Please help me choose = DMP-BD35 or BDP-S550

[ES_2008]

Hello everyone

Can somebody please help me choose either DMP-BD55 or S550?
Is there any important advantage to each?
I need the player to convert the lossless codecs to 5.1/7.1 PCM and send it via HDMI. I don't want to downmix 7.1 to 5.1 before sending it out

Performance is the most important thing for me. Personally I'm waiting for the eventual Denon or Pioneer universal player, but for now I need a reliable player with great performance in Blu-ray. I'm not big on Bonus view or BD-Live

Any help will be greatly appreciated
Thanks in advance

PS: My current player is a BDP-S1 but it doesn't convert DTS-MA to PCM for HDMI output so I have to get a new player.

[Stephan.klose]

Originally Posted by ES_2008

Hello everyone

Can somebody please help me choose either DMP-BD55 or S550?
Is there any important advantage to each?
I need the player to convert the lossless codecs to 5.1/7.1 PCM and send it via HDMI. I don't want to downmix 7.1 to 5.1 before sending it out

Performance is the most important thing for me. Personally I'm waiting for the eventual Denon or Pioneer universal player, but for now I need a reliable player with great performance in Blu-ray. I'm not big on Bonus view or BD-Live

Any help will be greatly appreciated
Thanks in advance

PS: My current player is a BDP-S1 but it doesn't convert DTS-MA to PCM for HDMI output so I have to get a new player.

Even the Panasonic DMP-BD 35 should be enough for you as it can convert DTS HD Master to PCM. (In 7.1). The 55 only has analogue outputs too which I guess you don't really need. I would stay away from Sony. Even though I never sold a single one to a customer on the account that the early models couldn't playback any HD Sound but my colleagues did and people weren't happy with them (Which had nothing to do with the Sound Issues).. There were also quite a few defective ones. Panasonic models on the other hand, we had never had any problems with them. Not a single one came back and the DMP-BD30 used to be our best selling player.
Enough with Business. I checked both of them out. The Panasonic simply is the better machine. It boots faster, has more options and the manufacturing quality is higher.

[ES_2008]

Originally Posted by Stephan.klose

Even the Panasonic DMP-BD 35 should be enough for you as it can convert DTS HD Master to PCM. (In 7.1). The 55 only has analogue outputs too which I guess you don't really need. I would stay away from Sony. Even though I never sold a single one to a customer on the account that the early models couldn't playback any HD Sound but my colleagues did and people weren't happy with them (Which had nothing to do with the Sound Issues).. There were also quite a few defective ones. Panasonic models on the other hand, we had never had any problems with them. Not a single one came back and the DMP-BD30 used to be our best selling player.
Enough with Business. I checked both of them out. The Panasonic simply is the better machine. It boots faster, has more options and the manufacturing quality is higher.

Thank you for you response
So do you think Panasonic has a better build quality? I've read in another forum that S550 is made in Japan and it is built better but I could be wrong

Thank you in advance

[Kage]

I did a comparison between the Panasonic DMP-BD55 and the Sony BDP-S550 at avsforums.com and they had a difference in pq. The BD55 had richer colors and shaper picture. The Sony BDP-S550 had more of a natural picture. I would be happy with either one, but I ended up with the S550 becuase of the build quality. Now here is the bad news on the S550, a few days ago the blu-ray drive failed to load blu-ray movies and I returned it back to Sony for a refund. I really had no use for the need of 7.1 channel analog audio outputs because for the comparsion I used HDMI to bitstream the audio to my Yamaha RX-V1800 receiver. I tried 3 Sony BDP-S350's a few months ago and I returned them because it produced yellow push on my display. Now I have the Panasonic DMP-BD35 and it has better pq than the S550 and S350.

For people who need the use of 7.1 channel analog audio outputs, my conclusion is that while the S550 is better built, it uses average quality parts. The BD55 is cheaper built, it uses high quality parts thus making it a better performer.

For people who do not require 7.1 channel analog audio outputs, my conclusion is that both the S350 and BD35 are the same in build quality, but the S350 uses lower quality parts. The BD35 uses high quality parts thus making it a better performer.

[Big N' Tasty]

I also recommend the Panasonic DMP-BD 35 .

[Yeha-Noha]

Originally Posted by Stephan.klose

Even the Panasonic DMP-BD 35 should be enough for you as it can convert DTS HD Master to PCM. (In 7.1). The 55 only has analogue outputs too which I guess you don't really need. I would stay away from Sony. Even though I never sold a single one to a customer on the account that the early models couldn't playback any HD Sound but my colleagues did and people weren't happy with them (Which had nothing to do with the Sound Issues).. There were also quite a few defective ones. Panasonic models on the other hand, we had never had any problems with them. Not a single one came back and the DMP-BD30 used to be our best selling player.
Enough with Business. I checked both of them out. The Panasonic simply is the better machine. It boots faster, has more options and the manufacturing quality is higher.

Thanks for that response. I had a similar question but instead of the S550, it was the DMP BD 35 vs the BDP-S350. Your answer still applies. I hope the two are comparable though price wise during the holiday shopping season in which case I will definitely get the Panny.

[ES_2008]

I think DMP-BD55 it is. I have no use for analog outputs but nevertheless I like the higher end BD55 over BD35
I've been happy with Sony products more (as well Panasonic), but it seems like it is Panasonic's turn this time

Thank you