Okay...Based on This Site's List of Players, Which Would You Recommend?

[ClinicaTerra LTD]

Originally Posted by crackinhedz

to my knowledge yes.

but crazier things have happened. This just does not sound right to me.


what models were they for?...i'll see if I can get a user manual to look at.

If I recall, they were for the two new "S" series players in their lineup...

[crackinhedz]

Originally Posted by ClinicaTerra LTD

If I recall, they were for the two new "S" series players in their lineup...

man, could not find jack on these new players.

....guess will have to wait till they become available.

[Canada]

Originally Posted by ClinicaTerra LTD

Oh no...do we really need to go over this again? ...

I am looking for a standalone player, not the PS3, that bitstreams all the codecs including TrueHD and Master Audio...

Why are people so hung up on bitstreaming audio? PS3

[crackinhedz]

Originally Posted by Canada

Why are people so hung up on bitstreaming audio? PS3

personal preference, which should be respected.


...he hasn't bashed the PS3, just wants a standalone.

[ClinicaTerra LTD]

Originally Posted by crackinhedz

personal preference, which should be respected.


...he hasn't bashed the PS3, just wants a standalone.

Thank you very much for defending me on this one, Crackin...yes, just my preference for a standalone...why is everyone so worked up about defending the PS3? What if someone just doesn't want one? What's the big deal?

Crackin: I'll try and find info about those players now...

[ClinicaTerra LTD]

Why are people so hung up on bitstreaming audio?

...because some of us purchased HDMI 1.3a receivers, like the Onkyo '605 I purchased, SPECIFICALLY to handle the decoding of the new surround formats -- and some of us feel they would just like the decoding to be done in the RECEIVER, not source deck; to my ears, it just sounds richer, and eliminates many "LFE issues" that plague some BD players when sending decoded multichannel PCM over HDMI or analog...

[JadedRaverLA]

I know I'm late to the conversation, but here's my list of players you DEFINITELY should check out (all will bitstream all advanced audio codecs over HDMI)...

Panasonic BD30 -- available now, profile 1.1 -- very solid, well-built player at a decent price -- it was the first standalone Blu-ray-only player with profile 1.1, so it's been out awhile, but it seems to be aging very nicely -- the upcoming BD50 might be worth considering also, though you won't make use of the audio decoding capabilities... but the faster BD-J processing might make it worthwhile -- of the players readily available in stores TODAY, this would be my first choice

Pioneer BDP-51FD and Pioneer Elite BDP-05FD -- available in late June or July (hopefully), profile 1.1 -- Pioneer's build quality is fantastic, and if you don't mind the price and lack of BD-Live capability, these should be fantastic players -- both should perform similarly, but the Elite model looks cooler and has a touch sensitive front panel (if that matters to you at all)

Sony BDP-S350 -- available in July, profile 2.0 (will require update, and possibly additional memory) -- in terms of price/features/performance, this should be the player the beat -- also, reportedly loads and plays BD-J material MUCH faster than current players

Samsung BD-P2500 -- available in September, profile 2.0 -- I'm hesitant to recommend a Samsung player due to some issues they've had with earlier models, but their latest two models seem to work fairly well -- the main reason to consider this player is that it will feature HQV processing for exceptional DVD upscaling -- if that's important definitely take a look at this player or think about shelling out a couple grand for the Denon/Marantz players

Denon DVD-1800BD -- available in October (hopefully), profile 1.1 -- Denon build quality, second-gen player (bugs should be worked out), and at a much more attractive pricepoint than their first-gen models

EDIT: Rear panel photos of the S350 -- there most certainly are optical and digital coax outputs for standard DD/DTS bitstreaming (I think that was the debate earlier)

[ClinicaTerra LTD]

Thanks SO much for your input here, LA...it is much appreciated!

Let me reply to some of these...

I know I'm late to the conversation, but here's my list of players you DEFINITELY should check out (all will bitstream all advanced audio codecs over HDMI)...

Okay...thank you...

Panasonic BD30 -- available now, profile 1.1 -- very solid, well-built player at a decent price -- it was the first standalone Blu-ray-only player with profile 1.1, so it's been out awhile, but it seems to be aging very nicely -- the upcoming BD50 might be worth considering also, though you won't make use of the audio decoding capabilities... but the faster BD-J processing might make it worthwhile -- of the players readily available in stores TODAY, this would be my first choice

Okay; well, I won't be making use of the onboard decoding as you say, because I want to bitstream, but additionally, I think I want to move beyond Panasonic products at this point because I am not happy with the image my '10A gives right now...

Pioneer BDP-51FD and Pioneer Elite BDP-05FD -- available in late June or July (hopefully), profile 1.1 -- Pioneer's build quality is fantastic, and if you don't mind the price and lack of BD-Live capability, these should be fantastic players -- both should perform similarly, but the Elite model looks cooler and has a touch sensitive front panel (if that matters to you at all)

The look doesn't matter so much as the performance of these decks; I will keep the Pioneer in mind...how much do these run?

Sony BDP-S350 -- available in July, profile 2.0 (will require update, and possibly additional memory) -- in terms of price/features/performance, this should be the player the beat -- also, reportedly loads and plays BD-J material MUCH faster than current players

Is Crutchfield selling this now? What kind of update will this need? I have been questioning Sony's players in this market since the launch of the format -- I mean, here's a company that's the proponent behind Blu-ray Disc, and their players haven't really been able to support most features important to many buyers like me such as bitstreaming capabilities, 1080p output on all their models, TrueHD/MA surround support, etc; seems like only now are they getting on the ball with their players.

Being that I have a Sony SXRD display, would one of the Sony players make a good match, or does that not matter?

Samsung BD-P2500 -- available in September, profile 2.0 -- I'm hesitant to recommend a Samsung player due to some issues they've had with earlier models, but their latest two models seem to work fairly well -- the main reason to consider this player is that it will feature HQV processing for exceptional DVD upscaling -- if that's important definitely take a look at this player or think about shelling out a couple grand for the Denon/Marantz players

Well, I just ordered an Oppo '983 -- their brand new flagship DVD player with the Anchor Bay scaling chip -- to handle DVD upconversion in my system because the Panny '10A sucks at this, so I will be running a separate DVD player for DVD playback -- I require, at this point, just excellent BD playback performance and bitstreaming of the new codecs; I won't consider a Samsung player at this point because of what you say as well.

Denon DVD-1800BD -- available in October (hopefully), profile 1.1 -- Denon build quality, second-gen player (bugs should be worked out), and at a much more attractive pricepoint than their first-gen models

Wait -- Denon has two players out right now...a $1000 model and a $2000 model...where will this 1800 fit in?

[ClinicaTerra LTD]

My other thread seemed to have been moved to the Home Theater area, so that's still an ongoing discussion about the Oppo and if my receiver is causing any video problems; but aside from that, at the heart of that discussion was my question of whether or not I should sell the Oppo and get a new Blu ray player that upscales better...

So in keeping with that theme, aside from the $2000 Denon, what other BD player could be recommended for good DVD upscaling AND bitstreams all the codecs including TrueHD and Master Audio?