Denon DVD 2910 Sounds Great

[Beegowl]

This site is gonna end up costing me lots of money.

Purchased new speaker setup that trumps all my previous sound (Tannoy DC3 and DCC with TS10 Sub). Reading the posts and the reviews convinced me I need new electronics to fully benefit. My receiver (Yamaha RX-V596) is four years old. DVD player even older. Cheap Sony CD changer that I enjoy on Sunday mornings for background over ink and drink. Oohed and aahed over all my old CDs and DVDs through new speakers. Researched components through this website and others. Liked Denon reviews, though in the past, my experience with Denon was that their components are expensive and fickle, requiring lots of maintenance and trips to repair shop to keep 'em in tip-top sound. But, lots of good press and raves from forum participants. On impulse, bought a Denon DVD 2910, even though price was more than I thought DVD player was worth (hey, I'm cheap, but willing to chip in for quality).

Holy frequency response! I couldn't believe the difference in sound quality, and I haven't tried SACD or DVD A through the system. The depth and presence of the music increased and just made me feel as though my expenditure was well worth it. We played all our favorite CDs and started on all the good parts from movies. Master and Commander battle scene that starts the movie was wall shakingingly outstanding. My plans for a new receiver have been placed on wait a minute, because the sound I'm getting now is so good that I don't see how it could be any better spending $1K to get a new one. I've only begun to tweak the DVD player for picture quality and other aspects. Right now, I couldn't be more pleased with the player. Will post as experience indicates.

 

[flyv65]

I'm glad you're enjoying the 2910-I'm picking one up this Saturday. This past Monday I spent 2 hours at a Soundtracks with a 2910 and a 3910 fed into the same HDTV (in component 480p hookups)...I couldn't see a difference. Perhaps there is a more visible distinction between the two using the HDMI/DVI-D ports, but I didn't check since my HDTV doesn't support that hookup. The audio in 2ch seems *slightly* better with the 3910, but I don't know that it was $600 better, or how much effect the receiver had on it. I'll get it wired up to my 3805 this weekend and let you guys know what I think of the 5.1 channel stuff (SACD and DVD-audio) after Thanksgiving.

Bryan...got tired of waiting for the Denon Link 3...

 

[Mort Corey]

Pick up a SACD copy of Dark Side of the Moon. Even if you don't like Pink Floyd it's worth it.

Mort

 

[flyv65]

Pick up a SACD copy of Dark Side of the Moon. Even if you don't like Pink Floyd it's worth it.

Mort

Oh yeah, I've had the hybrid SACD of DSotM fora few months now-it's even better than the last special edition in 2 channel...I'm really looking forward to the 5.1 SACD stuff; I'm curious to see how it compares to the DVD-audio of Rumours or Hotel California.

Bryan...next is Janis Joplin...

 

[Vancouver]

Dark side of the moon wa also the first DVD releasd if Im not mistaken.


intresting

 

[dm_4u]

I'm interested in two things...first, what did you pay for the 2910, (I'm in Canada and it seems very expensive), and second, you make no mention of what it was intended for...PQ...and I'm wondering why?

 

[flyv65]

I'm interested in two things...first, what did you pay for the 2910, (I'm in Canada and it seems very expensive), and second, you make no mention of what it was intended for...PQ...and I'm wondering why?

I paid $628 w/tax for the 2910 (I think they had it listed for $649-but I got "a deal"); IIRC, the sales tax was 3.8% for that part of town, so you can do the math on what they charged me. Second, my intended use of the player is about 45% home theater, 40% 2 ch music, and 15% multi channel music; and like (I suspect) most of the people on the forum I am limited to one system that must accomplish all these tasks.

I'm not sure how I feel about multi-channel music right now: when I first heard 5.1 it got me "back" into listening to music again; but since I've started to upgrade my system (particularly the front channels) I've been going back through my CD collection and hearing things that I swear weren't there before. Guess I'll have to finish upgrading the speakers before multi sounds good again.

Bryan...apparently I'm *not* made of money (or so she says)...

 

[Beegowl]

Do you understand Japanese?

Playing with the 2910.

The manual was obviously translated from another language by someone who is not totally fluent in English, and is sometimes difficult to understand. Hooked the 2910 multi-channel outputs to the external decoder inputs on the Yamaha receiver. I have a pair of DCM QEDs from the late 70s for the surrounds. My room is small, so I have the DCMs in a line with my listening spot along the back wall. Not an ideal situation, but, for now, it's what I have. Santana's "Shaman", DVD A creates a panoramic sound in a 180 degree arc.

DTS and Dolby Digital movie soundtracks sound great, too. I have an old WEGA Sony 27 inch, and I tweaked the picture using a THX test disc on the Tombstone DVD. The 2910 picture and color adjustments are complicated, it seems to me, and I'll have to study them more to understand how to use them properly.

Paid $630US for the player at my local audio/video store and plan to use it for both audio and video. I thought it was a good compromise between a totally outrageously expensive unit and a cheap unit. Still expensive, for me anyway. I rationalized the expense in several different ways and when I kick back, close my eyes and let the music engulf me, I don't even need to rationalize. It sounds good enough to justify the expense.

 

[mdevitre]

HDMI - to use or not to use

So if you have the 2910 and an HDTV that has an HDMI input (but not a receiver that can switch HDMI), do you give up the convenience of receiver-based component video switching in favor of connecting the DVD to the HDTV directly thru the HDMI output/input? Has anyone really tested this to see if there's a difference? FYI, I am assembling a system that will include: B&K AVR 507, Sony 60" LCD RPTV and the Denon 2910 DVD player.

 

[Duffinator]

The difference is going to be that the 2910 upconverts (rescales) the 480P signal to 720P to match your TV. You should be able to notice the difference. This is only possible using DVI/HDMI connections. So yes, you will be giving up the convience of switching your DVD through your receiver using the component connection. Best bet is to try it both ways and see if you can tell the difference.

 

[mdevitre]

Has anyone really compared the performance of this player with the Samsung DVI/HDMI universal DVD players? I'm guesssing that the Denon will outperform in the audio area, but I understand that the newest Samsung has a Faroudja scaler which could be better than the one built into either the Denon or most HDTVs.

 

[flyv65]

Has anyone really compared the performance of this player with the Samsung DVI/HDMI universal DVD players? I'm guesssing that the Denon will outperform in the audio area, but I understand that the newest Samsung has a Faroudja scaler which could be better than the one built into either the Denon or most HDTVs.

Hmmmm, the 2910 has the same DCDi Faroudja processor as the 3910 for upscaling (FLI-2310), and IIRC, the Denon has a 12 bit video DAC while the Samsung has a 10 bit...not sure how much that matters to you for your use, though. Do you know which Faroudja processor the Samsung has?

Bryan...I thought the 2910 was hard to beat for the money...