Best DVD player for audio quality

16-01-2006, 5:12 PM

At present I use an ultra cheap and cheerful LG DVD VCR combo with a portable Sony trinitron to watch DVDs. As music is my main love I have spent most of my money on hifi. I've hooked up the combo to my stereo amp to at least maximise sound quality for DVDs, and films on TV in Nicam. Not surprisingly the sound is pretty limited to say the least, but at least I get a few bangs and thuds through my Epos speakers, which can be reasonably enjoyable and film music tracks are very vaguely ok.

Would it really improve matters much on the audio front to get a much better stand alone DVD player? Obviously visuals are superfluous to me whilst watching on a tiny portable. But if I thought I could significantly improve the audio with a better DVD player I'd get one. BTW I have no interest in 5.1. It's any improvement I could make with stereo sound. But it has to be a definite improvement otherwise I'll just hang on 'til I've got more money to upgrade the screen and/or the prices comes down.

Any advice very welcome. I'd try to get something on ebay. No more than £150

Welwynnick · 16-01-2006, 5:17 PM

You won't get a good soundig DVD player for £150.

Your best bet is definitely to get a stand alone CD player in addition to the DVD. Your £150 will buy you some good sounds. Check out the HiFi forum.

Nick

mjbtin · 16-01-2006, 5:44 PM

The Cyrus tuned Limit DVDA900SE is very good for CD playback currently selling for £49.99 from www.play.com it has an rrp of £200.00 .There is loads of info on this forum about this player.

avjon · 16-01-2006, 5:45 PM

I would agree with Nick. It would be far more sensible to go for a stadalone CD player for that price and get a reasonable budget dvd player. There are some superb CD players around, and if you go for a used player (have a look on the trading forum here) then you could get a real bargain. To get good sounding CD replay I couldn't hear anything better than the Arcam DVD players but they were too expensive for me (£1000+) so you can see that a cheap one is not going to be great.

jckm2000 · 16-01-2006, 7:30 PM

I beg to differ. I quote an post I made in another thread yesturday:

"Philips dvp-720sa. Has truly excellent audio and plays sacd (as well as divx)
I got mine for around £65 (they were £150 when released) from Pixmania some time ago. Dunno if they're still available, perhaps on ebay?

http://www.homecinemachoice.com/cgi-...?reviewid=4589

http://www.homecinemachoice.com/cgi-...?reviewid=5043

EDIT:
Can be had here for £79.99.
http://www.atlantic2u.net/store/view...idproduct=5177 "

I am really happy with this player, I use it mainly for music, it is hooked up to a Yammy rx-v750 via multichannel and this might help but to me the sound quality is excellent, check out the links to reviews above.....

Cheers,

Jon.

16-01-2006, 10:16 PM

Sorry i should have made it clear. I already have a CD player for CDs, although it is 12 years old, a Rotel RCD-9658X. And I keep thinking I should replace it. No my question is really about improving sound quality when I listen to DVDs.

But thinking about how little time I actually spend listening to them, unless I can easily make a substantial improvement it's probably not worth it.

One thing I'm not clear about. I know audio on DVDs is compressed and an AV processor/amp decodes it. I know this is for 5.1 but if I'm feeding it to my analo that some, admittedly expensive, DVD players have built in decoders, does that really improve the sound in stereo as well? I cannot believe how pathetic the sound on DVDs is compared to the sound I get playing CDs

MI55ION · 17-01-2006, 6:42 AM

According to HCC 'reviews' the Cambridge Audio 540D sounds about right for your needs and budget. Available at Richer Sounds for £150.

http://www.homecinemachoice.com/cgi-...?reviewid=5040

http://www.homecinemachoice.com/cgi-...?reviewid=4472

PJTX100 · 17-01-2006, 8:23 AM

I'm with Nick.

The best DVD player for audio is one with a dedicated CD player sitting on top of it.

That said many DVD players do a passable job, especially if you are connecting them via digital coax.

trailer · 17-01-2006, 9:16 AM

Whats the best player for DVD-A disks in peoples opinions?

17-01-2006, 12:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pdbmjb

The Cyrus tuned Limit DVDA900SE is very good for CD playback currently selling for £49.99 from www.play.com it has an rrp of £200.00 .There is loads of info on this forum about this player.

I wouldn't put too much score on the Cyrus tuned moniker.

IIRC some horrible little SEAT thing used to have Porsche Tuned written in huge letters on the side.

(and Cyrus ain't that good in the first place!)

pjclark1 · 17-01-2006, 12:50 PM

Surely if you use the digital output they will all be exactly the same.
Only your digital amp would matter.
(or are some of you going to claim the digits are different from a £300 player)

Ambient Fish · 17-01-2006, 5:17 PM

Hasty, I think you are being a tad Hasty (pardon the pun) in your condemnation of DVD sound, check out the production values on Jean Michel Jarre's Aero remaster, I can think of only one release last year which comes close to the excellence of the sound on this disc and that would be Jeff Wayne's remaster of the War of the Worlds and that is a SACD. Try going to your local Hi Fi dealer and audition some of the kit on offer now, I think you will find that multichannel audio has caught up to a large degree with what CD had to offer 12 years ago, I would hate to think of a music lover not hearing and experiencing the thrill that a well set up multichannel system can deliver.

Barzo · 17-01-2006, 5:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pjclark1

Surely if you use the digital output they will all be exactly the same.
Only your digital amp would matter.
(or are some of you going to claim the digits are different from a £300 player)

No - but the transport mechanism might be better. It is also true that different players sound different through digital outputs - case in point is Pioneer 575 which sounds weightier and more fluid than my Panny S97 through digital outputs. Don't know the real reason, and don't pretend to, but there is a VERY clear audible difference.

17-01-2006, 6:00 PM

Yes it's true I can be 'hasty' from time to time!

I posted here,

Anyone ditched 5.1 in favour of stereo?

to make my question clearer.

I hope you can get a direct link from this. Sorry if not. If someone could explain to me how I can link to another post I'd be really grateful!

16-01-2006, 5:12 PM	#1
Hasty Guest Posts: n/a	Best DVD player for audio quality Advertisement Want to Advertise? At present I use an ultra cheap and cheerful LG DVD VCR combo with a portable Sony trinitron to watch DVDs. As music is my main love I have spent most of my money on hifi. I've hooked up the combo to my stereo amp to at least maximise sound quality for DVDs, and films on TV in Nicam. Not surprisingly the sound is pretty limited to say the least, but at least I get a few bangs and thuds through my Epos speakers, which can be reasonably enjoyable and film music tracks are very vaguely ok. Would it really improve matters much on the audio front to get a much better stand alone DVD player? Obviously visuals are superfluous to me whilst watching on a tiny portable. But if I thought I could significantly improve the audio with a better DVD player I'd get one. BTW I have no interest in 5.1. It's any improvement I could make with stereo sound. But it has to be a definite improvement otherwise I'll just hang on 'til I've got more money to upgrade the screen and/or the prices comes down. Any advice very welcome. I'd try to get something on ebay. No more than £150
	Quote

16-01-2006, 10:16 PM	#6
Hasty Guest Posts: n/a	Sorry i should have made it clear. I already have a CD player for CDs, although it is 12 years old, a Rotel RCD-9658X. And I keep thinking I should replace it. No my question is really about improving sound quality when I listen to DVDs. But thinking about how little time I actually spend listening to them, unless I can easily make a substantial improvement it's probably not worth it. One thing I'm not clear about. I know audio on DVDs is compressed and an AV processor/amp decodes it. I know this is for 5.1 but if I'm feeding it to my analo that some, admittedly expensive, DVD players have built in decoders, does that really improve the sound in stereo as well? I cannot believe how pathetic the sound on DVDs is compared to the sound I get playing CDs
	Quote

17-01-2006, 6:00 PM	#14
Hasty Guest Posts: n/a	Yes it's true I can be 'hasty' from time to time! I posted here, Anyone ditched 5.1 in favour of stereo? to make my question clearer. I hope you can get a direct link from this. Sorry if not. If someone could explain to me how I can link to another post I'd be really grateful!
	Quote