS NOT TRUE. The Pioneer customer support told me that this unit was not designed to play SACDs through digital outputs. The only way to do it digitally is to buy an i.link DVD play and receiver and do it that way. The copyright protection laws do no make any sense in this situation since i.link is even a more compatible standrt with PC so it is supposevily easier to do anything with i.link than with a coax.

Price,Picture

mp3 cd-r cd-rw

Like the unit. Great picture. Have a problem with R and RW cds also has a problem playing mp3's. tried the cd's on the unit at the store it also had problems also.

Plays CD,DVD, CD-R, SACD, DVD-Audio, MP3, and a Partridge in a Pear Tree.

None

Buy This DVD Player. If you need further elaboration: This is simply the best DVD player you can get for the money, hands down. It plays anything you can throw at it, including MP3's, DVD-Audio, and SACD, and can be had as of July 2003 for under $500. I would like to address a couple of inaccuracies I noted in other reviews: First of all, this unit offers full bass management, and has on-board Dolby Digital and DTS decoding, so it can interface with non-dolby digital receivers (for example, one could use the analog outputs and feed multiple stereo amplifiers (3 - as you would need 5 channels total) and a dedicated, self powered subwoofer. As far as the bass management is concerned, the user has full control for DVD-Audio, SACD CD, as well as Dolby Digital and DTS encoded standard DVD's which are output through the analog outputs. Keep in mind if you are new to DVD-Audio and SACD that Hollywood imposed anti-piracy rules prohibit the output of those two formats through digital cables, with the exception on the flagship lines from a couple of manufacturers, such as Denon and Pioneer. For decoding DTS and Dolby Digital in your receiver, you can choose Digital Coaxial output or Fiber Optic TOSLINK. The unit also offers full time alignment for DVD-Audio (this feature is inoperative on SACD). Please note that time alignment setup on this unit requires the user to setup the Left and Right fronts, and then reference the sub, center, and surround distances to the fronts. One reviewer noted an increase in fidelity using the Digital Coax; this is simply impossible - you are transferring binary code, or ones and zeroes to the receivers Digital to Analog converter. Any change in fidelity would be indicative of a faulty component or a faulty interconnect used in the system that sounded worse. Simply use good quality interconnects, such as those from http://www.clearcables.com and you will not have any problems. Lastly, read the manual! There are a lot of nice adjustments that you might miss by just using the on-screen display, and you may not understand all requirements, such as the aforementioned time alignment distance parameters. As far as the weight issue is concerned...who cares? Since when does weight in a DVD player equate to performance? In an amp, yes, it is indicative of a good power supply, but in a source unit it simply doesn't matter. If you want it heavier, attach some lead weights to it with two sided foam tape.

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