Yamaha DVD anamolies

[PaulF]

<font color='#000000'>Fellow members, this time I seek assistance.

I own a Yamaha DVD-C900 5 disk DVD player. This player has had probelms with skipping, locking up, not recognizing disks or simply stop playing in the middle of a movie. These problems have been well documented by users of this model and I have also experienced all the same problems.

Perhaps I have experienced the problems to a lesser degree as I aparently bought my unit after a couple of software upgrades. For those familiar with this model and its issues I have gold and blue dots on the rear of my unit.

Recently I purchased a copy of the Emperor's New Groove DVD. I noticed that it skipped at two different locations on the disk, both towards the latter part of the movie. Upon close inspection I noticed two imperfections (like blotches) on the disk about 120 degrees apart and both spanning between 1/16&quot; and 3/16&quot; from the outside edge of the disk.

I returned this disk to the store for a replacement. After opening the disk I noticed identical marks on the new disk. After testing the disk it too skipped at the same locations as the previous disk. Thinking this must have been a bad batch of disks I once again returned the disk to the store (this time a different location, it's a chain). When I got the disk home you guessed it, identical marks. When I tested the disk it refused to start, it would not allow the menu to come up at all. However after much playing around I managed to start the movie directly and sure enough, it skipped in the same locations in the movie.

I took the disk back again, this time yet another (third) location. I noticed that they had this title with two different wrappers and that the security seals were slightly different using a different font. This time I opened the disk at the store. It was different, a slightly gold looking disk rather than silver, the color graphic printed on the disk was much grainier and had color bleed and it included some inserts that the others did not. This seemed to be an older version with an old movie catalog inside. This time completely blemish free.

Imagine my surprise when I took it home, popped it in the DVD player, and lo and behold it skipped again at the exact same locations. Maybe, &nbsp;I was starting to think, this tilte was authored badly, but this is Disney, hard to believe. So Now I figure it's not the disk, I should try this in my PC (don't know why I didn't think of this before). I have WINDVD installed on my PC and it played the disk flawlessly. I tried playing the disk with both Dolby and DTS tracks and it made little difference, it worked on the PC, it did not on the Yamaha.

If anyone else has this same combination of player and movie the location causing trouble are.

1:00:5-25 sec.
1:05:25-35 sec.

I am wondering if there is any way to definitively test if my player is the problem? Is there a test disk of some kind that stress tests the player? Also has anyone come across this sort of problem before with this player and had it fixed. According to the colored dots on the back I my machine I'm supposed to have the latest firmware, but I am going to call a Yamaha service center to check. Any other suggestions on the cause and possible repair would also be appreciated.

Excuse the long post, I also didn't know where else to post about DVD players. Hope this is ok.

Thanks,

Paul</font>

 

[Audioholics]

<font color='#000080'>I have this disk, but not the player you mention. I can at least verify the disc works correctly (I never noticed the skip before).

I assume you've not had any problems on any other discs?</font>

 

[PaulF]

<font color='#000000'>Hawke,

I have had random problems before. This player does seem to be less tolerant to dust, scratches and other disk imperfections. However I have never had such a reproducible problem over 4 different copies of the same movie.

My PC seems to have no problem, I was wondering whether the player may have a problem with the bitrate coming from the disk in those scenes.

Thanks,

Paul</font>

 

[PaulF]

<font color='#000000'>An update for those that may have a similar model or be considering Yamaha DVD players.

I contacted an authorized service center and they referred me to Yamaha. I then contacted Yamaha where I was told that the red dot is the latest iteration of the software. The player can be upgraded but I would have to ship it the their regional service center in CA (from TX). If the player was under warranty they would cover the charge of the upgrade. I asked if a notice was ever sent out about this and they said no, it's not a defect, it's because studios started manufacturing disks differently.

I contacted their regional service center (a third party) and they &quot;guestimated&quot; it would cost me $45 &quot;but that was not a quote&quot;.

Well then, I 'guestimate' it would cost me $120 or more to ship the unit there and back and have it repaired, hardly worth it as.

1. There is no guarantee this will fix the skipping problem I'm having.
2. I don't have the original box and would have to pay for packing materials in addition to shipping, not to ention how banged up it might get along the way.
3. This is a 3 year old player with limited features by todays standards so spending another $120 on it does not seem worthwhile.

This player cost me $550 when I bought it three years ago and has never been reliable. It's audio and video are great when it works, but it has stopped playing totally locked up on me numerous times requiring a power down to reset it. I have to say that this player and the lack of local support are a disappointment in the least.

Paul</font>

 

[Audioholics]

<font color='#000080'>Wow. That's a strange twist. You might want to see if you can cover the shipping to send it and get it back. Doing it directly, you'd probably pay around $25 total. Of course, there's the issue of packaging.

I have always kept the packaging of my stuff - helps with moves, etc... I usually don't even think about warranty stuff, though. You kinda hope your gear works until you sell it or upgrade.</font>

 

[Guest]

<font color='#000000'>Yamaha's biggest &quot;anomaly&quot; concerns it's otherwise excellent DVD-S2300 universal. &nbsp;Great machine, definitely the underdog in the universal race--but in my testing you MUST have a subwoofer to get all DVD-Audios to work. &nbsp;Something about the authoring of several high-profile titles will ONLY play in 2-channel mode without a sub. &nbsp;If you turn the sub on, the 6-channel version springs to life--but lesser bass due to the &quot;routing to oblivion&quot;. &nbsp; &nbsp;Bottom line--do NOT get this machine if you do not have a subwoofer in your system!</font>

 

[Audioholics]

<font color='#000080'>There's a chance we may be reviewing this unit soon, so we'll check into this apparent anomoly.</font>

 

[Yamahaluver]

<font color='#0000FF'>I upgraded to the DVD-S2300 from the lower end DVD-S510 which I used for almost three years and in that duration it worked flawlessly. Scratched  damgaged discs are the norm here in  rentals due to heat and high amount of dust in the summers, it played them all realy nice. Compared to the Yamaha DVD-S510 my Pioneer and Samsung were not that satisfactory, the Pioneer was a good performer but the color quality left much to be desired whereas the Samsung was pure junk, three units were replaced under warranty before I dumped it.

The DVD-S2300 works great but I only use coaxial out and use the suerior D/A on my AZ-1 so I have feced the DVD-A issue that is mentioned above.</font>

 

[PaulF]

<font color='#000000'>I guess the best thing to do is ensure that any software upgrades can be handled via a CD. They can easily put this in the mail. Also check for authorized service centers in your area and what they are allowed to do.

In my case I needed a software upgrade but had to send the unit to the regional service center in CA from TX, just not worth it. My next DVD player won't be a Yamaha which will fix that problem. I like the Denon stuff better anyway.</font>

 

[Guest]

<font color='#000000'>The titles I've had an issue with are BOTH Grateful Dead, BOTH Chicago, as well as Emmylou Harris.  I'm sure there's more--but that's enough.</font>

 

[Guest]

<font color='#000000'>Apparently there is an MK2 version of the DVD-S2300 out in Canada (?!)--adding a remote power button among other things. &nbsp;Anybody know anything about this?</font>