The Sony BDP-S300/301 Review Thread

[BluCheez]

Is 4.9 still the latest firmware?

[Octavio]

Originally Posted by BluCheez

Is 4.9 still the latest firmware?

Yes, that's the latest firmware update for this model, albeit apparently there is a new firmware update for european models. ver. 5.0

[SkinsFanLarry]

I have a Sony BDP-S300 and Crank 2 High Voltage will not play!

I have returned the disc to Target three times (two different stores) thinking that would help....no.

The Sony BDP-S300 does not have an input for a SD Card or USB stick....any advice or useful suggestions would be greatly appreciated my friends.

Can't take it back for my money or store credit because of the video piracy rules/laws once the disc is opened....more crap!

[tron3]

Originally Posted by SkinsFanLarry

I have a Sony BDP-S300 and Crank 2 High Voltage will not play!

I have returned the disc to Target three times (two different stores) thinking that would help....no.

The Sony BDP-S300 does not have an input for a SD Card or USB stick....any advice or useful suggestions would be greatly appreciated my friends.

...

If this is a problem with the Sony Firmware, all you can do is wait. If this problem is just you, unplug the player. Press the power button to drain the residual power. Wait a minute or two and plug back in. Check the setup options that they are what you want.

When my Wall-e stopped loading, though it worked before, this fixed it. Good luck.

[snowball_iv]

I own the S300 and i am about to buy a reciever either the pioneer elite 03 used from audiogon.com or the marantz 5003 new from 6ave.com
My questions are.
1. I assume that both can play dts-hd and truhd. I know the S300 can ony do truehd, so one of the reasons i am upgrading is to be able to play hd sound, just wanted to make sure these can do that.
2. Does anyone have suggestions which to buy?

[krisjan]

Originally Posted by snowball_iv

I own the S300 and i am about to buy a reciever either the pioneer elite 03 used from audiogon.com or the marantz 5003 new from 6ave.com
My questions are.
1. I assume that both can play dts-hd and truhd. I know the S300 can ony do truehd, so one of the reasons i am upgrading is to be able to play hd sound, just wanted to make sure these can do that.
2. Does anyone have suggestions which to buy?

Make sure the new AVR has an HDMI input. The S300 will decode TrueHD and send it as LPCM via HDMI only (not via analog). The display on the AVR WILL NOT display TrueHD but rather something like "Multich" indicating that its getting the decoded pcm from the S300. Note also that if a BD has an LPCM soundtrack (lossless) then that too will provide lossless audio. The only lossless audio you won't be able to experience with the S300 is DTS-MA.

[ninja1]

Originally Posted by krisjan

Make sure the new AVR has an HDMI input. The S300 will decode TrueHD and send it as LPCM via HDMI only (not via analog). The display on the AVR WILL NOT display TrueHD but rather something like "Multich" indicating that its getting the decoded pcm from the S300. Note also that if a BD has an LPCM soundtrack (lossless) then that too will provide lossless audio. The only lossless audio you won't be able to experience with the S300 is DTS-MA.

I bought YAMAHA AVR model RX-V765 (TrueHD and DTS HD MA internal decoders) and connected with S-300 via HDMI and set S-300 HDMI output as PCM, when I played BD movie (Transformers) and setup audio as TrueHD, AVR displayed that "surround decocoder is PCM" that mean I get HD sound or not.
Thank you in advance for answers. By the way I lived in Bangkok, Thailand and Blu-ray disc here in Bangkok is very expensive.

[krisjan]

Originally Posted by ninja1

I bought YAMAHA AVR model RX-V765 (TrueHD and DTS HD MA internal decoders) and connected with S-300 via HDMI and set S-300 HDMI output as PCM, when I played BD movie (Transformers) and setup audio as TrueHD, AVR displayed that "surround decocoder is PCM" that mean I get HD sound or not.
Thank you in advance for answers. By the way I lived in Bangkok, Thailand and Blu-ray disc here in Bangkok is very expensive.

Yes, based on your setup and settings, the player will be outputting decoded TrueHD sound as pcm to your AVR. Make sure that you have selected the TrueHD soundtrack when you play the BD (some BD's will default to the lossy Dolby or DTS audio tracks unless you select the lossless codec).

[ninja1]

Thank you.

[ninja1]

Originally Posted by krisjan

Yes, based on your setup and settings, the player will be outputting decoded TrueHD sound as pcm to your AVR. Make sure that you have selected the TrueHD soundtrack when you play the BD (some BD's will default to the lossy Dolby or DTS audio tracks unless you select the lossless codec).

I played BD movie(Knowing) and selected DTS HD soundtrack and set s300 to PCM. I know that s300 can not decodes DTS HD but the display on my YAMAHA AVR model RX-V765 (TrueHD and DTS HD MA internal decoders) showed "PCM" the same as selected True HD soundtrack. What that it means?

[krisjan]

Originally Posted by ninja1

I played BD movie(Knowing) and selected DTS HD soundtrack and set s300 to PCM. I know that s300 can not decodes DTS HD but the display on my YAMAHA AVR model RX-V765 (TrueHD and DTS HD MA internal decoders) showed "PCM" the same as selected True HD soundtrack. What that it means?

In the case of DTS-MA audio, the S300 will decode the core lossy DTS 5.1 track and deliver it to the AVR as pcm. So you are getting regular DTS 5.1 audio in this case.

[ninja1]

Originally Posted by krisjan

In the case of DTS-MA audio, the S300 will decode the core lossy DTS 5.1 track and deliver it to the AVR as pcm. So you are getting regular DTS 5.1 audio in this case.

I understand now, thank you

[krisjan]

New FW now available: http://esupport.sony.com/US/perl/swu...pl?mdl=BDPS300

[jomari]

Krisjan,

Glad to see you active on this board bud. Worked with you a while back in the other pond...

Thanks for the update.

[krisjan]

I swim in both ponds.

[drago3451]

Originally Posted by krisjan

New FW now available: http://esupport.sony.com/US/perl/swu...pl?mdl=BDPS300

Just ordered, Thanks.

[Octavio]

Just downloaded it and have already burned it on a CD-R. I'll update the player's firmware tonight later.
I don't own anymore the S-300 but I sold it to a girlfriend who is completely clueless about these kind of things.

[tron3]

I installed it Saturday. I haven't bothered to do any more loadtime tests. I just wanted to get away from 4.90.

[leom_h]

Im impressed that Sony are still supporting this player, they should get a lot of credit for that. Havent tried it yet though - could be rubbish

[jldhawk]

Originally Posted by leom_h

Im impressed that Sony are still supporting this player, they should get a lot of credit for that. Havent tried it yet though - could be rubbish

Well maybe they're not supporting it any more, I ordered the 5.20 disc direct from Sony, and they sent me 5.0
DO I need to try and re-order?