Sony BDP-S185 and SACD Playback

[Josh]

I'm looking for an inexpensive player to play my BD-Audio and SACD collection. Obviously, Sony is going to put SACD on all their machines (and according to the specs, on the BDP-S185 as well), and I see this machine is on sale for the next week.

Anyone have this player?

[Josh]

Well, I bit an ordered one yesterday, so I'll post some review once I get it set up. Amazon kept raising the price - it was $70, they jumped to $75, and after I ordered one jumped up to $80 - plus the wife wanted it installed by the end of the week so she can use it, and my new 24" LED for workout videos.

The only criticism I saw regarding the player is that the internet "apps" aren't the greatest, but since I won't be connecting it to a network, I'm not going to worry.

[Josh]

I got the player set up this morning, and it is a tiny, tiny player. I can't stress that enough. It looks more like a toy rather than a piece of hardware.

Anyway, after getting the player to output 24-bit, I enjoyed some Blu-ray Audio discs. However, I can't get the thing to recognize SACDs. The website says it does, but Sony Support is telling me it doesn't. This sucker may be going back.

[PrivatePixel]

Originally Posted by Josh

I got the player set up this morning, and it is a tiny, tiny player. I can't stress that enough. It looks more like a toy rather than a piece of hardware.

Anyway, after getting the player to output 24-bit, I enjoyed some Blu-ray Audio discs. However, I can't get the thing to recognize SACDs. The website says it does, but Sony Support is telling me it doesn't. This sucker may be going back.

I checked the specs posted on this player in the SONY Store (for the BDP-S185) and it does not appear to support SACD; however, all of their other players do, from the S380 to the S780.

SONY BDP-S185 audio features:

[HDTV1080P]

Originally Posted by PrivatePixel

I checked the specs posted on this player in the SONY Store (for the BDP-S185) and it does not appear to support SACD; however, all of their other players do, from the S380 to the S780.

SONY BDP-S185 audio features:

You are correct the Sony BDP-S185 is the only Sony standalone Blu-ray player introduced in 2011 that does not play SACD’s. I looked through the manual and there is no mention of DSD output or SACD. But the specs for the Sony BDP-S185 under the “Audio Features” says “SA-CD:”. It should say “SA-CD: No” but it is confusing when it lists “SA-CD:”. All other Sony 2010 and 2011 Blu-ray players that offer SACD will say “SA-CD:Yes” in the specs.

If you return your BDP-S185 you can get the Sony BDP-S480 that offers DSD output with SACD support.

[HDTV1080P]

Since Amazon lists the Sony BDP-S185 as having SA-CD feature you can return the item to them for a full refund and they will pay for the shipping since the specs on their site are incorrect (You need the original retail box, manaul, etc). I do not blame Amazon since the Sony website is confusing and until I researched the instruction manual I also thought this player had SACD support.

http://www.amazon.com/Sony-BDP-S185-...5968591&sr=8-1

[ZoetMB]

Originally Posted by HDTV1080P

You are correct the Sony BDP-S185 is the only Sony standalone Blu-ray player introduced in 2011 that does not play SACD’s. I looked through the manual and there is no mention of DSD output or SACD. But the specs for the Sony BDP-S185 under the “Audio Features” says “SA-CD:”. It should say “SA-CD: No” but it is confusing when it lists “SA-CD:”. All other Sony 2010 and 2011 Blu-ray players that offer SACD will say “SA-CD:Yes” in the specs.

If you return your BDP-S185 you can get the Sony BDP-S480 that offers DSD output with SACD support.

Sorry, it says Audio Features: SA-CD. If Sony meant to state that it doesn't have SA-CD, then either SA-CD should be removed entirely from the list or it should say "No". As far as I'm concerned, this is false advertising. I think EVERYONE who buys this player should hassle Sony over it. Make them take it back and pay shipping both ways or replace it with a player that has SA-CD even if you don't use it.

I've noticed for a long time that the technical specs listed on the Sony website are inconsistent and I've complained to Sony about it, but of course they didn't change anything. For a big "a-list" company, the web sites are poorly written and maintained. Sony needs to do better.

Their customer service sucks as well. I never even got a reply from my last email to them about a problem I'm having with my TV.

Now having said all that, Sony has a history of abandoning products that aren't successful for them. In the theatrical presentation business, Sony pushed their digital audio format, SDDS. However, in terms of theatres adopting the format, it came in #3 after Dolby and DTS. So one day, Sony decided to stop making any new models and soon after withdrew support for existing models. While most 35mm films still come with all three formats + a Dolby optical track ("quad format"), there aren't too many theatres left with the SDDS equipment, especially since many theatres are pulling out their 35mm projectors entirely and replacing them with digital projectors.

But having said that, SACD was a complete failure for Sony, so why should they include it in future players, especially low-end ones? Only a tiny percentage of users would ever use it and those who would are unlikely to buy a low-end player in the first place. So few audiophile format CDs are sold that the RIAA doesn't even bother to track them anymore.

J&R, the last large independent record store in NYC, lists about 131,000 products online. Out of those, they list 6400 vinyl LPs, yet they list only 108 SA-CDs, but only 59 of those are in stock. I can't tell how many are on Amazon because searching SACD brings back lots of false hits, but Music Direct, an SACD specialist, lists only about 600. For all practical purposes in the U.S., it's a DEAD FORMAT. I love my SA-CDs, but the market didn't. Time to get over it. BD Audio is probably a better format at this point anyway, not that that's going to be successful either.

[Josh]

I ended up keeping the player. I hung my 40" in the bedroom, and Monoprice had a cheap DVD player rack that hanges from their mounting hardware. The BDP-S185 fits on there nicely, so I left it.

The PS3 that was in the bedroom went in the basement on my 2.0 system so that I can listen to my SACDs and BD-Audio discs. No my ideal solution, but it works!

[Alhlan Ain Ajeeba]

Hey guys, a friend visiting me from the US bought me this as a gift for my region A needs here in Italy. My question is, can I expect this player to last me at least 2 years ?

[OrlandoEastwood]

Do you know if this player is indeed 220V compatible? If not, you'll need a good transformer box for the voltage. In terms of lasting, I had an external BD-ROM drive that lasted me three years before I accidentally broke it while cleaning.

[Alhlan Ain Ajeeba]

Originally Posted by OrlandoEastwood

Do you know if this player is indeed 220V compatible? If not, you'll need a good transformer box for the voltage. In terms of lasting, I had an external BD-ROM drive that lasted me three years before I accidentally broke it while cleaning.

All I needed was this small EU plug thing to plug the american plug in, works like a charm.

[BeardFan]

Originally Posted by Alhlan Ain Ajeeba

Hey guys, a friend visiting me from the US bought me this as a gift for my region A needs here in Italy. My question is, can I expect this player to last me at least 2 years ?

I bought this player when it came out last year, because it was the cheapest region A option. Also bought the same model for region B (as it was REALLY cheap and using the same remote is nice).

So far everything runs smooth for about a year. Has played all discs so far, good picture quality, very good sound on my analog 2.0 equipment. And it has up to 120ms time shift for audio, which my old player hadn't at all.

The S185 definitely gets my recommendation as a cheap entrance level blu-ray player.

Edit: and no display is actually a plus in my opinion, no distraction and lesser power consumption

[Alhlan Ain Ajeeba]

Originally Posted by BeardFan

I bought this player when it came out last year, because it was the cheapest region A option. Also bought the same model for region B (as it was REALLY cheap and using the same remote is nice).

So far everything runs smooth for about a year. Has played all discs so far, good picture quality, very good sound on my analog 2.0 equipment. And it has up to 120ms time shift for audio, which my old player hadn't at all.

The S185 definitely gets my recommendation as a cheap entrance level blu-ray player.

Edit: and no display is actually a plus in my opinion, no distraction and lesser power consumption

Thanks for the input. May I ask how often you use it ?

[BeardFan]

I use the region B nearly every day. At least 2 hours per day on average. Probably more than 600 hours so far since October. The region A gets used a lot less since only a small part of my collection is region A only.

Depending on the disc, sometimes the drive sound is a little louder than usual, but that was the same with my old player.

But hey, even if it breaks some day, it was less than 70€. And even the region A was only 140€ including taxes, handling and shipping from the US. Most people spend more on their hardware.

[Alhlan Ain Ajeeba]

Originally Posted by BeardFan

I use the region B nearly every day. At least 2 hours per day on average. Probably more than 600 hours so far since October. The region A gets used a lot less since only a small part of my collection is region A only.

Depending on the disc, sometimes the drive sound is a little louder than usual, but that was the same with my old player.

But hey, even if it breaks some day, it was less than 70€. And even the region A was only 140€ including taxes, handling and shipping from the US. Most people spend more on their hardware.

Thanks for posting. Hoping to get at least 2 years out of this Sony. My region B Samsung is now on 3 years with no problems.

[Alhlan Ain Ajeeba]

Is there any way to get this player for just "dvds" to be region free?

[BeardFan]

I have bought one of these for my region B model:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Sony-Blu-R...item4d028eb201

Made it DVD region free without problems. I think instructions said that it would only work on European models, but maybe there's an US equivalent?

[Alhlan Ain Ajeeba]

Originally Posted by BeardFan

I have bought one of these for my region B model:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Sony-Blu-R...item4d028eb201

Made it DVD region free without problems. I think instructions said that it would only work on European models, but maybe there's an US equivalent?

Thanks, ill look into it.

[Andrew-Kenneth]

Originally Posted by ZoetMB

But having said that, SACD was a complete failure for Sony, so why should they include it in future players, especially low-end ones? Only a tiny percentage of users would ever use it and those who would are unlikely to buy a low-end player in the first place. So few audiophile format CDs are sold that the RIAA doesn't even bother to track them anymore.

J&R, the last large independent record store in NYC, lists about 131,000 products online. Out of those, they list 6400 vinyl LPs, yet they list only 108 SA-CDs, but only 59 of those are in stock. I can't tell how many are on Amazon because searching SACD brings back lots of false hits, but Music Direct, an SACD specialist, lists only about 600. For all practical purposes in the U.S., it's a DEAD FORMAT. I love my SA-CDs, but the market didn't. Time to get over it. BD Audio is probably a better format at this point anyway, not that that's going to be successful either.

You could check out http://www.sa-cd.net/home
This site lists about 7900 SA-CD's with links to various online sellers that have them in stock.

As far as the general consumer is concerned I agree that SA-CD is a dead format.