Pioneer Speakers, Blu-ray player, Plasma Demo

[admin]

Pioneer showed off a number of new products at the Audioholics State of the CE Union Event at the Dolphin Hotel in Disney. On display were the EX line of speakers (S-3EX towers, S-7EX center, and two S-W1EX subs in a 7.2 configuration), new Elite BDP-09D and BDP-05FD Blu-ray players, and Pro-141 Signature Series plasma. The $1700 SC-05 AV receiver provided the power while the flagship SC-09TX sat to the side showing off its pretty LCD display. On video duties was the Pro-FPJ1 DiLA projector.

Discuss "Pioneer Speakers, Blu-ray player, Plasma Demo" here. Read the article.

 

[Drag0nFly]

Snippet from the specs of the BDP-09FD:
(compliments of Chris W.)

BDP-09FD analog section

• AC Switch and Filter (Dedicated Board)
• Toroidal Transformer (Dedicated Board)
• Custom Analog Power Supply containing Pioneer Custom Made Caps (Dedicated Board)
• Analog Audio Board consisting of 8 Wolfson 8740 DACs running in Dual (Differential) mode. The differential mode of these DACs work on the same premise as Balanced outputs by inverting the audio signal 180 degrees out of phase and then comparing the two signals at the end to eliminate any external noise from entering the audio path. This mode also increases SNR by 3db. (Dedicated board on black glass PCB board (instead of pressed paper PCB)
• 8 Gold Plated RCA Analog Outputs

And yet the player does not have the ability to play either SACD or DVD-Audio. What a shame, and what an incomprehensible omission considering its target audience and price-tag.

On the other hand; I'm sure utilizing 1/8th of the player's capabilities, DAC-wise, will be used to great effect in making it sound great with CDs...

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

Snippet from the specs of the BDP-09FD:
(compliments of Chris W.)

BDP-09FD analog section

• AC Switch and Filter (Dedicated Board)
• Toroidal Transformer (Dedicated Board)
• Custom Analog Power Supply containing Pioneer Custom Made Caps (Dedicated Board)
• Analog Audio Board consisting of 8 Wolfson 8740 DACs running in Dual (Differential) mode. The differential mode of these DACs work on the same premise as Balanced outputs by inverting the audio signal 180 degrees out of phase and then comparing the two signals at the end to eliminate any external noise from entering the audio path. This mode also increases SNR by 3db. (Dedicated board on black glass PCB board (instead of pressed paper PCB)
• 8 Gold Plated RCA Analog Outputs

And yet the player does not have the ability to play either SACD or DVD-Audio. What a shame, and what an incomprehensible omission considering its target audience and price-tag.

On the other hand; I'm sure utilizing 1/8th of the player's capabilities, DAC-wise, will be used to great effect in making it sound great with CDs...

I heard that Denon is working on a new Universal flagship player that will play BD, DVD, SACD, DVD-A, & CD. I heard that from "Denon Jeff" when Gene interviewed him. I can only guess that this new player will probably cost $3,800 or something!

 

[Drag0nFly]

Yes, I am aware of the so-called über-Denon player. So far the only thing that is über is the price, though!
(haven't see any detailed specs as to what the analog circuitry is like, and which DACs are being planned/how many, etc.)

Unless this player offers some dramatic speedups for Blu-Ray material, as well as increased stability, and brings the DVD-portion of
the player up to the same responsiveness level seen on DVD-standalones, I would probably give it a pass.

I sure would expect the price increase to merit improvements other than SACD & DVD-A functionality; as they are essentially a <$100 feature.
(My temporary $150 "in-between" Pioneer plays them both w/o issues.)

Or this is simply the price we have to pay for two formats the industry seems so vehemently intent to kill off in favor of BD profile 3.0.

 

[ned]

OPPO...Oppo....oppo....opp.....

 

[Drag0nFly]

Yes, Oppo has got it right, although little info has been posted on its availability and pricing. I kind of doubt the analog section is going to come even close to the Pio, though; which is a rather crucial aspect when playing high-res audio formats such as SACD & DVD-Audio (& DTS HD MA, for that matter--unless you're bitstreaming it to your brand-new receiver)

But then again, if the response-times on the Oppo are decent compared to other brands it might serve as a stop-gap measure until a proper high-end player is released...

 

[ned]

Yes, Oppo has got it right, although little info has been posted on its availability and pricing. I kind of doubt the analog section is going to come even close to the Pio, though; which is a rather crucial aspect when playing high-res audio formats such as SACD & DVD-Audio (& DTS HD MA, for that matter--unless you're bitstreaming it to your brand-new receiver)

But then again, if the response-times on the Oppo are decent compared to other brands it might serve as a stop-gap measure until a proper high-end player is released...

HDMI 1.3a all the way! With Audyssey, I will not go back to analog.

 

[bandphan]

HDMI 1.3a all the way!

hdmi all the way?? why??

 

[engtaz]

They have a very nice setup and were very informative.

engtaz