Pioneer DV-578A Universal DVD-Audio/SACD Player Review

[spoonieluv]

Just picked up this player yesterday for $99 on clearance at BestBuy.
Can anyone else confim that it plays DivX files as an earlier post suggested?
And the claim here: http://cnet.nytimes.com/Pioneer_DV_578A_S/4505-6473_7-30917074-2.html?tag=top
that it will read MP3s from a DVD+/-R?

Thanks.

 

[surveyor]

Just picked up this player yesterday for $99 on clearance at BestBuy.
Can anyone else confim that it plays DivX files as an earlier post suggested?
And the claim here: http://cnet.nytimes.com/Pioneer_DV_578A_S/4505-6473_7-30917074-2.html?tag=top
that it will read MP3s from a DVD+/-R?

Thanks.

I own one and have not attempted to play any DivX files.
Where did you read that it would?

Thanks,

kelly

 

[spoonieluv]

from this post on pg 3.

I just move from 563 to 578 this weekend.

This is my change log:

1 - I can't notice any degradation of sound on DVD-A neither on SACD
2 - The 578 can play DiVx
3 - The new one doesn't have volume control on the 5.1 analog outs
4 - Poor MP3 GUI on the 578
5 - 578 if faster than 563 to load all kinds of media
6 - The 578 can play WMA, 563 don't
7 - I think that 563 had more bass, and the 578 sound is more clean on DVD-A

I think that 578 is a totally new player that only shares the same from panel layout from the others Pionner DVDs. All conectors in the back panel are in different positions.

 

[spoonieluv]

Last night I tried playing a CD-R with a DivX .avi file on it and it didn't work. Maybe Adler Victor can post the method he used.
It did play a DVD+RW with MP3s on it though.

If anyone has tried this player with a DLP monitor, I would like to hear your results as far as picture quality. The picture I am getting looks a little soft and slightly ghosty on my Samsung HLN4365W. I'm pretty sure I adjusted everything I could to try to make it better, but no luck.

 

[Sandman]

I wish this unit worked as well for me as it has for everyone else. I'm experiencing really poor bass response for DVD-Audio.

The DVD player has bass management, meaning, you can specify all your speaker sizes as either large, small, or absent. That goes for all 6 channels. I decided to try and confirm that the settings were actually working. (I had a reason to suspect it wasn't.)

So I set the settings to indicate I didn't have a center speaker or surround speakers. Then I unplugged all the audio outs from the back, cued up a song, and then one by one plugged a cable into each one individually. As it turns out, and the jacks were live. In other words, even though I "told" the unit I was only running three of the six speakers, it still was sending signal to all six channels.

This sounds like a firmware bug.

The reason I checked was that I actually don't have a center speaker, and I noticed last night that there was a concert DVD where, when I played it relying on the analog outs, the main vocal was missing.

That doesn't explain the lack of adequate bass signal, but it does indicate something is indeed amiss.

 

[spoonieluv]

So you set your center to "absent" and it didn't redirect the signal?
If so, that sucks.

 

[rgriffin25]

Try to adjust the settings again, it is pretty picky how you get out of the setup menu. I made a mistake getting out of the menu and the settings I made did not hold. After a second attempt I was able to get the settings to stick.

Are you playing back multi-channel audio on the DVD-a disc or 2ch?

 

[Polkfan]

Boy, if nothing else, this has to be the most talked about universal player on the net.

 

[thorrall]

Horrible distortion on dvd-a

Two of the three multichannel dvd-a's I have tried so far on the 578 have horrible amounts of distortion. Multi-channel SACD's seem fine. The DVD-A's are ok in 2 channel.

 

[whoareyou3]

what are the dvd-a titles you've had this problem with? I've had problems with Emerson Lake Palmer - Brain Salad Surgery, and Foreigner. This one distorts only when Center channel is set to small. Also Fleetwood Mac Rumors at times exhibits a slight distortion. Pioneer is "not aware of any problems with this model". They did suggest a firmware upgrade could help, but when I asked further, they said that none is currently available. I'm waiting to see how many people keep complaining about these issues.

 

[fhalden]

dv-578a junk

Ditto to the dvd-a problems. All of my DVD-a discs, which play fine in my Toshiba, begin each track with unlistenable distortion. If I backup to the beginning of the track, it plays fine up until the next track. I'm taking it to the service center next week. We'll see if they can fix it. Never again, Pioneer, never again.

 

[whoareyou3]

All of your discs? Not good. I've switched to SACD with good results so far because out of a very small collection, about 10% DVD-A exhibit some type of problem (just happen to pick the wrong discs?).

If the service center corrects the problem, would you please post details of the solution? Thanks

 

[rgriffin25]

I have had my fair share of problems with this value player, however I have yet to have any DVD-A or SACD disc give me a problem.

 

[potloodpuntje]

Dvda/sacd Universal Audio Quality

I am looking for some information about the universal DVD player.
What is under the Denon 2200 a good player with a good audio ?
how important is I LINK in this matter ?

 

[rchil]

Distortion problem FIXED.....

I recently purchased a DV-578A and experienced the distortion problem some other people have been talking about in this thread. It happened with the first DVD-A I purchased, which was Metallica. It only seemed to happen on the booming vocals and lower frequencies when I was using the 5.1 outputs and not the normal 2-channel outputs. I did not hear the problem with any DVD videos or CDs or MP3 discs. I decided that the distortion with the DVD-A disc sounded like something was overdriving my A/V receiver. It just didn't sound like a digital problem. This player is connected to a mid-priced ($600) Sony A/V receiver using the 5.1 capability. It hit me this morning when I was reading other posts that when I set the DVD player up I selected the LARGE setting for the speaker settup under the Initial Settings of the DVD Menu. That really doesn't make much sense now that I think about it since there's similar speaker size settings in my A/V receiver. The DVD player should just send a certain audio level for each channel and let the A/V receiver determine the audio level that should go to the speakers. So, I went back into the Initial Settings menu on the DVD Player and set all the speakers to SMALL. I then tried the same Metallica DVD-A and didn't hear the distortion at all. The 5.1 output of the DVD Player was simply overdriving the 5.1 Input of my A/V receiver.

I hope this works for other people with this problem. After fixing this problem, I'm more than satisfied with this player. Especially with the advanced features and the $113 price.

 

[WoodieB]

I'm ready to buy one of the 578's as a strictly DVD movie player, without hooking up the 6 channel outputs for SACD play, just optical digital out for Dolby 5.1 & DTS soundtracks. My Denon 2805 will handle bass management, crossover point, etc. Can you disable all bass management in the 578 and just let your receiver handle it?

Thanks

 

[whoareyou3]

I recently purchased a DV-578A and experienced the distortion problem some other people have been talking about in this thread. It happened with the first DVD-A I purchased, which was Metallica. It only seemed to happen on the booming vocals and lower frequencies when I was using the 5.1 outputs and not the normal 2-channel outputs. I did not hear the problem with any DVD videos or CDs or MP3 discs. I decided that the distortion with the DVD-A disc sounded like something was overdriving my A/V receiver. It just didn't sound like a digital problem. This player is connected to a mid-priced ($600) Sony A/V receiver using the 5.1 capability. It hit me this morning when I was reading other posts that when I set the DVD player up I selected the LARGE setting for the speaker settup under the Initial Settings of the DVD Menu. That really doesn't make much sense now that I think about it since there's similar speaker size settings in my A/V receiver. The DVD player should just send a certain audio level for each channel and let the A/V receiver determine the audio level that should go to the speakers. So, I went back into the Initial Settings menu on the DVD Player and set all the speakers to SMALL. I then tried the same Metallica DVD-A and didn't hear the distortion at all. The 5.1 output of the DVD Player was simply overdriving the 5.1 Input of my A/V receiver.

I hope this works for other people with this problem. After fixing this problem, I'm more than satisfied with this player. Especially with the advanced features and the $113 price.

My foreigner disc has to have speakers set to large to play without distortion. The distortion was only from the center channel which was the only channel set to small. The only dependable configuration for this disc is setting all speakers to large, opposite of what you've experienced. Not a good situation.

 

[nocondorfx]

i just got this player. Will I need the analog cords for the sacd part AND the digital optical cord for movies?

 

[SQ Kid]

i tried the divx idea; no go for me either. both on cdr and dvdr

 

[KevinShin]

Does any owners of the 578A have issue with volume level of the player?
I have this player connected through coax for dd/dtc play back and 6 analog for dvda/sacd to a Denon 3803. The volume seems to be lacking. I have to set the volume at -10 to get loud play back, even then the sound seems to be compressed. I compared the sound at the same volume level with a older panasonic 110 when playing a dd movie and its no comparison. The panasonic sounds fuller and louder. Any help would be appreciated.