Thoughts: My new DVD-1920 - Love it, but....

[corysmith01]

My 1920 that I nabbed on ubid for $199 came at the beginning of this week. I can say that I'm really happy I got it. For a universal player, I'd think that the msrp of $369 is probably worth it; it's a little light, like they cut some corners, but all that it offers in terms of technology I think makes up for that. Hey, for $369, you've got to have compromises. However, having picked it up for $199 makes me even happier. I'm not sure what I could get in the $199 range that would come close to it.

The audio side of it is great. I haven't tried SACD or DVD-A, but I have used it's internal DAC's to see what's under the hood. I have it hooked via analog and digital so that I could switch back and see which does a better job, the 1920 or my Marantz SR8400. I have to admit that I can't really discern much of difference, if any at all. I guess that's a plus for the Denon since the Marantz had an original msrp of $1299 (?).

As for video, I'm actually shocked. My previous player was a Sony DVP-NC655P 5 disc DVD/CD changer which retailed new for about $200. I bought it about 4 years ago. It didn't really have any bells and whistles. Just a straight-forward dvd player. I'm a bit of a skeptic and figured "hey, DVD is DVD, right? It all looks good." Not so. Perhaps it's power of suggestion, but the picture the 1920 is SIGNIFICANTLY better than the sony was. Is it the DCDi? Is it the fact that it's a Denon (nicer than a lower-end Sony)? I don't know what it is, but I do know this; I'm happy. The picture is nothing short of fantastic. Maybe my bar was set pretty low by the sony and perhaps there are others out there that would lay waste to the 1920, but for me, I couldn't be happier.

Now, for the "but" part of my header. I'm a little disappointed, and maybe my expectations need to be adjusted. The only qualm I have with the player is the sound it makes. I've noticed, and it's pretty audible, that when I put a disc in, it'ss pretty noisy. Is that the transport? Whenever a disc is in there and it's loading or about to play, I can hear it spin-down as well as start up again. Also, when it's going from menu to menu on a disc I can hear it. Is this something I just need to get used to with single disc players? My sony was built like a tank; all metal casing and weighed 12lbs or so. I never heard a disc spin. But I do with this one. Is it due to the plastic casing? Is it because I'm in a very small room and and close proximity to the player? Is there something wrong with the player itself? For me, that's a minor inconvenience when considering how happy I am with everything else. I guess I just throw that out there to see if others have noticed this, if this is something that's typical/atypical, or if I have a unit that sounds a little off.

Again though, just to reiterate. I love this player. I had considered some others, but I just don't think that I could have beat this one considering the price I paid for it. Had I paid $100 more, I still think I'd be here expressing my happiness with it. It's a great entry-level universal player IMHO.

 

[j_garcia]

Nice write up Well, I do have to say that one thing that seems to be somewhat common of the Denons is that their motors are relatively loud, because each of the ones I've owned could be heard spinning up. The 2200 was worse than the 2900, likely due to the heftier chassis of the 2900 (about 18lbs vs ~10lbs), but I can still hear my 2900 when I first put a disc in. My Sony SACD player is nearly silent when it spins up, but it is extremely loud when it changes discs - to the point that I thought there was something wrong with it....

I guess I'd look at it like this, they used a big enough motor than you can hear it, so isn't that a good thing?

Just like you, I went from an old Sony to the 2200 and I was shocked at the improvement in picture quality; though that was going from a $200 player to a $550 player, so I expected a difference, just not that much. That is one of the reasons why I really like the Denon players - besides the audio capabilities, most of them seem to have excellent picture quality.

 

[corysmith01]

Yeah, like I said, I honestly believe that's a small price to pay. And, I've got to believe that if I didn't live in a shoebox sized apartment, it's noise would be less evident. Overall, I'm completely stoked. And thanks by the way...your vote was to get the 1920.

Although, I must admit, I do still navigate over to the Cambridge Audio page just to look at the Azur 540D. Those are some damn fine looking players.

And yeah, I guess using a larger (read: louder) motor could be considered a good thing. It's all about puttin' a positive spin on things.

 

[Daz3d&Confus3d]

Having read your post I had to run out to my living room and check mine...I never noticed anything really at all audible coming from my 1920....However in the perfect still of night without two toddlers yelling and the Wiggles singing in the background, I did notice it does make some startup noise, though not alot. Your right it is abit on the light side and I really wanted to go with the 2910 just couldnt drop the cash at the time but I've been tickled with my 1920 and I also noticed a HUGE increase in picture quality with the Denon over my old dvd player! It's a real bang for the buck! Enjoy it!

 

[mtrycrafts]

; it's a little light, like they cut some corners,.

Put some weights on top

Not much to add weight in a DVD player except the chassis and cabinet. It doesn't need a huge power supply, the reader is very light, etc.

 

[fredejo]

when i put in a disc i can hear the motor start up right at first, but i have a medium sized living room so during movies or listening to music u cant hear anything from it. the video it puts out is great. great player for the price range imo

 

[surveyor]

I have a Denon 2910 and it's motor is noisy also.
I must say that it produces very good audio and video though.
The 2910 is leaps and bounds better than my other unit a Pioneer 578A.

 

[Buckeyefan 1]

I've got an original Teac PD 410 CD player manufactured in October 1987. It was a very light unit, and you can hear the motor "spool up" before playing. It's always sounded fantastic. You know what - I still use it. It plays as good as the day I purchased it. If that's the worst trait about the Denon 1920, you've got one helluva unit.

 

[corysmith01]

Thanks for all the posts. Yeah, I'm resigned to the fact that, if that's my only nit-picky thing that I can find, then I've got myself a solid player...especially when you factor in the $199 price tag. And just to reiterate, I do notice the noise, but I am in a smallish room and I agree that it's only at the beginning when nothing is playing. Once music or a movie is going, there's really no noise to be heard.

If anyone's on the fence about this player, I can now say I'd recommend it in a heartbeat. With all that you get for the pricetag, it's an awesome unit.

 

[corysmith01]

Once music or a movie is going, there's really no noise to be heard.

Maybe I'll need to rescind this statement, or at least get some more info. This morning, I decided to put in a Chehei Hatakeyama disc. He's a modern Japanese composer. His music is very ambient...just a lot of textures created with guitar and a lot of synthesized stuff (think Brian Eno-esqe). Anyhow, being that the music is somewhat quiet, I noticed what I thought was that same noise coming from the 1920...and this was from feet away. I walked over and as I got closer, the noise got louder until I finally had my head down near the unit at which time I knew it was the player emitting this noise. Now, earlier I said this wasn't a problem. But now it is. I have a fair amount of music in this realm...kind of quiet, chill music. And if I have to hear the player as an "added instrument" to these discs, I don't think that's acceptable. I think what I'm going to do is e-mail Denon (since I do have a 90 day warranty with them) and see if this is normal, or if perhaps something is faulty with the player.

Any thoughts? Am I being hyper-critical?

 

[Daz3d&Confus3d]

You say feet away with the music playing at low levels and you can hear it. Hummmm.......you may want to check it out.....mine isn't that loud.....more like barely audible when it's just beginning to load.

 

[fredejo]

well u are making it a point to listen for noises, try to not think about it. mine makes no audible noise while playing anything, if yours is that loud maybe its faulty, go to the store u bought it @ & compare with the floor model.