Cheesed off with my DVD32R!

[tony @ suffolk]

It's a lovely thing but it's just way too picky about the disks it'll play.

I can just about tolerate the fact that on a large percentage of disks it freezes at the layer change & I have to fanny about taking the disk out & selecting a scene later in the movie. But the wife's getting fed up & it's quite embarrassing when we've got folks round. The disks aren't faulty as such because both my Panny DVD Recorder & my old cheapo Pioneer player in the kitchen will play anything no problem. The Panny in particular has excellent picture quality, only marginally less than the Tag.

I'm now considering my options, and rather than wait for one of the HD formats to become a viable alternative I'm tempted to buy a reasonably good Denon & just use the Tag for CD playing duties, which it's fine with.

Decisions, decisions!

 

[scoobysti]

this is 1 reason why i would hesitate to buy a DVD32, althou i would dearly like to own 1 isnt there a software upgrade to sort it out or have you already done this??
i think the multi format machines like denon and pioneer are very good, its just a shame to have to go down that road.

Arcam do some cracking DVD players, i saw a FMJ27 on ebay go for £480 , i would think that would be close to your DVD32 (tho not on music)

 

[DanielB]

i think the multi format machines like denon and pioneer are very good, its just a shame to have to go down that road.

Layer change - With the latest mech this should not be a problem. But my pioneer and my denon are unable to play Pinkk Floyd Pulse 640Kb - but the DVD32R does

 

[tony @ suffolk]

Layer change - With the latest mech this should not be a problem. But my pioneer and my denon are unable to play Pinkk Floyd Pulse 640Kb - but the DVD32R does

Far as I'm aware, my TAG's already fitted with the latest mech. How to tell? Mine will play the Pulse 640kb, but doesn't like the disc! Had to try umpteen times to get he blasted thing to run.

 

[Nic Rhodes]

welcome to the cheesed off club. Considering how much these player were I think their reliability is a disgrace. I have had more problems with this machine than the rest of my DVD player 'collection' put together.

 

[scoobysti]

surely there is a solution to this problem, there are many after market modding companys who might be able to sort them out, or are they just too technical.

 

[Dr Udo Zucker]

Far as I'm aware, my TAG's already fitted with the latest mech. How to tell? Mine will play the Pulse 640kb, but doesn't like the disc! Had to try umpteen times to get he blasted thing to run.

Hi Tony, it might be worth double-checking that your DVD32R has the latest transport. You can verify this via the DVD32R's setup menu: press "setup" -> "5. show player information". Under "software version" you will find the application code followed by the transport's firmware. A "S58" behind the "/" will indicate that the latest drive is installed.

I am recommending this check because I have found the DVD32R /S58 to read almost everything I have "thrown" at it duing the years, even DVDs, I have recorded, and do not play on any of my other stand-alone (not PC) DVD players.

Hope it helps. Udo

 

[tony @ suffolk]

Thanks Udo, I'll take a look when I get home.

If I find I've got the old mechanism, how much to get it changed, I ask myself? (and anyone else who might know...)

 

[liam_b]

Last I knew IAG had done several peoples DVD32s for £800.

 

[tony @ suffolk]

Hi Tony, it might be worth double-checking that your DVD32R has the latest transport. You can verify this via the DVD32R's setup menu: press "setup" -> "5. show player information". Under "software version" you will find the application code followed by the transport's firmware. A "S58" behind the "/" will indicate that the latest drive is installed.

I am recommending this check because I have found the DVD32R /S58 to read almost everything I have "thrown" at it duing the years, even DVDs, I have recorded, and do not play on any of my other stand-alone (not PC) DVD players.

Hope it helps. Udo

OK, just checked & it reports "/058" which I guess means an old transport. Damn. What to do now? £800 is a lot of notes. Someone please justify why I should fork this out! How long will it take please folks?

 

[AMCross]

they (IAG) will quote approx 5/6 weeks

only you can justify the price it will prolong your viewing pleasure and will read 99.9% of the discs you throw at it but its not cheap

 

[tony @ suffolk]

Thanks for the info. folks. Looks like it's back to the good old dilemma again!

I accept there's nothing around at the moment to touch the TAG, but can I afford to wait for a year or so for HDDVD?

I'm about to take delivery of a Lumogen scaler/deinterlacer so it will be interesting to see what effect this has on PQ from my Panny DVD Recorder. Will it satisfy me? Probably not!

Why's life so complicated?

 

[wolfgang]

The best solution was to get an Oppo. Any disc that DVD3R has a problem with just transfer it over. Secondary function. As a reminder why you still need to keep the Tag for those special audio CDs in your collections.

 

[tony @ suffolk]

The best solution was to get an Oppo. Any disc that DVD3R has a problem with just transfer it over. Secondary function. As a reminder why you still need to keep the Tag for those special audio CDs in your collections.

Sorry, lost me on the first bit Wolfgang. What's an "Oppo" please?

 

[liam_b]

Oppo is low cost brand of DVD player which has surprisingly decent performance only on its HDMI output or when fitted with a SDI output modification. The DVD player area of this forum will give you almost everything you would want to know about them.

 

[tony @ suffolk]

They appear to be unobtainable at the moment Liam.

 

[Nic Rhodes]

The SDI Oppo 971 and the Oppo 970 will give a better picture than the Tag and all easily available in the UK.

 

[AMCross]

SDI Oppo 971 and the Oppo 970

christ Nic that has surprised me

 

[Nic Rhodes]

The 970 you use as a digital transport sending 480i or 576i to a VP. SDI is obvious but the DVI output from the Oppo ain't bad at all if you like 'Faroudja'. Many do, personally I prefer some other chips...

 

[Kevinc]

The SDI Oppo 971 and the Oppo 970 will give a better picture than the Tag and all easily available in the UK.

Agreed: I love my DVD32FLR, but only use it as a CD transport for which, used with the AV32R, it remains as good as anything I've heard. For DVDs, life has moved on and the Oppo definitely looks better to me... However, in my experience the Oppo can also be very picky on disks - unlike say my Panasonic DVD recorder which has an average picture but does play almost everything the Oppo rejects. The Oppo suffers from build quality which I would rate as pretty cheap. I had a Bravo D1 before that which was my first DVI output player c.2003: it had similar build quality to the Oppo (and it was exchanged twice in warranty due to terminal failures) and was good picture-wise though not as good as the Oppo. Life does move on.

 

[Nic Rhodes]

I find the Tag the 'picky one' wrt discs, my Oppos (3) have never failed on any disc and my Tag does but we all know the draw of a T2L player that we love..... and hate. But for video thinks have move one but the beauty of the Tag approach was the interlaced outputs are fully compatible with the latests VP, for great pictures, if they play all discs.

 

[tony @ suffolk]

For DVDs, life has moved on and the Oppo definitely looks better to me... However, in my experience the Oppo can also be very picky on disks - unlike say my Panasonic DVD recorder which has an average picture but does play almost everything the Oppo rejects. The Oppo suffers from build quality which I would rate as pretty cheap.

So the Oppo suffers from a similar pickiness with discs as the TAG!

This very morning I'm taking delivery of a Lumogen Scaler/Deinterlacer with SDI input & I notice "crtprojectors" sell an Opppo modified for this option at £350 or thereabouts. I know little about this, save what's explained on the aforesaid website.

Think for the time being I'll see how things work out using the Panasonic for anything the TAG won't play.

 

[Nic Rhodes]

The Oppo SDI does not work with the Lumagen (SiI thing). However if you pick up the phone, speak to Henry at CRT Projectors about the 970 (not listed on the web site), you may get a stunning alternative for allot less than £150 It is a 'universal' play all player with 480i / 576i HDMI outputs.

 

[tony @ suffolk]

The Oppo SDI does not work with the Lumagen (SiI thing). However if you pick up the phone, speak to Henry at CRT Projectors about the 970 (not listed on the web site), you may get a stunning alternative for allot less than £150 It is a 'universal' play all player with 480i / 576i HDMI outputs.

Thanks Nick. Guess it's the same player without the Faroudja gubbins which I won't need with the Lumagen. But will it too be "picky" about which disc it decides to play?

 

[Kevinc]

Thanks Nick. Guess it's the same player without the Faroudja gubbins which I won't need with the Lumagen. But will it too be "picky" about which disc it decides to play?

I have not tried enough DVDs in my TAG transport to be able to rate it for "pickiness" vs the Oppo (the TAG gets a lot of CD usage though!), but I would say that the Oppo is a lot pickier than my Panasonic DVD recorder and a lot pickier than other cheap players used by relatives (Toshibas, Samsungs etc) when it comes to rental discs. But it may just be I don't have a very good one!