Arcam DV88 Vs Denon 2800II Side by Side review, My thoughts.

I take your point. I had just assumed that the VI would be the upgraded V.

In that case, if/when the true replacement for the V comes out without the bug, it'll be hard to beat :)
 
Can I just pick up on something that seems to have caused confusion here as well. The talk has been about CUE and the presence of it on Vaddis chipset.

Some have suggested that as Sil and Sage chipsets are available and don't have this "feature" they should be used in a £1000 player. At least that was my understanding of the discussion. Can I point out that the Vaddis chipset is an MPEG decoder with built in de-interlacing capability. The SIL/Sage chipsets are NOT MPEG DECODERS. They are just de-interlacing chips. The CUE is a feature of the MPEG chipset not the de-interlacer.

Good thread though. P.S £210 for a metre length of component cable is BONKERS.........

Gordon
 
John,

Thanks for the facts in your educational post regarding the Zoran Vaddis 5 chipset; as you say, a little knowledge is a very dangerous thing indeed...

Interesting to hear that you feel the vaddis 5 has the best built in deinterlacer on the market, yet the DV27 uses the Sil504....what do you do to the DV27 to enable it to output (IMO) a better quality progressive image?

Also keen for info on DVD-A upgrade for my 88Plus.

Thanks
 
Hi Bish - I said the best "built-in" deinterlacer on the market - i.e. it is included inside the main chipset thus saving a lot of money for all of us because there is no need for a separate card with the SiI503/4, extra video DACs and supporting circuitry to be added. The latter is fitted to the DV27 product family and leads to slightly better (PS) video IMO plus the ability to run interlaced and PS video simultaneously - you pay your money and take your choice :)

I'll come back to the Forum with the deals on upgrading players when they are completely finalised. We've been really busy on other stuff which is why this has had to take a back seat temporarily. I trust you will understand.

John Dawson (Arcam)
 
Originally posted by nathan_silly
AFAIK Jitter only affects PCM. It does not effet DD/DTS.

And anyway, I don't care about the quality of the DVD player DAC's- never use 'em.

For AV- digital out to processor

For CD- I've got a seperate CD player/high quality DAC.

Jitter does NOT only effect PCM but it probably fair to day it effects PCM more than packeted signals but DD/DTS differences are easy to hear. Just pick a range, say Denon,and run through the range and you will hear differences despite 'identical 0s and 1s being transmitted).

If you don't use DVD DACs then it is even more important as you mush the signal through SPDIF etc etc. At least with internal DACs they don't have to go through all this extra processing. (DVD / CD players don't communicate with SPDIF internally).
 
Gordon/John - thanks

You sometimes have to bear with me on this board, im not new to this AV lark but im by no means a chipset professor! :)
 
Ok Guys, My final verdict is in on Both players after a few hours last night swapping between the two using Componant outputs.

Firstly the Denon 2800mkII,
Picture quality was a little better using the componant outputs, and i like the Denon picture a lot. I did take time to make sure I used Video essentials to get the picture as good as possible. Again it was the little niggles with Lipsynch that annoyed me, drooping out, catching up again etc. I also noticed the problem with pixelation again with grey blobs appearing now and again during dark scenes, and in fast moving scenes as well, very annoying considering just how good this player should be.
Afraid it is a non starter with me.

Next the arcam, and the biggest improvement.
The picture was just brilliant with this machine. Not as detailed as the Denon, but certainly not that far behind. I also managed to get R2 to work (yes craig told me i needed a code). Edges were sharper, detail was more noticable, and flesh tones just looked so natural, what a change. I had fun switching the iscan back and forth between s-video and componant and noting the differences.
Now i also noticed another problem with the arcam, and maybe John can give an explanation. Watching a dts track, the audio kept dropping out now and again, like that of a layer change, but every few minutes through the movie, i tried this again with DD and again the same problem arrrggg. Annoying or what. Just when i thought i was getting some where something else rears its head. Can i not win.

At this stage i will be returning the Players to Sevenoaks, and will not be buying either, at this point. They are both good, but each have their own little issues, and to be honest at this price range i am surprised that these problems exist! I think I will be looking at some more machines over the next few weeks to get a fair idea of what is out there, and there performances against the two i have had the pleasure of demoing at Home. Big thanks to Craig and Neville at 7Oaks Newcastle for their efforts so far, just goes to show how having enthusiasts running a business they are interested in, makes all the difference to positive customer relationships. Many slate dealers, i couldn't live without mine....


Many reading this may think that I have changed my opinion 180` But then thats the beauty of having the machines for a few days, and actually living with them in normal use.(the componant leads did make a difference on the Arcam by some margin though).
 
Phil any chance you can try out the Pioneer 656A, Pioneer 747ai, and Panasonic RP-91? (Panny's are supposed to have no Chroma bug problem)

And possibly the higher range Tosh's (900 & 9500)
 
My local 7oaks boys are great too.

I've had a few drop outs in DTS with my DV88 but never as bad as every other minute. Never happened in DD either. Would love to hear what causes it as it annoys the arsecheeks off me.
 
It sounds like the drive either is playing up (quite poss if its the shop loan machine).. or they need to upgrade the software.. I believe it should be 1.81 for a DV88 and 3.00 for the DV88+.

Bit surprised that they would loan out a DV88 when the current model is now the DV88+??

Cheers

Matt
 
The Arcam is going to have the best sound quality of these things...I'm pretty confident about that. For some nutter information about picture quality have a look at this link. It's the two guys who did my ISF course, Messrs Jim Burns and Jim Doolittle, talking about the RP91!

I have a US spec, multi-region unit on order myself.....

http://www.digitalfilmforum.com/6/u...72600431&m=1356072671&r=6416085671#6416085671
 
Originally posted by nathan_silly
Phil any chance you can try out the Pioneer 656A, Pioneer 747ai, and Panasonic RP-91? (Panny's are supposed to have no Chroma bug problem)

And possibly the higher range Tosh's (900 & 9500)

I don't think so, my dealer are running a business not a supplier of review machines, but one or two on your list may get a viewing, if I decide to look at them. I trust craigs opinions on what to try (has not been wrong so far) so hopefully he will have some ideas when i see him in the next few days. I will of course let you know how things develop.
 
Originally posted by Gordon F
The Arcam is going to have the best sound quality of these things...I'm pretty confident about that. For some nutter information about picture quality have a look at this link. It's the two guys who did my ISF course, Messrs Jim Burns and Jim Doolittle, talking about the RP91!

I have a US spec, multi-region unit on order myself.....

http://www.digitalfilmforum.com/6/u...72600431&m=1356072671&r=6416085671#6416085671


Gordon, just looking for the smilie with the hand sweeping over his head.

What is the RP1? Where do you get one?
 
Originally posted by Matt Horne


Bit surprised that they would loan out a DV88 when the current model is now the DV88+??

Matt

'cos its a cheap ex-demo model, as was the Denon, my budget was £600. May have to look at revising this however.
 
RP91 is a US spec machine. Not sure if they do a UK model the same.....I am only buying it as it has DVD-A capability and has a superb MPEG decoder for SDI output modification. Mine is coming from KeyDigital in USA.

Basically what the Jim's are saying and those pics are showing is that once the contrast/brightness/colour and sharpness controls in the unit are set correctly the RP91 has the most accurate measured output they have seen (they have not measured all units of course). For instance....I often go to installations and discover that the contrast and brightness settings on DVD280/3800 are set in such a way that they crush white level detail. This is unrecoverable by adjusting the processor or display controls.....

Gordon
 
I think that software version 3 will fix the dts dropout issue for you on the dv88+.

thanks

CaM
 
Originally posted by camlogan
I think that software version 3 will fix the dts dropout issue for you on the dv88+.
If you read the thread ... it's a DV88 (no P or plus!!).
 
Phil,
Best image I've seen is from an RP91 through a Fara 3000 (with G70). I'm confident that when my SDI moded RP91 arrives it will look even better through the HD Leeza :eek:

What I (and I suspect Gordon) really want to see is what the Leeza does with 1080i :smoke:
Should be very interesting.

I'm installing an all Lexicon system over the weekend MC12B, LX7 amp and the new RP10 DVD player. I'll post my thoughts on this Pioneer based player at some point next week.
 
I'm installing an all Lexicon system over the weekend MC12B, LX7 amp and the new RP10 DVD player. I'll post my thoughts on this Pioneer based player at some point next week.
that wil be most helpful, i'm thinking of getting the lex dvd player later in the year! a review by an established forum member much more important to me that ANY mag, all this sucking up will lead to a power buy on it right?;)
 
Thanks and will do.
The RT10 arrived this morning. Opened the box to check it out.
First impressions....Very Sexy :eek:

Some testing this weekend and will post some more in a few days.
 
Bump as someone is asking the same questions
 
Eric

what did you think of the Lex RT10? Interested in the SACD / DVDA side of it

thanks
Darren

p.s. If it is great any chance of a powerbuy :smashin: ;)
 
I was trying to find the equivalent of the Panasonic RP82 over here, and found the RA82 - specs look the same, as does the player itself.

Only downside is that the UK versions appear to have scart instead of component, so that elimonates the option of progressive scan and connecting it up to my projector. :(

I'm guessing other similar UK models will be the same.

Gary.
 

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