I purchased the unit from the evil giant Circuit City after nearly punching out the salesman over their incessant DIVX pitch. It was $299 on sale. For the money this is one of the better models you can find. I compared it to the Toshiba 2108 and although I preferred the latter, I don't think it is a bad choice. What I liked most were its artifact free Anamorphic widescrren downconversions for my 4:3 set. I saw no major audio or video problems with this unit, but its picture was clearly inferior to the Toshiba. What bothered me most was a greenish cast to the video and a lack of vibrancy in the brights. Like the Toshiba, it also pauses slightly during the dual layer change on a DVD. I was surprised that my neighbors RCA DIVX 5301 did the dual layer change flawlessly. Audio was alittle laid back, but this was good for some bright soundtracks. Overall 2 1/2 stars.

I bought the Pioneer DV-414 about a week ago and absolutely love it! The picture is beyond belief and my modest home theater setup (Dolby Surround, not DD) has never sounded better. I really love that blue light too! After seeing this unit in action I couldn't imagine paying more.

After testing the Panasonic A120, Sony 300 & 500 and the Pioneer DV 414the hands down choice was the Pioneer. The Toshiba, JVC, and other off
brands just didn't rate for quality picture and sound.

The Pioneer DV414 plays just about anything you throw into it. Picture
quality and sound is outstanding for this $349 unit. The remote is...
odd with major keys being small and roughly the same size as the others.
But navigating with the remote is easy.

After running over 15 movies, three times each, in a five day period the
machine displayed no problems at all. On every DVD the picture quality
was tops. Sound was incredible just running through the Dolby surround
system.And the unit does support DTS formatted DVDs.

The only drawback to this unit is that Pioneer does not tell new buyers
that the default setting is anamorhic 4:3. To view the letterbox format
correctly the owner must set the unit up initially for letterbox in the
aspect ratio menu. After that the unit just plays "outstanding".

I would recommend this unit to anyone.

daarksun


Pioneer was the corner stone of the laserdisc market,and they've brought
this technology to the DVD era. The pioneer DV414 is excellent.

I recently purchased the DV 414, after researching a number of DVD's player that were not in the high end market. It is the best player I could find, at the price, that has component video output. I am impressed by the picture using component video input on my Proton TV. The image still has some slight video noise/flutter on small fonts on certain DVD's. I think this is probably a function of DVD quality. Although, it may also be the transport mechanism. Anyway, the image is twice as sharp as my VCR. What blow's me away the most is the sound. I have an optical input to my AC-3 amp and use Paradigm speakers and a Velodyne sub-woofer. The sound is 4-5 times better than the Dolby surround from my VCR's. It is just incredible. In my opinion, better than a movie theater because I can control the soundstage more accurately. For the price of a lower end unit, you can get component video out plus the memory features this unit has. It is by far the best unit made for the price. I believe it also has the best features in it's price range. I didn't notice any problem with voice syncing, as mentioned in other reviews here. The layer change is not a problem for me either. I give it a 5 star rating for it's features and price range.I love the unit!

I am beginning to tire of spending thousands on digital only to have it surpassed by 24/96 $500 DAC two years later. Spend money on great speakers and amp. No problem. You will always remember that you did and be happy about it. That is until digital amps become common, that is, if they ever do. The point is I wanted to experiment with DVD without going to the bank for a loan. So when I saw the DVD-414 for $266 I had to bit. Video is excellent, no problems. Audio: Bass is as you might expect from a power supply the weight of an empty Kleenex box. But overall you would never ever guess you were listening to a $266 unit. In absolute terms I would give this unit a 2.5 stars. But in terms of value especially when combined with a MSB or Musically Fidelity (with optional power suppy) 24/96 DAC it is 5 stars.
Some Associated Equipment:

B&W 801 S3 with Golden Flutes
Powered by Threshold S500 and NAD 208THX
Audio Research LS3
Adcom AC 515 Power Line Conditioner
Tara Labs and Kimber Interconnects

3 pairs of Optimus LX-5 Speakers
Only used for DVD Video
Powered by
2 Citation 12 Power Amps
1 Dynaco 120

What more could you want for a $300 dollar player? I've had this unit for a week and not experienced the audio-sync problem expressed in this forum (although I've only played a half dozen discs so far). And it's hooked up to a Yamaha 995 using the optical connection — a key feature I was looking for when deciding on a player. Great picture, great sound. So far, its made the investment in the reciever well worth it.

I've had this player since December '98. Picture quality is excellent- as is the case with 90% of the dvd players out there. But I've had that same awfeul problem with the audio not being in synch with the video- which is inexcusable and why I hate this machine. I was allowed to take it back to the store I bought it from in San Francisco and they said there had been a few other returns on the machine for the same thing. I upgraded to the Elite model and everything is once again fine.

I have now owned the 414 for 3 months and i gotta tell you...it's the finest DVD player on the market at this price range.I've read alot about this
lip sync problem that people have had,I have not.I personally think that the people that had this problem might have not set there center delay correctly,but that is just my opinion.I compaired the cd sound to my $600 pioneer cd changer and I couldn't hear a difference.I tried it with the opticial out and just rca out as well for both players.The video
display is as good as every other player that I seen at all prices.I give this player 5 stars for excellent performance and great price.

Hi Dan,You have no idea what you are talking about. There is no such thing "center delay". In Hometheater, we set delay for surround speakers.
I bought this machine 2 days ago, and I returned it back to the dealer.
Lip sync is so bad. If you want to see it, you can rent "Lost in Space" DVD.
I really like the picture quality of this machine. To me, this unit deserves 2 stars.

I was excited about getting my 414 player, being a Pioneer fan of their remarkable CD and LD players, but obviously the reputation didn't carry forward in to their DVD line.
First, the remote for the 414 was the worst I've ever used. As long as your fingers are 1/4 inc in diameter you're fine. I also didn't appreciate the unit starting in a default anamorphic mode - it took a read through the manual to figure out that one. Microsoft should offer an MCP course in this player to figure it out.

Picture quality was good, but compared to Toshiba and Sony players I've reviewed the 414 is very artificial looking and looks over processed. On my Toshiba 31" TV I had to actually lower the color saturation level. Every minor defect in movies the 414 amplifies.

I had trouble on a couple different movies with this unit. I don't currently have a way to test the lip-synch problem, but wouldn't doubt it's an issue with this chincy unit.

On "Devil's Advocate" for example, the player was very over-pixelated, and had a problem with dropping frames and jerky playback. This same movie looked perfect on both newer Toshiba and Sony players.

Sound quality is extremely good with the Pioneer, but audio CD's are far inferior to Pioneers 101 and 301 CD changers that sound superb to my ears.

Over all I don't recommend this player. Pioneer has obviously not spent enough R&D on this product. Mine goes back to Circuit City tomorrow in exchange for the Toshiba 3109.

FYI - the salesman at Circuit City didn't push the DIVX issue at all. In fact, he was most helpfull and aactually tried to deter me away from the Pioneer. I should have listened.