The Sony BDP-S300/301 Review Thread

[tron3]

Originally Posted by leom_h

....

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.

The first couple of generations are big. The S300 is 2nd generation. The S350 and 550 are 3rd generation and I hear are much smaller. More on par with larger DVD players.

I look at it this way, big as a tank - built like a tank.

[J.Cornelius]

I
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.[/QUOTE]


I agree the PCM 5.1 and the DD THD 5.1 should sounds exactly the same.

[blurayisking]

If you want to test the BDP-S300 for whether it can actually decodes Dolby TrueHD then the disc to try is V FOR VENDETTA.

Listen to the Dolby Digital 5.1 (sound option 1) via HDMI versus the Dolby TrueHD (sound option 2) via HDMI (player set for PCM output)

Choose either the early scene where " V " blows up the building while Eavy
is on the roof OR at the end of the film when the government buildings are destroyed.

Clearly the two audio tracks are different so the BDP-S300 player is definitely recognizing one track from the other. Whether the Dolby TrueHD track bitstreamed from the new BDP-S350 model via HDMI to my HDMI equipped receiver (that can decode Dolby TrueHD) will sound exactly the same is open for discussion. That I hope to test in the very future when I can obtain the BDP-S350 model.

[BluCheez]

I've read in a table posted on the BDP-S350 review thread that the 300 has HDMI 1.1 and the 350 has 1.3. Does anyone know what the main advantages of 1.3 are? What are we missing with our 300s?

[JasonR]

Bitstream capabilities...

[Carlsberg19]

Originally Posted by 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.

Yea i have this issue time and again, for a new player you shouldnt have to unplug the power and put it back on again for a movie to "possibly" work...sony obviously didnt test this player enough, instead they just threw it out there on the market

[Fatboymart]

Please help.

I am currently in the middle of the BDP-S300 firmware patch 395 install.
Over an hour ago the tray opened (as per instructions)and nothing has happened since. I read not to touch the player during this process, don’t you think an hour is now excessively long to wait?



Regards

Fatboy

[JasonR]

Hit the power button. It will come on and say DL OK.

[Fatboymart]

Thanks Jason.

I only bought the machine yesterday, £99 (approx $210). after reading this forum for a while I decided to use it as a replacement for my old DVD player that had seen better days.

I'm looking forward to a player that enables me to play DTS in all its glory later in the year.

thats again

Fatboy

[Fatboymart]

Another stupid question which I guess I already know the answer too:

AFAIK the BDP-s300 has HDMI 1.1 capability - which if I understand it correctly cannot decode true Dolby HD and DTS master.

Does this mean with current technology a future firmware upgrade will add 1.3a capability and HD audio?

Regards

Martin

[BluCheez]

Originally Posted by Fatboymart

Another stupid question which I guess I already know the answer too:

AFAIK the BDP-s300 has HDMI 1.1 capability - which if I understand it correctly cannot decode true Dolby HD and DTS master.

Does this mean with current technology a future firmware upgrade will add 1.3a capability and HD audio?

Regards

Martin

From what I gather the S300 will never be HDMI 1.3. Much has been posted about the 300 being able to internally decode DD True HD. PaidGeek, an "industry insider", claims that if you have your HDMI audi setting on the S300 set to PCM (not auto) that the player will decode and send DD True HD to your AVR. Give it a try. Personally, I'm not convinced that this is really happening... Note that your AVR will read PCM and not DD True HD. DTS HDMA is another matter. This requires HDMI 1.3, so this will never be available on the 300. The S350 and soon to be released S550 are 1.3. The 350 can bitstream DTS HDMA, and the 550 can internally decode it. Both internally decode DD True HD.

Cheers.

[Rick1984]

I contacted Sony by live-chat some days ago, and asked them if the BDP-S300 is HDMI 1.1 or 1.3, i even asked him to confirm it on the end of the conversation.. And he said it has HDMI 1.3.

Either Sony employee's are dumb, or we have it wrong

[Yeha-Noha]

Originally Posted by Rick1984

I contacted Sony by live-chat some days ago, and asked them if the BDP-S300 is HDMI 1.1 or 1.3, i even asked him to confirm it on the end of the conversation.. And he said it has HDMI 1.3.

Either Sony employee's are dumb, or we have it wrong

Lets suppose that it is HDMI 1.3 compliant. That just means that the cable has enough single link bandwidth to support DD TrueHD and DTS-HD MA bitstreams. That doesn't mean at all that the player bitstreams both of these. But if it did, it would need an HDMI 1.3 cable. It doesn't make a bit of difference in the case of the S300. It simply doesn't bitstream either one. So it's a mute issue to speculate or even care whether the S300 is connected to an AVR with HDMI 1.1, 1.2, or 1.3. HDMI 1.1 will do just as well as 1.3. When you buy a cable just get HDMI 1.3 anyway. Someday you are likely to buy a player like the S350 that will bitstream those and so you won't have to buy another cable.

[SS316SRV]

Originally Posted by tron3

I look at it this way, big as a tank - built like a tank.

I get the feeling that my S300 will never die.

[Tonedeaf]

Go to this link for info on what codecs the 300 and any other BR player will and won't do.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showp...98&postcount=1

The lack of support for Dolby TrueHD and DTS HDMA is why I dropped the Sony in favor of the Samsung 1400.

[BluCheez]

Originally Posted by rwojtalewicz

Lets suppose that it is HDMI 1.3 compliant. That just means that the cable has enough single link bandwidth to support DD TrueHD and DTS-HD MA bitstreams. That doesn't mean at all that the player bitstreams both of these. But if it did, it would need an HDMI 1.3 cable. It doesn't make a bit of difference in the case of the S300. It simply doesn't bitstream either one. So it's a mute issue to speculate or even care whether the S300 is connected to an AVR with HDMI 1.1, 1.2, or 1.3. HDMI 1.1 will do just as well as 1.3. When you buy a cable just get HDMI 1.3 anyway. Someday you are likely to buy a player like the S350 that will bitstream those and so you won't have to buy another cable.

Is there a marking on the HDMI cable that indicates if it is 1.1, etc? When I purchased my home theatre, I had no clue about the different types of HDMI. I threw out the box, so I'm not even sure what type of HDMI cables I bought.

Also, I was under the impression that it wasn't the cable that is 1.1 or 1.3, it was the components that the cable connected. Am I way off here?

[Fatboymart]

Thanks BluCheez

The 300 didn’t cost much, so an upgrade in the future is on the card’s anyway, I was living in hope

Although my Yamaha DSP-AX1 is a few years old I didn’t really want to get rid of it just yet. I was hoping the 300 would output DD TrueHD – maybe purchase a true HD processor and hook it up that way to the DSP-AX1 (as I remember doing in the old days with pro-logic)

The boss says the only way I’m going to get an upgrade this year is if I can move the Yamaha on eBay.

Right – where did I leave that Yamaha box...

[Fatboymart]

Originally Posted by Tonedeaf

Go to this link for info on what codecs the 300 and any other BR player will and won't do.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showp...98&postcount=1

The lack of support for Dolby TrueHD and DTS HDMA is why I dropped the Sony in favor of the Samsung 1400.

Hi Tonedeaf.

I followed the link above and came upon the 300 BD. I notice the 300 will output DD+ via analogue connections.

My question then is: Is DD+ better than the compressed 5.1 bitstream I’m currently sending to my Yamaha from the optic/coaxial outputs on the BD and should I therefore make use of these analogue outputs and input them into the Yamaha if this is possable?

Sorry, Sooo many questions

[Yeha-Noha]

Originally Posted by BluCheez

Is there a marking on the HDMI cable that indicates if it is 1.1, etc? When I purchased my home theatre, I had no clue about the different types of HDMI. I threw out the box, so I'm not even sure what type of HDMI cables I bought.

Also, I was under the impression that it wasn't the cable that is 1.1 or 1.3, it was the components that the cable connected. Am I way off here?

I never looked for such. The packaging and labeling made it clear enough whch type it was. I wouldn't be too concerned about that anyway unless you are for sure sending DD THD or DTS-HD MA bitstreams to your AVR through that cable. The only other specification that could make a little difference with the 1.3 or 1.3a cables are the color space. If your HDTV is 1.3 ready, then you'd be better off using 1.3 for the connections if you want to get brilliant and more vivid colors.

The cables are 1.1 - 1.3 for the different devices that need them. They are also backwardly compatible. That is you can use a 1.3 cable on your S300 player if it only requires 1.1. It might be an over kill so to speak since sending LPCM 5.1 to 7.1 doesn't require 1.3. It'll do the job just as well though. The cable makes the connection for allowing the devices to recognize each other and specify what they can send, output, or receive to/from each other. If the devices can't talk in that way (the handshake deal) the connection will then fail and message will be displayed letting you know about it.

[geoffc]

The bdp300 is the most unreliable piece of kit I have ever owned - drive died afterseven weeks