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

[SQ Kid]

which output was low? i just did an a/b test between my xbox (optical out) and dv-578 (6ch out) and volumes were pretty close. everything was running through my kenwood vr-407 (soon to be retired for a yamaha 5560). a/b'ing dvd-a/sacd vs cd's is fun.....

 

[KevinShin]

The digital output through coax was low and also the 6 channel, but I can't compare the 6ch output since Panasonic dvd player doesn't have 6ch output. I will try with the optical to see if that makes a difference. I hope the unit is not defective because its past the 30 day exchange period.

 

[karltl]

I tried the 578a based on several reviews I read on it. Theres a site out there called hometheaterhifi.com that has some very indepth test reviews of many DVD players (if your interested in an indepth discussion of DVD concepts (I didn'e know that there are only about 5-6 chip makers who make the de-interlacing chip sets for DVD players and that practically all DVD players use these same chipset's).

Anyway.. they rated the 578a very high for audio quality but show some problems with some aspects of bideo quality. My needs were primarily for DVD video. I found the sound quality of the 578a very very good but noted video quality shortcomings that ruled it out.

Another high performance budget priced unit (that I am trying now, again based on test reviews from hometheaterhifi, is the Toshiba SD-V592. It comes in very highly rated (in quite a few respects, better than even the Denon 3910), can be had retail for about $199 (best buy) and has excellent video performance. This unit is both a DVD and VCR player in one.

It's measured white level is a little on the low side (I think the test measurement came in at something like 97ire...perfect would be 100) but I think I was able to address this by tuning the monitor using the Avia home theater setup disk test patterns.

Operationally, the Toshiba responds, essentially, instantaneously to chapter skips and layer changes are practically instantaneous as well (I've read that these are problem areas for the newer Denon's (different chipset than the older 2900/3900/5900 machines). Video quality is very good for a unit this inexpensive and it's ability to deal with various DVD encoding issues and still get it right most of the time is great.

The only "BADNESS" I've found with the Toshiba is that any DVD's that are even slightly out of balance will cause the unit to vibrate and audibly hum. This problem is not peculiar to the Toshiba...several consumer reviews of the Denon 3910 mention this same issue. I exchanged the first unit and the second one, while a bit more forgiving, does the same thing. Given the very good video quality (and very good audio quality as well) and the low price..I'd like to keep it soooo..I found that if I put a, 1/8" thick felt pad under the front left foot of the unit (I know...this sounds really weird) it completely eliminated the audible hum. I can still feel vibration in the case but it cant be heard and it's not transferring to the equipment rack. Machine runs fine this way. Only downside to this is if you stare at the unit in the audio rack, you'll eventually notice that it looks just barely lopsided. So long as it doesn't create problems...I think I could live with that.

 

[SQ Kid]

my reason for getting the pioneer was strickly for the sacd/dvda. video seems fine to me, but i can always go back to the xbox if i need to...

 

[spoonieluv]

Has anyone else tried the Dr. Chesky's DVD-A with this player?
I got distortion from the rear speakers even when I switched to SMALL on the players speaker settings.

 

[RLA]

Hi All
For all interested in a DVD-A/SACD player we will be posting an in-depth review of the new Yamaha DVD-C750 If you are about ready to pull the trigger on a new low cost player you may want to wait just a few more short days until the review is posted
Ray

 

[PolarWeasel]

578a, Chesky disc, bass management

Has anyone else tried the Dr. Chesky's DVD-A with this player?
I got distortion from the rear speakers even when I switched to SMALL on the players speaker settings.

I've been testing my DV-578a with Chesky Records’ "Ultimate Surround Sampler and 5.1 Setup Disc” for about a week. Since it's a DVD-Audio disc, obviously, it tests the analog 5.1 outputs from the DV-578a.

I've had no problems at all with the disc; in fact, it was only after playing this disc on my system that I discovered a shortcoming with the 578a's bass management.

As far as I can tell, when Pioneer says the 578a has "bass management" for the analog outputs, they mean it can redirect bass from "small" speakers to the LFE/sub channel. And that's it.

You can't redirect bass from your "small" speakers to your "large" speakers, or from the LFE channel to your "large" speakers. Initially, I had one of my subwoofers on my front-left channel, and my other subwoofer on my front-right channel. I then used the bass management in my Denon AVR-4802 to set my front-L and front-R channels to "large", all other speakers to "small", and subwoofer "off".

This meant that for 2-channel analog audio, I got the most use out of having 2 subwoofers, and for all digital audio (DD/DTS), the bass was redirected to the front 2 channels. Everything sounded great.

Then I got the 578a, and figured I'd set it up identically. I *thought* it was working fine until I tried the "bass management" test track on the Chesky disc. According to the manual, if your DVD-A player has bass management, you should hear the 60Hz tone out of your front channels, but if it doesn't have bass management, you should hear the 60Hz tone out of your subwoofer.

I had my fronts set to "large" and the LFE/sub channel "off" in the 578a menu, so I thought I'd hear the tone in my front channels.

I heard absolutely nothing. This means that the 578a is definitively incapable of routing the LFE/sub channel to any of the speakers, and since I had the sub turned "off" in the 578a menu, I was missing any bass that was mixed to the LFE/sub channel in my DVD-A and SACD discs.

In order to get the bass response I'm supposed to, I moved one of my subs onto the LFE/sub output of my AVR-4802 and turned the subwoofer "on" in the speaker configuration menu of the 4802 and the 578a. I then changed my front channel configuration so my front speakers now are being driven off the left and right speaker-level high-pass outputs of only one sub.

The only drawback to this configuration is that I don't get the benefit of using both subs for 2-channel analog audio sources (CDs and TV) -- but I now get the full bass response I'm supposed to for DVD-A and SACD.

It's too bad that the bass management on the 578a is so crippled, but I guess that's what we get for $150US.

-PolarWeasel

 

[UserFromMiami]

I have the same problem. I just got the Seal dvd-audio and for some reason is not playable in my Pioneer DVD-A/SACD player. No sound at all. I tried some other WB releases (REM) and it plays just fine. I'm not sure is the problem is the "DVD9" format.Please help, Ty

 

[Rajika]

Pioneer DV-563A and Seal DVD-Audio

Folks:

Apparently their is a firmware fix that MAY solve this issue. You can take the player into an authorized Pioneer service place and they will upgrade it (I think it's covered by the warranty - I plan to go next week).

The Pioneer tech told me to try it.

I'll let you know as soon as I get it back.

Rajika

 

[gobbleDgook]

Yes! I have this same audio problem.

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.

Yes I basically have the same problem.
I have a stereo only setup. While playing CDs there is no problem- normal volume and sound quality. However when playing DVD-Vs (in stereo mode) the audio is extremely quiet, all the fine detail is "chopped off" and high frequencies sound rolled off. This is the same for analog outs and digital coax out to my MSB DAClink. Yes, I tried changing every setting possible. I swear it's like they took the 16 bit audio data, discarded the 4 LSBs, shifted the remaining 12 bits to the right and filled in the 4 MSBs with 0. That would explain loss of volume and detail. A firmware update *may* fix the problem. At least mine's still under extended warranty. Bought it December 2003.