Nick Satullo
Active Member
- Joined
- Mar 2, 2003
- Messages
- 60
I use my DVP-CX777ES as a dedicated SACD changer. I have just added the Escient DVDM-100 to serve as a controller for the unit. My primary reason for doing that is how enamored I am of the Escient-based Kenwood Entre Controllers.
Until I received the Escient, I had an Entre unit controlling all CDs and DVD-Audios (and some music video DVDs), to three connected Kenwood Sovereign Changers.
At the same time, I had a separate Entre unit controlling three connected Kenwood Sovereign changers, strictly for DVD-playback.
Clearly, what was missing was a changer that would (1) accomodate SACD; and (2) be amenable to the type of super-control/glitz provided by the Escient/Entre unit.
Rather than rewrite the whole thing, I'll just copy my experience as I posted it on AVS:
"A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum: The Escient DVD-M100
Let me tell this story in a way that attempts to capture the moment, my moment. The moment of the Escient DVD-M100.
From the beginning of Sovereign, I was there. Even before this thread started, I started the first Sovereign thread, declaring the product a winner.
As an experienced home theater enthusiast, with a relatively high end system, I scoffed at the high end single disc players, and I have had a few--Meridian, Pioneer Elite, even the recent Samsung HD1000.
But I had already migrated to changers with my cd collection, and, as my DVD library grew, I thought, "wouldn't it be great to have a DVD changer."
Then came the first one, the 200 disc Sony. I bought it.
Then came the Pioneer DV-F27. I bought three.
Then came the Sony 300 disc changers. I bought one of each.
All the while, however, I lusted after a glossy photo of the Escient. Ah, the Escient, with its ever-so-cool cover art scheme . . . but, even with some of the silly amounts of money I'd spent on these toys . . . no way.
Then came Sovereign. All who followed this thread knew the dilemma: the splendid interface, the wondrous possibilities . . . the failed promises. One of those promises (which has since faded into the background because of a Superhero named NiteOwl) was the alleged "DVD-Audio" database. Even when Entre and Sovereign performed as it should, when finally the multichanger control was introduced, this remained an unfulfilled ideal . . . the ideal of all our beloved media, high resolution video and audio, all to be plucked from that same ever-so-cool user interface that Escient kept from us with its exorbitant pricing.
And, for those who must have everything, and have it the way they want it, the one thing really missing from my Entre/Changer scheme was . . . one of my passions . . . multichannel SACD. It is a format to which I am endeared enough to spend time reviewing discs, so impressed I am by it.
And, as Sovereign became a part of my system, and as I railed against Kenwood for not providing multichanger support, in a love-hate relationship that all of us felt to some extent, I still regretted the one piece that wasn't there, that I couldn't have . . . the changer, the changer that would play SACD. It perhaps would have been enough that only a changer would be introduced . . . that would have pacified me. But, no. At CEDIA, I saw a new product . . . from none less than Escient. Escient, the company that started this pig-lust in my brain for the glossy access to media . . . for the glitz and the glitter.
The marriage had been announced. Sony was introducing its 777ES DVD/SACD changer. Escient was introducing its "cooler" Entre, the one that would control either Kenwood or Sony (and, soon, we hear, Pioneer).
I got on the list for each product. Within days of the release of the 777ES, the good fellows at OADE Bros. had shipped me my unit. I stuffed it with 125 SACD discs, most multi-channel. Stuffed those discs, mind you, in a DVD/SACD changer whose user interface (Disc Explorer) was indisputably invented by a mad scientist, an expert in Audio Torture, someone whose evil genius understood the relationship between the listener's love for the medium, combined with the slow and excruciating retrieval method, all designed to maximize punishment to the listener, all because the listener wanted to choose a disc . . . to choose from a menu.
But help was on the way. Supposed to be released in November, I nevertheless pried and plotted to get one of the first of the DVD-M100 units (which really didn't get released until this past month). Now, finally, after years of being tantalized with the notion of a product that was clearly available at someone's fingertips . . . I could grasp it. I would not only have DVDs available with the glitz I thrived upon, but now, too, my precious SACD medium would be available . . . with all the same finesse, with the same element of High Cool that the rest of my system operated under . . .
Today, the Grand Piano arrived. The Escient DVD-M100. I could tell simply by looking at its rear panel that this was no mere Entre Sovereign, no, this was Enlightenment. This was Da Vinci Sovereign.
And so, with an even greater ease than any Entre was ever set up (for the DVD-M100 needs no USB/Ethernet converter, you just plug in to the router . . . ) I put the royal tool to work. Although I was clearly underutilizing its rare qualities (after all, a mere 125 SACD discs . . . come, come, this was Escient, I began the long awaited process . . . went into the setup menu . . . changer management . . . Lookup all . . I would soon have it all.
And now I've got it. 125 unknown audio cds, because, apparently, just like the DVD-Audio database we waited for, there is no SACD database. 125 unknown audio discs, with unknown cover art, unknown titles, and unknown songs (though the amount of tracks on each mystery disc is available).
Yes, I put in a DVD to see if there was a problem with the database. Yes, the DVD got looked up fine.
This is AVS Forum, and that was the funny thing that happned to me on the way to it tonight.
What a great product!!!"
Nick Satullo
P.S. A workaround has already been established, but the bad part of any work-around, is that it requires work.
Until I received the Escient, I had an Entre unit controlling all CDs and DVD-Audios (and some music video DVDs), to three connected Kenwood Sovereign Changers.
At the same time, I had a separate Entre unit controlling three connected Kenwood Sovereign changers, strictly for DVD-playback.
Clearly, what was missing was a changer that would (1) accomodate SACD; and (2) be amenable to the type of super-control/glitz provided by the Escient/Entre unit.
Rather than rewrite the whole thing, I'll just copy my experience as I posted it on AVS:
"A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum: The Escient DVD-M100
Let me tell this story in a way that attempts to capture the moment, my moment. The moment of the Escient DVD-M100.
From the beginning of Sovereign, I was there. Even before this thread started, I started the first Sovereign thread, declaring the product a winner.
As an experienced home theater enthusiast, with a relatively high end system, I scoffed at the high end single disc players, and I have had a few--Meridian, Pioneer Elite, even the recent Samsung HD1000.
But I had already migrated to changers with my cd collection, and, as my DVD library grew, I thought, "wouldn't it be great to have a DVD changer."
Then came the first one, the 200 disc Sony. I bought it.
Then came the Pioneer DV-F27. I bought three.
Then came the Sony 300 disc changers. I bought one of each.
All the while, however, I lusted after a glossy photo of the Escient. Ah, the Escient, with its ever-so-cool cover art scheme . . . but, even with some of the silly amounts of money I'd spent on these toys . . . no way.
Then came Sovereign. All who followed this thread knew the dilemma: the splendid interface, the wondrous possibilities . . . the failed promises. One of those promises (which has since faded into the background because of a Superhero named NiteOwl) was the alleged "DVD-Audio" database. Even when Entre and Sovereign performed as it should, when finally the multichanger control was introduced, this remained an unfulfilled ideal . . . the ideal of all our beloved media, high resolution video and audio, all to be plucked from that same ever-so-cool user interface that Escient kept from us with its exorbitant pricing.
And, for those who must have everything, and have it the way they want it, the one thing really missing from my Entre/Changer scheme was . . . one of my passions . . . multichannel SACD. It is a format to which I am endeared enough to spend time reviewing discs, so impressed I am by it.
And, as Sovereign became a part of my system, and as I railed against Kenwood for not providing multichanger support, in a love-hate relationship that all of us felt to some extent, I still regretted the one piece that wasn't there, that I couldn't have . . . the changer, the changer that would play SACD. It perhaps would have been enough that only a changer would be introduced . . . that would have pacified me. But, no. At CEDIA, I saw a new product . . . from none less than Escient. Escient, the company that started this pig-lust in my brain for the glossy access to media . . . for the glitz and the glitter.
The marriage had been announced. Sony was introducing its 777ES DVD/SACD changer. Escient was introducing its "cooler" Entre, the one that would control either Kenwood or Sony (and, soon, we hear, Pioneer).
I got on the list for each product. Within days of the release of the 777ES, the good fellows at OADE Bros. had shipped me my unit. I stuffed it with 125 SACD discs, most multi-channel. Stuffed those discs, mind you, in a DVD/SACD changer whose user interface (Disc Explorer) was indisputably invented by a mad scientist, an expert in Audio Torture, someone whose evil genius understood the relationship between the listener's love for the medium, combined with the slow and excruciating retrieval method, all designed to maximize punishment to the listener, all because the listener wanted to choose a disc . . . to choose from a menu.
But help was on the way. Supposed to be released in November, I nevertheless pried and plotted to get one of the first of the DVD-M100 units (which really didn't get released until this past month). Now, finally, after years of being tantalized with the notion of a product that was clearly available at someone's fingertips . . . I could grasp it. I would not only have DVDs available with the glitz I thrived upon, but now, too, my precious SACD medium would be available . . . with all the same finesse, with the same element of High Cool that the rest of my system operated under . . .
Today, the Grand Piano arrived. The Escient DVD-M100. I could tell simply by looking at its rear panel that this was no mere Entre Sovereign, no, this was Enlightenment. This was Da Vinci Sovereign.
And so, with an even greater ease than any Entre was ever set up (for the DVD-M100 needs no USB/Ethernet converter, you just plug in to the router . . . ) I put the royal tool to work. Although I was clearly underutilizing its rare qualities (after all, a mere 125 SACD discs . . . come, come, this was Escient, I began the long awaited process . . . went into the setup menu . . . changer management . . . Lookup all . . I would soon have it all.
And now I've got it. 125 unknown audio cds, because, apparently, just like the DVD-Audio database we waited for, there is no SACD database. 125 unknown audio discs, with unknown cover art, unknown titles, and unknown songs (though the amount of tracks on each mystery disc is available).
Yes, I put in a DVD to see if there was a problem with the database. Yes, the DVD got looked up fine.
This is AVS Forum, and that was the funny thing that happned to me on the way to it tonight.
What a great product!!!"
Nick Satullo
P.S. A workaround has already been established, but the bad part of any work-around, is that it requires work.
Mike.
