Denon DVD-A1UDCI BD Player - the cost no object reference

[prerich]

The new review of Denon's universal disc player is out. Here's the link http://hometheatermag.com/discplayer...yer/index.html however, I believe the last page offers the best information http://hometheatermag.com/discplayer...er/index2.html. This player excells over its analog outputs! According to the reviewer - although the Oppo-83 is an overachiever, the Denon destroys it in the audio section (not only does it destroy the Oppo but it destroys every other player out there too). There are a lot of things this player doesn't have (wifi, onboard storage for BD-Live, which I think is a pain anyway), but if you want a cost no object - reference for picture and sound it seems that the Denon is the one to beat! Many High-end players are now using Oppo as an OEM company for their high end players (Lexicon and Theta to name a couple), but Denon went straight to the heart - designed one from the ground up and is saying to everyone - beat this (in performance - not frills). Chime in and tell me what you think of this review - and try to keep the thought of Audio and Video performance at the fore-front.

[TheZoof]

I really like it.

I would love to have one for a weekend to see the differences compared to other players.

[sokrman14]

I love it, I think it is a great player. I just made a post in your article about High End equipment Prerich, and I was going to reference this article, but you beat me to it in this post. I hope companies like Theta and Lexicon are able to take the Video features from this player, and put their own audio twist on their players. If they can, the Oppo OEM from these companies can rival that of the Denon.

[bhampton]

$4,500 and you still have to buy a SD memory card to access BD Live.

And the review mentions frustrations with slow loading times. Sounds like more time should have been spent on getting this one right.

They need to try again.

-Brian

[sokrman14]

Originally Posted by bhampton

$4,500 and you still have to buy a SD memory card to access BD Live.

And the review mentions frustrations with slow loading times. Sounds like more time should have been spent on getting this one right.

They need to try again.

-Brian

People buying this don't really care about BD live, its about performance. At least I think that way.

[bhampton]

I actually don't like BD Live but without that SD card certain titles just won't load, period.

That's poor performance.

Plus.... long loading times constitutes poor performance too. For the $4,500 they should have been able to rip out the higher quality drives from PS3s at $300 and use those. Or any other in-expensive player that doesn't suffer from needing a minute to figure out how to read the disc.

Basically this is a 1.1 profile player that's been updated via Firmware to support BD Live. (That's why like all the 1.1 players that had FW updates to support BD Live,... you need a SD card.) I think it's embarrassing. They should have just came out with a real full featured player at this stage.

I would love to have one to compare with my PS3 though. (Would make me even happier about the PS3. )


-Brian

[sokrman14]

Those drives arent necessarily higher quality, just faster.

[bhampton]

OK.

-Brian

[bhampton]

A good quote from the review...

"There's no reason to compare the OPPO BDP-83 and the DVD-A1UDCI, except that they are both universal Blu-ray players and the $500 OPPO is a ridiculous overachiever. The OPPO offers much faster disc access and loading times and it's video processing and video performance over HDMI with BD and DVD are on par with the very best players I've seen at any price, including this Denon."

I would choose the OPPO and keep the other $4000 to buy movies with.

[prerich]

Originally Posted by bhampton

A good quote from the review...

"There's no reason to compare the OPPO BDP-83 and the DVD-A1UDCI, except that they are both universal Blu-ray players and the $500 OPPO is a ridiculous overachiever. The OPPO offers much faster disc access and loading times and it's video processing and video performance over HDMI with BD and DVD are on par with the very best players I've seen at any price, including this Denon."

I would choose the OPPO and keep the other $4000 to buy movies with.

As Paul Harvey would say Now for the Rest of the story..... Quote from HT magazine

"But I don’t think it’s fair to expect different, and I note this not to criticize the Denon, but to set reasonable and accurate expectations. With HD video over HDMI, I just haven’t seen a magic bullet from any player at any price, even on my large projection screen. The Denon is absolutely beyond reproach, as it should be. It’s just not alone in that regard, and it would be contrary to my experience to suggest otherwise.

However, over its analog audio outputs, the Denon is far more singular. It smashes the sound quality of the OPPO and every other BD player I’ve yet heard by a degree that’s nothing short of astonishing. Saying it’s night and day is only the beginning. The OPPO’s analog audio playback is very respectable for a $500 player, but the Denon goes much, much farther. When you listen to CDs on these two players, you’ll never guess they were playing the same format. On the Denon, Neil Young’s Live at Massey Hall CD wasn’t merely good playback; it felt like a live performance. The size of the venue and the energy of the audience were both evident and palpable. The guitar sounds weren’t merely strings anymore. I could hear the body of the instrument and Young’s hand-slapping interaction with it to an uncanny degree, and it was clearly apparent when he moved closer to or farther from the microphone. These details sound small, but they add up to an experience that’s entirely different in total. On the Denon, the jump from CDs to SACDs expanded as well. The difference in clarity and detail when the higher-resolution discs were spinning wasn’t just noticeable, it was dramatic.

Going further, and perhaps more surprising, I preferred the Denon’s analog output’s sound on both CDs and audio-oriented Blu-ray Discs over a digital connection from that same player to Anthem’s D2v surround processor, which retails for $7,500. The Anthem is no slouch at all. The Denon is that good." Now that's a better representation

[Halcro 1]

Originally Posted by sokrman14

People buying this don't really care about BD live, its about performance. At least I think that way.

+1 BD Live is stupid

[Halcro 1]

Originally Posted by prerich

As Paul Harvey would say Now for the Rest of the story..... Quote from HT magazine

"But I don’t think it’s fair to expect different, and I note this not to criticize the Denon, but to set reasonable and accurate expectations. With HD video over HDMI, I just haven’t seen a magic bullet from any player at any price, even on my large projection screen. The Denon is absolutely beyond reproach, as it should be. It’s just not alone in that regard, and it would be contrary to my experience to suggest otherwise.

However, over its analog audio outputs, the Denon is far more singular. It smashes the sound quality of the OPPO and every other BD player I’ve yet heard by a degree that’s nothing short of astonishing. Saying it’s night and day is only the beginning. The OPPO’s analog audio playback is very respectable for a $500 player, but the Denon goes much, much farther. When you listen to CDs on these two players, you’ll never guess they were playing the same format. On the Denon, Neil Young’s Live at Massey Hall CD wasn’t merely good playback; it felt like a live performance. The size of the venue and the energy of the audience were both evident and palpable. The guitar sounds weren’t merely strings anymore. I could hear the body of the instrument and Young’s hand-slapping interaction with it to an uncanny degree, and it was clearly apparent when he moved closer to or farther from the microphone. These details sound small, but they add up to an experience that’s entirely different in total. On the Denon, the jump from CDs to SACDs expanded as well. The difference in clarity and detail when the higher-resolution discs were spinning wasn’t just noticeable, it was dramatic.

Going further, and perhaps more surprising, I preferred the Denon’s analog output’s sound on both CDs and audio-oriented Blu-ray Discs over a digital connection from that same player to Anthem’s D2v surround processor, which retails for $7,500. The Anthem is no slouch at all. The Denon is that good." Now that's a better representation

Thats why I have a Meridian CD Player.. Maybe If I was looking for a All In One Player this would be it, but I doubt its better than a High Quality CD player..

[Halcro 1]

Sorry about all the posts ,,, American Theater sells the Denon for 3200 ... That really Isnt all that bad for a reference player..my .02

[zepherman]

I personally own a Denon DVD-A1UDCI, and I must say that the reviewer is spot on with his impressions of this player. The audio is indeed that good! While for BD's and DVD's I have it connected to my Denon AVP-A1HDCI pre/pro via Denon Link 4th, I do have it connected via balanced XLR for CD and 2 channel SACD playback. The sound is phenomenal! My Sony CDP-XA20ES CD player was always my reference player, but the A1 even edges it out.

And as good as the audio is, the video is equally as impressive. So much so that in my setup, on my TV (Sony 70 XBR2), the A1UDCI's video performance outclasses all the other Blu-ray players I own (Denon 2500BTCI, Sony S300, Sony PS3). The images have a dimensionality and vividness that really make the picture pop. The PQ the A1 delivers is the absolute best I've ever seen in my system.

And as some of the posters here mentioned, one doesn't buy this reference player for speed or for things like BD-Live (which I don't really care for anyway). The whole reason for buying this player is for truly audiophile and videophile grade performance. IMO Denon hit it out of the park on those fronts, and the build quality on this player is superb!

I am totally loving my A1UDCI!


Seth