Pioneer DV-536A vs Denon DVD-2200

[Aura Newbie]

I know the Denon is suppose to be better than the Pioneer (the price difference is almost $200) but based on specs I'm not completely sure why. I admit I'm relatively new to this area of electronics, I know alot more about computer than sound specs but I really want to learn more. I also need a new DVD player and wanted to get one that supports SACD and DVD-A. So can someone tell me is the 200 buck difference really worth it?

 

[JVC]

I have the Pioneer and love it! But, if I had been able to afford it, I probably would have gotten the Denon. The picture is probably better. They say the Pioneer down converts the sacd signal, but my ears don't tell much difference, if any, between my Pioneer and my friend's Denon. Everyone complains that there's no bass management with the Pioneer. I get more than enough bass from mine, on sacd AND dvd-audio. The Pioneer has a cheaper build quality.

Only $200 difference? You've found the Denon cheap somewhere. The average price now for the Pioneer is about $150. I thought the Denon sold for about $500? If you can get it for $350, jump on it.........
Good luck!

 

[Aura Newbie]

No, you're right it is a $300 difference, but based on what you said I'll probably just get the Pioneer. Thanks for your help.

 

[docferdie]

Don't know if it was specific to the unit I had but my 563 had pops and crackles when decoding 192Khz DVD audio. Save yourself some headaches and go with the 2200. The 2200 also has much better video.

 

[JVC]

docferdie.....
You must have gotten a bad unit. I've never heard anything that wasn't supposed to be there, from my Pioneer. It has played flawlessly since I got it, back in November, and I've used it a LOT.

As I said before......if you can afford it, the Denon is a better player. But if you're on a budget, the Pioneer CANNOT be beat, for the money. If you get a Pioneer at Best Buy or Circuit City, they both have good return policies, so if you DO have trouble with it, it'll be easy enough to return.
Good luck!

BTW.........
Give us a review of the one you get, after you've used it some?

 

[docferdie]

JVC do you have the 563 set-up in a 6 channel configuration? Try this out. Keep it at 6 channel then play a 192Khz stereo track. You will hear pops and cracks from the center channel. This is removed by configuring the pioneer for 2 channel mode but doing this defeats the onboard bass management feature. I believe that this is actually a design flaw and not unit specific as other people have reported this phenomenon. Another way to get around this would be to detach the wire from the center channel if you're listening to 192 KHZ DVD/A. For 96 KHZ DVD/A and stereo and multichannel SACD I never had a problem. I think this is related to the fact that 563 does not have identical DACS for all channels. I believe the front left and right have higher quality DACS than the other 4.
By the way on the bass management issue. This player has a significant bass hole for DVD audio as the crossover is at 200 Hz (most subwoofers roll off at 150 Hz and besides above 120 Hz starts being localizable for a lot of people). This is actually the main reason why I decided to purchase the Denon 2200. A fixed crossover at 200 Hz is just inexcusable. For SACD and DVD movies the crossover is more reasonable at around 100-120 Hz (I can't remember the exact number right now).
The 563s are really cheap right now. I believe that it can be had for around $130 at Best buy. It's a great starter but I certainly wouldn't let it be the heart of a $3000 or higher audio system.

 

[jeffsg4mac]

The pioneer is a fine unit for the money, but it is no Denon, Had one sold it, now own the Denon, look, I love my Denon

 

[docferdie]

I envy your wire management skills. Your setup looks so neat. I've all but given up on getting the 3805 because I don't want to deal with the forest behind my TV.

 

[JVC]

docferdie........
Yes, I'm setup for 6 channel. I have listened to the stereo tracks on my Fragile dvd-a, by Yes. Those tracks are 192 kHz. Sorry, but no cracks or pops from center or any other channel. Like I said...you may have gotten a bad unit. Believe it or not, you can even get a bad Denon! My friend's Denon 2200 has problems playing some homemade dvds. He also has a Panasonic dvd recorder, which will play the ones that the Denon won't. I haven't found a disc yet that my Pioneer won't play.

 

[docferdie]

You're right about having problems with Denon as well. The first unit I had had a nonpolar power plug and a polar cord so of course I couldn't even power the thing. (For those interested a nonpolar plug is used in countries where the voltage is 220. A polar cord has one end square and one end convex. A nonpolar cord has 2 convex ends--I'm talking about the end that plugs into the unit.)
The 563 is an okay unit but if I were on a tight budget I would go with Samsung's HD-941 as aside from being a universal player it also has HDMI and is only 80-100 dollars more.

 

[Rob Babcock]

I have the Denon '2200 and love it. It easily bests my older Pioneer DV-45A both sonically and in picture permance. The '563 is much cheaper, but also newer than my Pioneer Elite. While I haven't listened critically to the Pioneer, the word on the street is the sound is a bit rough.

However, Alex Peychev tells me that the '563 does not in fact downconvert DSD. He knows as much about digital as anyone I know, so he's probably correct. He offers mods to the '563 that are reputed to take it to a very, very high level. Modded by APL, the '563 and the Denon would cost about the same, and that might be an interesting comparison.

If you don't wanna mod it, though, I'd suggest you go with the Denon. It's superb sounding and the picture easily bests any player I've personally had in my system (and that's about 15 other models from many manufacturers).

 

[rgriffin25]

I am confused as to why the two are even compared?? I know they both are "universal players" after that I feel the comparisons should stop. We are talking about players that belong to two different price catagories (the Denon costs 4 times more at a retail store). I could see making comparisons between the Pioneer Elite 45a and the Denon 2200.

I wonder why you never see posts asking should I buy a Denon 3805 <$1200> or a Sony STR-DE697 <$300>. For me the answer is simple, yes the Denon 2200 is better than the 563a. The real question should be is the Denon 4 times better than the 563a?

Just my 2 cents.

 

[Rob Babcock]

Is the '45A still being made? From what I've been told by guys who've modded them, the '563 is at least the equal of the '45A, and is in some respects better. I imagine the comparison is due to the fact that there are only a handful of universal players on the market at any price, and you can count on one hand the number that are under $700. This makes comprisons of that small cadre of players inevitable. The little Pioneer is getting a lot of buzz, so fair or not, here we are!

As for the value, that's a judgement call. Bass Ale costs a twice as much Bud- is it twice as good? Can you quantify in any way how good it is? For my money Bass is 10X as good for twice the price, and saving a few bucks for Clydedale pee is false economy! For my money my Denon was maybe 5X as good as my DV-45A for about $150 more.

I'd suggest the video performance alone makes the Denon 4X as good as the '563, but that's ultimately up to each potential buyer.

 

[JVC]

I read where the modded 563 can stand with the Denon 2900, and still be cheaper.

 

[Unregistered]

I'm interested in these players strictly for the sound quality for the various disk types. I won't be using it for video. Many of you have mentioned that the Denon has superior video, but what about the audio on multichannel audio? How much better is the Denon on the audio side?

 

[Unregistered]

Pioneer 563a

Just to pipe in with my observations on this player. For the $ it is hard to beat, have had mine for a few months and bought the Outlaw ICBM for bass management; combined they were less $ than the Denon, and audio is my main concern.
Have had no problems with it (did send it to service for the "mastering" mod) and am happy with the sound quality in any format-no pops or clicks except when DVD-A starts up).
The new replacement seems to have non native DTS and costs more...
The DAC's are better quality on the fronts and center (Burr Brown), not as good on the surrounds. IMO not a biggie (again, for the $).

 

[FallenAngel]

Pioneer vs Denon product range

My oh my, thou art comparing Pioneer's cheapest and Denon's mid-end. Isn't Denon 1400 available over there? UK based magazine Hi-Fi News had a good article in Jan. issue, 1400 against 565A (EU model). Clear Pioneer victory on Price vs Quality, but I think they underestimated the bass mgmt issue.

Here in Europe there are 2 Pioneers matching the 2200: 656A and I believe the other one's called 668. They're getting pretty good critics.

Haven't got any 192/24 material yet, but for SACD in my DV565A there's some harmonical distortion. 'Ear it reduced by outing 2ch and castrating S/PDIF, but could be placebo effect. Starting to suspect power supply (I live in Spain, say no more). Any wise man with experience to share?

 

[Rob Babcock]

Problems with homemade discs really doesn't having any bearing on the quality of the player- it's not evidence of getting a bad unit. Burned DVDs are simply not all that compatible, and if you have much experience with them you'll find that there's a lot of issues relating to compatibility between burners/media/players. You may burn Brand A discs in a Brand X burner and find they'll play on all your machines. But switching discs on the same burner, or even burning Brand A discs on a different burner, may result in a DVD that won't play on that same machine.

I've tried 8 brands of DVD-R/+Rs, burned on 3 different burners, played back on 11 different stand-alone machines, and the results will curl your hair! The recordable spec is almost pure anarchy, and there's almost no way to tell what will work until you try them.

FYI, the player that would play the highest percentage of discs is my cheapo Pioneer DV-260S that I use in my b-room system. This will flawlessly play discs that my Pioneer DV-45A won't recognize, and will get thru some discs my Denon won't play. Also, in case anyone cares, Prodisc DVD-Rs burned on a Pioneer burner work 100% flawlessly in my DVD-2200. I use the inkjet printable ones...

 

[kegger]

You can compair.

Old thread I know but I've got both the pioneer 563a and the denon 2200.

I have a widescreen 56" hd tv and 7.1 plus 2 channel high end audio system
setup in a dedicated theatre room in the basement.
"all tube amp surround with solidstate high power for bass"

I don't use bass management and have no need for it. I use cd/scad/dvd-A
I also use dvd's for movies and A TT for music. "homemade subs attached to
my front channels run through a DBX subwoofer processer"

Both the video and audio are extremely compairable on the 2 units with the
denon getting ever the slightest edge, extremely small.

But the pioneer plays every copied movie you throw at it, no matter the disk
or the recorder used where the denon has a lot of trouble on many disks.

I first bought the pioneer and was going to take it back when my denon came
in but the denon with it's movie issues for me and the price of the pioneer so I
decided to keep both and that's why I've done so many compairisons.

If you can still find 563a's , buy them up! Mine still works flawlessly!
Nothing can compare for the price or even a little more!

 

[jeffsg4mac]

Keg, if your denon 2200 has issues with disks then perhaps you need to apply the firmware update that was made available. I have had no issues since I applied it.