Progressive Scan Dvd Video player. Dvd Audio player. Sacd player. All in one player for an unheard of price. Just a great value. Six Stars to me.

The cheesy two prong power cord.

Great Budget Dvd Player. I do not know about the previous review, but the $162 I spent for this brand new piece, not open box, is simply a great investment. Sure Pioneer cut some corners, but Pink Floyd, The Dark sie of the Moon sacd, sounds superb. I have never heard this much detail, true to life instrumentation and outstanding vocals from my system before. I do not ever want to go back to just plain cd. Donald Fagen, The Nightfly, Dvd-A, is just as wonderful as Pink Floyd. The ability of this player to put so much air around a multitude of instruments is remarkable. Great sound stage, both horizontally and vertically. Every well recorded sacd or dvd-a that I played was just a joy to listen to and experience. The one poorly recorded sacd was the Rolling Stones, Through the Past Darkly, Volume 2. It was bright, tinny, a true pain to the ears. Dvd-Video, Ac3 and Dts are better than my Pioneer Elite Dv-C36 Dvd changer. Dolby Digital is cleaner, more detailed and is more forceful in a good way. I have played Dvd-R/Rw and Dvd+R/RW with no problems. I even used this player to view Jpegs. The pictures were colorful and detailed. Also, a nice remote is included and no, for this price it is not and should not be back-lit. Only once did the Pioneer disapoint, and it was not the players fault. I demoed the new Yamaha RX-V2400 receiver for a few days. I had demoed the current RX-V1300 a few months back. The RX-V1300, sounded much better than the new RX-2400. The new RX-V2400 seemed to strip away clarity and detail from any audio source that was used, but in particuliar from the Pioneer. I hope it was just that particuliar RX-V2400, because the RX-V1300 sounded much much better. My Equipment Audio Refinement Pre-2 Dsp, processor Audio Refinement Multi 5, 5 channel amp Nht 2.3s, Front left and right Nht Ac-1, Center Nht Super Ones, Rear left and right Nht Sw3s, Subwoofers(2) Nht SA-3, Subwoofer Amp DhLabs Silver Sonic BL1s for Sacd, Dvd-a No Name $10 optical cable for Dvd-Video If Pioneer can sell a version of this Dvd Player for the Car, for this price, I will be first in line at the store, when they arrive.

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Pioneer Elite DV-C36.

*Plays all formats (kind of) * Good set up menus

* The Sound, on all formats

While I realize this unit is not meant for the high-end audio market, I recently purchased this open-box unit and eagerly took it home for evaluation. Could it replace 3 units in my system with one convenient source for all formats? Well, not to belabor the issue, no. For all you audio nuts out there, this unit is a joke from an audio standpoint: * Red book CDs are thin, strident, and grainy with virtually no soundstage depth or width. The well recorded (for a rock/folk CD) Rosanne Cash disc "Rules of Travel" was rendered lifeless by this player, not an easy task for this great CD. * SACD is a true abomination - they sound as bad as Red Book CDs on this unit, which I guess is appropos as Pioneer is downsampling the DCS signal to PCM. James Taylor's wonderfully recorded "October Road" and Telarc's "1812" SACDs were compressed, nasal, and downright offensive. * DVD Audio is the best sound of a bad bunch, but is still strident, grainy and flat. The AIX release of "The Firebird Suite" is a DVD Audio disc that can move you to tears. It did here too, but not for the same reason - I wanted to cry as instruments and soundstage was all smashed together and instrument timbres were all wrong. Yikes! * Standard DVD sound was OK, and picture was fine, though certainly nothing to write home about. Center channel dialog was a bit "honky" and blurry. This piece sounded so bad I thought something was wrong with my system, like I had covered my speakers with a blanket. Things returned to normal when I removed this player, and returned to my regularly scheduled program. I know I have been tough on this unit -comparing this thang with higher-end equipment, which is clearly not the manufacturers intent with this budget product. But sometimes you can find a giant-killing gem amongst the mass market dreck out there. This is not one of those times. My system: Preamp: McCormack Micro Line Drive Amps: Bedini Classic 100/100 (2); Surround speakers run direct into Chase Technolgies remote volume control and then into Bedini amp Sources: Technics DVD A-10 (DVD Audio), Sony 955V (SACD/DVD), GW Labs DSP feeding an MSB LinkDAC III with Upsampling Option into a Taddeo Digital Antidote Speakers: Joseph Audio RM7si all the way around; Sunfire True Sub Mk II Cables: Cardas Cross Speaker; Kimber Hero Interconnects; Canare Composite Video

Progressive Scan DVD-Video (no chroma bug that often plagues other Progressive Scan Players). Plays SACD, DVD-Audio, Video CD, MP3, DVD-R/RW and CD-R/RW, JPEG photo CDs. Good SACD and DVD-Audio playback performance. Easy to use on-screen setup menus. Easy to read owner manual. In-player bass management for 5.1 analog outputs. Attractive-looking player. Price.

Bass management is limited. In-player Test tones are useless for subwoofer calibration. Low Frequency Effects are not 100% routed to the Subwoofer in SACD or DVD-Audio playback through the 5.1 analog outputs. SACD's DSD stream is converted to PCM by this player. SACD sound still is excellent, but a stand-alone SACD player will yield better SACD playback results. Disc Load times about 10-15 seconds.

After purchasing the Pioneer DV-563A Universal DVD player, I brought it home and hooked everything up. I am using the player's component video outputs for viewing movies, the 5.1 analog outputs for SACD and DVD-A playback, and the toslink digital output for Dolby Digital/DTS soundtracks. After hooking everything up, the player had me go through an initial set-up routine. It was easy to use, understand, and follow especially with the assistance of a very well-organized, well-written user manual. After checking the player's video and audio calibrations with THX Optimode, I found that I didn't have to do any further tweaking to the video settings and very little to the audio settings in Dolby Digital/DTS. Video performance is clear, crisp, and colorful. If you are unhappy with the way the video looks, there are two programmable user-defined presets you can manipulate to your liking. "The Two Towers" and "Monsters Inc." both looked terrific and sounded excellent through my system. Now onto music...After fiddling back and forth with bass management, I finally arrived at the proper settings for my system. This took about 30 minutes of callibrating and checking back and forth. The test tones in the player are all but useless. The SACD release of Pink Floyd's "Dark Side of the Moon" is truly something to behold in surround sound. Bjork's DVD-Audio "Vespertine" was just as thrilling and really showed off the strengths of DVD-Audio. This player is truly a bargain at $180 dollars. The build quality is good, the features on this player are overwhelming...I can place almost any kind of disc in this player and it will play! The manual is clear and well organized, the remote is simple to use (although no backlighting or glow-in-the-dark buttons), and the player performs well.

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Panasonic

Plays a zillion different formats. Price.

SACD conversion.

I don't yet own this but have my eye on it. BUT THERE IS SOMETHING EVERYBODY MUST KNOW. Some of the dissastisfaction some folks are experiencing with SACD playback may be due to the fact that this unit DOES NOT DECODE SACD in the traditional sense. Instead of using the high-quality DSD signals on SACD, this unti somehow converts SACD into traditional PCM, similar to that of regular CDs. This is also why Pioneer can sell this unit so cheaply; they only have to use one processor chip. This doesn't mean this unit is "bad" or anything. At $180, you can't go wrong. But just be aware that a dedicated SACD player or a much higher-end universal player may yield better SACD results.

Extremely great value Great Picture (deinterlacer used in Elite series Universal compatibility

No screensaver while paused

I recently purchased my Pioneer after returning a Panasonic & a Sony unit. The Panasonic didn't have SACD & the Sony didn't have DVD audio. The universal format IS THE REASON to buy this player. After all, if you are a high end buyer- you aren't in this market. This unit has a great picture, and great sound. I wish it had a screen saver like the Sony, but I'll easily trade that for the ability to play both multichannel audio formats! Billy Joel's- The Stranger sounds phenomenal on SACD! I can't think of any reason why I would bring this player back unless I wanted to drop $500+ on a Denon or Yamaha...

Similar Products Used:

sony, panasonic

While this unit isn't a giant killer, the sound it produces is VERY good- Certainly better than most CD players in DVD-A or SACD mode. There is a slight hardening of high level passages that sound like plain old clipping, but maybe the channel level adjustment controls will change that up (haven't had a chance to play with them yet, just the initial setup stuff). there are those here in this review site that are not happy with the remote control, but I find it just fine! It doesn't have all the bells and whistles like some other remotes, and maybe thats some people's problem! I bought it for the performance, not the button count!

The only weaknesses I find are as follows- 1. thinning of sound at highest recorded levels. Again, maybe the level controls will change this. Its not really annoying, given the price! 2. This is more with the formats- you MUST use a monitor to access the different surround modes on DVD-A/SACD discs. I was luck and wrote down all the button settings for my whole 5 DVD-A and one SACD disk, so I don't need to worry about it, but for some audio purists, a monitor in the listening room is just not the way to go!

Originally, I had ordered a Pansonic DVD-A player from another store, but after finding out that the player i wanted wouldn't be available until October, I spied this one and picked it up. My main objective with this unit is DVD-A and SACD in my main audio system, so if you are looking for a review on the picture quality and such, you won't find it here. My main concern, as stated is the audio performance.

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Toshiba SD-3900 DVD player Dennon DCM-370 (highly modified)

Mutliformat Playback (dvd-audio & sacd) Price (for under 200 bucks , great value, can't beat it)

-Inital audio set-up. Many many menus and sub directories. -Remote is terrible

I have been doing the HT thing for some time now. I was a bit skeptical about the introduction of SACD, dts audio, dvd audio format. I read in Sound & Vision (May June 2003 issue) that dark side of the moon was released in the sacd format I had to get it. I am still a bit concerned for the longevity of sacd,dvd-audio, and dts audio. I wanted to experieence multi-channel audio without investing a lot of cash. If you are like me and are interested in the multichannel audio this is definately a good way to go. Once you hear it you will fall in love with it.

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denon, yamaha, rotel, jvc, sony es, panasonic, harmon etc.

Universal player Progressive Scan Bang for Buck Bass management

Remote Cumbersome speaker setup and test tone generator Questionable video quality from standard RCA

For a quick backround, I dropped this player into the middle of a $15,000 home theater system (Magnepan 7.1/Rotel RSP-1066/Aragon Amplification/Velodyne 15" ULD). I bought this little unit just to hear DVD-Audio on the cheap as I already have a Sony multichannel SACD player in my HT system. For the money, this player is impossible to beat. Yeah, the remote sucks (I quickly did away with it by using my preamp remote to learn the functions), the setup menus are cumbersome at times, and the video quality I was getting out of the standard composite hookup was shaky at best (the DVD picture would actually distort anytime my preamps setup screen would come on as an overlay). When I switched over to S-video, this problem vanished but I will probably still exchange mine to be sure my unit is not defective. From an audio standpoint, it sounds quite good. I was impressed by DVD-Audio, though I still feel that SACD sounds better as a broad, sweeping, generalization. The 8 DVD-Audio discs I picked up (Neil Young/Steely Dan/Doors/Bjork/Yes/Queen/Fleetwood Mac/Eagles) all seemed to rely more heavily on the rear channels and put the listener into the "middle" of the performance. The discs I bought all seemed a bit more "gimmicky" compared to multichannel SACD in terms of the way they were engineered with guitars and drums coming from behind you (unnatural). Anyhow, that's really not the format per se, just the way the surround engeneer mastered it---just an observation. On Multichannel SACD things sounded even better, but, not quite as good as my dedicated Sony SACD player. This unit sounded a wee bit "thinner" and a bit more veiled through the upper registers. But, for the price (the law of deminishing returns is in full force here with this unit) the difference was negligible. For $170 smackers, you would be hard pressed to find a unit that does more and do it competently.

No projectiles great picture and sound

None

I purchased this DVD player as a replacement because my old player was out to get me. At any given time during a movie with my old player it would eject the disk with such force -- it became a projectile heading right at me no matter where I sat. This new player is great -- no object coming at me head. Highly recommended.

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Won't mention

Great picture Sound Quality SACD & DVD-A Nothing can touch it at this price with these features and this quality.

Um... none at the price point

Since purchasing and connecting this player I have been very impressed with it. I purchased this player mainly because of the SACD and DVD-A capabilities, as well as replacing my Playstation2 as my DVD Player. Of course upon purchase I had to get a SACD so I selected Thriller by MJ. I also purchased a set of RCA (brand) component cables for video. When I got it home a connected in place of my PS2 I popped in Thriller. Immediatly I was disappointed. The sound was thin and tinny, Initially I blamed my Yamaha NS-A200XT speakers because they do have a tendancy to be lacking in bass response. I popped another disk in (regular CD) by Darude and the system came to life. Clear highs, strong (not over bearing) lows and mids jumped right out. Much better. Next test came to be Monsters Inc. I love the great colors and the motion of the introduction. It also has a great THX intro. Sounds was fenominal and the picture was flawless. I later found out that my problem with Thriller is common. Every review I read, mentioned the lacking bass in the SACD version. I have yet to purchase another SACD, but the next one will be Pink Floyd "Dark Side of the Moon". It seems to have much better sonic quality. I've been listening to it constantly, and I'm trying to get my Mom to upgrade her little JVC. Finally lets my NAD C350 sing to the best ability of my Yamaha speakers. Overall this is a great little player, I recommend it completly. System: Toshiba 20AF41 TV NAD C350 Int. Amp Yamaha NS-A200XT Speakers Pioneer 563A DVD Player

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JVC 701 (something like that) Sony PS2 other inexpensive (<$110) players