OK its time to get a DVD/CD player, what to buy?

N

nosferatu

Audioholic
im in a market for a new DVD player . Right now i have Denon that is probably 8 years old. i really want to buy a good upscaling dvd player i am looking at denon , marantz and oppo . 400$ buys you a good upscalling dvd player from those companies. the + for denon is that i have denon receiver so i can use same remote . i don't like the idea to have diffirent remote for each component .
 
AcuDefTechGuy

AcuDefTechGuy

Audioholic Jedi
im in a market for a new DVD player . Right now i have Denon that is probably 8 years old. i really want to buy a good upscaling dvd player i am looking at denon , marantz and oppo . 400$ buys you a good upscalling dvd player from those companies. the + for denon is that i have denon receiver so i can use same remote . i don't like the idea to have diffirent remote for each component .
The primary reason I mentioned the B-stock Denon Certified 2930CI & 3910CI is because these are normally $850 & $1,500, respectively, which you can get for around $400.

http://www.ecost.com/Detail.aspx?edp=2771896

http://search.ecost.com/?q=Denon DVD-2930CI

To get a $1,500 Denon (1080i, SACD, DVD-A, Burr-Brown PCM-1796 DSD) for only $408 is a pretty good deal.

If 1080p is more important (instead of 1080i), then the 2930CI is better.

You can check out the B-Stock Marantz here:
http://www.accessories4less.com/make-a-store/item/MARDV7600/MARANTZ/DV7600-Progressive-Scan-Universal-DVD-Player-w/HDMI-/1.html
 
Alex2507

Alex2507

Audioholic Slumlord
I need some advice,what would you recommend as a good universal player for music and dvd? I really like the oppo stuff but I am not sure. It looks like they are the best units for the money right now. Just looking for some insight as to what to do. Thanks
Hey Jamie,

Let me ask you a question. Would you like to be able to watch Blu-ray? Personally I am really looking forward to that kind of PQ. For video, that is the next logical step, at least for me.

I've got a Denon 1920 that pretty much covers all the bases for me. There are other players that are more expensive and more current and have better features but I feel that if Blu-ray isn't on the table, then the upgrade isn't a full step up. I can't justify spending even $100 on a player as it would in my view just put me that much farther away from 1080p bliss.

When you get back (to work?:D) let us know how you see it.
 
aberkowitz

aberkowitz

Audioholic Field Marshall
No problem beating it: Oppo sells refurbed 980s for $125 with a ONE YEAR warranty :D That one is only 90days and is refurb also. $30 more gets you a brand new 980 too...
J- where do they sell the refurbed models? I couldn't find anything on their website.
 
Pyrrho

Pyrrho

Audioholic Ninja
http://www.audioholics.com/reviews/transports/dvd-players/denon-dvd-3930ci/

http://www.audioholics.com/reviews/transports/dvd-players/denon-dvd-5910ci

Audioholics/HQV Bench Testing Summary of Test Results

Perfect Score is 130
Denon DVD-5910CI Benchmark total score: 130/130 (The best player we've reviewed to date, matching the lower cost Denon DVD-3930CI)


According to AH, the Denon 5910 & 3930 is the BEST player.

You need to look at the dates on those articles. The articles were most recently updated on March 02, 2007 and October 19, 2006, long before the new Oppo was released. In fact, you are helping to establish what I was saying previously: "Judging from the reviews on line, the Denon DVD-5910, when it was originally released, was probably the best DVD player available at the time."

You are just out of date with your information. Oppo has made a better player (for those who can use its HDMI output, that is).

Whether Denon will release a new one that surpasses the Oppo DV-983H is anybody's guess, though I doubt it, since most companies probably regard Blu-Ray as the way of the future.
 
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Pyrrho

Pyrrho

Audioholic Ninja
im in a market for a new DVD player . Right now i have Denon that is probably 8 years old. i really want to buy a good upscaling dvd player i am looking at denon , marantz and oppo . 400$ buys you a good upscalling dvd player from those companies. the + for denon is that i have denon receiver so i can use same remote . i don't like the idea to have diffirent remote for each component .
If you have a universal remote, it should be able to operate the new Oppo. My TV remote and my receiver remote both can operate my Oppo, without using a "learning" feature. You can contact Oppo about this matter, if you are worried that your remote will not operate the DVD player.
 
AcuDefTechGuy

AcuDefTechGuy

Audioholic Jedi
...Oppo has made a better player...Whether Denon will release a new one that surpasses the Oppo DV-983H is anybody's guess, though I doubt it...
...DREAM ON...

The day that Oppo makes a $400 DVD player that is better than a $3,800 Denon DVD player will only exist in your dreams.

I would like to see one credible source actually proclaiming/saying that the $400 Oppo players is BETTER than the $3,800 Denon. Flashing some picture rating numbers from one source isn't cutting it.

A perfect score of 130/130 is always a perfect score of 130/130 whether it is today or last year. Did Audioholics give the Oppo the perfect score of 130/130? Did I miss that one?

And why stop with Denon?

I bet the $400 Oppo is even better than a $7,000 Marantz DVD player or a $20,000 Mark Levinson player too, right?
 
jcPanny

jcPanny

Audioholic Ninja
Oppo DVD players

The new Oppo 983 got a perfect score on the secrets of HT DVD benchmark.
http://www.hometheaterhifi.com/cd-dvd-player-product-reviews/dvd-players/oppo-digital-dv-983h-dvd-player---a-secrets-dvd-benchmark-review.html
http://www.hometheaterhifi.com/dvd-player-and-cd-player-reviews/dvd-players/oppo-digital-dv-983h-dvd-player---the-rest-of-the-story.html
This is slightly better than the high end denon players scored on the HQV testing.
The Oppo certainly has a better price to performance rating than the $2-4k Denon players.

If the OP is interested in BluRay, I would recomend the PS3 or other mid range BluRay player with the entry level Oppo for CD and DVD playback. The Oppo 980 and 981 will do a better job of upscaling DVDs than most BluRay players on the market and will have a better response time for CD playback.
 
AcuDefTechGuy

AcuDefTechGuy

Audioholic Jedi
The new Oppo 983 got a perfect score on the secrets of HT DVD benchmark.
Right. And the Denon 3930CI & 5910CI scored a Perfect Score on Audioholics.

Is Pyrrho saying that the Perfect scores on Audioholics don't mean anything because it was not this month?

Oh, by the way, Secrets of HT looked at the 5910, not the 5910CI, which has the Silicon Optix Realta chip.

Which chip does the Oppo have?
 
j_garcia

j_garcia

Audioholic Jedi
J- where do they sell the refurbed models? I couldn't find anything on their website.
You have to give them a call and see if they have any on hand. I don't think they advertise this, but I got my 970 from them that way. Bought my 980 new from them (they are local for me).
 
AcuDefTechGuy

AcuDefTechGuy

Audioholic Jedi
The new Oppo 983 got a perfect score on the secrets of HT DVD benchmark.
This is from one of the reviews regarding the Oppo:

"As with past Oppo models, I did see rather serious jitter on some of the obscure film transfer cadences on the HQV Benchmark disc (i.e., 6:4 and 8:7)"

I thought the Oppo was PERFECT?

http://svconline.com/corporateav/products/avinstall_oppo_digital_dvh/

Well, okay, I guess it's perfect for the price. It is a better value then the Denon.
 
Pyrrho

Pyrrho

Audioholic Ninja
...DREAM ON...

The day that Oppo makes a $400 DVD player that is better than a $3,800 Denon DVD player will only exist in your dreams.

I would like to see one credible source actually proclaiming/saying that the $400 Oppo players is BETTER than the $3,800 Denon. Flashing some picture rating numbers from one source isn't cutting it.

A perfect score of 130/130 is always a perfect score of 130/130 whether it is today or last year. Did Audioholics give the Oppo the perfect score of 130/130? Did I miss that one?

It seems that Audioholics has not rated any of the current Oppo players. So they do not say whether the Oppos are better or worse than anything. So one needs to go to other sources for that sort of information.


And why stop with Denon?

I bet the $400 Oppo is even better than a $7,000 Marantz DVD player or a $20,000 Mark Levinson player too, right?

Frankly, I expect that neither of those players are better than the Denon, though without appropriate testing, it is a bit difficult to know. High price does not make a player better, which, unfortunately, seems to be how you judge DVD players.


I should point out that I have been saying that the Oppo is better provided that one uses the HDMI output. I am not saying that its digital to analog converters, or that its analog section, is better than the expensive Denon.
 
Pyrrho

Pyrrho

Audioholic Ninja
Right. And the Denon 3930CI & 5910CI scored a Perfect Score on Audioholics.

Is Pyrrho saying that the Perfect scores on Audioholics don't mean anything because it was not this month?

It met their standards at that time. Whether it would meet all of their standards now or not is difficult to say. And when they said the DVD-5910CI was the best they tested, this has two limitations:

1) It does not include anything that they have not tested.
2) It does not include anything that they tested later.

These facts are important for evaluating what they say. It does not alter anything if you resent those facts.


Oh, by the way, Secrets of HT looked at the 5910, not the 5910CI, which has the Silicon Optix Realta chip.

Which chip does the Oppo have?

You obviously have not been bothered to read the information at the links already provided. That would seem to indicate that you really don't care about finding out the truth about any of this, and just want to argue in favor of your beloved Denon brand.

With the DV-983H, OPPO has incorporated Anchor Bay's latest VRS (Video Reference Series) technology. An ABT102 chipset provides AutoCUE-C™, Progressive Cadence Detection™, and Precision De-interlacing™. An ABT1018 chip handles Precision Video Scaling™, frame rate conversion, aspect ratio control and video zooming. These technologies combine to generate a clearer, smoother, and true-to-life picture free of artifacts.
http://www.oppodigital.com/dv983h/default.asp

You can buy the same processing power separately in a DVDO processor that retails for over $2000 (with the optional card needed to equal the processing power of the OPPO; I mention this because you seem to be impressed with high prices).


This is from one of the reviews regarding the Oppo:

"As with past Oppo models, I did see rather serious jitter on some of the obscure film transfer cadences on the HQV Benchmark disc (i.e., 6:4 and 8:7)"

I thought the Oppo was PERFECT?

http://svconline.com/corporateav/products/avinstall_oppo_digital_dvh/

Well, okay, I guess it's perfect for the price. It is a better value then the Denon.
You need to be more careful when you quote, as they are talking about "jutter", not "jitter". Also from that same site:

At $399, it represents a remarkable value with image-processing horsepower that can compete head-on against reference DVD players that typically cost in the thousands of dollars.
...Oppo has bestowed the 983H with Anchor Bay Technologies' second-generation ABT1018 vertical-and-horizontal scaling chip. That's essentially the same 10-bit processing Anchor Bay uses in its $2,000 DVDO iScan VP30 standalone video processor.

The result is a noticeable reduction in moiré artifacts on particularly difficult scene material, such as the racetrack stands and steps along the river, in the Silicon Optix HQV Benchmark DVD or on standard-resolution test patterns. Obviously, you can't make high definition out of nothing. More literally, you can't display the sharpness of high definition if you don't start with enough pixels, but the elimination of scaling artifacts goes a long way toward the clarity of high definition — even on a large screen.

Previous Oppo models have used Faroudja's DCDi for de-interlacing, but the DV-983H incorporates Anchor Bay's ABT102 de-interlacer to perform the initial conversion from 480i to 480p, prior to scaling. The ABT102, an optional “precision de-interlacing card,” is an extra $500 when added to the VP30 video processor. With the same functionality on a single ASIC, the ABT102 chipset gives the 983H excellent de-interlacing capabilities for dramatically reducing “jaggies” on sharp diagonal lines and performing smooth text rolls and crawls over video.
And here is the statement you tried to quote:

As with past Oppo models, I did see rather serious jutter on some of the obscure film transfer cadences on the HQV Benchmark disc (i.e., 6:4 and 8:7) — although that is not likely to be an issue in many real-life viewing situations.
With regard to your question:

I thought the Oppo was PERFECT?
This again shows you have not been reading the information at the links, nor have you been paying attention to what I have written in this thread. If you had, you would realize that no one has said it is perfect, only that it is the best there has been so far (as far as can be told by professional reviews in which testing has been conducted). If it were perfect, it would not be "anybody's guess" whether Denon would make a player that surpasses it, because perfection is impossible to surpass.

If you like judging equipment by the retail price rather than by actual performance, you are free to do so. But you should not expect others to agree with you or quietly say nothing when you suggest that price dictates quality.
 
mtrycrafts

mtrycrafts

Seriously, I have no life.
http://www.audioholics.com/reviews/transports/dvd-players/denon-dvd-3930ci/

http://www.audioholics.com/reviews/transports/dvd-players/denon-dvd-5910ci

Audioholics/HQV Bench Testing Summary of Test Results

Perfect Score is 130
Denon DVD-5910CI Benchmark total score: 130/130 (The best player we've reviewed to date, matching the lower cost Denon DVD-3930CI)


According to AH, the Denon 5910 & 3930 is the BEST player.

They were tested early 2007 and late 2006. Have they tested the $400 Oppo yet? Perhaps it will garner the top prize?
 
mtrycrafts

mtrycrafts

Seriously, I have no life.
..But what about SOUND quality?
What about it?Are you going to use the analog out on those players? Be ready to do a DBT then. ;)

..The Denon 3910 has the same Burr-Brown PCM-1796 DSD DACs that are featured in the $5K Yamaha Z11, $7K Denon AVP-A1, $5K Denon 5308.
Can you say the same thing for the Oppo?
And that is important because its a recognized name in DACs? Or, in fact demonstrated under DBT protocols to be unequalled? If not, it has no relevance, right? Unless one is enamored by the named parts in a unit.

..
Per Audioholics regarding the Denon 3910: "Top of the line video performance, Unsurpassed audio performance, Very good build quality."
I wonder how they, AH established an unsurpassed audio performance? DBT to all the other components they tested? I seriously doubt it. Perhaps a subjective classification based in memory of the past tests? Good luck with that.;)

..
Hmm, let's see. Then 3910 is 20.5 lbs vs the Oppo's 6 lbs weight. The 3910 has a SNR of 118dB vs the Oppo's 100dB. The 3910 has a THD of 0.0009% vs the Oppo's 0.01%.
And those makes the Denon audibly superior? Really? Or, they are both transparent, audibly the same? My $$$ is on the latter.:D


.. But people can say the same thing about a 92 Picture rating vs 100 Picture rating.
Not when those video ratings are based on what is visibly artifacts in different test patterns and picture frames. :D
 
AcuDefTechGuy

AcuDefTechGuy

Audioholic Jedi
Okay, okay, okay. Like they say, if you can't beat, join them.:D

So.......the Oppo is great...:D

But if you are going to spend $300 to $400, please buy the Sony PS3, which is a super computer that can play PlayStation games, blu-ray, DVDs, & CDs. And with a simple firmware, it can upgrade just about anything, even to decode DTS-HD MA!
 
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