Reliability, Picture Quality, Audio Quality, Features, Outputs

Slightly noisy at times

I bought this unit in December of 2000 to replace my JVC 701BK. You can read all the negative reviews about the JVC from this site. Needless to say I would never purchase a JVC product again. I own a Pioneer CD player that is about 12 years old and it has worked without fail. I was happy to find this model brand new in the box. I have been very happy with this DVD player. It has not skipped once and the audio and video quality are superb. It plays everything and is not sensitive to dirty DVDs/CDs. I use this DVD almost every day so I can vouch for it's durabilty. Pioneer will probably be the only brand of DVD or CD player I own. As a matter of fact I just purchased a Pioneer HDTV.

Similar Products Used:

JVC 701BK

Great picture and sound. The best variety of outputs and terrific fine tuning capibilities.

None found so far.

The search is over. I have spent the last six months looking for the best, reasonably priced DVD player. This unit fits the bill. Picture quality, sound, and features are all great. In my search I discovered that the best bang-for-the-buck is clearly the Pioneer 525 (at $199.00 after rebate its a no brainer. The best multi-disc unit is the Pioneer 302D (can be had for $359.00 or less). But for me, the Pioneer DV626D is my choice for the best picture quality, sound, outputs, and fine tuning capabilities of any of the dozen or so players I have tried out, including the Denon 2500 and Pioneer Elite DV05. The good folks at Onecall sell this unit now for $399.00. Try it out for those of you who want the best player out there in the mid-price range.

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auditioned 12 different players from philips,denon, pioneer, toshiba, panasonic, marantz, and pioneer elite.

everything!!

ni

This unit has excellent resolution quality, plays everything (even CD-r's and CD-rw's that have not been finalized yet!!). YOu can't go wrong.

Not progressove output - standard NTSC component.

If you can find the unit on sale, it's a great buy, unless you are going HDTV and 16:9, in which case you'll probably want a progressive output player (until HDDVD comes along).

Fast cd/dvd access and scan, gold connections& bulit in 5.1 and dts decoders. great soundand picture. great reviews, and great value for money.

none that i can see

Wen i decided to buy a dvd, i wanted to get the best for the money. I researched for a good month, andsettled on this Pioneer. It has all the connections and features u would need,and a well layed out remote.
This dvd is well known as a great dvd for the money, that performs with reliability.
If u do buy a dvd, and want to play burned cds, make sure u dont get a sony. Sony owns big film and record companies (columbia tristar), so their products always have strong protection for CD-R, and CD-RW.
I finally bought this dvd, coz i couldnt find it anywher in shops, and i was told it is discontinued so I bought it cheap on amazon.
Hope iv helped u, and good luck buying ur new dvd player :)

Similar Products Used:

Sony 5.1 channel surround sound receiver, Bose center,front and rears, Paradigm sub woofer

This is suppose to be the newest mid-range DVD player from Pioneer to replace the DV-606D player. Rumor (from Pioneer tech support) said that it fixed the previous lip sync problem that found on DV-414 and DV-606D players. Well, but I don't know for sure though. For now, without any information. I still give it a 5 start base on Pioneer's reputation.. :)

Everything's been said - great player.

Just a comment on the problem with no video - bit of a revelation to me others had the same problem. Anyway, when I first tried to use the player, only sound came through. Seeing as the warranty was void anyway (I had it converted to multi-region), and being (probably falsely) confident of my technical skills, I opened up the player to find a small circuit board was disconnected from the main board. Assuming this was the video controller, I plugged it back in and voila, everything was hunky dory.

I always assumed it got disconnect via the trip it made in a suitcase from Hong Kong (where it was purchased), and I can only assume that the problems people here had were due to both harsh shipping and handling and insecure attachments.

Excellent picture quality
Trick play processor
Digital video noise reduction
Built in decoders (Dolby Digital, DTS, MPEG) and virtual surround
Ability to play CD-R and CD-RW discs

Sound quality is not as nice as my CD player (Denon DCD-1520)
In Australia, the player is only sold with a gold finish, which does NOT match my other components nor the decor of our living room!

At the time I was making a purchase, I was quite keen on getting a player that could also play CD-R/CD-RW discs, have a good multi-zone mod available (that could also disable macrovision), and have AC3/DTS/virtual surround decoders built in - so I didn't really have much choice. Most players did not support CD-R discs, and the older Pioneer models reportedly had lip-sync problems. I was looking very closely at the Pioneer 525, but in the end decided against it because it didn't have any decoders built in.

Having bought it and used it for a month, I must say I'm quite impressed with it. The picture quality (through my Sony TV) seems better than on my DVD-ROM (also a Pioneer) through a Sony 19" monitor - whether this is due to the video noise reduction I am not sure.

I have had no problems playing a variety of DVDs and CDs on it, including Region 1, Region 4 and no-region coded discs so the multi-zone mod obviously works well. I've also recorded a few DVDs onto VHS and the results have been satisfying (within the limits of VHS resolution). The Condition Memory and Last Memory feature works well and the trick play processor is quite neat (being able to do forward scans and backward scans and "jogs" at multiple speeds with crystal clear picture).

On the down side, I had been led to believe that the sound quality of even budget DVD players are comparable to high end CD players - I have to admit I was disappointed when I did a direct comparison with the sound quality compared to my aging (but still magnificently sounding) Denon DCD-1520. I played a CD (Mike Oldfield Songs of Distant Earth) on the Denon and a CD-R copy on the Pioneer DV-626D simultaneously and switched between them. The result? The Denon clearly had a fuller sound with better imaging. The Pioneer in comparison sounded flat.

Now that I have also bought an A/V receiver (Denon AVR-3300) I only listen to the Pioneer through the digital output (bypassing it's decoder and DACs) so maybe I should have bought the 525 after all - but then again the people I've spoken to who have compared the 525 against the 626 said the 626 has a higher video quality.

Because of the sound, I am only giving it 4 stars, although I may be a bit too harsh as I've not compared it to other DVD players only to my CD player. It also seems expensive compared to other DVD players that support similar features (such as the Panasonic A360) so I am also giving it a value rating of only 4.

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Ordered it through the Internet, did not really compare with other players

Picture. DTS/DD built in. 24/96 DAC

noisy tray

This was my first DVD purchase. I have seen others and I'd have to rate the picture and sound as first rate. The fit and finish is excellent. The remote is very nice. The sound from CD's is incredible. Better than any CD player I've used to this point. I will say..the tray is noisy. There is no two ways about it. During quiet parts of a movie, you'll hear it. That is my only complaint about this player. It is enough to knock it down a star overall. Stereophile Home Theater just did a write up of this player and they stated for the money, this was one of the best players. My other components include:

Creek 4330
B&W DM305

Similar Products Used:

none

Excellent sound via onboard DD / DTS decoders.
Very Good picture.

Slightly noisy during disc spinning.

Nice to see the Pioneer x1x series lip-sync problem fixed. (Reviewed and tested for lip-sync in 'Total DVD' Magaine in November 99(UK).

Has played every disc so far (18 region1 and 14 region 2 discs) with no lip-sync issues.

Picture and Audio performance is at least on par with the more expensive Sony 725(My Brothers machine) if not better.

TV used with this: Sony 32'' Widescreen 100hz
Amp used with this: Sony 5.1 (no onboard decoding)

Similar Products Used:

Sony 725