DVD-Audio Player recommendation

T

TT9

Guest
Can someone recommend a DVD-Audio player to me please !?

I am looking for the BEST POSSIBLE audio reproduction. Has any such listening tests been done !?

I was thinking of a pioneer 868 as I fancy the HDMI thing as well for my Sim. Is this a good machine for audio playback. I have a DVD32R so am content enough with CD playback.

Also what exactly is a CD upsampler. Does this make a difference to regular cd playback ?

Thanks and Regards
Steve.
 
Hi Steve,

The Pioneer 868,and the Denon 2900 have both been rated as very fine DVD-A players,although a bit less useful as CD players,although I haven't heard either of these on DVD-A playback.

In the higher end players,the Meridian G series and 800 series,and the Linn Unidisk are again rated very highly,but none of these are anything less than very expensive players.

As for CD upsampling....this is currently being approached in 2 ways.
1.to simply upsample the CD data stream to 24/96 or 24/192,with no data interpolation(i.e. no attempt being made to fill in the missing data between 16bit 44.1kHz and 24 bit/96(or192)kHz.
This certainly does provide in many cases a useful increase in smoothness,whilst not losing depth in the soundstage.
2.The above,plus data interpolation using a DSP chip and proprietary algorithm...this is the method used by Perpetual Technologies,and has received a lot of good press in terms of sound quality from the high-end HiFi mags(and in my own experience,it does work extremely well)and comes close to DVD-A in terms of sound quality,but obviously in stereo only.
3.dCS in their latest firmware upgrades for the Elgar/Purcell combination(at about £10K plus)have added the capability to convert CD to DSD and process the data as SACD.

In short,CD upsampling,if done properly,and using interpolation can make an amazing difference to CD sound quality,even if it only approaches DVD-A(it could hardly be expected to better it,from a good DVD-A player).

It's also worth noting the current play-off between the various digital formats,and it may well be worth waiting a little to see how that all pans out...I certainly will wait,and be happy with a P/Tech upsampler/interpolator for the present,as it's sound quality(not just my opinion)equals that of some of the Levinson and Wadia DAC's,and goes a long way towards the dCS at a fraction of the cost.
 
I can highly recommend the Arcam DV89. Doesn't do SACD and plays cds to a reasonable degree but DVD-Video performance is outstanding as is the DVD-Audio performance.
 
Thanks for this info.

I have read much this weekend regarding Perpetual Technologies P1 box and must concede am tempted to purchase. The idea of regular cd's, albeit well produced ones, coming close to DVD-A seems too good an opportunity to pass. Do you know of any UK distributors !? Ideally I would like to loan one of these for a weekend but this does not look possible.

Also, most of the literature I have read matches up the P1 with the P3. I don't think I would go for the P3, and rely on the DAC's in my AV32R. I am getting this upgraded to DP as it is so this should suffice !?

Thanks and Regards,
Steve.
 
Sorry for taking a while to reply...other than the www.av123.com website,the only place I can think of to get Perpetual Technologies gear over here is via a seller called Connoiseur Audio on 08451661249,so they may well be worth a try.

I'd say that running a P1A via the Tag's dacs is a good compromise,but not as good as the P1A/P3A together,although the latter is a much more expensive option,and one that I've used myself very happily.
I've just changed the CD end of my system,as I don't use the AV system very much to play CDs,and now use the P1A/P3A with a Teac transport and an Earmax headphone amp....very nice,but perhaps a bit pricey for a headphone system!
 

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