fmj DV139 - my first impressions

[Liam @ Prog AV]

Hi guys,

I've got my DV139 into the home system, as promised here's a quick account of my first impressions before I get stuck right into a movie. As we're all Arcamites around here I've saved on mentioning all the usual reasons that Arcam gear is so brilliant (!) and concentrated purely on performance differences from the DV137 which it replaced and to my best memory the DV29. This level of performance is already very high so the DV139 has some work to do...

My system currently is Meridian 561 audio processing, Genelec HT206 fronts, Genelec HT205 rears, Velodyne DD-12 sub, Panasonic plasma, Lumagen VisionHDQ video processor. My Domino D80 only just turned up and I haven't the time to get that in nor do I have the old H79 anymore. So i've used the SD plasma for most tests and quickly rigged up a HD LCD for the upscaler to be 100% sure.

Video Performance

- video deinterlacing is excellent. No jaggies nor any significant loss of detail in HQV video deinterlacing tests (where the Lumagen will flicker a jaggy on the top of the flag test, and will also just fail the moving bar test in the green area).

- film deinterlacing is also very quick and on most material exactly the same as the Lumagen for 3:2. 2:2 I haven't tested yet as I managed to forget my discs. Should have Thursday afternoon to get a play but given the 1 frame delay it took on the racing car test I'm guessing it will be ABT102 level (which means not as heavy a film bias as I would have liked). However this is a £1800 DVD player not a £1600 dedicated processor. In other words for the price it's amazing (easily betters the Denon A1 for example).

- scaling for a DVD player is exceptional. The Lumagen is sharper mind (will get proper play time when the projector is in). Again though, for DVD player internal processing this has got a ridiculous amount of power.

- no other advanced video features, just the raw deinterlacing and scaling of the ABT technology (which is does brilliantly).

Audio

My test CD today is something I doubt anyone here has ever heard of. Jimmy Barnes Live - an Aussie rock singer with a truly amazing voice (former Cold Chisel lead singer). He can do the kind of range Axel Rose can and just turn it on and off at will. He also has a brilliantly gravelly 40-a-day voice which is a real delight when done well. What can I say? It sounds brilliant so far albeit a little held back. Would like to run her in because there is definitely more to come and we can see just what level of performance it can do compared to say a dedicated CD deck. But already I can tell the seperation is far better than the DV137 and a DiVA CD player would struggle to keep up. From what I remember of the DV29 the DV139 is a definite improvement

SACD I just had to crack on Pink Floyd Dark Side of the Moon the only SACD I've ever used for comparisons. As Meridian fans will know, I am unfortunate enough to have no bloomin 6ch input on this system so I've just done 2ch (come on Arcam - gimme an AV9 for Christmas I've been ever such a good boy!). The only dedicated SACD deck I have heard up close and personal this year was one of the Marantz ones lower down in the food chain, otherwise haven't messed about with SACD much. Apart from the Linn unidisc which is in it's own league, I've only heard it on the likes of Denon, Pioneer, Primare. This is the best I have ever heard Pink Floyd without doubt. And still not run in yet...

Unless running in proves to go nowhere further I think it's safe to assume Arcam have just built the last DVD player you will ever need to buy. Unfortunately for this review I have always been a huge Arcam fan but I really don't think I am being biased here. Will follow up with 2:2 tests hopefully Thursday otherwise over the weekend.

P.S. I've kept listening to Pink Floyd while writing this and flicked back to "Time" (one of my favs), it's getting better and better by the second. I am one incredibly happy bunny tonight

P.P.S sorry for the briefness but I just have to put a movie on now!!!

[Crustyloafer]

My demo machine arrived today too.

I concur with everything he just said. Absolutely stunning.

Come and see it, it has to be seen to be believed.

[push]

Thanks for the thoughts guys. Mine should arrive tomorrow ... I really can't wait to go and pick it up!!!

//edit - btw, if arcam give you info on a region hack, would really appreciate if you could post it.

[dexter]

Arcam suggest "near HD" quality with the 1080p scaling. Liam - what is the picture like compared to blu-ray/hd-dvd?

[leon]

ive just been told 2 weeks till i get mine

[Matt Horne]

I expect the region hack will probably be the same as the current one ?

So no issues then.. all been ironed out with the DV137 release ?

[shade_of_meta]

I can confirm the region code hack is still the same....works fine on all region disks i have, as expected

I was having a weird issue at the start with the output...if i didnt select HDMI as DVI there was a lot of interference....seems to have sorted itself out but very odd none the less!

Looking good so far! The remote is quite nice actually, i wont use it as i have a harmony that does the lot but its a great substitute!

cant comment on the audio as i have a dedicated sacd player...i wanted this purely for my current DVD collection until Arcam get their HD player out in 2008....maybe

[Clem_Dye]

Hmmmm - the interference thing doesn't sound impressive, but I suppose it could be a one-off.

I want one of these boxes but I'm happy to wait a while in case there's a repeat of the DV137 debacle - I hope not, but with anything new I think that it now pays to wait a bit. That said, I'm pretty envious right now .....


Clem

[ihan]

Hi Liam,

Is the scaling of a similar quality to the VP50?

Regards,
Ian

[Jonesthegas]

What is the cost of one of these? Will it be SDI moddable?

Martin

[shade_of_meta]

Martin,

they're £ 1800...

i'll admit to not having a baldy about SDI....whats it going to do for me?

[iandb]

Originally Posted by shade_of_meta

Martin,

they're £ 1800...

i'll admit to not having a baldy about SDI....whats it going to do for me?

An SDI mod would convert the parallel BT656 digital video signal generated by the player's MPEG decoder into an SDI signal (Serial Digital Interface). You can then feed an external scalar/processor with the SDI signal avoiding any unecessary digital/analog conversions with associated quality loss. So, its only any good if you're planning to use an external video processor which would of course bypass all the snazzy upscaling and de-interlacing technology already built into the DV 139.

[Liam @ Prog AV]

What the Arcam does purely in terms of deinterlacing and scaling is right up there with dedicated video processor levels. Of course a VP gives you so much more and I could never take mine out of the loop, but it is still very impressive in that it can do VP like deinterlacing and upscaling. It's still not quite as good as running a VP in the system (and the scaling is obviously only useful for 720p and 1080p displays), but what keeps amazing me is my VP is £1,600 just for processing, this player is £1,800 for DVD/CD and deinterlacing/upscaling!

Having watched a couple movies and spun a few more CDs, I am even more bold in saying that no other player up to a budget of say £3,000 could stand up to this. In fact I'm racking my brains for what could...

SDI would be another level again, only for video processor users, however the interlaced HDMI out on these is really very good as it (and is what I use).

[Crustyloafer]

Originally Posted by Liam @ Prog AV

Having watched a couple movies and spun a few more CDs, I am even more bold in saying that no other player up to a budget of say £3,000 could stand up to this. In fact I'm racking my brains for what could...

I would agree with that statement. I can't wait until mine arives, I'll have to make do with playing with the shop demo model until then.

[shade_of_meta]

The most worrying thing about this player is how crap it makes bad transfers look lol...

My first few discs into the machine looked terrible so it has no mercy! ( And theres me thinking they had remastered Pulse for its 10 year over due re release onto DVD lol )

Most discs look fantastic however, a big step up from my DV79 was was pretty damn good anyway!

Very happy with mine...does exactly what it says on the tin