Yamaha DVD-C750 VS. Sony NC555ES

[DISCMAN]

As I mentioned in another thread I compared my 2 DVD players this weekend.
IMHO
The test wasn't blind, but I used items I had multiple copies of so the switching was immediate.

SACD
I think the Sony is a better SACD player. It seemed that the Sony had a little more detail & better clarity. If the Sony was $60 more then the Yamaha I would definetly buy the Sony. However, I don't think the Sony sounds $300 (actual price difference) better then the Yamaha.

The discs or songs I used for the SACD comparison were:
Bob Dylan SACD sampler.
Anna Netrebko - "Song to the Moon" Wiener Philharmonic
Anne Sophie Mutter - Romanze fur violine und Orch No 2
Aerosmith - "Sweet Emotion"

redbook CD
If there is any difference between these 2 players on redbook CD I could not hear a difference. I am completely happy with both players. Not that I have owned many players & nothing over $600 but both these players are the best redbook I've had.

There have been complaints about the Yamaha defaulting to PRO-LOGIC II when it reads a CD. While there is no way to switch this default (at least that I couldn't find) the PLII is only output through the MULTI-CHANNEL OUTPUT, not the 2-channel output. If you switch your Reciever to 2 channel direct you will hear the normal stereo mix. The remote does have an AUDIO switch button if you want to hear the stereo mix using any multi-channel output.

DISCS
Def Leppard - Vault
Mars Lasar - 11th hour

DVD-VIDEO
I couldn't do an immediate A/B test of the video signal, but I watched "Resident Evil-Apocalypse". This movie has many night scenes & a lot of high speed action. I never found the picture lacking.

DVD-AUDIO (C750 only)
This model is replacing a Mitsuibishi DVD-A player which had problems on 5 DVD-A discs (including locking up on a Anne Sophie Mutter disc to the point where the player had to be unplugged to get it turned off & the disc out).
I was happy when the store model played all the problem discs. I was euphoric when I heard it at home. This player revealed sounds I never heard on the Mitsuibishi with just about every DVD-A I own. Prior to getting this player I loved both DVD-A & SACD, but I prefered SACD. SACD many times has WOW'd me. I can't count the number of times I've looked up from reading or playing Solitaire because I thought the (insert instrument here) player or singer was in the room with me. The female singer on "Let It Grow" from 461 OCEAN BLVD is one example of this. I never got that with DVD-A with my old player. While I still prefer SACD, the gap is now pretty small & DVD-A has now WOW'D me a couple of times.

Player negatives:
Remote does not have a dedicated FF or FR button. If you want to speed up the song or go back to catch some dialogue in a video you have to hold down the track button. The remote is almost a little too basic & there is plenty of room on it for fast-forward/fast-reverse buttons.

Changing discs in/out of the player. While it is very easy to change 4 discs using the EX-CHANGE button, changing all 5 at one time using the OPEN DRAWER button isn't as easy. The carousel does not spin when open so 2 of the 4 discs are half covered by the player itself. I plan to use the EX-CHANGE button exclusivly in the future.

Player does not automatically go to the next disc when a DVD-A disc is done.
I'm not sure if any DVD-A changer does this or not, but it kind of defeats the purpose of a changer if it doesn't go to the next disc.

Player positives:
Great DVD-A & CD
Very good SACD
Universal player $300 or under
Dolby Pro Logic II (my receiver doesn't do this so it was an added bonus for me).
It seemed like you would not need to have a moniter hooked up to this player in order to access the hi-rez m/c track. Every disc I just hit play.

I think someone asked about me to check how long the player took to change & load a new disc.
disc change CD to SACD 14 seconds
disc change SACD TO SACD 10 seconds
I didn't actually time a change to/from a DVD-A disc but it seemed in the same ballpark.

I think the C750 is a great all around player, especially for the money. If I didn't already own the 555 & I could afford only one player I would go with the C750. The loading problem, poor remote & not quite as good SACD sound quality does not = the lack of DVD-A & the doubled price of the 555 (I believe the list is $299 vs. $599).



My system
Sony STR-DA3ES receiver
Sony 32" Wega
Sony NC555ES SACD/DVD-V player
Yamaha DVD-C750 universal player
Infinite speakers
I400 MKII Monster cable interconnects for both the C750 & NC555ES.

 

[matthewraz]

thanks

i asked a bunch of questions about the c750 on the other thread. thanks for the info. this was the most useful info i've gotten on the player since looking into it for more than a month (the full review was great but left questions about the pl II out of mixed stereo and load times). of course i bought the player yesterday before your post, but hey. i don't think there's anything i dislike - including loading 4th and 5th disks - easy enough. and load times - its not approaching 20 sec as i'd heard - 13 max as you said - thats fine. one thing though - this is my first listen to sacd (will prob. pick up a dvd-a or two this week) - is it common for an sacd version to have a lower output than the redbook version? this is obvious when comparing aimee mann's "lost in space" mo-fi sacd with the redbook (on earlier release - not the hybrid layer). i know cd masterers often push levels with extra compression to create impact - so do audiophile masterers reduce overall levels to create more headroom etc?

 

[RLA]

Hello
If you use the R/L mixed out terminated to the receiver's or pre/pro's
DVD R/L input you will not have a problem please read the setup section of the review I used it inconjuction with the 6.1 analog out

 

[matthewraz]

load tray with no play?

yeah thats what diskman said and what i've done because i only have a stereo setup anyway, but every post i've read mentions the pl quirk - because they'e set it up with the multi-outs. the frustrating part was asking these owners if the pl II affects the mixed two channel outs (that seemed wrong and produced anxiety in deciding on the machine. so i was braced for load time and pro-logic issues and am happily rewarded with none.
** but is there a way to load the tray without it starting to play? **
and : are sacds sometimes mastered at lower levels than redbook?

 

[bobbydigital]

solutions

the sound mode button on the reomte(top right corner) swithces between pl11/stereo/virtual surround stereo when playing cds. switches btw stereo and multi ch. on sacd but it has to stop and start the sacd from the beginning.

If your careful you can load all five discs by openeing the tray with the eject button instead of the xchange and if your listening you can load all other four discs. I thought this was a awesome feature since all ive ever had before was 3 at a time.

 

[bobbydigital]

more tricks of the c750

you can search from 2x all the way to 32x with the < > arrow keys on the remote but only with cd and dvds. maybe dvd-a i havent checked but difinitly not with sacd.

I aslo found out that if you press the stop button a few time in a row the disc tray will open.

DOES ANYONE know how to select a specific disc with the romote instead of having to cycle through them all?

 

[matthewraz]

no way ive found to select a disk with the remote. my cheap universal remote hasn't assigned a way to change disks at all (as it did with my previous yamaha cd changer) - oh well. any one who's found a way to play the neil young dvd-a of "on the beach" let me know.