which 668i or 757i - the difference

emad

Banned for trading fraud
Joined
Oct 5, 2003
Messages
303
Reaction score
0
Points
64
Age
54
Hi all

Need to enlist your help choosing a new DVD player to go with my plasma screen (Pioneer 504) and connect to Pioneer AX5i receiver.

I narrowed it down to the Pioneers 668i & 757i

I understand the HDMI advantage of the 668i especially with my 504 plasma, and also know of the i-link feature of the 757i connected to my AX5i amp.

I am not very technical and want to buy a descent player.

Both are going for the same price circa £400

Naturally the 868i with both HDMI AND i-Link would be the natural choice to go with the 504 and Ax5i - BUT - It is twice the price of the other two, IS IT twice the performance!!!!

Thanks for your help.
 
the reviews I have read state that there is little performance difference between the 668 and 868 in either video or sound, although the bigger brother just wins in picture terms (even via HDMI), and has a rather different sort of sound requiring auditioning to see which you'd like.

I get the impression that they are both a step up from the previous generation (including the 757).

I could have sworn i.link was also on the spec sheet for the 668, however????

Basically, HDMI seems to make a huge difference to the picture (although more so for projectors than plasmas), whereas i.link is only relevant if you are going to play a lot of SACDs/DVD-As, since normal CD and DVD-V sound cab go via a digital coaxial cable even if there is no i.link connection. If I had the choice I'd audition and see the differences for myself, but I suspect HDMI is a more important standard than i.link for movie watchers.

Of course, you could wait for the next generation Pioneer with both features for 400 dollars ;)
 
The 668 and 868 have better deinterlacing solutions than the older 757. They also don't suffer from the CUE as the 757 does. In my opinion, if you can use HDMI then go for the 668. iLink is only really useful with DVD-Audio/SACD, and even then SACD is down graded to PCM.
 
Sorry to digress slightly, but has anyone had a problem with a 757 going black and white on them. When I insert the Rolling Stones 40 Flicks DVD into the machine, the film is black and white and so are all the set up menu's until I remove the disc.
I'm using S-VHS, it is a region 2 disc in a UK sourced multi region player.
 
emad.....the 868 also has the built in scaler to 720P and 1080i !!
Both of the others lack this feature.
 
Originally posted by aimprod
Sorry to digress slightly, but has anyone had a problem with a 757 going black and white on them. When I insert the Rolling Stones 40 Flicks DVD into the machine, the film is black and white and so are all the set up menu's until I remove the disc.
I'm using S-VHS, it is a region 2 disc in a UK sourced multi region player.

I recall having had something like that with an old VCR. Your TV input might be set to Y/C instead of RGB or something like that?

If it is only that specific disc, I have no clue... I assume you mean S-Video connector, not S-VHS, by the way.
 
Hi V5 Doesn't the 668 also has 720P?! I was under the impression it scales to 720P
 
[/QUOTE]If it is only that specific disc, I have no clue... I assume you mean S-Video connector, not S-VHS, by the way. [/B][/QUOTE]

I did indeed mean S-Video, oops, is only that disc, or in fact any of the four in the set. I've brought it home again and put it in my 565 and it works fine.
It's a real drag as the room at work is really great in both sound and picture and I was looking forward to blowing myself away!

The wife won't let me turn it up enough at home, and work has a better screen and subwoofer.
 
If you are going to get a dvd player then just go for the 868i and be done with it.

its probaly the second best reasonable cost dvd player out there at present.

It does suffer from cue in progressive mode but not the same as a 757i did. infact it uses the same mpeg decoder as the Denon 2900. CUE will only be visible on a few disc, most disney ones infact, as they are not flagged right.
Sett the 868i to auto 2 for best pic


buy here for £799 deliverd which is one off the best prices i could find

http://www.discounelectricaldb.co.uk/catalog/catalog/product_info.php/cPath/32/products_id/469
 
I've just come back from a friends house who has just taken delivery of a 504HDE and a Yamakawa 365.

I really can't believe how good the player is with the DVI output set at 720P.

I'm getting an 868i to audition next week so will be able to do a side by side comparison.

Having seen the Yamakawa in action I don't think I'll be able to justify paying an extra £700 for the Pioneer.
 
me and some friends made a dvd test at my place using a Sony Hs10 projector.

DVDs:
Yamakawa (via DVI)
Denon 2900 (component)
Pioneer 757 (component)
Pioneer 656 (component)

Result:

Picture Performance:
Denon 2900
Pioneer 757 and 656 (identical)
Yamakawa

The yamakawa is a good player for the price but a DVI output doesn't mean the player is better than any component output of expensier players...
The denon 2900 was the better one but was also the one who had problems feeding discs...
 
I would imagine that on a big screen the differences will be even more noticeable.

I was ready to pay over £800 for an 868i (and still might) but from what I've seen today I'll really strugle to justify it to myself.

I've seen an 868i on a 504 and was impressed. I've now seen the Yamakawa and was impressed too.

I'll now have the chance to try them side by side. Probably not fair to expect much side by side but we shall see.
 
I've now got the 868i and will get it together with the Yamakawa in the next day or so.
 
Waiting for your results !!!!
Do you see the chroma bug most people are reffering to ?
 
I have never seen the chroma bug, I have the Pioneer 668i, and I've tested against several Disney movies too, including Finding Nemo, Monsters Inc etc etc.

I have seen it on other players though, an Arcam at the Bristol Show and an old Pioneer 737, also saw it on a denon machine but not one of the current range, that was a while ago and can't remember the model number.
 
Hi Eager.

Any update on the test? Also, where did you get the DVI to HDMI cable for the 365?

Regards.

Hazy.
 
Hi Eager.

Any update on the test? Also, where did you get the DVI to HDMI cable for the 365?

Regards.

Hazy.
 
Sorry for not reporting back.

The 868 is a quality player. It looks good and it works very well. PQ is excellent.

I really could not see the "chroma bug" on anything I put in it.

The Yamakawa on the other hand is very different. It feels cheap, probably because it is. It looks cheap because they didn't bother trying to make it look better.

The PQ is however excellent. OK, back to back the 868 has the edge on sharpness, colour reproduction and smoothnes but there is very little to complain about as far as performance is concerned.

The 868 is over £600 more than the Yamakawa. Personally I can't justify the difference.

All I want is a player that will do justice to the screen, the Yamakawa does this at a real bargain price.

For what it costs I can throw it away in a years time and have had my value out of it.

The DVI-HDMI cable is a Molex one. You can get them from Keene Electronics for about £30 for a 2m one.
 
What about the difference in sound quality?
 
Didn't try it on CD but on DVD it sounded the same to me. On blind tests my wife thought the Yamakawa was more detailed and a better controlled bass but to me it was the same.
 

The latest video from AVForums

Is 4K Blu-ray Worth It?
Subscribe to our YouTube channel
Back
Top Bottom