Pioneer 696, Only

Blue.Rocket

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Ok, so some are going to say this is already being covered, well if i like to spend half the night filltering through the other subject 490 & 696 with some 424 replies, it will just take to long, i have tried but it becomes confusing as all iam interested in is the 696.yet nearly all the time is related to the 490.

Back to the question.
Has anyone got this Pioneer 696 DVD player MR and how does it run, Picture Sound etc.Who's doing the best deal ?

Can we keep this one to ONLY Pioneer 696 please.It would be really helpful to those of us wanting to know more of this machine...
 
Good topic Blue Rocket, im also curious about the performance of the 696 only.

696 owners give us everything you got! :D
 
Ok first question for you guys:

If you had to pick one player would it be the Pioneer 696 or the Sony Dvp-ns76h? And why would you pick that player?

Price is not an issue.

I want to use one of those two players to connect it with HDMI to my LG 32LX2R but i dont know which one is the best.
 
Picking mine up around 6pm from Citylink.

I will hook it up tonight, and give you a short review.

It was £149 inc. delivery from multiregionmagic.


Spoony.
 
Blue Rocket
I purchased a 696 last week and so far I am very happy with the player. I bought it MR ready from Ask Direct for £129
http://www.askdirect.co.uk/uview?call=ask.productSearch&id=8241&topcatid=14
I'm no expert in the field but the picture quailty looks great to me upscaled to 720p via HDMI. The picture quailty did not look as good at 1080i but this could be down to the interlacer used in this player, but as I said I'm no expert.

There was a report that the 490 player has a picture shift issue where when upscaling the lines from the bottom of the screen are repeated at the top of the screen. I have seen no evidence of this from the movies I have watched on it.

The DIVX playback has so far been faultless and this player will upscale these files as well.

As for the sound I have it hooked up via an optical lead to my amp and I have no issues so far. I have not tried the SACD or DVD audio
I would recommend this player and for £129 I would say it's a bargin.
Just my opinion.
Oh and the player does not come with a HDMI lead.
 
Spoonman2 said:
Picking mine up around 6pm from Citylink.

I will hook it up tonight, and give you a short review.

It was £149 inc. delivery from multiregionmagic.


Spoony.

Look forward to your findings Spoony...
 
kinja said:
Blue Rocket
I purchased a 696 last week and so far I am very happy with the player. I bought it MR ready from Ask Direct for £129
http://www.askdirect.co.uk/uview?call=ask.productSearch&id=8241&topcatid=14
I'm no expert in the field but the picture quailty looks great to me upscaled to 720p via HDMI. The picture quailty did not look as good at 1080i but this could be down to the interlacer used in this player, but as I said I'm no expert.

There was a report that the 490 player has a picture shift issue where when upscaling the lines from the bottom of the screen are repeated at the top of the screen. I have seen no evidence of this from the movies I have watched on it.

The DIVX playback has so far been faultless and this player will upscale these files as well.

As for the sound I have it hooked up via an optical lead to my amp and I have no issues so far. I have not tried the SACD or DVD audio
I would recommend this player and for £129 I would say it's a bargin.
Just my opinion.
Oh and the player does not come with a HDMI lead.

£129 dam fine price if you ask me, thanks for the report,
Just one question, the multi region, is this via the remote control, as my 717 I had to drop in a code each time i wanted to view a different region, or is it once set it will play any region ?.

Thanks..
 
My first impressions:

Tiny player, that hardly weighs a thing.

My first worry was lip sync, as I seem to notice it more than others, it is spot on to me.

Hardly any difference between 720p, and 1080i in my opinion on my screen.. with 720p seeming slightly better.
1080i does not seem to have a problem at the top of the screen, as people mentioned the 490 maybe had a problem with it in the other thread.

It flicks through scenes very quickly, which is a good point.

The colours on Goldmember are almost popping out of the screen, especially the reds.

Am off to test some more dvd`s and throw some DIVX at it.

Will report back later with my findings.

If anyone wants me to look at something particular, then let me know.

Spoony.

P.S. Running a 2 metre HDMI-DVI lead into my LG 42" HD plasma
 
Before buying the player I rang and asked them if it was multi-region. They confirmed on the phone that they keep a stock of each and if they had no multi region models if was a 10 minute job to make them multi region.
I double checked with the guy in the shop when I picked them up that both the players I bought were multiregion, I also purchased a DVR-540HX at the same time. The outside of each of the boxes were marked with a sticker saying MR.
 
I ordered one from KK Electronics as they now have the silver ones in stock (£130 inc delivery/multiregion) at 4pm. They've already shipped it out and should be with me tomorrow. I'm impressed with their service so far.
 
damm i think i need to change my order Digital-Point are out of stock on
my black player
 
Spoonman2 said:
My first impressions:

Tiny player, that hardly weighs a thing.

My first worry was lip sync, as I seem to notice it more than others, it is spot on to me.

Hardly any difference between 720p, and 1080i in my opinion on my screen.. with 720p seeming slightly better.
1080i does not seem to have a problem at the top of the screen, as people mentioned the 490 maybe had a problem with it in the other thread.

It flicks through scenes very quickly, which is a good point.

The colours on Goldmember are almost popping out of the screen, especially the reds.

Am off to test some more dvd`s and throw some DIVX at it.

Will report back later with my findings.

If anyone wants me to look at something particular, then let me know.

Spoony.

P.S. Running a 2 metre HDMI-DVI lead into my LG 42" HD plasma

Nice one, thanks for the info .
If i have it right you are running the Hdmi from your 696 into your TV via DVI, if this is correct, are you able to upscale, 1080 720 etc ?.

cheers..
 
Spoonman2 said:
If anyone wants me to look at something particular, then let me know.

Xvid performace, both packed/unpacked bitstream please.
 
Blue.Rocket said:
Nice one, thanks for the info .
If i have it right you are running the Hdmi from your 696 into your TV via DVI, if this is correct, are you able to upscale, 1080 720 etc ?.

cheers..


Yes, and after a second opinion 720p does outshine 1080i, but its very close.
720P is more three dimensional also.
1080i is slightly softer, and less colourful.

Greg Manmdel: As far as packed xvid`s, and unpacked.... would you give me an idiots guide as to what they are please?

DIVX: Auto widescreen switching, nice picture, and all that I have played are in sync.Easy to use menus also :)

Spoony
 
Spoonman2 said:
Yes, and after a second opinion 720p does outshine 1080i, but its very close.
720P is more three dimensional also.
1080i is slightly softer, and less colourful.

Greg Manmdel: As far as packed xvid`s, and unpacked.... would you give me an idiots guide as to what they are please?

DIVX: Auto widescreen switching, nice picture, and all that I have played are in sync.Easy to use menus also :)

Spoony

Thanks again Spoony, its really helpful.
I should have asked how you are running your audio, I suspect via optical to your amp?.
Lip Sync, this has been one of my concerns when thinking of buying any other player..
 
Spoonman2 said:
Yes, and after a second opinion 720p does outshine Greg Manmdel: As far as packed xvid`s, and unpacked.... would you give me an idiots guide as to what they are please?

Most Xvids are "packed bitstream" as this is the default setting for the Xvid codec. Without going into details, it's to do with the ordering of the various types of frames in the encoded movie.

Most DVD players that can handle Mpeg 4/Divx have problems with this as technically the Xvid packed bitstream isn't part of the mpeg 4/xvid spec, and you end up with jerky playback.

To test it you can use Mpeg4 Modifier which will tell you if an xvid is using packed bitstream, and will enable you to unpack the bitstream without having to re-encode the whole file again.

Edit: It's just me being impatient really. If my player arrives tomorrow, then I'll check and tell you. :D
 
Blue.Rocket said:
I should have asked how you are running your audio, I suspect via optical to your amp?.
Lip Sync, this has been one of my concerns when thinking of buying any other player..


I am running coaxial into the Sony amp`.

And Greg that sounds like a great idea:devil: Mind you, have tested about a dozen without any noticable problems.

Any other questions?

Spoony
 
Just got mine - but not out of the shrinkwrap yet :(
...due to late night call from work. whattimeisit!?
Will also post any results as have been watching this forum (hawklike) and please when it became 696 only - too much reading going on!

Fingers crossed no sync issues
 
So HDMI to TV and coax to receiver works perfectly? This is the setup that WON'T work with the stupid Philips 5900 HDMI DVD player.

TIA :)
 
Thanks for the info Spoony! Its really helpfull to make my decision. It appears the problems with the dv-490 are gone in this 696 model. I guess we have a perfect player here? :)
 
I very much doubt that m8, bound to be something not quite right with it for the cheap price ;)
 
hehe lol..i still dont know which one to choose, the Sony Dvp-ns76h or this Pio :confused:

both are pretty equal in price and get good reviews but my feeling tells me to buy this Pioneer.
 
craig777 said:
I was heading towards the Sony 76, but finally ordered myself the 696 last night.

:)

Can you tell me why you picked the Pio instead of the Sony? Or just a feeling? :)
 

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