Sony DVP-S550D DVD Players

Sony DVP-S550D DVD Players 

DESCRIPTION

Single disc DVD/CD player with Dolby Digital/DTS - 10-bit video DAC with 27MHz processing - 24-bit/96kHz audio DACs - Component video output - 2 Composite and S-video outputs - Coaxial and optical digital audio outputs - analog audio outputs

USER REVIEWS

Showing 91-100 of 246  
[Jun 01, 1999]
Anil Shivaram
a Casual Listener

Can someone clarify the lip synch problem with the 550D a little more. For instance, where in Lost in Space does this problem occur? Also, will Sony be servicing these units free of charge?
Thanks,

Anil

OVERALL
RATING
4
VALUE
RATING
[Jun 01, 1999]
Jim Middleton
an Audio Enthusiast

Most obvious place for my Lost in Space DVD was the scenes where Dr. Smith had turned into the spider, Will was an young man, time machine sequences. The monster was way out of synch and Will was slightly out of synch.
Jim

OVERALL
RATING
2
VALUE
RATING
[Jun 01, 1999]
Brian
an Audio Enthusiast

This is a nicely built player and it complements my 30ES. I found the setup screens a bit confusing and the remote has a cheap feel to it (the jog dial) but since I can control everything including my receiver this is a minor complaint. 5.1 sound is excellent and the picture quality is also excellent. I am using Monster S-Video M-1000 cable and coaxial digital out. I had considered the Toshiba 3109 but felt this was a better match for my needs. I will need to continue testing and running this unit through its paces. I have not seen the lip-sync problem, hoewver, I have noticed a different problem. On the True Lies DVD, when the action moves very fast, the images of bodies appear to "vibrate". With the jog dial and stepping through the frames, the bodies appear to have several after images. This is only when the action is moving fast and unfortunately that is just about this entire movie. At this price this is a good buy. I purchased from One-Call, they price matched, sent a free cable and 2-day delivery.

OVERALL
RATING
4
VALUE
RATING
[Jun 02, 1999]
Andy Atwell
an Audiophile

Well, all I can say really goes along with what has been said. The player has excellent picture and sound and is easy to use. I had a Sharp player for a week and exchanged it for this one, solely on ease of use and access speed. It's really nice UNLESS you run into the dreaded Lip-sync problem, which I have. I knocked the Pioneer 414 off of my shopping list when I read that it had this problem, and low and behold I end up with the problem anyway!
Talked to Sony today. They told me that I was not alone having this complaint, he had in his database a number of entries with the same complaint. He said they are working on a fix and that someone would be intouch with me soon. He took all of my pertanant information and told me that temporarilly to simply push the play button or work the jog button to correct problems. I personally have had success by just noting where I am in the movie, stopping the movie, ejecting the disk, re-inserting and resuming play to where I was. This usually works, simply just pressing play is certainly easier if it works. None the less this provess it is a hardware problem not software.

So hopefully they will get back to me soon and this wont be needed anymore, I do intend to keep the sony because I'm pleased with everthing else about it.

To get a real person at sony call: 1-800-282-2848 and follow the voice mail promts to get someone who can help you with DVD.

OVERALL
RATING
4
VALUE
RATING
[Jun 02, 1999]
Tristan Leynes
an Audio Enthusiast

I've had the player for about two weeks and I'll have to admit it's only near perfect. I haven't notice lip sync problems with the few movies that I've watched but I did encounter quite a disturbing flaw.The audio priority feature is supposed to automatically choose the soundtrack with the most channels but when I load The Truman Show it plays the two channel default soundtrack every time (even when audio priority is set to "auto"). This is espescially difficult to notice if Dolby Pro-logic is set to "on" on the player and the six channel output is being used. You may think it's five discrete channels playing when it's actually pro-logic. The manual says that some discs will automatically choose a default soundtrack in which case the audio priority will not work. Huh??? I wish Sony would design a system that would work every time. For now I'll have to give it a four star rating.

OVERALL
RATING
4
VALUE
RATING
[Jun 18, 1999]
Phil I.
an Audio Enthusiast

Yup. I got the lip sync problem on my new Sony as well. Saw it for about 10 mintues in Ronin last night. This really bugs me because but for this problem, this is a first rate machine. I don't want to return it--I want the problem fixed. Oh the rating dilemma.

OVERALL
RATING
3
VALUE
RATING
[Jun 16, 1999]
Joseph Franolich
an Audio Enthusiast

Have throughtly enjoyed this player, since purchasing it. Unlike the Toshiba3108&3109 that I tried, I found NO flickering, no skipping. Also the Sony will play DVD&CD with defects much more accurately, the Toshibas would choke.
The picture quality is outstanding, the audio both from DVD and CD is clear, accurate and warm. Everything about this player says QUALITY. The remote is
easy to use. As my first full DVD, I finally feel happy with my choice.

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
[Jun 14, 1999]
CVP
an Audio Enthusiast

I bought this player only after being assured by my salesman that it was from the "NEW" problem free batch. The features this player has are outta sight, the picture and sound ROCK! It plays my scratched discs that my old toshiba wouldn't so I have to give it props for that. With all the fine tune adjustments available for tweaking picture & sound, it took me a little longer than usual to get everything perfect with video essentials. The player feels really solid and has alot of nice features. This is my 6th DVD player since I started on my quest for the perfect machine...I have to admit that this machine was bound to be the best I ever had...until.......LIP SYNC !!!! saw it on rush hour and apt pupil......going to call sony and find out what the hell is going on and how to tell the fixed batch apart from the lipped batch.......
will finish review when i have a flawless machine....

OVERALL
RATING
1
VALUE
RATING
[Jun 21, 1999]
Bob
an Audio Enthusiast

I purchased this DVD unit about 5 weeks ago and have watched 15 movies since without a single flaw. However, being concerned that my unit might have the potential of having 'lip-sync' problems in the future, I pursued getting to the bottom of it with Sony. I spoke to three technicians (different calls to different technicians to valitidate their stories) at Sony and even had them call me back twice after checking with upsteam engineers in their organization (imagine that!) and follow-up with e-mail notes to me. Story is, although they are getting calls from other users concerning the problem, they clearly stated that nothing has been found wrong with their equipment. There are no 'fixes' as some claim and there aren't any 'recalls' nor are there any 'batch start numbers' of good units. Stores giving other information were perhaps mislead by their Sony salesman having incorrect information. At this point, they attribute the problem some are having to setup problems or incompatibility of older to newer equipment. They have not been able to duplicate the problem in their test labs. I know some won't accept these responses because they are frustrated, but I still wanted to share the results of my lengthly research with Sony. Personally I give the Sony DVP-S550D a solid five stars for both picture and sound.

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
[Jun 21, 1999]
Jim Middleon
an Audio Enthusiast

Bob,
Thanks for your post. I realize its Sony's explanation and not yours. It is about what one would expect from Sony. There clearly is a problem with their players. Just because they say they can't "find" it doesn't mean it isnt' so. IF we are correct, they are facing some major cost in repairs, recalls, etc.

I liked the 550 as well. The picture is great, the sound is great. But I did encounter the lip sync problem. I'm not going to spend that kind of $$$ for a known problem. I have not had any lip synch problems with the same disk on my Toshiba.

I hope you don't have the problem. But if you do, I hope its within the exhange period for your unit. Because once you see what we've been talking about, you will be dissappointed.

Jim Middleton

OVERALL
RATING
1
VALUE
RATING
Showing 91-100 of 246  

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