Decent video performance with the limited viewing of this player, good response to command requests (play, stop, FF/RW, slow, etc.), decent speed on media recognition (DVD, DVD-A, DTS CD, CD, etc.), bass management & channel level options albeit limited, decent budget all-in-one player sans weaknesses listed below

Problems playing Blue Man Group DVD-Audio on multiple tracks, popping/crackle noises that make this disc unbearable to play in DVD-Audio mode. Unfortunate as this is a phenomenal system demonstration disc and one of my more cherished DVD-Audio discs. Cheesy remote, but anyone in the market for an all-in-one player like this more likely than not has an extensive universal remote.

I recently purchased this unit to fill the need of a budget DVD-A/SACD player. On a few of my DVD-As (I'll elaborate on this later), this player sounded quite nice, the six channel outputs accentuates a layer of separation or definition of the music that cannot be heard when using the digital audio input and does so admirably. I had a chance to only watch a couple of movies in the last month on this player, nevertheless I was pleased with the video performance portion. Having said this, I will unfortunately be returning this player before the 30 day period is up. A few days ago I swapped out the original unit I had due to some strange popping/crackling sounds heard on my Blue Man Group-Audio DVD-A for a new unit. I've read a few posts on other sites that noted that some of the April 2004 marked units were problematic, however this one was manufactured July 2004. Just to make sure it wasn't the DVD-A source, I borrowed a friends copy and heard the same hideous noises at the same points on their DVD-A. The problematic noises aren't prevalent on the DVD-Video portion of the disc (DTS or DD), however it can be heard intermittently on a good portion of tracks of this DVD-A and most obvious on track 5 (Utne Wire Man)and fairly frequently on track 6 (Rods and Cones). This being one of my favorite DVD-As and having only a handful at this point to test, I can't consciously keep or recommend this player for anyone wanting to use this for DVD-A use long-term. Seems like a decent budget all-in-one player and I'm thrilled w/the fact that the manufacturers are headed in this direction, unfortunately Pioneer's fallen a bit short on this particular player.

Similar Products Used:

Toshiba SD3755 5 Disc DVD Player

decent SACD for the price.Beats the 47Ai in my opinion.

Needs a better power chord

I didn't have any of the problems that this other guy had.As a matter of fact mines works just fine.I had auditioned the 47Ai & disliked that one.It sounded like I was listening to a movie soundtrack always.(not good for SACD) For the heck of it I tried the 587a for S's & G's.It turned out to be NOT BAD!!The SACD sounded better thru the cheaper model.I'm suspecting they might be using a different chip.If the new 47 or model replacing it sounds in the same vain.I'd consider buying it.I've been waiting for a universal player that does a good job at SACD but haven't been WOWed.I'm spoiled with my sony 999 player for super audio.If Sony made a universal player I'd buy it in a heartbeat(no matter what the cost).

Similar Products Used:

Sony,Yamaha,Pioneer,Lexicon

Great picture (on my 12 year old 32" TV), fast menu response and layer change, lots of features. Plays 3.0mm simulated dropouts on a test CD I have.... which is the best error correction I've ever seen on a CD or DVD player. Time alignment (speaker distance compensation) for DVD-Audio and SACD is an appreicated rarity!

2 of the 4 units I tried were defective (skipping problems with DVD-Audio discs), and all of these DV-578A players will not play the DVD-Audio disc "Neil Young - Greendale" in DVD-Audio format. Poor bass management for DVD-Audio and SACD.

I do not recommend this player to anyone looking for compatibility with all DVD-Audio discs on the market. I recently purchased the DVD-Audio disc "Neil Young - Greendale" (UPC code: 093624853398) on Reprise Records. The player seizes up when trying to play in DVD-Audio mode for this disc. This occured on the April 2004 firmware 1.22 unit I had, another April 2004 model I tried in the store, as well as the July 2004 firmware 1.44 unit I have now. I also had a June 2004 firmware 1.38 unit, but didn't own the "Greendale" disc at that time. However, the June 2004 was defective in that it had 1/2 second dropouts (skips?) on most of my DVD-Audio discs. And then one of the ones from April 2004 would skip severely on the last 2 tracks of another DVD-Audio disc - yet the store model was fine, so I swapped for another April 2004 model and it was fine (except then I purchased "Greendale" and discovered a new problem with all these 578A players!). Note that the "Greendale" disc has played back in DVD-Audio mode on other non-Pioneer brand DVD-Audio/Universal players I've tried. I worry that other discs in the future will also be incompatible with this Pioneer model. Additionally, this July 2004 firmware 1.44 version has popping sounds between each track when playing the 192/24 2-channel tracks of a DVD-Audio disc such as "Steely Dan - Everything Must Go", when the speaker size is set to small with subwoofer on. I wanted to like this player so much, but after going through 4 units, I'm switching brands. I hope someone from Pioneer reads this.