Pioneer DV-563A firmware campaign

From reading the posts here, it seems like overall the Pioneer DV-563a is a good starter model for a universal (DVD-A, SACD, DTS, DD, etc.) player.

I just got one about two weeks ago, and I'm still learning about it, so I'm not posting claiming to be the resident expert.

But, from what I've seen, there are a couple discs that will not play the high resolution surround mix on the 563, and at least one DTS disc also.

This thread documents known problems, and owners of this model should call Pioneer and encourage them to ship a firmware update to correct these bugs. These problem discs could be "fixed" with more tolerant firmware, it's just a question of enough people calling in to report these defects.

I called Pioneer and reported 3 discs that do not play properly. I also staved off the offers "to exchange the unit" or "take it to the nearest service center" (1.5 hour drive) or "is it configured properly"?

When calling I stressed that these discs play fine in my other DVD-A player. (verifies they are playable)

I also pointed out that exchanging these discs for other discs at the store produce the same results. (verifies more than one disc was made this way)

I also told them taking the discs to the store to play on another DV-563A produces the same results. (supports the player defect theory)

And the final point I made was that when changing between other discs of the same format, the problem goes away using the same configuration settings. (verifies configuration settings are correct)

Thanks to all of you calling, Pioneer has developed a firmware update disc, which is being sent from Japan.

For more details, see the news article at bottom.

What you should do:

Call Pioneer customer support USA:
1-800-421-1404 option 2, option 6

Report your problem, get a case number, and tell them you would
prefer updating the firmware at home using a firmware update CD
rather than sending the unit in, or driving to a service center. Make
sure Pioneer enters this preference in your case number records!
If you have already called, let them know you would prefer the update
disc!

DVD-A titles that do not play the high resolution MLP surround mix:
T-Rex - Electric Warrior
Brian Wilson - Live at the Roxy Theater
Neil Young - Greendale
Steely Dan - Gaucho
Davis Sanborn - Time Again (Verve)
Boz Scaggs - Dig (need to verify)

DTS titles that do not play the surround mix:
Midnight Oil - Capricornia




Please add additional info below......~jay

http://www.highfidelityreview.com/news/news.asp?newsnumber=10659686

Yeah, I've thought we need to organize enough of us to get Pioneer to do something. I've called and after thinking I might get somewhere, got the "take it to a service center" answer. I've got a case # and it seems if we have enough people and enough case #'s, we could all gang up and demand they at least acknowledge their problem. One at a time they keep telling us that they don't know of any of these problems, but if we get a couple dozen case numbers where they've blown all of us off, then we should be able to escalate the problem until someone actually addresses it.

KW

Dont forget that "Gaucho" is on the list of non playable "Hi-Rez" in the 563A

oldsyd said:

...
DVD-A titles that do not play the high resolution MLP surround mix:
T-Rex - Electric Warrior
Brian Wilson - Live at the Roxy Theater
Boz Scaggs - Dig (is this true?)
Neil Young - Greendale (is this true???)
Queensryche - Empire (conflicting reports)

DTS titles that do not play the surround mix:
Midnight Oil - Capricornia
...

Click to expand...

Re: the Boz Scaggs and Neil Young, I've certainly seen enough posts to believe this is true. Re: the Queensrche, same, but I've seen posts indicating there is a simple workaround. Even if there is a workaround it doesn't change the fact that the disc has problems on the 563a.

More DVD-A titles with problems on the 563a

Steeley Dan "Gaucho"
Davis Sanborn "Time Again" (Verve)
Alice Cooper "Billion Dollar Babies (audio plays fine, video interview won't play)

(all?) titles from www.hiresmusic.com, see
http://www.audioasylum.com/forums/dvda/messages/11565.html

Regarding the Alice Cooper one, I saw that too, but another thread somewhere said that the video interview doesn't play because there isn't any video in the interview, it's an audio interview.

Just to make sure we are credible, can anyone here verify the titles in question?

The guy I spoke with at support said that they forward this to the engineers, then the engineers just buy the discs in question and test them.

I'd hate to have us sending them on a wild goose chase...just one firsthand confirmation from someone here would be good...

Guys, I moved this post to out new home page in the news forum. Please post all replies to this topic here. Let's see if we can get Pioneer to notice the problem.

My version of Greendale by Neil Young also does not
play on the DV563A. (Actualy it seems to 'play' in
that the menus come up and time goes by on the
display, but no sound comes out).

Yesterday, I emailed the tech department at Pioneer Canada regarding my problem with the 'Greendale' disc and received this prompt reply:

"We have just recently been made aware of the issues with the Neil Young (et al) discs. The problem lies in the fact that these discs have a DVD-ROM feature that causes the players to "miss read" the disc. We are presently working on a firmware upgrade to rectify this. Please send your player (along with one or more of the problematic discs) to the address below to the attention of the Service Department. Please include a COPY of your original bill of sale (for the DVD player only) as well as a description of your problems (a printed copy of your e-mail will do perfectly) so that we can address your particular issues."

Regards,

Roger R. Archambault
Senior Product Specialist, Home Electronics
Pioneer Electronics of Canada, Inc
300 Allstate Parkway
Markham, ON

So they are well aware of the problems, but how long it will be before they are rectified may take a while; a follow-up email suggested that I not bother until after April.

BOSSMAN said:

Yesterday, I emailed the tech department at Pioneer Canada regarding my problem with the 'Greendale' disc and received this prompt reply:

"We have just recently been made aware of the issues with the Neil Young (et al) discs. The problem lies in the fact that these discs have a DVD-ROM feature that causes the players to "miss read" the disc. We are presently working on a firmware upgrade to rectify this. Please send your player (along with one or more of the problematic discs) to the address below to the attention of the Service Department. Please include a COPY of your original bill of sale (for the DVD player only) as well as a description of your problems (a printed copy of your e-mail will do perfectly) so that we can address your particular issues."

Regards,

Roger R. Archambault
Senior Product Specialist, Home Electronics
Pioneer Electronics of Canada, Inc
300 Allstate Parkway
Markham, ON

So they are well aware of the problems, but how long it will be before they are rectified may take a while; a follow-up email suggested that I not bother until after April.

Click to expand...

Please send your player

YIKES! Can't they just send you a DVD-R? What if you can't find your receipt? THey want you to send the discs?

Bad Stuff!!!

While I was admitedly pleased by the prompt reply and acknowledgement of the problem from the service department, I was less-then-thrilled with the idea of mailing them my player, with the 'Greendale' disc? WTF? Is this really the most feasible solution to rectifiying he situation? It's ridiculous. I just can't get on board for this; I use this player mainly for it's DVD movie playback, so the prospect of being without it for lord knows how long is just not worth the payoff of being able to play one faulty DVD-Audio disc. I want a firmware upgrade, but I want it mailed to me!

fyi, updated Greendale to verified (thanks guys!)
and added Sanborn to the list...

Still holding out on the AC Billion disc, since I think
that one was just confusing the way it is worded on the package.

Thanks for the updates!

I'm having problems playing the high-resolution portion of several
newer DVD-Audio discs on Pioneer's DV-563A universal player and it
turns out I'm not alone. Turns out there are increasingly more titles
coming out on DVD-Audio that will not play on this unit and Pioneer is
dragging its feet on the issue. Apparently Steely Dan's GAUCHO, Neil
Young's GREENDALE, Brian Wilson's LIVE AT THE ROXY, T. Rex's ELECTRIC
WARRIOR and many more recently released DVD-Audio titles were authored
or mastered using new software that the 563A is incompatible with. The
discs all play fine on other DVD-Audio players. For details, go to
www.audioasylum.com and click on "DVD-Audiobahn." Here's what I did:
Called Pioneer's 800 number and first spoke with a repair technician
who said he knew nothing about the problems with the 563A and newer
DVD-Audio titles. Then I spoke with a customer service rep named Henry
who said he'd never heard of the problems either and told me to take
the player to a Pioneer service facility. In other words, I got the
big blow-off from Pioneer. When I told these folks what I'd read at
Audio Asylum regarding a Pioneer "firmware update," they knew nothing
about it. In fact, I had to keep correcting customer-service rep Henry
when he continually referred to my problems with "movies." I guess those of us with 563A players and unplayable DVD-Audio
discs are screwed. Unless, of course, we all call Pioneer en masse.
Pioneer doesn't care and needs a little encouragement on this issue.
Call Pioneer toll-free at: 800-421-1404.

*

Just got off the phone with Pioneer technical support, and I now have a case number opened up. They acknowledged there was a problem with the DVD-A discs and in addition to the verified titles I listed, they also mentioned Gaucho and Sanborn, so they are now aware of the problem.

She said that they will contact me once the service center has the firmware update, and then I would have to ship the unit in for an upgrade since I don't think there are service centers here in Iowa.

From the way she spoke, I'm not even sure they have a firmware update written yet, but at least the problem is "on the books" and they are planning on fixing this.

The only thing I'm thinking now is verifying that the firmware was updated by checking the version before and after, but info on diagnostic menus for this unit is nonexistant.

Give yourself all a pat on the back, looks like we made a difference on bumping this little wonder up one notch!

Jay

PS - I have updated the verified list to include Gaucho and Sanborn since Pioneer has listed it.

Would be even better to have a firmware downloadable from the pioneer site. Or at least the option. One could burn it on a CD and update it at home on their own machine. I don't like the idea of sending my player off and hope it gets there and back undamaged. I have also had my machine modded and don't know if Pioneer will screw me because I've voided the warranty. Hopefully they can come up with a better solution then sending it in. But if it ultimately does the trick then maybe that will be the only option. These players should be made upgradeable anyway. Gotta be someway to feed the data into it directly without a disc.

Great job by "oldsyd" (Jay) in getting this info and result. I was thinking the same thing, there should be a way for a DVD-R to upgrade the firmware on the machine. I had a Pioneer DVR-7000 that needed an upgrade, and all they did was send me a DVD-RW to "play" in the machine, and it was done.

However, It might be that since the 563 is a low cost unit, they probably did not put the infrastructure in the machine to allow this type of "upgrade". That may be why the machines need to go back.

At least they get the problem fixed. The alternative of an advance replacement would mean that you might get an older or more missued machine back. I think I would rather have my own unit returned to me than a swap out. Who knows what you'll get?

I've found most manufacturers are very selfish/secretive when it comes to
firmware updates. I think this is partly because firmware can be used to defeat copy-protection and copyright mechanisms. I'm pointing my finger at bullies like the RIAA, the IFPI, ARIA, and 4C groups. If one of those bullies thought Pioneer was opening the door for firmware hackers, they could sue Pioneer for loss of revenue from copyright violations.

You can thank these people for your DVD-Audio analog outputs:
http://www.4centity.com/

And of course we all know about the RIAA, not to mention all
the hoopla about DeCSS and lawsuits over T-shirts:
http://www.wired.com/news/technology/0,1282,37941,00.html

Sorry for going off topic, but I think there is more to the picture than
Pioneer just sending out a CDR firmware updater to consumers. They also
might end up with some people updating the firmware improperly rendering the player totally useless. I've seen people botch firmware updates (like turning off the player DURING the update!!! @: ) before, even when the directions specifically say not to.

I'll just be happy if I can have it play that list of unplayables...

~jay

I just talked to a Pioneer service person and he told me that he got an e-mail yesterday listing the specific discs that were affected and also that a firmware upgrade is now available. I was told to go to my nearest repair facility or mail the unit back to Pioneer. He said that the service bulletin wasn't mailed out yet, so the repair facilities may not yet be aware of the problem.



George

Will Pioneer cover the cost of the firmware update? I think that they should.

I have a Pioneer HTIB model HTD530 which plays DVD-A/SACD.

I also have the same problems with Queensryche's Empire and Neil Young's Greendale.

I hope any fixes would apply to this also.

oldsyd said:

Regarding the Alice Cooper one, I saw that too, but another thread somewhere said that the video interview doesn't play because there isn't any video in the interview, it's an audio interview.

Click to expand...

There is NO video interview on the Alice Cooper "Billion Dollar Babies" DVD-A. It's an audio interview.

And the Queensryche disc plays fine in ALL modes and mixes in my and my friend's Pioneer 563A.