Yamaha DVD-S2500 Info

[Thwarter]

Greetings,

Does anyone know if the Yamaha DVD-S2500 is shipping to the US yet? The local AV stores which carry Yamaha (Good Guys) don't have any in stock and act like they've never heard of it. They do of course say they have the 2300 MkII, which I'm not interested in.

They did have the 1500 which I tried just before Halloween, but then returned. It was a great sounding player and the video looked good (I'm still on S-vid), but I took it back because the display was too simple, the remote stunk and the fast forward/rev was a pain to use. And Yamaha announced the 2500 just a couple days afterwards. :confused:

One more question, has anyone compared this to the Denon 2910? I have a Yamaha RX-V3000 and would like to stay with Yamaha, but I'll consider the Denon 2910 if it's better than the 2500.

Thanks for your help!

[troytn]

The last known report for the Yamaha s2500 dvd player is they will show it at CES in Vegas in Jan 2005 and ship to stores in Feb 2005.

Troy

[Thwarter]

Thanks Troy. I thought it was shipping now, but I can't find it anywhere. It would be nice of Yamaha USA to say when they will ship. I'm sure the local A/V guys would appreciate my not calling them each week asking them if they have it yet.

[Yamahaluver]

I have the Yamaha DVD-S2300 and compared to others the color is better but the sound is simply great in SACD mode, the remote is clunky and so is the interface and it it doesnt read scratched media that well like a Pioneer or Phillips.

[Jazzwyld]

Our Yamaha rep says soon soon, we've got a few on order, but in the meantime we wait with our 2 remaining 2300mkII. To compare the current models out there. The 1500 has much better video than the 2300mkII, due to the faruja (sp?) video processing. The DVDs1500 is no comparison to the audio of the 2300 . I'm stoked about the new one coming out but i hope the audio is up to par with the 2300 or better, especially since its coming out less expensive than the 2300mkII.

[tedmjr2]

The Yamaha DVD-S2500 appears to be listed in stock now.

See link:
http://www.legacyaudiovideo.com/yadvdvdauand.html

[Thwarter]

Thanks for the link Ted. Hopefully that MSRP of $749 can be beat by at least $100.

OK, January is here. My local store still doesn't have an ETA. Has anyone bought this unit yet? Any reviews?

[tedmjr2]

I'm also waiting for pricing to come down to $649 to match with my Yamaha RX-V2500. Hopefully, when vendors begin having a quantity of them in-stock, competitive street pricing will become available at least by February.

[Thwarter]

Yamaha still hasn't shipped this unit yet, at least as far as I can tell. Has anyone seen it? I'm starting to think this is just a big ploy by Yamaha to prevent people from buying other products.

Heck, it's been on their website since early November and you still can't buy the sucker anywhere.

Negative points to Yamaha for making us wait so long.

[troytn]

2 of these were on Ebay and sold in 2 days for $625 each. They went fast. Hopefully we will see more soon.

[Thwarter]

The local Good Guys rep here just told me they expect this unit to arrive in their distribution centers on Feb 28th and to be in their stores early March. I guess that meets the "will ship in Feb" scuttlebutt.

Well, we've waited this long, what's another three or four weeks?

Got to hand it to Yamaha. I wonder how many Denon 2910 or equivalent competitor's unit sales they snuffed out by putting the unit up on their websites over three months before anyone could buy one?

I sure hope it's worth the wait, and the $$. :o

[Thwarter]

Still no sightings here. Anyone found this, better still, used it yet?

[troytn]

An email from Yamaha: "You are looking at late March early April for release of the s2500 dvd player. If you have any more questions please feel free to contact us at our toll free Customer Support line. 1-800-292-2982 Hours: Monday Thru Friday 8 AM to 4 PM Pacific time."

My guess it will be more like late April.

Heck by May Denon and other manufacturors will announce new players for fall 2005 and they may have dvd players under $1,000 with firewire like this Yamaha.

[Thwarter]

I'm surprised Yamaha has delayed the arrival so long. We were expecting this in January, then Feb, etc. and now it could be April.

Makes you wonder if they are having problems with it. And I agree, the other competitors will have their next generation out before we know it.

[CooLJ92]

I was contacted by a Yamaha rep and he told me that the DVDS2500 will be shipping on April 1st. Went to my local Good Guys and they advised me they should get it April 7th or so. He checked the system and notified my they had some in their main distribution center in SF. Retail price: $699 I reserved mine with a 10% down payment.

jj :cool:

[Thwarter]

Yes, I received the same info from my GG rep today. They have 100 units on order and should have them by mid-April. Not sure if she meant their store (Sunnyvale, CA) is getting 100, or that's for a group of stores or what...

[lifamily]

According to a Yamaha representitive at the NYC HTE show, it will not be out until the 2nd week of June 2005.

[zoran]

The Yamaha DVD-S2500 appears to be listed in stock now.

See link:
http://www.legacyaudiovideo.com/yadvdvdauand.html

talked to them, they wanted me to pre order!

[CooLJ92]

I wonder what is taking this product to come out. I am assuming that Yamaha is making sure everything is up to par to compete with other products.

Can't wait for it to come out.

jj :cool:

[Thwarter]

I'm seriously considering giving up on this product. I've never, ever seen such a misleading product release and it's very suspicious as to what the hold up is.

We were expecting this thing to come out in January at the latest. Now it's mid-May and they are still not on the shelves? Yet you can still go the website and look at all the cool features they say it has. Something has got to be fundamentally wrong with the product that a simple code update can't fix.

[markjx]

FYI:

Today, I used the phone number for Yamaha (1-800-292-2982) that troytn graciously provided. The person I talked to said that the DVD-S2500 is shipping. I expressed that I hadn't seen anything yet. She suggested that I talk to my distributor.

Personally, I've only been waiting a month or so, but maybe hope is on the way...

MarkJX

[Thwarter]

Yes, I talked to a Good Guys rep and they didn't have it in stock as of Friday. He didn't see it in the distribution channel either, but I didn't get the impression that he was looking that hard.

[troytn]

Well I read over at www.avsforum.com that someone received a new sd2500 dvd player today! So they are shipping! I hope audioholics gets one soon for a full review.


Troy

[lifamily]

Yes, They are shipping. I received a call from my dealer advising me of its arrival.

[lifamily]

Received mine on Saturday 05/21. This is definitley one fine sounding player. Paired up with the RX-Z9, and you've got yourself a set up that is hard to beat in any price range.
The SACD and DVD-A via I-LINK is unbelievable. I was informed that the reason for its late arrival was due to the version upgrade to the HDMI. But who knows for sure..

If you have one on order, you will not be disappointed...

[CooLJ92]

Got mine yesterday 5/23 after the GoodGuys rep called me stating my merchendise was in. Originally the rep told me it would get in on 6/6. I ran (literally) :D to the store to pick it up. This is one awesome player. Just taking out of the box I noticed how heavy and sturdy it is. Quickly connected it to my RXV2400 and set it up thru the menu. At first you will have to get used to the menu interface, but once you get used to it it is fairly easy to navigate. I popped in the Chainsaw Massacare and clearly notice the quality of picture and sound it produces. Trust me, you will not be disappointed with the features it has. Haven't had a chance to set it up to listen to a SACD but will later on today. Only draw back is that the remote is kind of lame. Doesn't matter, because I will be using a universal remote soon.

The DVD S2500 also compliments my RXV 2400 very well. I don't recommend you place it on top of any receiver.

I'm hoping audioholics gets one so they may conduct a full review.

jj :cool:

[Thwarter]

Well, it finally came in to the local Good Guys. I got it for $650+tax and probably could have shaved another $20 or so off if I really was in the haggling mood.

The verdict is still out, but here's what I have learned so far.

The unit has good weight - doesn't "feel" cheap. Only the very basic controls on the face and you can't operate the menus without the remote.

Audio is very good, but I still need to tweek the speaker settings a bit to get the 6CH audio dialed in.

There are a lot of menu settings to play with.

Video looks OK, but I'm not a good judge as I'm watching it on my old Pioneer Elite Pro-97 RPTV which has seen better days.

Functionaly speaking, I'm dissapointed. The fast forward/reverse scan is shared with the chapter skip which I absolutely hate. If you want to scan, you have to hold the button down for a sec or two or you automatically jump to the next chapter. And then the scan is either 4x or 32x - no in between speeds. I haven't been able to get a smooth scan yet and it's either too slow or too fast.

Layer change is quick, but still noticeable.

And the remote codes don't appear to be standard. My receiver's (Yamaha RX-3000) remote couldn't use the standard Yam1 or Yam2 remote codes and I had to manually program each button. Not a major problem, but makes me wonder why it didn't just work since it's all Yamaha. I was hoping the << and >> buttons on the receiver's remote would give me FF/FR scans, but it doesn't as the codes don't work and there are no "scan only" buttons on the remote to copy from. So I'm stuck using the dual-mode |<< and >>| buttons.

And the main reason I got the player doesn't seem to work. I haven't been able to get any of my recordable media (DVD-R, DVD-RW, MP3 CDRW) to play reliably yet. My "backup" DVD movies made to DVD-R sometimes play, but will start to skip and eventually lock up if you chapter advance. These discs play fine on my computer's DVD drives. I haven't tried DVD+R yet.

I also noticed a tiny electronic whine coming from the unit even when it is turned off, but you need to be close to the unit to hear. It may have just been capacitors getting their initial charge as it seems to have gone away now.

Please understand these are my first impressions and I'm still getting to know this unit. I may end up finding fixes for the problems I've run into so far (and I'll post if I do), but my initial reaction is one of disappointment. I've got 30 days to decide if I'll take it back. I just may do that and get a cheap universal player since this one is already not living up to my expectations, especially for $700.

Sure wasn't the experience I was hoping for after waiting six months for this thing. Maybe I was hoping for too much.

[zoran]

Well, it finally came in to the local Good Guys. I got it for $650+tax and probably could have shaved another $20 or so off if I really was in the haggling mood.

The verdict is still out, but here's what I have learned so far.

The unit has good weight - doesn't "feel" cheap. Only the very basic controls on the face and you can't operate the menus without the remote.

Audio is very good, but I still need to tweek the speaker settings a bit to get the 6CH audio dialed in.

There are a lot of menu settings to play with.

Video looks OK, but I'm not a good judge as I'm watching it on my old Pioneer Elite Pro-97 RPTV which has seen better days.

Functionaly speaking, I'm dissapointed. The fast forward/reverse scan is shared with the chapter skip which I absolutely hate. If you want to scan, you have to hold the button down for a sec or two or you automatically jump to the next chapter. And then the scan is either 4x or 32x - no in between speeds. I haven't been able to get a smooth scan yet and it's either too slow or too fast.

Layer change is quick, but still noticeable.

And the remote codes don't appear to be standard. My receiver's (Yamaha RX-3000) remote couldn't use the standard Yam1 or Yam2 remote codes and I had to manually program each button. Not a major problem, but makes me wonder why it didn't just work since it's all Yamaha. I was hoping the << and >> buttons on the receiver's remote would give me FF/FR scans, but it doesn't as the codes don't work and there are no "scan only" buttons on the remote to copy from. So I'm stuck using the dual-mode |<< and >>| buttons.

And the main reason I got the player doesn't seem to work. I haven't been able to get any of my recordable media (DVD-R, DVD-RW, MP3 CDRW) to play reliably yet. My "backup" DVD movies made to DVD-R sometimes play, but will start to skip and eventually lock up if you chapter advance. These discs play fine on my computer's DVD drives. I haven't tried DVD+R yet.

I also noticed a tiny electronic whine coming from the unit even when it is turned off, but you need to be close to the unit to hear. It may have just been capacitors getting their initial charge as it seems to have gone away now.

Please understand these are my first impressions and I'm still getting to know this unit. I may end up finding fixes for the problems I've run into so far (and I'll post if I do), but my initial reaction is one of disappointment. I've got 30 days to decide if I'll take it back. I just may do that and get a cheap universal player since this one is already not living up to my expectations, especially for $700.

Sure wasn't the experience I was hoping for after waiting six months for this thing. Maybe I was hoping for too much.

Does any one know? if 2500 has same DCDI chip as in Oppo and Denons and have MB?

[Thwarter]

I returned it today. :(

I had one major and many minor issues with it and couldn't justify keeping it if I wasn't at least 90% happy with it.

I couldn't get DVD-R media to play without it wanting to skip. I tried four different types of DVD-R and all had problems. Sometimes they would read OK and then lock up or skip when I tried to scan. CDR seemed to play OK.

The scanning sucks. On DVDs it's either 4x or 32x so it's too slow or too fast.

Load times are very slow. And the eject button doesn't believe you half of the time.

<< and >> shares the same buttons with |<< and >>| which sucks if you want to scan but didn't hold the button long enough.

Sound quality was very good once I got the parameters set, which took a while. I couldn't give it a good video review as my RPTV needs calibration.

And the fact that Yamaha made me wait soooooooo long didn't help either.

I won't be surprised if others fall in love with this player, but it just wasn't meant to be for me. I'm glad I'm rid of it. Thank goodness for GoodGuys' 30 day money back guarantee!

[Howaraj1013]

I returned it today. :(

I had one major and many minor issues with it and couldn't justify keeping it if I wasn't at least 90% happy with it.

I couldn't get DVD-R media to play without it wanting to skip. I tried four different types of DVD-R and all had problems. Sometimes they would read OK and then lock up or skip when I tried to scan. CDR seemed to play OK.

The scanning sucks. On DVDs it's either 4x or 32x so it's too slow or too fast.

Load times are very slow. And the eject button doesn't believe you half of the time.

<< and >> shares the same buttons with |<< and >>| which sucks if you want to scan but didn't hold the button long enough.

Sound quality was very good once I got the parameters set, which took a while. I couldn't give it a good video review as my RPTV needs calibration.

And the fact that Yamaha made me wait soooooooo long didn't help either.

I won't be surprised if others fall in love with this player, but it just wasn't meant to be for me. I'm glad I'm rid of it. Thank goodness for GoodGuys' 30 day money back guarantee!


Which player are you looking at now?

[Aliixer]

I purchase Yamaha receivers with out a question, however when it comes to DVD/ universal players I avoid them. I would love to have matching components but the playback of dvd-r, cd-r ect is just plain lousy. You can never get consistent playback. So I agree with the earlier poster, just avoid them. I buy denon dvd, they have never failed me with playback of any format.

[Mobius]

I purchase Yamaha receivers with out a question, however when it comes to DVD/ universal players I avoid them. I would love to have matching components but the playback of dvd-r, cd-r ect is just plain lousy. You can never get consistent playback. So I agree with the earlier poster, just avoid them. I buy denon dvd, they have never failed me with playback of any format.

I have never had any issues playing a dvd-r, dvd+r, cd-r etc... in my DVD- S2300. The only thing I don't like about the S2300 is there is no power button on the remote, the S2300MKII fixed that, & the layer change should be faster IMO.

I saw the S2500 for the first time today. The goodguys store had it out, the face plate is aready messed up due to careless shoppers, the unit was not even plugged in and it was sitting in a space next to a $44 JVC dvd player. I'd say that goodguys store was clueless. All I saw was Denon 3910s everywhere I looked which is no surprise because it's a fine player but they should have the S2500 at least hooked up to the Yamaha display instead of the S1500.

I have been waiting to see what this player can do for a long time and I can't wait to hear some reviews. It's a little sad to hear about Thwarters issues since the player took so long to come out. I was really hoping (and still am hoping) this player could give the 3910 a run for it's money. I am looking at this player to replace my S2300, I am hoping it can put out a better picture with the upconversion feature and I'm curious if they upgraded the sound or not, a $300 MSRP price drop and shedding 6-7LBS compared to the S2300(MKI & MKII) leaves me with some doubts (although the price drop is always a good thing).

[Jaycan]

[QUOTE]I have been waiting to see what this player can do for a long time and I can't wait to hear some reviews. It's a little sad to hear about Thwarters issues since the player took so long to come out. I was really hoping (and still am hoping) this player could give the 3910 a run for it's money. I am looking at this player to replace my S2300, I am hoping it can put out a better picture with the upconversion feature and I'm curious if they upgraded the sound or not, a $300 MSRP price drop and shedding 6-7LBS compared to the S2300(MKI & MKII) leaves me with some doubts (although the price drop is always a good thing).

My sentiments, exactly. I was really anticipating hooking up the s2500 to the 4600. I really dont want to go away from Yamaha, and the next comparable single brand pairing -the Denon DVD3910+AVR4806 is a huge price premium over the Yamaha combo. I just dont think the price difference reflects an equivalent quality/performance step up. Now, if the 4806 had 2 DIGITAL VIDEO OUTputs that still would not justify the price increase IMO, but would certainly cause me to think harder.

[MR M.l.]

I previewed the 2500 at the same time as the rotel 1056. IMHO the rotel has a much cleaner sound by a longshot. The extra two to three hundred dollars is well worth it.

[Mobius]

I previewed the 2500 at the same time as the rotel 1056. IMHO the rotel has a much cleaner sound by a longshot. The extra two to three hundred dollars is well worth it.

MR M.I.

The 2500 model we are referring too is the brand new Yamaha Universal DVD player, model is DVD-S2500.

[Jaycan]

Any chance of the S2500 being reviewed on this site? With all the problems encountered by Thwarter, it would be interesting if those problems could be duplicated in a review.

[Thwarter]

Which player are you looking at now?

Sorry I didn't get back here for a while... Well, since I spend most of my home time in my computer room I've been watching movies on my computer. Since my RPTV is having convergence problems, I like the super clear picture on my 21" monitor. Plus I have the Klipsch ProMedia 5.1 speakers which are awesome.

It's kind of embarrasing to admit, but when I do watch movies on my big system, I'm using my XBox to watch DVD's for now. Sound is digital, so that's fine. Video ain't fantastic, but I won't worry about that until I replace my TV.

I'll probably wait a while and see how the Blu-ray/HD-DVD battle turns out. I used to always get the latest technology when it was available, but now I've got crap everywhere, half of which I don't use much anymore. These days I'm more concerned about saving money and will wait until I REALLY want/need something new. Gettin' older I guess...

I'm also waiting for the new TV's to come down in price and get a little more settled in before I dump another three to five thousand bucks on one. I may just wait until I get a new TV to decide on what my next DVD player will be.

And my good ol' Pioneer Elite DV-05 which I bought back around '96 still works fine and sounds great. But that's now in the bedroom.

[Buckle-meister]

Calling all S2500 owners!,

I have been waiting since Christmas '04/'05 for the S2500. Now that I finally have it, here are some comments of my own:

The fast forward/reverse scan is shared with the chapter skip which I absolutely hate.

I agree, but since using this function is rare, I can easily live with it.

Load times are very slow.

I agree. Again, I can live with this, but am surprised the unit takes so long to recognise CD's.

Any chance of the S2500 being reviewed on this site?

Now that would be nice. :)

Paired up with the RX-Z9...

If you are reading this lifamily, you are in the perfect position to help me as I also have the Z9. However, I would appreciate feedback from anybody on the following problem I am having:

I have Digital output set to All because the Z9 can decode multichannel audio, and PCM output to 96kHz since the Z9 can accept this signal format. I currently use a coaxial digital interconnect to link the two units.

The thing is; sometimes when I load a CD, the music comes out sounding like I am muting/unmuting every second or so repeatedly. It's definitely not skipping; the elapsed-time clock is running normally. And it's definitely not the Z9 as I was previousely using the digital out from my old CD player without this problem.

Has anybody else experianced this? I am reluctant to return the unit to the shop until I am sure it is not simply something that I am doing incorrectly, and even if I do, I have absolutely no problem in getting an identical replacement since I just love the sound, picture and aesthetics of the combined Z9/S2500.

Regards

[Aliixer]

I think you need to consider a denon 3910 universal player. I too would love having my RXZ9 paired with yamaha's player but I just can't live with all the complaints you guys have. Buy the denon and stick it in the cabinet. Use the yamaha remote and be done with it.

However if you still insist, give Yamaha a call and let them know your compaints. I have had many friends purchase the yamaha S2500 and have all returned it. I however influenced them to note.

One more thing, have you tried using the s400/firewire for your audio connection. let the Z9 do all the processing and see if that helps. I have it set up that way with my denon 3910 and its great.

PS I wish Yamaha comes out with a Z9 w/ hdmi......Z10 MAYBE

[Buckle-meister]

I think you need to consider a denon 3910 universal player.

Nah!, that would be far too easy. :)

I too would love having my RXZ9 paired with yamaha's player but I just can't live with all the complaints you guys have.

It is true that I have some issues, but honestly, for me they are small. If I can get this one problem ironed-out, which I think may actually be a fault with the unit, I'll be very happy with my purchase.

...have you tried using the s400/firewire for your audio connection. let the Z9 do all the processing and see if that helps.

The shop is getting the i-link interconnect in for me as we speak. However, my problem relates to CDs (DVD's work flawlessly). In this case, using the i-link shouldn't make any difference (remember, the Z9 is currently doing the processing since I'm using the S2500's digital-out), and if it did, then there would definitely be a fault with the unit.

The funny thing is; if I power up the S2500 and CDs work fine, then whilst the player remains on, any CD will be fine. It's only when I initially turn it on and a CDs music stops/starts that the problem persists with other CDs. If I turn the unit off, then on, sometimes the problem goes away. :)

Also (although I know I shouldn't be doing this), I've played a CD which stops/starts, and whilst playing, removed/replaced the coaxial interconnect from the players jack, and the music became ok! This leads me to believe that it may be something to do with PCM output set to 96kHz rather than 48kHz, but having changed that, it didn't consistently fix anything. :( Who knows?

Any other thoughts would be welcome.

Regards

[Aliixer]

Sounds like a software glitch of some sort. Try calling Yamaha right now. They will try to help you out. If you get sent to voicemail just hang up and call again. Tell me what they say. I love Yamaha products. and if your in southern cali I would be happy to demo my system for ya. glitch free I promise.

[Buckle-meister]

Sounds like a software glitch of some sort. Try calling Yamaha right now. They will try to help you out. If you get sent to voicemail just hang up and call again. Tell me what they say. I love Yamaha products. and if your in southern cali I would be happy to demo my system for ya. glitch free I promise.

Neighbour, thank you. I live in the UK though, and now is the time for sleep. I'll try them tomorrow for sure.

As for that demo; what for? I'll bet any money your Z9 sounds just like mine!

Goodnight. :)

Zzzz Zzzz

[Buckle-meister]

Tell me what they say.

Well Aliixer, circumstances may have changed somewhat since last we communed.

I phoned Yamaha UK today and described my problem to the gentleman. "Leave it with me and I'll try and get back to you today" he said. As of the close of work, he had not. However, I expect he will call me tomorrow so not to worry.

I also phoned the shop where I got my Hi-Fi and let them know what was going on, and arranged to take the S2500 back in if, after trying it tonight, it still acted-up.

It did.

I took the S2500 back to the shop and they immediately loaned me their own demo S2500 (good service) until such time as I had my own investigated/fixed. Excited, I returned home only to find...

It still didn't work. Aghhhhhh!!!

Thinking suspiciously by now that perhaps there was nothing wrong with the S2500 after all, and that it was something up with my Z9, I investigated further and guess what I found?

If I use the Input Selector to switch from CD input to Tuner then back to CD without touching the S2500 whilst it is playing incorrectly...the music corrects itself!!! I've told the shop assistant and he considered it more likely that the fault was with the Z9 since it seems to be "re-clocking" when switching the input back and forth (so he said).

What's your (or anybodys) thoughts? Is it now more likely that the amp is at fault?

sad, sad regards.

Nooooo!!!! Not my beautifull amp!!!!

[Aliixer]

Just a thought. First try a alternate amp if you have one. and if not use a different input for the dvd just for comparison. I am sure you have other sources connected. do they behave the same? If the problem persists using a seperate input, then you should try doing a system reset on the Z9. Its not too difficult. I have done a system reset do to bad programing. hope this helps.

[Buckle-meister]

Just a thought. First try a alternate amp if you have one. and if not use a different input for the dvd just for comparison. I am sure you have other sources connected. do they behave the same? If the problem persists using a seperate input, then you should try doing a system reset on the Z9. Its not too difficult. I have done a system reset do to bad programing. hope this helps.

Unfortunately, my old Musical Fidelity amps cannot accept a coaxial digital. I have tried using the DVD input rather than the CD input's jacks, but the problem still occurs. I should perhaps expect this since although the Z9 has seporate DACs, they are for each channel, not for each input. When I use Direct PCM for either the DVD or CD input, I will be using the same DACs inside the Z9 (I think that's right).

As for the system reset, I do actually have a copy of the procedure from a link somewhere on this site (I think). Unfortunately it is for the RX-Z9 receiver, the American equivalent to the DSP-Z9 amplifier for the UK. At a certain point in the procedure, the user needs to push the Preset/Tuning button on the front panel. But of course, I do not have this button, so I can't complete the procedure.

Do you know where I can get the procedure for UK models? Understandably, Yamaha do not have it on their (UK) website.

Regards

[Aliixer]

I would then wait for the s400 cable and use that. You don't have to rely on the coaxial out. Once you have the firewire you won't want to go back.

[Aliixer]

One of the ways I have my dvd connected is with basic analog cables and input then to the Z9 under pure direct. I enjoy this when I listen to music late at night. I turn the display off on the denon and the yamaha display automatically turns off. That way the lights are off and I have no distractions from the music. Try it.....

[Buckle-meister]

I would then wait for the s400 cable and use that. You don't have to rely on the coaxial out. Once you have the firewire you won't want to go back.

The chances are that you're right; it arrives on Monday. But I need to get to the bottom of this issue; if I don't, it'll slowly eat away at me.

One of the ways I have my dvd connected is with basic analog cables and input then to the Z9 under pure direct. I enjoy this when I listen to music late at night. I turn the display off on the denon and the yamaha display automatically turns off. That way the lights are off and I have no distractions from the music. Try it.....

It's amazing just how like-minded we seem to be! From what you have written in previous posts too! I also have used the Pure Direct function, although personally I prefer the digital options available to me.

Todays S2500/Z9 episode raised even more questions than it answered. The shop loaned me an optical digital cable and another coaxial digital cable in order to try and determine whether I may simply have a cable problem. Having the cables also allowed me to try the Optical Input jack, the theory being that if the problem ocurred with more than one type of input, it couldn't be (a) a cable issue, or (b) a problem with the Input jacks themelves, i.e. it had to be a hardware problem.

The problem did persist, so at least we have ruled-out two potential causes. I have also tried analogue cables and there never seems to be any problem, leading me to think that the problem almost certainly lies in the digital domain of either the S2500 or Z9 (goodness knows which).

I have also tried all three connection types (analogue, coaxial digital and optical digital) with my old Sony (budget) DVD player hooked up to the Z9 and it simply never fails; not once! On the one hand, this convinces me that the problem lies with the S2500, yet because both S2500 DVD players that I have now tried give the same problem, I'm inclined to believe it's the Z9 at fault.

I am totally stumped by this, as is the Yamaha technician the shop has been liasing with. I've to take the Z9 into the shop on Monday.

By the way, if I am starting to sound like a whine, or simply boring you, please just tell me to quit whilst I'm behind. I'll not be offended.

Regards

EDIT: I have been furiously thinking, and may have an answer (he says modestly! :rolleyes: ). What if there is nothing 'wrong' with either the Z9 or S2500? This may seem a strange thing to say, but consider:

1. When the S2500 plays CDs ok, it always plays them ok.

2. The Z9 never seems to have a problem with other DVD/CD players CD signals.

3. When the Z9's input is switched off, then back onto CD, a CD that was playing incorrectly plays perfectly.

It's as if the problem is of a 'triggering' sort. It makes absolutely perfect sense if other players 'trigger' the Z9 to recieve PCM at the correct bandwidth, but the S2500 for some reason isn't. It's correctly sending the signal, but just hasn't 'triggered' the Z9 in the same way other players do. When the Z9's input is switched back, then forward to 'reconsider' what signal is being input, it then locks onto the S2500's signal, in a sense, because it has been manually compelled to do so.

To me, this is perfectly logical. Do others agree?

A test I am planning should resolve this: If I take the optical (say) from the S2500 to the Z9, and the coaxial (say) from the S2500 to another amp, then wire the Left speaker (say) from one amp and the Right speaker (say) from the Z9, then a clear camparison can be made when the Z9 is outputting an incorrect signal to the Right speaker.

Will the Left speaker sound the same? ;)

[Buckle-meister]

Aliixer, you mentioned that you use an i-link cable. Might I enquire by whom? I am trying to investigate various manufactures of it, but am having difficulty finding them.

Regards

[Aliixer]

I am using the one that came with my denon 3910 player. Its nothing fancy and works flawlessly. The quality does not matter for it just sends 1's and 0's. But if you can get one from belkin, they have the ferrit cores that protect it from any interference. heres the link. This is a more expensive option, yet is said to offer more protection against interference.

http://catalog.belkin.com/PureAV_detail.process?Product_Id=200182#


The one pictured here is a standard cable from radio shack or any sony store, which should be no more than 10.00 dollars US.

[Buckle-meister]

If I take the optical (say) from the S2500 to the Z9, and the coaxial (say) from the S2500 to another amp, then wire the Left speaker (say) from one amp and the Right speaker (say) from the Z9, then a clear camparison can be made when the Z9 is outputting an incorrect signal to the Right speaker.

Will the Left speaker sound the same? ;)

For anybody interested, my theory is correct so far; The S2500 is outputting a perfect signal, and so was never actually the problem :). I ran the above test, and sure enough, the alternative amp/speaker sounded fine, even though the Z9/speaker was simultaneously giving an incorrect sound :(.

Yamaha UK are very perplexed by this, as they cannot seem to duplicate the error. Alas, my amp is now winging its way to Yamaha for them to take a look at :(.

p.s. If your username begins with M and ends with 7; yeah, I know! :D

[Buckle-meister]

Well, I finally got my Z9 back from Yamaha. I had to wait a touch longer than I had hoped, but all in all, I can't really complain about it.

The problem appears to have been something to do with the Z9 getting confused as to the rate of digital signal it was recieving from the S2500. Yamaha still isn't sure where exactly the problem lies, but they found that by replacing a couple of the DSP boards, the problem went away. This was confirmed by putting my boards into another Z9; the problem had moved there.

I have a further question for anybody out there with both the Z9 and S2500. I have hooked the two of them up, and can recieve music/film via i-link. However, although the i-link symbol lights up on the Z9, and both machines confirm via their respective menus that they are aware of each other, for some strange reason, the i-link indicator on the front panel of the S2500 does not light up.

Does anybody know why this might be?

Regards

[Mobius]

Seems like the S2500 has been out for a little while now. I still have not seen much talk about this player on forums or magazines. Still no test on Secrets and the little I have heard about the player makes it seem like a step backwards from the S2300 line. Did Yamaha totally drop the ball on this one?

Those of you that have this player what are your thoughts?

[BTex]

Those of you that have this player what are your thoughts?

I returned mine today. It had problems reading some of my DVD's. And All of my dvdr's. There is a thread over on AVR forum with people complaining of DVD-A disks having problems. Picture was sweet tho.
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=444693&page=16&pp=30&highlight=dvds2500

I posted my experience over there also. :)

[Mobius]

Thanks BTex!

From reading some of the things about the S2500 it certainly seems a firmware update is needed. I have had my S2300 for quite a long time now and I like it a lot. When the S2500 was announced I was very eager to see if Yamaha could improve upon the S2300 and it looks like feature wise they succeeded but funtion wise they failed thus far. I wish they would have stuck with the built like a tank design the S2300 line had as well.

[themadreefer]

i have had my s2500 for about two weeks now, and when it does decide to play a dvd-a or dvd-v or sacd or cd or dvd+r it is a very impressive player(both video and especially audio).
i am very disappointed with this yamaha product after speaking with my local yamaha dealer. he spoke with his/her yamaha rep. and they said it was my media i was using and not the players fault.
btw, the i-link connection is a pretty cool feature.
well anyway i will be taking back to dealer to try another unit.

[lifamily]

Brought my S2500 back to the dlr last week for repair. The unit just stops in the middle of playing a compact disc, as though you hit the stop button. The audio kicks in after a track has already begun playing. And sometimes the drawer will not stay open to load or remove a disc. As soon as the drawer reaches its travel it will return to the closed position. After my own experiences and reading others in this thread, I truly believe there was a problem with these players right from the drawing board, that's why it took so long to come out on the market. The slow loading I can deal with, but the rest is inexcusable. Yamaha really didn't do their homework on this model. I have been a long time Yamaha follower, with the DSP-A1, TX-950, KX-800U and the RXZ9, but this player definitely leaves me with some doubts for consideration of future purchases. My 189.00 Samsung HD-841 in all honesty works better than the Yamaha..

Sent them an e-mail, let's see what happens..

[Snap]

I think that we as consumers think that if we spend a boat load of money the eqp should work perfect all the time. But the facts say otherwise. Even the good stuff breaks some times. It is like we expect the stuff that we pay 100 bucks for to break and the stuff that we pay a boat load for to be perfect all the time. The facts are some times you just get a unit that is broke. Some times you do get a man. defect. Or some times it is a design flaw. But most of the time in life you get what you pay for.

My Denon 2910 has been in for repairs for 4 weeks now. It has been gone so long that I bought another DVD player to use in its place. No big deal as I was needing another DVD player for the house any ways so the 240 bucks on the panny was not spent in waste.

Just keep in mind fellas that even the best products have to go repairs every now and then. Heck my wifes BMW X3 2004 model has been in the shop more than my 2003 chev avalanche. BUt that does not mean that the BMW is a piece of crap and I would never own another. It just means that mine has troubles.

Just my thoughts on gear breaking down.

[themadreefer]

yes my unit will also "stop" while playing audio dvd or audio cd, has not happen
with video dvd though.

[themadreefer]

my s-2500 displaying "no disc" was getting very old for me.
read in the manual to try a dvd cleaner.
to my amazement, unit has been working flawlessly since cleaning the player
the other day.

[krabapple]

I've owned an S2500 for some months now. It's connected to a Pioneer 74Txvi via ilink for audio and component cables for video. Here are the interesting things I've noticed about it.

-- slow load time -- this appears to be due to its Phillips ancestry.
-- remote code weirdness -- I use the Pioneer's learning remote as the master for my system. Didn't work with the S2500 -- no codes. Then I realized, again, that the Yammy is really a *Phillips* at heart...and sure enough, the preprogrammed Philips DVD player codes in the Pioneer remote worked.
-- digital audio settings. One things that strikes me as odd is that the *digital* output is also affected by the *analog* audio setting. So if you set analog audio to 'stereo' rather than multichannel, ilink outputs a multichannel SACD or DVD-A as two-channel. I would have expected that when the player is used purely as a transport that none of the analog menu settings should affect it.
Just to be safe, in case this kind of foolishness involvs other analog out settings, I have all speaker settings to Large , subwoofer ON, distances and levels all the same, SACD direct ON...i.e., attempting to have as little processing as possible within the player, for audio.
-- analog audio settings. Out of curiousity (and to make portable files) I have occasionally digitally recorded hi-rez stereo sources from the analog L/R out of this and other players, and viewed the results with a .wav analyzer (Audition). From this I've learned: do not assume that the multichannel L/R and the 'dedicated' L/R output behave the same. The myriad analog audio settings (separate ones for CD/DVD and SACD, in the case of the S2500) have complex and different effects on the two 'stereo' outputs. This is definitely true of the S2500
-- region hacks -- they're out there on the web. And they work. ;> (I write 'they' because the two I have found have slightly different button sequences for entering the hack mode. The actual hack codes were the same.) My S2500 is now region-free.
-- firmware update . One was posted a few days ago to AV forum. It works too. To check firmware open the tray and press Menu on the remote. The second line in the displayed info has the firmware -- latest firmware ends in '58'. Mine was 54. The 58 updates' supposed to correct some DVD-A playback problems (and maybe other stuff, I don't know for sure) . Frankly I hadn't noticed any until this week, -- prior to that the 2500 played ever SACD, CD and DVD-A and CDR I threw at it -- when I got my UK import copy of David Bowie's 'Stage'. It's region free as a video, but I noticed that it simply would not output the surround channels of the multichannel DVD-A version, no matter how I fiddled with it. The DTS surround version worked fine. Remember, this is all using DACs in the receiver , not the player. Anyway, after I updated the firmware -- and then re-set all the Settings and Toolbar menu items to suit my system (the firmware update made the player think I was connecting to a 4:3 PAL TV, for example, rather than 16:4 NTSC)-- 'Stage' works perfectly in all modes.

The AVSforum thread of interest is:
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=444693