Opinions on this Onkyo DVD-A/SACD player?

[edwardwilliam]

I'm completely new to these formats, so I'm looking for some input from y'all.

I have an Onkyo receiver, and have been VERY happy with it thus far. Does anyone have any opinions on this item: http://www.amazon.com/Onkyo-SP502-D...s_2/103-0227766-2543064?ie=UTF8&s=electronics ?

Also, any general information about looking for players would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks in advance!

Best,
EW

 

[Chris Gerhard]

Sure, made by Pioneer, basically the same as the DV-588A according to all reports I have read. I believe some have indicated it is based on the DV-578A, but I don't think that is correct. What is certain is that is a rebadged Pioneer with minor changes, mostly if not exclusively cosmetic. I have the DV-588A and like it pretty well but would buy the Oppo DV970HD today.

Chris

 

[edwardwilliam]

Sure, made by Pioneer, basically the same as the DV-588A according to all reports I have read. I believe some have indicated it is based on the DV-578A, but I don't think that is correct. What is certain is that is a rebadged Pioneer with minor changes, mostly if not exclusively cosmetic. I have the DV-588A and like it pretty well but would buy the Oppo DV970HD today.

Chris

Thanks, Chris!

What are the main advantages of the Oppo? HDMI support?

Thanks again.

Best,
EW

 

[Chris Gerhard]

Thanks, Chris!

What are the main advantages of the Oppo? HDMI support?

Thanks again.

Best,
EW

Two major advantages would be better DVD-V performance and ease and frequency of firmware updates if needed. I would have to compare audio performance to have a better idea of the two, but consider both acceptable in that regard.

Chris

 

[edwardwilliam]

Two major advantages would be better DVD-V performance and ease and frequency of firmware updates if needed. I would have to compare audio performance to have a better idea of the two, but consider both acceptable in that regard.

Chris

This is where I completely display my ignorance. How much does firmware really matter? I've never updated firmware on a component in my life...am I missing out?

Thanks for your time!

Best,
EW

 

[BananaSlug]

They seem to change the specs for DVD-A from time to time which causes problems. Upgrading the firmware is important for DVD-A machines, and many manufacturers are pathetic about it.

 

[Chris Gerhard]

They seem to change the specs for DVD-A from time to time which causes problems. Upgrading the firmware is important for DVD-A machines, and many manufacturers are pathetic about it.

That pretty well sums it up and Oppo is exceptional with timely firmware updates and responsive customer support. I don't know about Onkyo or if they rely on Pioneer for the needed updates so Onkyo could be better or worse than Pioneer. I haven't found any discs my Pioneer DV-588A can't play now so I may never have another problem with it in that regard.

Chris

 

[Guy Robinson]

That pretty well sums it up and Oppo is exceptional with timely firmware updates and responsive customer support. I don't know about Onkyo or if they rely on Pioneer for the needed updates so Onkyo could be better or worse than Pioneer. I haven't found any discs my Pioneer DV-588A can't play now so I may never have another problem with it in that regard.

Chris

I reported the sub issue to Oppo for The Doors - Waiting For The Sun DVD-A. After about 4 hours they answered back that they had tested and confirmed the issue and that they were now figuring out if there was anything from a firmware standpoint that would fix the situation. Should be interesting.

 

[Chris Gerhard]

I reported the sub issue to Oppo for The Doors - Waiting For The Sun DVD-A. After about 4 hours they answered back that they had tested and confirmed the issue and that they were now figuring out if there was anything from a firmware standpoint that would fix the situation. Should be interesting.

Ha, I think that is sort of a mean trick. As far as I know all DVD-A players have the sub issue with that disc.

Chris

 

[Guy Robinson]

Ha, I think that is sort of a mean trick.
Chris

Chris,
Not at all. If you don't ask you usually don't get. If they can figure out a firmware release were if I set my speakers to "Small" I will get a sub for this and other 5.0 DVD-A titles then I will be even happier with the product. In fact I just might buy another one and put it away as a backup.

 

[Guy Robinson]

Chris,
Not at all. If you don't ask you usually don't get. If they can figure out a firmware release were if I set my speakers to "Small" I will get a sub for this and other 5.0 DVD-A titles then I will be even happier with the product. In fact I just might buy another one and put it away as a backup.

Actually, this is what I sent them. I think it's a fair question:

Just a few questions about bass management. I have an Oppo 970HD and there appears to be bass management for SACD totally but limited BM for DVD-A. This is via the 6 analog connectors. For instance I can always get a sub (.1 channel) for SACD. If I set my speakers to small the low end bass in any speaker set to small seems to reroute to the sub. This is proven with Stereo SACD where there is no natural subwoofer channel. If I set the fronts to small the sub engages. I have a stereo DVD-A of Neil Young's Prarie Wind and I can't do the same thing with it. If I set my fronts to small there is no LFE signal created. The same for DVD-A surround titles such as "Waiting For The Sun" from The Doors Perception box. It has no .1 channel authoured for it. I can't get a sub either if I set all my speakers to small. It remains silent. In contrast the surround SACD of Ryan Adams "Gold" also does not naturally have a sub mixed/authoured for it. It is 5.0 like Waiting For The Sun. However, if I set my speakers to small for the Ryan Adams disc, the sub activates and I get bass. Just wondering why BM for one format would be handled differently from another within the player.

 

[Chris Gerhard]

Chris,
Not at all. If you don't ask you usually don't get. If they can figure out a firmware release were if I set my speakers to "Small" I will get a sub for this and other 5.0 DVD-A titles then I will be even happier with the product. In fact I just might buy another one and put it away as a backup.

Do other DVD-A players take this approach? No .1 for a 5.0 disc may be the intent and if it is changed to route to the sub with no way to override it, some owners may not be happy. Some people have it set to small because that is what works best and is correct for their speaker setup. I don't know really and there may be an issue here worth discussion with Oppo, but I don't think Oppo would be well advised to do things differently than more expensive players.

Chris

 

[Guy Robinson]

Do other DVD-A players take this approach? No .1 for a 5.0 disc may be the intent and if it is changed to route to the sub with no way to override it, some owners may not be happy. Some people have it set to small because that is what works best and is correct for their speaker setup. I don't know really and there may be an issue here worth discussion with Oppo, but I don't think Oppo would be well advised to do things differently than more expensive players.

Chris

Hi Chris,
To me this doesn't make much sense. If people want their 5 speakers to carry most of the bass burden they set them to large. In this case a 5.0 disc will not have a sub which will make them happy because that is their intent. However they might be expecting a "surround" title to be mixed/authoured in such a way that the very low bass is sent to the sub. That is why they set their speakers to large because they know that their speakers can handle down to almost the lowest octave and they are accustomed too titles that have a sub mixed in by the people doing the mix. If people have their speakers set to small because they can't handle low bass then they want the sub to handle it so they are expecting a sub on all discs. If they are playing a 5.0 disc they should likely set their speakers to large because the player may actually be cutting bass out of the other 5 channels (depending how it works) which is lost due to the fact that the sub is not activated due to wrongly implemented bass management on that disc. If the BM works properly in the player (as I have outlined under SACD in my mail to Oppo) then you can decide under what circumstances you want the sub.

I think Oppo should do things differently (ie-correctly). They have a great product and most of those larger companies I think have proven that generally they don't even know how their DVD player works from a bass management perspective. I don't trust them to get it right and I don't think other companies should blindly follow. The statement was actually made by people with some Denon players that they were able to get a sub with WFTS so I guess all players don't work the same. Some actually have complete BM that is fully configurable by the user.

 

[BananaSlug]

Hey, it never hurts to ask. Plus they're being nice about it, that's the kind of attitude that deserves success. Even if they never get it fixed they seem like the kind of company you want to buy from. It's nice to know that someday when I need a new player I've got choices - if I'm feeling rich a Denon and if not an Oppo. Seems like you really can't go terribly wrong either way.

 

[radricster]

Quote:"I haven't found any discs my Pioneer DV-588A can't play now so I may never have another problem with it in that regard."

Chris,
I have the same Pioneer 588A as yourself, but mine won't play YES's Fragile. I have to switch over to my Panny S77 to listen to this disk. When I do switch over, I find the "sound depth" inproves (just sounds better) on all my DVD-A disks. Of course I end up going back to my Pioneer to listen to my SACD collecton, but thought I'd throw my two cents in.

 

[Chris Gerhard]

Quote:"I haven't found any discs my Pioneer DV-588A can't play now so I may never have another problem with it in that regard."

Chris,
I have the same Pioneer 588A as yourself, but mine won't play YES's Fragile. I have to switch over to my Panny S77 to listen to this disk. When I do switch over, I find the "sound depth" inproves (just sounds better) on all my DVD-A disks. Of course I end up going back to my Pioneer to listen to my SACD collecton, but thought I'd throw my two cents in.

I don't have "Fragile" so I don't know if mine will play that or not. I also haven't compared it to better players.

Chris

 

[Ge Someone]

As has been stated the Onkyo are based on Pioneer models (I think this one is a 574 or 575). The Audio part however is changed by Onkyo (Audio is their field).

It's a good player, the disadvantage is that it is noisy.

 

[Chris Gerhard]

As has been stated the Onkyo are based on Pioneer models (I think this one is a 574 or 575). The Audio part however is changed by Onkyo (Audio is their field).

It's a good player, the disadvantage is that it is noisy.

In the US, the equivalent Pioneer model is the DV-588A according to most all reports I have read. I don't think Onkyo has done anything to the audio section of the player, the only changes are cosmetic. Here is the hometheaterhifi benchmark test data on the player:

http://www.hometheaterhifi.com/cgi-...ticles=123#OnkyoDV-SP502 Universal DVD Player

Chris

 

[Kazaam]

I can't see any of Chris' posts. A bit confusing. Anyway... I owned the Onkyo for a very very short time before I returned it. I posted some thoughts over at S&V at the time. I liked it as it looked very nice and seemed to play most DVD-Audio discs (which my non-upgraded Pioneer 563A couldn't). However, I ended up returning the unit. Mostly, I was paranoid about the bass output via the analog outputs seemingly being extremely low when compared to bass output of the optical/coaxial outputs when playing the exact same dolby digital/dts tracks. (Or so I thought. I guess it was true, but I think some of it was in my head. Since the Denon player I bought afterward also had a somewhat similar issue, if perhaps, not as extreme.) Eventually, I managed to come up with some channel level settings between the subwoofer and the amplifer that seemed to work quite fine for both the analog and the optical/coaxial outputs of the Denon DVD-2200 which I later bought. So I probably returned the Onkyo when I didn't really need to. It might have been just fine, though, if reports are true that it is indeed based on Pioneer models, then it might not have been such a good model, afterall. Weren't some of the Pioneer 578's unable to play newer releases such as Talking Head's "Brick"? So I guess it might have only gotten me around the firmware thing just temporarilly. (Hey, at least I finally got my Pioneer 563a firmware upgraded----even if it's now just become a backup player!)

One thing that did bug me Onkyo was that I recall the Frank Zappa DVD-A "QuAuDIOPHILIAc" wouldn't output DTS via the analog cables for some reason. (I think it was only on this one disc, though, since others were fine----if I recall correctly.)

I'd probably be more inclinded to check out the Oppo player since lots of folks are saying nice things these days and since it is probably a newer player than the Onkyo.

Oh... and as if though I haven't rambled on enough. Here's a link to the S&V post. I appear to be a little crazy in it, though. But I do talk about a few other features not mentioned here (such as lack of channel level controls OR the TV show American Idol). In the end, though, the result is the same as what I've posted here at QQ. I returned the Onkyo and bought a Denon and I've been very happy ever since.

http://www.soundandvisionmag.com/idealbb/view.asp?topicID=36566&forumID=43&search=1&searchstring=

 

[leevitalone1]

Thanks, Chris!

What are the main advantages of the Oppo? HDMI support?

Thanks again.

Best,
EW

are you aware the Oppo will convert DVD-audio/sacd to PCM? ask Oppo!! Its only good for video!! You MUST be certain a deck will have the correct chips in it. to decode MLP and DSD!! otherwise you might just sell your hi-rez collection.