Denon DVD-2910 Player Review!

[Audioholics]

<P><FONT face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size=2><A href="http://www.audioholics.com/productreviews/avhardware/DenonDVD-2910Review1.php"><IMG style="WIDTH: 125px; HEIGHT: 94px" alt=[DenonDVD2910] hspace=10 src="http://www.audioholics.com/news/thumbs/DenonDVD2910_th.jpg" align=left border=0></A>Denon surprised many of us hard-core videophiles at this year's CES with their top of the line DVD-5910 DVD player. Its little cousin, the DVD-2910,&nbsp;is the mid-priced product in their Universal DVD line up for 2005 and, at an MSRP of $739 presents a very compelling price point for a well-performing universal DVD-A/V/SACD player. Denon has proven they can consistently design and build high-quality DVD players that meet the performance level demanded by the home theater enthusiast. Will the Denon DVD-2910 prove to be another great player? Read on to find out...</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size=2>[Read the Review]</FONT></P>

 

[MBauer]

Thanks Clint

I have been waiting for another review. I have heard nothing but good about this unit, Perfect Vision really raves about it, if you read between their lines, they liked it better than the 3910

 

[RLMe36]

Clint,

Glad to hear that the 2910 faired well in your testing. It makes me really look forward to receiving my unit in a week or two hopefully. As an aside to those considering this player, Ecost has the black and silver version at a nice discount, granted its b-stock units, but still carries a Denon warranty.

Thanks

rlm

 

[krabapple]

A couple of questions and a comment about the review:

1) Do speaker delay settings apply to SACD and DVD-A sources? Is there any reason given by Denon why the slopes are different for SACD vs DVD-A crossovers?

2) If you're going to go to the trouble of setting up an audio A/B, which I applaud in principle, it defeats the purpose to use an SPL meter to check levels (level matching should be to within 0.1-0.2 dB, which an SPL meter isn't going to resolve) and to do the comparison 'sighted'.

 

[surveyor]

Clint, I enjoyed the 2910 review.
I own the 2910, and how about this?
I use SonicWave Impact Acoustics interconnects.
I followed the lead on both from this site (audioholics) about two months ago.
I won't go on, but I'm happier than a pig in slop with the 2910 and cables!!

Kelly

 

[Rob Babcock]

I have another question. Is there one global bass management setting for DVD-A and SACD, or can you set the levels differently/separately for each format?

Inquiring minds want to know!

 

[Duffinator]

Since both the Denon 2910 and 3910 were both recently reviewed is there any change to get a comparison between the two? Besides having a more robust build quality is the 3910 worth the extra money? Is it's video and audio performance really any better?

Any opinions are appreciated.

BTW, a very well written review.

 

[AN2849]

Excellent review!!

I bought the this unit three weeks ago and I'm very happy with it. Still working on tweaking the audio, I'm still new at this universal player business so I'm kinda slow.

And to answer your question Rob, there's one global bass management setting for DVD-A and SACD (I think)

 

[RLA]

If you're going to go to the trouble of setting up an audio A/B, which I applaud in principle, it defeats the purpose to use an SPL meter to check levels (level matching should be to within 0.1-0.2 dB, which an SPL meter isn't going to resolve) and to do the comparison 'sighted'.

Hello
The Yamaha's analog output voltage was a lower that the Denon
To do a subjective listening comparison of the two DVD players’ they must be as closely level matched as possible it is human nature to perceive loudness as better. We can hear 1-2dB difference in gain but I would be surprised if anyone short of Superman could hear a 0.5dB difference and I can assure you that all 5 of my SPL meters can be accurate to 0.5dB One other fact to remember is it is highly unlikely that anyone is going to have both DVD players in their system at one time

 

[shokhead]

It seems for the money,the C750 is a better value then the 2910

 

[RLA]

Hi
the 750 is an excellent player at its price point even with it's small quirks
However it is no match for the Denon for video perfromance,tweakabilty,
user interface and build quality please keep in mind the reviews are based on
MSRP price point's both the denon and the Yamaha are class leading products at the time of the reviews

 

[mitebbots]

I'm curious what firmware the test unit had. Where can I get current firmware for my 2910 running v4? Mine was bought at a non-authorized dealer so not available on Denon's site.

 

[shokhead]

2910 should be better video and all but $300-$350 better then the C750,i'm not sure which is a value,seems maybe the Yamaha.

 

[krabapple]

If you're going to go to the trouble of setting up an audio A/B, which I applaud in principle, it defeats the purpose to use an SPL meter to check levels (level matching should be to within 0.1-0.2 dB, which an SPL meter isn't going to resolve) and to do the comparison 'sighted'.

Hello
The Yamaha's analog output voltage was a lower that the Denon
To do a subjective listening comparison of the two DVD players’ they must be as closely level matched as possible it is human nature to perceive loudness as better. We can hear 1-2dB difference in gain but I would be surprised if anyone short of Superman could hear a 0.5dB difference

You might be surprised , but nevertheless the psychoacoustic standard (adoped by the AES too, IIRC) is more like 0.2-0.1 dB. Why is that? Also, unless the head unit had level presets, I presume you had to adjust the receiver/amp volume , and check the levels, every time you switched between the players. This would be a rather large impediment to audible memory.

and I can assure you that all 5 of my SPL meters can be accurate to 0.5dB One other fact to remember is it is highly unlikely that anyone is going to have both DVD players in their system at one time

Indeed, which is why I'd say you had a golden opportunity to do the comparison properly...and let it pass. In addition to the questionable level matching, there's the huge issue of the comparison being sighted . Audioholics is in other respects quite militantly pro-science (e.g. cables) , so it's a pity they don't require consistency in this.

 

[WmAx]

You might be surprised , but nevertheless the psychoacoustic standard (adoped by the AES too, IIRC) is more like 0.2-0.1 dB.

Krabapple is correct.

Excerpt from conclusion: Just noticeable differences for changes in level were examined under a few conditions. The results indicate that when comparing different program material, subjects can detect level differences of about 1.24 dB. When comparing different versions of the same program material, differences of about 0.5 dB could be detected on average. Some listeners demonstrated the ability to detect much smaller differences. For white noise, the just noticeable difference in level was found to be 0.2 dB on average.

-Chris

 

[briansmith]

Black Level

The review mentioned that you had problems setting the black level when using the 7.5 IRE setting.

I was wondering what test (specifically) I should use to make sure I am not crushing blacks or whites. I would assume I need some type of black to white ramp pattern.

I have both AVIA and DVE. Which pattern would you suggest I use and what should I look for?

Any help would be appreciated!

-Brian

 

[RLA]

You may be able to hear an audible difference of 02.dB through a set of headphones but at listening levels and seated listening position I would wager that
No one this side of superman can hear a difference of 0.2 dB if you can
Then get them insured After 18 years as a custom installer commercial and
Residential I can assure you my ears are not that sensitive

I don’t understand what is so difficult to comprehend about level matching
For listening evaluation both units were connected to a passive A/B analog switcher connected to the same input on the receiver The Denon had a +2dB
Gain out of its analog outputs I simply made note of this and added +2db
When listening to the Yamaha. I went over this in the review

 

[shokhead]

You may be able to hear an audible difference of 02.dB through a set of headphones but at listening levels and seated listening position I would wager that
No one this side of superman can hear a difference of 0.2 dB if you can
Then get them insured After 18 years as a custom installer commercial and
Residential I can assure you my ears are not that sensitive

I don’t understand what is so difficult to comprehend about level matching
For listening evaluation both units were connected to a passive A/B analog switcher connected to the same input on the receiver The Denon had a +2dB
Gain out of its analog outputs I simply made note of this and added +2db
When listening to the Yamaha. I went over this in the review

We're not a Resident Expert so cut us some slack.

 

[gene]

You might be surprised , but nevertheless the psychoacoustic standard (adoped by the AES too, IIRC) is more like 0.2-0.1 dB.

This is valid under 4 conditions:
1) Anechoic environment
2) Prime Ears
3) On headphone
4) At certain frequencies and SPL levels

Throw loudspeakers into a real room with real people and this changes dramatically. We will have a very detailed article addressing this topic by next week that will discuss this very topic with cited references.

 

[shokhead]

Cool,that should be interesting.