Best mass market BR DVD player

NeilGabriel

I would like to get out today and pick up a blu-ray player. I know there are a hundred threads here on BR and HD, but could someone just give me their thoughts on best machine to pick up from BB or CC? Thanks a lot. I am in a buying mood!

rskarvan

I'm quite happy with my Sony BDP-S100. Works fine. Problem free. Not very expensive. 1080p is stunning!

dephinistr8

Personal opinion: PS3
Fast Blu-Ray, HDMI 1.3, Blu-Ray 2.0 ready...
Although I haven't tried the others, this is the one I use and I really like it.

NeilGabriel

I should have added that I have a 1080i Sony HDTV which I hope to upgrade in a year or so. And since I am not even close to being into gaming, I would prefer a standard player.

I notice at BB that every unit they have has at best 4 stars of 5....people expecting too much maybe...or don't have good hookups...I would expect a couple 5 star ratings. Thanks a lot.

It kills me that these players are intended to use HDMI and most don't include the cable. Is it right that OPPO does not have a BR or HD player?

steveinaz

I'm very pleased with my Panasonic DMP-BD30k. I bought mine at Best Buy.

Face

dephinistr8 wrote: »

Personal opinion: PS3
Fast Blu-Ray, HDMI 1.3, Blu-Ray 2.0 ready...
Although I haven't tried the others, this is the one I use and I really like it.

This is the only one currently available that can be updated to 2.0. Either get a PS3 or wait.

AsSiMiLaTeD

PS3 was my choice

NeilGabriel

PS3 involves game console and then add on player? cost? Sorry, I'm at work and multi-tasking here....waiting is not a concept I relate to very well.....

dephinistr8

NeilGabriel wrote: »

PS3 involves game console and then add on player? cost? Sorry, I'm at work and multi-tasking here....waiting is not a concept I relate to very well.....

Nope, Blu-Ray built into the console. No additional cost. I think they may have a reasonable bundle for it as well. And I believe the cost is comparable to "player-only" players.

billbillw

Neil, it really depends what you want to do with the lossless audio tracks. Do you now have, or do you plan to buy an HDMI equipped receiver? If so, does it (or will it) have decoding capabilities for TrueHD or DTSMA?

The BD30 is the only one out right now that is proflile 1.1 andwill send DTSMA and TrueHD (as well as other formats) in bitstream. This is the best way if you have one of the newest HDMI 1.3a receivers. I believe the Pioneer Elite can bitstream all the formats, but it is not Profile 1.1 (and its double the price).

If you have an older receiver that is HDMI equiped, but cannot decode TrueHD/DTSMA, BUT it can accept multichannel PCM, then the PS3 is probably the way to go. The PS3 decodes everything internally (except DTSMA) and sends out as multichannel PCM over the HDMI.

If you have a receiver that doesn't have HDMI and you don't plan to upgrade, then you might want to find one that has internal decoding of all the major formats and can send via analog output to your multichannel in. The Panasonic BD10a comes to mind, but they have been on clearance and may be very hard to find.

Sami

NeilGabriel wrote: »

And since I am not even close to being into gaming, I would prefer a standard player.

One thing to remember with the PS3 is that it doubles as a media player. You can stream your pictures, videos and music from your PC to it over WiFi. Worth the price over standalone player at this point, even if you're not interested in gaming. It has its shortcomings but I don't think there is a BD player that does it all at this point.

engtaz

PS3 does all blue ray and more. The 20gb and 60gb units can run older games.

engtaz

NeilGabriel

billbillw wrote: »

Neil, it really depends what you want to do with the lossless audio tracks. Do you now have, or do you plan to buy an HDMI equipped receiver? If so, does it (or will it) have decoding capabilities for TrueHD or DTSMA?

The BD30 is the only one out right now that is proflile 1.1 andwill send DTSMA and TrueHD (as well as other formats) in bitstream. This is the best way if you have one of the newest HDMI 1.3a receivers. I believe the Pioneer Elite can bitstream all the formats, but it is not Profile 1.1 (and its double the price).

If you have an older receiver that is HDMI equiped, but cannot decode TrueHD/DTSMA, BUT it can accept multichannel PCM, then the PS3 is probably the way to go. The PS3 decodes everything internally (except DTSMA) and sends out as multichannel PCM over the HDMI.

If you have a receiver that doesn't have HDMI and you don't plan to upgrade, then you might want to find one that has internal decoding of all the major formats and can send via analog output to your multichannel in. The Panasonic BD10a comes to mind, but they have been on clearance and may be very hard to find.

I doubt that I will get an HDMI receiver soon...but...who knows....I would either use digital optical or the 7 channel input on one receiver and 5 or 6 channel input on my pre/pro.

Rike255

If you have an older receiver that is HDMI equiped, but cannot decode TrueHD/DTSMA, BUT it can accept multichannel PCM, then the PS3 is probably the way to go. The PS3 decodes everything internally (except DTSMA) and sends out as multichannel PCM over the HDMI.

It can bitstream the older codecs (DD, DD+, DTS, etc). The PS3 just can't bitstream the new ones (TrueHD, DTS HD-MA).

My personal choice was also the PS3, which is why I bought one. Even if you're not into gaming, the PS3 is competitively priced and has many more features then standalone players eg: media center (movies, pictures, music), Internet browser, all on top of the gaming aspect. If you are really set on a standalone player, then I suggest waiting until some of the new models come out. Marantz just announced a player coming out before the end of their fiscal year (before March 2008). There are lots of new options.

NeilGabriel

thanks....of course, this all just gridlocked me...and I came home and had a beer.

cyberhazard

The PS3 trumps everything in the Blu-Ray world. I like them so much, I have 2.

Altmanfan

Another vote for the Panasonic DMP-BD30K. I bought it recently and am especially impressed with the improvement in standard DVD upscaling compared to my previous Denon DVD-3910 (and my TV is just 1080i).

mantis

I believe the Ps3 is the best Blu Ray player on the market. If you never load a game into it, it's well worth it's asking price and actually more.

What most don't understand(myself included then) is the fact the Ps3 isn't a game system, it's a media unit. It's a internet browser and a music server. You can store your cd collection in it depending on which hard drive you choose. I chose the 80g as I wanted it to be a music server. I have alot of standard CD's that I wanted to store. I have a 300 disc Pioneer ELite Mega changer but it sits in a box in my basement. As good as it sounds and as nice as it is, I perfer a hard drive over it as it's much faster and easier to find my music. For cridical listening I still have my Pioneer Elite Dv47a SACD/DVD AUDIO player for that role. But for all other listnening, I now use the Ps3. Actually playing cd's it sound just about exaclty the same. I record in Atrak 352. I find it to recreate the cd exactly. No loss. AAC320 also sounds excellent. Most cd's are recorded poorly so trying to uphold a higher standard for that is nuts. For me anyway. I'm thinking of Ditching the Pioneer ELite and finding a Killer Sony Es SACD player for my SACD and highest audiophile quality cd collection. Not that the Pioneer does a bad job but I probably could squeek a few more details with a high end es player.

For Blu ray the only downfall is no 6 channel out. I don't find this to be any problem. If you really want to hear HD audio, then get a 1.3a HDMI preamp or receiver. 1.1 can get it done once the Ps3 has been upgraded to DTS MA. You can right now pass Dolby HD over 1.1 with the Ps3.

I don't have HDMI preamp or receiver yet. I use Optical out of the Ps3 and there has been times I had to laugh out loud on how effin good the damn thing sounds. You do get the plus side of the new audio formats over Optical if your preamp / receiver has the latest DNA converters before HD audio. I own the Rotel rsp1068 and it woks wonderful. I'm not in as a hurry as I was when I just owned HD DVD. I find my audio to be fantastic the way it is. I will upgrade once I find the right replacement.

I find no reason for anyone who wants Blu Ray to not own a Ps3. Even if you don't use the Internet Browser, even if you don't use it's front card loader for camera pic's , even if you don't take full advantage of it's audio media abilities, even if you never ever play a game in it , it's still the best and only upgradeable Blu Ray player there is. Not to mention it's the fastest loading one on the market by far.

PS3 rules.

Did I mention it's a steal at all asking prices??? I paid full retail for mine and I love spending every single penny. If it was more, I would have paid more. I believe this player is very under priced. I could see it costing 1200.00 or more for what it can do and how well. If it was however 1200.00 or more I would only expect IR control from the factory for better custom Install. Nothing wrong with using Blu Tooth or a Ir Adapter to get it to control but I believe this is the only thing they lack in. Custom control don't use Blue Tooth control to interface with it. Crestron might have something worked out but not everyone can even dream of owning Crestron.

I did however forget to mention that if you have a 1.3a HDMI preamp or receiver you can steam SACD over HDMI??? The ps3 does this allday. How effin cool is this thing???

LuSh

I've used the Panasonic BDP30 quite a bit and I love it. It's reasonably fast, can bit-stream HD Audio formats and doesn't require a firmware update once a week. I have used the PS3 as well and while I do enjoy the quick load times and picture I don't believe the PS3 can bit-stream HD Audio and can only internally decode Dolby Digital Plus and True HD which in my humblest opinion is a let down.

Sadly the studios have been slow to release 24 bit/192 or even 96kHz soundtracks (Dave Matthews isn't bad) but once it does I think the public will be consumed by the formats ability to make audio improvements seem greater then video.

NeilGabriel

With the BDP30, and no HDMI on my reciever/pro, can I get the high end audio formats out with the 7 channel output on the BDP30 running into my 7 channel receiver inputs? If so, do I then need to run 7 speakers in the HT setp or else lose some of the sound.

cheddar

Unless I am mistaken, the BD-30 doesn't have internal decoding of either TrueHD or DTS-HD MA. But yes, if you have a player that internally decodes the formats, then analog outs can transfer each discreet channel to your receiver/pre/pro. Without 7 speakers, you will just lose the discreet channel encoded for each speaker you don't have. There are very few titles with full 7.1 sound right now (see New Line Titles). Most have 5.1. Wait for the BD-50 coming around summertime and you can do it all...;)

NeilGabriel

"Incredible Sound Completes the Hi-Def Experience
With Precise Digital Audio, Blu-ray's beautiful images are complemented by exceptionally pure, accurate sound thanks to Dolby® TrueHD and DTS-HD™. UniPhier®'s advanced processing capability decodes these audio signals with high precision and outputs them in bitstream form with no degradation." <--from the Panasonic site that then goes to say they are sent over HDMI only. If it is decoded why does it have to go as HDMI bitstream?

P.S. what stand alone with do internal decoding and let me send to receiver's 5-7.1 inputs?

cheddar

That's fancy marketing speak for: You need a receiver/pre/pro that accepts and decodes TrueHD and DTS-HD MA to listen to the tracks.

The old BD-10 does decode TrueHD internally, I think, but doesn't bitstream. So this was one step forward, one step back by Panny on the BD-30.

Most available players out there will handle TrueHD internally and have analog outs. However, for DTS-HD MA capabilities, your best bet is to wait for the BD-50.

cheddar

Here are the specs released at CES 2008:

http://www.blu-ray.com/news/?id=810

You just can't find a comparable player currently available today...

polksda

Another thumbs-up for the PS3... and I've never played a single game on the thing.

ryanjoachim

BD version 1.1* is NOT going to be a "must have" by any standards.

shawn474

Another vote for PS3!

ryanjoachim

If you don't care about not having DTS-HD, then yes...the PS3 is probably your best bet.

dorokusai

PS3 for me! At least for the bedroom....otherwise it's the Denon.

polkseller

Ps3 sounds great with DD and DTS track

but for true HD it's bad.

My vote goes for a real blu-ray player, with high quality sound. I have the PS3 and I think is not a quality cd player the quality of digital convertion is very bad and offer lot of jitter and dynamic compression.

For example, If I listen to a track of dave matthew Blu-ray in Dolby tru-HD, I must put the PS3 to PCM out in optical. I only get stereo sound that dont distort....not 5.1

If not, In bitstream I get dynamic distortion of the voice and guitar in the show even at low volume. So even in bitstream or PCM, the sound is bad or not 5.1.....only stereo.

polksda

polkseller wrote: »

Ps3 sounds great with DD and DTS track

but for true HD it's bad.

My vote goes for a real blu-ray player, with high quality sound. I have the PS3 and I think is not a quality cd player the quality of digital convertion is very bad and offer lot of jitter and dynamic compression.

For example, If I listen to a track of dave matthew Blu-ray in Dolby tru-HD, I must put the PS3 to PCM out in optical. I only get stereo sound that dont distort....not 5.1

If not, In bitstream I get dynamic distortion of the voice and guitar in the show even at low volume. So even in bitstream or PCM, the sound is bad or not 5.1.....only stereo.

Umm, no.

Please don't make general statements like that which are incorrect.

Your difficulty is that you're trying to use the optical audio connection rather than using HDMI to carry the audio signal. When using HDMI the problems you refer to do not exist.

A more accurate statement is "but for true HD it's bad when you're not using the correct connections."