Anyone had sucess with using DVD player as transport?

Anyone had success with using DVD player as transport?

Just wondering if anyone has had considerable success using a DVD player and a good dac. Read the latest HFC and the guy who owns townsened said that he though the Pioneer DV565/ new 575 was perhaps one of the best transports of all time, and shines with a good dac. This was part of the article that reviewed his new 2k universal plyer which of course uses this transport.

Anyone tried this particular transport? Was wondering if it would go well with my modded superdac. The alpha 8 is playing up- clunky mechanism- skips easily and suddenly seems to sound rather poor. certainly when supplanting an old alpha plus cdp, it was outclassed, which i dont remember being the case.


Richers have the pioneer at £150 too, the alpha plus is pretty good, but playing dvds and all other formats is a major bonus.

 

FWIW, Sterophile has a very cheap Toshiba DVD player as a recommended component transport, Class C I believe.

 

I'll be using my Cyrus DVD8 into a Cyrus DACXp when it turns up, I'm semi happy atm with Analog out from the DVD8 into my AV8

 

Tried my Pioneer 626D as a transport feeding an Entech DAC and it sounded perfectly acceptable to me. Didn't persuade me to get rid of my Aracm Alpha 9 CDP but I'd say the Pioneer makes a good CD transport.

 

Angus, I've used my Sony 9000ES as a transport on numerous occassions with it being very acceptable. I did find that it lacked a little 'life' in comparison to the dedicated transports I've used but I reckon something like the suggested 565 (which should be available at a good price these days) will be perfectly enjoyable. When there was the big DAC20 surge a few years back, many partnered them with a Pioneer 717, and, by all account, the results were excellent.

 

Townsend make a better one

 

A mighty beast it is too Sarge ! I think even WM commented that he liked it :duck:.
Damn expensive though.

 

interesting, might well have to give it a go. But supposing i actually want to listen to sacd or dvd audio or for that matter standard dvd, unlikely, but if i do, will the superdac be able to convert the signal?

 

I used to use a Rotel RDV985 as a transport when I had the Tag AV32R - gave very good results with the Tag's DACs, especially the 192kHz version.

I guess the only issue with using a budget multi-player is that you aren't going to hear DVD-A/SACD at it's best.

Matt.

 

Angus, you and I have been considering the same sort of possibility. I bought the Pioneer 575 from Richer Sounds (paid only £119). It was to replace my Toshiba DVD 330 for my home cinema setup. I've got an unmodded superdac and tried the Pioneer with it. This was before HFC's article with Townsend, when I noticed the points you made about the Pioneer being probably (in Carlsberg speak) the best transport around.

The sound with the superdac was pretty good, but I've since bettered it. I used a Rotel 965bx for a while - very nice, sparkling detailed, and good space between notes which, IMO, was an improvement on the pioneer. Now, I use a second hand Nakamichi MB10 and the sound is exceptional - again IMHO.

Far be it from me to take issue with Mr Townsend's comments, but it goes to show how important other bits and pieces are that make up a CD/DVD player besides the transport mechanism and dac chip. Incidentally, have a look back at the Townsend article and you'll see that his fabulous £2,500 universal player, doesn't just use the same transport, but also uses the same DAC as the 565/575!! Sounds like an amazing load of potential in the basic machine.

 

There is no co-ax digital output of the same resolution as DVD-A/SCAD, ie 96kHz or 192kHz. The co-ax digital signal only outputs to the same level as DVD-V. 48kHz.

For 2 channel DVD-V playback use DAC
For 2 channel DVD-V content on DVD-A discs use DAC
For Hi-res 96kHz to 192kHz use Analogue outputs

 

I tried it today. My Marantz DV3100 is hooked up to my DAC20, but I never use it to play CD, sticking with my Audiolab 8000CD through the DAC.

I played a couple of tracks on the Audiolab, then the same on the Marantz. Not a lot of difference, if any. Great! I can sell the Audiolab! Maybe the Marantz too and buy a Philips DVD963SA whilst there are still some about.

Played the same tracks through the Audiolab to be sure. Streets better! More body, air, cohesion and pace.

Oh well, not sure what's going on, but never mind!

Of course, the Marantz is a bit long in the tooth and transports have probably got better since, but I think I'll stick with the Audiolab. Maybe just buy a Philips for SACD anyway. Oh, but then there are the cables to buy and the tweaking to make sure I'm getting the best from SACD.

Maybe I'll just listen to some music.

 

Yes I use my Pioneer 717 as my trasnport sounds perfectly fine to me, its usually hocked up to my DAC20 but I've not unpacked that yet. Ya why clutter up the hifi rack with multiple disk players when 1 will do

 

Since my Cyrus CD8X stopped working the other day I have been using my pioneer dv-565A as a transport fed into the DACXP using a cheap toslink cable. The CD8X was connected using a Chord Signature digital so there is no comparison in the qualiy of cabling. The CD8X has a PSXR attached to it too.

The DVD as a transport sounds flat and lifeless and there is so much detail missing from the music. Dont get me wrong, it sounds quite good, but not a patch on the using the CD8X as a transport, cables aside.

If you are planning on using a DVD player as a transport, audition well, as for the pioneer being one of the best transports around, my ears tell me that is complete tosh.

If you are after a decent transport, how about any of the legato link and stable plater equipped pioneer players? I sold my old Pioneer PDS-904 ages ago on ebay for about £60.

Cheers,

John

 

I'm happily using a Denon 2910 as a transport into a Meridian 568.2, this combination is very good (but then the Denon isn't a budget DVD player)

Mr Perceptive

 

Unlike a lot of comments ....my dvd sounds bad through the dac section of my quad99cdp...though its a cheap samsung but provides perfectly good pic to the telly, but its not a msic player by any means

 

a note from my bad experience... check that the dvd player digital output works with your DAC before getting it. some has incompatible buffer issues.

 

mostly in my experience you need to swap the processor mode.....my dacs work with the dvd set pwm not the other [the name of which escapes me].

 

I have a a DIP Upsampler, SuperDAC and a simple passive DIY input selector box. One of the three digital sources is a £200 Toshiba DVD player (no SACD or DVD-A). No match for my mildly tweaked Marantz CDP but for DVD replay, it sounds much better than through the TV.

I often wonder if universal player from Pioneer/Denon or a Panasonic recorder would be a hi-fi quality transport for CDs also ?!

 

Im now using a yamaha 657 for all my silver discs. Its replaced a marantz 6000KI, Sony 930 AND a pioneer 565. The pioneers are okay but the build is cheap and mine was very noisy. The Yamaha is pretty loaded with features including a selectable upsampler which goes uo to 192 khtz for CD replay. I have no problems with compatability with my nos DAC. I wont be changing for some time.