Denon DVD5900 --- Label Incompatability?

[hiker54]

DVD5900 - DVDA Update --- Successful

Jean,


Yes, I got it back a week ago today. I have been playing every format I have and it has performed flawlessly (including DVD-A's from the UMG).


Regards,

Hiker54

 

[marty]

Universal Group SACDs and Denon 5900 anyone?

Good to know I'm not the only one with problems with the 5900. I'm currently working an issue with Denon to resolve a playback issue with two SACD titles from Universal, Goodbye Yellow Brick Road and Tommy.

For GYBR, disc 1, track 1 will stop at 8:24 each time when playing back in SACD multi-channel mode. It will either stop all together, go to track 2, or jump to track 3. For SACD stereo and CD stereo, everything is fine.

As for Tommy, disc 1, right near the end of the last track (25) my 5900 simply freezes up and I have to power-cycle the unit. One time I was able to press and hold the eject key for 10 or 15 seconds, and the unit ejected the disc. Note that this is also occurring only with SACD multi, as the SACD stereo and CD layers are fine.

My firmware is 6334-7, and I'm waiting for a call to perhaps get me to release 8. Denon seems to think it's with the discs. In the meantime, has anyone else tried these discs on their 5900?

I own several SACDs (entire Gabriel catalog, Bowie, Billy Joel) and these two have been the only problems so far I've encountered with the 5900.
All the other SACD multi discs I've tried play fine.

Cheers!
Marty

 

[hiker54]

DVD5900 SACD Multi-channel

Marty,

I have quite a few multi-channel SACD's (some Universal) that have never failed to perform flawlessly. I do not own the two titles you mention. My trouble was with universal DVD-A's which wouldn't play at all until I got the latest firmware. (Version 8 + Version A). Version "A" was the DVD-Audio fix. I would have to agree that it would seem to be a problem with that particular disc-------especially since they always fail at the same point. Have you tried another copy of the titles?


Good luck,


Hiker54

 

[Unregistered]

Good to know I'm not the only one with problems with the 5900. I'm currently working an issue with Denon to resolve a playback issue with two SACD titles from Universal, Goodbye Yellow Brick Road and Tommy.
Marty

I have exactly the same problem except that my 5900 stopped playing many more SACDs. It clearly has to do with the player and not with the discs. All my disks played fine at the beginning but then the player refused to play them - skipping and freezing.

The titles that failed to play in MC SACD:
Elton John GYBR
The WHO Tommy
Alisson Krauss Live
Elvis Costello NORTH

I think I had a few more titles which did not work as well. I first sent my player to the repair facility in California. They sat on it for 5 weeks then when I got it back the player stopped working completely within a day. But before it died it showed the same problems with MC SACDs.

Now the player is at Denon factory in NJ. Hopefully they can fix it, but it is clearly a problem with 5900, not with any of the disks.

Vladimir

 

[marty]

Just to add more info, I got another Universal SACD title, Steely Dan's Gaucho, and this one has pretty much the same problem as the Elton John on I posted about earlier. This time the disc stops playing at track 1, 5:04. It then jumps to track 2.
Again, SACD stereo and CD layers playback fine.

I know there's a DVD-Audio release for both Gaucho and GYBR, but I'm going to avoid Universal discs for the moment.

Also, I'm not sure if this proves that it's not these discs, but all three (Gaucho, GYBR, and Tommy) all play fine in SACD Multi mode on my other SACD player, Sony's DVP-NS755V.

-Marty

 

[hiker54]

Marty,

Now, you've got me concerned. I guess I am going to have to play ALL my multi-channel SACD's to see if any fail to play completely through.


Hiker54

 

[marty]

Hi Hiker54: I'm not out to scare, just inform...I hope all your titles play okay!

I just spoke with Denon and I'm getting a firmware update mailed to me. I asked if it was version 8 (+ A?) as I've seen mentioned elsewhere, but he said this would be something called version "B". I'm still holding at version "ESS 6334-7" of course. When I get it and install it, I'll report here the results when trying to play the three titles that give my 5900 fits.

Denon also said that certain titles/labels have had problems. Not good...are we too early into this multi-channel discrete audio technology to plunk down almost $2K on a player and expect it to work across the board? I hope not...I find it funny that my 5900 is more fussy than my Sony SACD player that I got free through points on my Visa card.

More to follow, hopefully by the end of this week...

Marty

 

[hiker54]

Hi Hiker54: I'm not out to scare, just inform...I hope all your titles play okay!

Marty,


I have to admit that I have concentrated on playing DVD-A's since I got my 5900 back from NJ. I will now start playing the SACD multi-channels and hope they all play all the way through. Will status this either way.


Hiker54

 

[marty]

New 5900 firmware, same results...

I received the firmware update for my 5900 player from Denon today. It came on two CD-Rs (they call it "beta"), and here's the new info from my player following the installation:

ESS 6334-B (was ESS 6334-7)
MAKE DAY 702 (was 308)
DRV 030825 (remained the same)
SYSTEM 6542-3 (was 6542-2)
DSP1 6332 (same)
DSP2 6333 (same)

I tried all three SACD multi-channel Universal discs that were problems, and nothing has changed. Elton John's Goodbye Yellow Brick Road and Steely Dan's Gaucho both still stop at the same place as before (see previous posting from me), and continue to the next track as before. The Who's Tommy stopped after the first try without "locking up", but I tried it again and sure enough it stuck the player on track 25 just like before.

My next attempt at solving this will be to call Denon tomorrow morning and explain the situation to their tech support again. I'm keeping an open mind and I'm willing to work with them as much as possible, but hearing something like "some label's CDs won't play" isn't good enough in this case. These discs play in my Sony SACD player. We're talking a high-end player here, not a $99 special. I'll also be sure to point out that this is my first piece of Denon equipment I've ever purchased, if that matters.

I'll post when there's something new at my end to report...

-Marty

 

[marty]

I just spoke with Denon concerning my SACD issue, and I spoke directly with the person who sent me the firmware for my player. After I told him that it did not help, he said I've got the latest copy there is (version B), and there's nothing more to do. His only suggestion was to call back and speak with the project manager a week from Monday (about 10 days from now.)

Not good...I'm going to stop by the shop where I bought my player and see if they can do anything about it, like swap for another player or whatever. Gee, I'm happy I made the move to high-end equipment! :^)

-Marty

 

[marty]

New info: I wanted to see if a different set of discs of the same title would result in the same errors, so I repurchased Goodbye Yellow Brick Road. It played through track one, and I was feeling good. But when I got to track 5, it exhibited the same errors as track one on the original/old disc I had been using, stopping at the same spot each time and advancing to the next track. It appears it's not the discs, but just a different spot on the discs. Could still be a bad run from UMG of course, but who knows. I'll wait to hear from the project manager next week to see what they recommend.

-Marty

 

[hiker54]

Could still be a bad run from UMG of course, but who knows. I'll wait to hear from the project manager next week to see what they recommend.

-Marty

Marty,

This IS looking more like a problem with the 5900 (at least your 5900 ). Since your first post, I have concentrated on playing my SACD multichannels. All played from start to finish with no problems. Only a couple were UMG and they were the classical label Deutsche Gramaphon. Does your dealer have a 5900 on display that you could audition these discs in? I would suggest you contact Jeff Talmadge @ Denon N.J. [j_talmadge@denonnj.com]I don't know if he is the project manager, but he got the ball rolling on my troubles with UMG's


Good luck and keep us posted,


Hiker54

 

[marty]

Thanks for the info. I emailed the person from Denon, but didn't hear back yet. I did hear from a VP at Universal Music, and they are unaware of any issues with the Denon 5900 and their SACDs.

What I did do as a test in the meantime was pick up a copy of the Universal pressing (NOT the DTS version) of the DVD-Audio Gaucho, and it played straight through multichannel. Since Tommy and GYBR are also available on DVD-Audio, I guess I'm okay as long as Universal keeps producing both formats! Doesn't fix the problem of course...

I'm still waiting to hear back from Denon's project manager. As I get info I'll let you know. I hope it is just isolated to *my* 5900, but we'll see of course.

Cheers!
Marty

 

[marty]

At last, an update. Since I last posted, I called Denon and spoke with their project manager. He advised me to see if my SACD discs played in other Denon players, like the 2900. Since my retailer did not have a 5900 floor model, I used both the 2200 and the 2900. Each time, the discs played back just fine. (They also played back okay in my little Sony SACD player too of course.) I called him back to report the results, and since I am already running with the latest firmware there's not much they can do to my individual player, so Denon said they will follow up by perhaps buying the discs I'm having a problem with and seeing how it behaves in their 5900s.

I guess this does narrow it down to the 5900, and so far just my 5900 until I hear otherwise. I've offered to send them the SACDs I've got, but for now they took my contact information and the specs about my player. They said they would send the information I gave them to Japan as well if that would help, and hopefully they'll keep me in the loop enough to track the progress with this case, which I'll report here.

-Marty

 

[Unregistered]

I guess this does narrow it down to the 5900, and so far just my 5900 until I hear otherwise.
-Marty

It is interesting that you chose to ignore my pervious posting which clearly said that there is at least another 5900 which had the same problems with two of the same SACD - The Who and Elton John. So it is not only your 5900!

At any rate, I wrote that I sent it to Denon for repairs and I got it back yesterday. I don't know what they have done to it but now it plays most of the problem SACD's fine including Elton John GYBR. But it would still not play The Who Tommy.

So they fixed something as before it would not play quite a few SACDs but now it is just Tommy.

Vladimir

 

[taxman150]

FYI - I e-mailed Denon to ask about any new firmware upgrades for the 5900 as I have a used one arriving tomorrow. They responded by saying that they have a new firmware upgrade available (ESS-6334-D) and that it is meant to fix problems playing Universal Group discs as well fix a few other minor problems.

You may want to order these discs and give them a shot to see if they fix your problems.

 

[marty]

FYI - I e-mailed Denon to ask about any new firmware upgrades for the 5900 as I have a used one arriving tomorrow. They responded by saying that they have a new firmware upgrade available (ESS-6334-D) and that it is meant to fix problems playing Universal Group discs as well fix a few other minor problems.

Whew...I'm finally back. Anyways, thanks to both Vladimir and Taxman for following up on this thread and for their comments.

I contacted Denon today, and they are sending me the new firmware (ESS-6334-D) so I can try it out. Look for a report back in the next few days. I would not have known about this if it were not for Taxman's post- thanks again!

I can also offer that my contact at Universal has been fantastic. He said he's encountered a number of players/firmware that have problems, and they are helping the manufacturers to solve their issues. He also offered to send me a free CD, but since it was not their problem (and I'm too darned honest!) I just asked for a copy of the new Elton John SACD sampler. I got it, and sure enough, it played fine. Sounds fantastic too.

Based on the sampler working, I tempted fate and bought two of the new Elton SACDs- Madman and Captain Fantastic. Madman played fine start to finish, but Captain Fantastic stopped 2:41 into track one, jumping to track two.

I'll also add that I also purchased six SACDs from Sony's online store, all of which play fine in multi-channel mode. Hint: I have no idea if the coupon code is still good, but at www.sonymusic.com I used the code BUY2SALE and it brought the cost of the single SACDs to $11.88 (doubles were also 15% off) with free shipping since I spent over $25. All of these titles play fine, start to finish, in my Denon 5900 in multi-channel mode with the "-B" firmware:

Aerosmith - Toys in the Attic
E. Power Biggs - Bach Great Toccatas
Chris Botti - Night Sessions
David Bowie - Heathen
EWF - Gratitude
Roger Waters - In The Flesh

More to follow...

-Marty

 

[hiker54]

Originally posted by marty


I contacted Denon today, and they are sending me the new firmware (ESS-6334-D) so I can try it out. Look for a report back in the next few days. I would not have known about this if it were not for Taxman's post- thanks again!

Marty,

Anything new to report??? I have continued to "stress" my 5900 and it has never failed to play any format all the way through since it was upgraded to 8"A".

BUT----- I have noticed that on CD's that I have burned (cleaned up LP tracks using Cool Edit and burned using Roxio Easy CD Creator), I get a pop between tracks when I play them on the 5900. I have played these CD's on at least five other CD players (one an old Denon CD player) and no pops! I was also carefull to always end each track on a frame boundary. So what gives????


Regards and keeping my fingers crossed that your issue has been resolved.


Hiker54

 

[marty]

I got my new firmware CDs today, rev D for the 5900. I loaded it according to the instructions, verified it worked by checking the version numbers, and finally checked it out with some of my "problem" SACD discs. Bad news- I'm not sure what the rev D firmware fixes, but I can report that based on my 5900 it does NOT fix the SACD multi issue with Universal Music discs. So, it's back to a waiting game again with Denon. Now that the new models are trickling out, I wonder how high on the priority list this issue is for Denon. Sigh...

The discs I tried were Gaucho, GYBR, and Captain Fantastic, and all showed the same problems as before. I stopped there, but I'll check the rest tonight to be sure.

As for there being a clicking problem with burned CDs, I usually only play burned CDs in my car player, but I'll see if there's anything I can find with those CD-Rs when played in the 5900.

More news when there's something to report...

-Marty

 

[marty]

Wow...three months, eh? Long time between replies.

Anyway, first off there is no solution yet. My 5900 remains at the firmware from December, rev D.

I heard from Denon a few months ago that they were able to reproduce the problem in Japan, and that the problem has something to do with the discs themselves being out of spec, whatever that means. The tolerances are what is giving the 5900 fits during playback. Other players aren't subject to the same issues, and I can verify that because my Sony SACD player still handles everything just fine.

After three days(!) of trying different phone numbers, leaving messages and emails, I finally found someone at Denon to speak with. He suggested that I go to the main website and check for updates. I told him I did and that none were listed as being available. He is going to check with his web guy and have an update posted there in a "few days" for my serial number range. I'll see. And it may not even fix the issue.

I've read horror stories about Denon customer service, and I seem to be encountering them now- since September actually. I've heard first hand that their DJ market also has issues. When it comes time for a high def DVD player in a few years, I know who I'm gonna avoid...it's not that I expect spot-on service 100% of the time, but I kind of expect their (now former) top of the line player to perform as advertised. If not, I'd expect it to be fixed or some good explanation given, that's all.

As for a further update, the latest round of Elton John CDs won't play as expected- same skipping issues. This also goes for Avalon from Roxy Music, an import I picked up not too long ago. In a way I'm happy that one of my favorite recordings, Genesis' The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway, was delayed as that would really be frustrating to me not to be able to play it.

On the good side, I bought my first dual disc, nine inch nails' Downward Spiral. Plays fine for me. I have to chuckle that I feel relieved that my almost $2000 CD player actually plays a disc! Of course the SACD version I bought skips like mad.

-Marty