The Sony BDP-S300/301 Review Thread

[QwikSand]

Just a note to anyone having issues with movies on this player. I have been very fortunate to only have experienced dics that won't play twice and I have found that by unplugging the power to the player and waiting at least 30 seconds and then plugging it back in, movies may play, and it worked both times. So before you get frustrated and give up, try that. And of course make sure you have the latest firmware.

[Jarrod3]

Since buying this player, I had to update the firmware but I've had no problems playing any movies.

[Old Geezer]

Originally Posted by Jarrod3

Since buying this player, I had to update the firmware but I've had no problems playing any movies.

My experience exactly. Load times sometimes seem long but other than that I really like this player.

[leom_h]

I have just received one of these players free with a TV, so is new and still boxed.
My question is, do I sell this on ebay and put the money towards a newer model, or will I be happy with this for a few years?
I am a big movie fan, but I dont see me buying a great deal of BD's, more renting...

Thanks for your advice!

[Wolfie]

leom_h, you need the 3.95 firmware update to play certain movies. If you pm me, I will send you the disk and instructions.

Wolfie

[SS316SRV]

Originally Posted by Wolfie

leom_h, you need the 3.95 firmware update to play certain movies. If you pm me, I will send you the disk and instructions.

Wolfie

He could just burn them in 5 minutes and use that.

[leom_h]

Thanks guys.

But do you recommend keeping this, or selling it new and getting a later model. The temptation is to open it (as you can imagine!)

[didihala]

Originally Posted by leom_h

Thanks guys.

But do you recommend keeping this, or selling it new and getting a later model. The temptation is to open it (as you can imagine!)

If you ask me, I would sell it and get the BDP-S350. I have the S300, too slow even with the latest upgrades. I am either going with S350 or S550 (due out in fall).

Good luck

--------------
Sony STR-DA5300ES
Sony BDP-S300
Pioneer PDP-5050HD

[SS316SRV]

I am really happy with it. It can decode TrueHD and handle PCM tracks. The load times never really bothered me. My life is not important enough to worry about 2 min load times.

[leom_h]

To be honest, I live in the UK and there is no newer Sony BD player to get anyway! I guess there isnt really any other option but to keep it and maybe sell it at a later date if I cant live with the 'problems'.

[tron3]

Originally Posted by leom_h

Thanks guys.

But do you recommend keeping this, or selling it new and getting a later model. The temptation is to open it (as you can imagine!)

I'll tell you what my car dealer told me nearly 10 years ago. "Sure you can save some money if you don't get electric windows. But will you be happy with the car?" Basically, I got electric windows and I am happier with the car.

While I do wish the S300 was faster, it loads in about 30 seconds on non-BD-J disks. Worst movie is Independence Dat at about 2:30 with 3.95 firmware.

While I look forward to 4.x updates, I think the S300 is close to running out of speed tweaks. Either that or Sony is holding it back to encourage sales of the S350. I didn't expect to update my player at least until 2010. I don't want to double dip so soon.

[BluCheez]

I've been reading posts for a while regarding whether or not the S300 can really get Dolby TrueHD. I've read all of Paid's posts, and I'm uing his settings. Here is something that has made me a doubter: Dave Matthews.

My "Dave Matthews and Tim Reynolds- Live at Radio City" BD has the PCM (48kHz/24bit) and Dolby TrueHD (96kHz/24bit) options. Naturally, I tried the Dolby TrueHD first thinking that 96kHz should be superior to 48kHz. Surprisingly, when I switched to PCM, the sound was very noticably superior (IMO). This made me wonder if I really am getting the Dolby TrueHD when I have the HDMI setting on PCM. If I listened to the Dolby TrueHD track with a player like the S350, would it sound the same as on my S300?

Has anyone else experienced this? Any thoughts?

[Yeha-Noha]

Originally Posted by BluCheez

I've been reading posts for a while regarding whether or not the S300 can really get Dolby TrueHD. I've read all of Paid's posts, and I'm uing his settings. Here is something that has made me a doubter: Dave Matthews.

My "Dave Matthews and Tim Reynolds- Live at Radio City" BD has thePCM(48kHz/24bit) and Dolby TrueHD (96kHz/24bit) options. Naturally, I tried the Dolby TrueHD first thinking that 96kHz should be superior to 48kHz. Surprisingly, when I switched to PCM, the sound was very noticably superior (IMO). This made me wonder if I really am getting the Dolby TrueHD when I have the HDMI setting on PCM. If I listened to the Dolby TrueHD track with a player like the S350, would it sound the same as on my S300?

Has anyone else experienced this? Any thoughts?

When you compared the two tracks, how many channels did your AVR display for each input signal?

Actually the DD True HD track on that BD is not only 96 kHz sampling rate but also 5.1 channels. The PCM track is only 2.0. Depending on how your AVR is setup to handle PCM 2.0, you were either getting L R channels (stereo) or matrixed to 5.1 - 7.1 (DD PLIIx Music/Movie setting, DTS Neo 6.1 music/cinema, or your AVR's DPS fields.). I wouldn't use this concert BD as a test for whether the S300 decodes DD THD or not. Find a BD that has both DD TrueHD 5.1 and PCM 5.1. tracks. There are few that have both DD THD 5.1 and lossy DD 5.1 tracks that you can compare too. After you do that, then tell us if you have any doubts.

[BluCheez]

Originally Posted by rwojtalewicz

When you compared the two tracks, how many channels did your AVR display for each input signal?

Actually the DD True HD track on that BD is not only 96 kHz sampling rate but also 5.1 channels. The PCM track is only 2.0. Depending on how your AVR is setup to handle PCM 2.0, you were either getting L R channels (stereo) or matrixed to 5.1 - 7.1 (DD PLIIx Music/Movie setting, DTS Neo 6.1 music/cinema, or your AVR's DPS fields.). I wouldn't use this concert BD as a test for whether the S300 decodes DD THD or not. Find a BD that has both DD TrueHD 5.1 and PCM 5.1. tracks. There are few that have both DD THD 5.1 and lossy DD 5.1 tracks that you can compare too. After you do that, then tell us if you have any doubts.

Good points.

My AVR (Yamaha RX-V3800) shows only the two channels on PCM, but I am getting sound out of the rear speakers. I haven't put my ear to the rears yet, but it does sound like ambient crowd noise that is different from what is comming from the fronts. My AVR is set to "Standard Movie", so I suspect that any difference I'm "hearing" from the rears is imagined. I haven't experimented with any other settings like Neo. Do you have any suggestions for getting the best sound on PCM?

You may be right about this disk as not being a good disk for comparson purposes, but can you give an explanation why the BD sounds so much better to me on PCM compared to what is supposedly DD True HD? Does my ear just like the 2.0 chanel PCM better than the 5.1 DD TrueHD?

I have The Fifth Element that has both tracks... I'll have to do some comparing there.

[BluCheez]

Here is a question that I have not been able to find an answer to on this forum: should I set the HDMI audio setting (on the S300) to "auto" or "PCM" to get the best AQ for BDs with DTS HDMA?

I know that it has been suggested that S300 users can enjoy DD TrueHD if the setting is PCM. I also know that the player cannot bitstream DTS HDMA. So, again I'm wondering if I should just leave my player's setting to PCM all the time. Also, what if I am listening to my old DVDs? Auto or PCM?

[Yeha-Noha]

Originally Posted by BluCheez

Good points.

My AVR (Yamaha RX-V3800) shows only the two channels on PCM, but I am getting sound out of the rear speakers. I haven't put my ear to the rears yet, but it does sound like ambient crowd noise that is different from what is comming from the fronts. My AVR is set to "Standard Movie", so I suspect that any difference I'm "hearing" from the rears is imagined. I haven't experimented with any other settings like Neo. Do you have any suggestions for getting the best sound on PCM?

You may be right about this disk as not being a good disk for comparson purposes, but can you give an explanation why the BD sounds so much better to me on PCM compared to what is supposedly DD True HD? Does my ear just like the 2.0 chanel PCM better than the 5.1 DD TrueHD?

I have The Fifth Element that has both tracks... I'll have to do some comparing there.

If your Yamaha is like mine, yours probably has a decoder mode called 'straight'. This mode provides minimal signal processing but still uses the bass management settings: speakers small and bass sent to your subwoofers below the crossover frequency etc. You could use 'pure direct' but you won't get any video output, just audio which has no signal processing, not even bass management. If you used 'pure direct' you fronts will get the low bass too. Either one of these would be recommended for PCM 2.0 listening. Pure direct is really intended for playing back DVD-A or SACD discs. When I playback multichannel PCM 5.1 - 7.1 movies, I always use the 'straight' decoding mode. That's what I would recommend for listening to PCM tracks.

I am unable to give any specific explanation why the PCM sounded better than the DD TrueHD. But it is not uncommon for lossless 2.0 to sound better than lossless 5.1 especially when listening to music. That's why both tracks are there. Some people prefer to listen to music with only the fronts because it sounds better to them. It has nothing at all to do with 2.0 being better than DD TrueHD or vice versa. Some concerts just plain sound better in 2.0. I really don't know if any one can really explain why. There are a multitude of reasons why 2.0 PCM could sound better than DD TrueHD: recording techniques, microphone placement (sometimes this can be big compromise depending on the stage, setting.), mixing, etc just to name a few. There are lots and lots of variables to consider. That's the nature of recording live sound. It's an art.

The Fifth Element recording will do but make sure it's the remastered BD. I can't tell any difference between the PCM 5.1 and DD THD 5.1. However, I have read claims that the PCM sounded better and they weren't even using the S300 player. In theory they should sound the same. DD THD 5.1 once decoded is just PCM 5.1. If there is a difference, it's likely to be volume level.
So make sure the levels are the same when you switch between the tracks.
I would also make sure that your Yamaha decoder mode is set to straight.

[BluCheez]

Thanks! Are you saying that you don't use the "Movie" modes on your AVR at all? I would not have thought of using Straight for movies.

[Yeha-Noha]

Originally Posted by BluCheez

Here is a question that I have not been able to find an answer to on this forum: should I set the HDMI audio setting (on the S300) to "auto" or "PCM" to get the best AQ for BDs with DTS HDMA?

I know that it has been suggested that S300 users can enjoy DD TrueHD if the setting is PCM. I also know that the player cannot bitstream DTS HDMA. So, again I'm wondering if I should just leave my player's setting to PCM all the time. Also, what if I am listening to my old DVDs? Auto or PCM?

Yes, leave the HDMI setting on PCM.

What about old DVDs? Excellent question. This player decodes DTS 5.1 but not DTS 6.1, ES discreet. At least that's what I've found. My Yamaha displays six speaker icons on the front panel when I watch Gladiator and have HDMI set to PCM (thus the player is doing the decoding): LFE, L, C, R, SL, and SR. With HDMI set to AUTO, it displays 7 speakers: LFE, L, C, R, SL, SR, and SB. Here the AUTO setting bitstreams DTS 6.1 over HDMI and the Yamaha is doing the decoding. That's the only time I set HDMI to AUTO, when the source is DTS ES. It sure would be nice if Universal would release Gladiator on BD!

[Yeha-Noha]

Originally Posted by BluCheez

Thanks! Are you saying that you don't use the "Movie" modes on your AVR at all? I would not have thought of using Straight for movies.

You mean like 'Spectacle' , 'Sci Fi', 'Adventure', etc? No I don't care for those. If the source is 5.1 - 7.1 channels, usually I leave it on Straight. However, there here are a few movies that I prefer to have the surround decoder set to PLIIxMovie and get matrixed SBL and SBR channels. So I leave the EXTD SUR. setting in the Sound Menu set to PLIIxMovie instead of AUTO.

[leom_h]

I decided to keep the S300 I got free and not to sell it on eBay, and I must say I am impressed. It came with firmware 3.8 so I put on 3.95 and I was expecting very long load times, but they werent anywhere near as bad as I thought they would be. Firmware update in less than 10 minutes, and although it gave no indication it had finished, I learnt from this thred to recognise when it had. No HDMI cable included though - sneeky buggers. Good job I had a spare.

One thing I didnt expect - its a bloody huge piece of kit isnt it??! Are all Blu-ray players like this?

Thanks everyone for your help.