Denon vs Sony

Paul.Cox

I am interested in view pts out there on DVD / Blue ray players. I have a Sony 40" X series TV. I can buy a Denon 2930 DVD player for the same price as a Sony 350 blue ray player. Can anyone advise / experince the size of the difference between there two. i.e. the Denon scaling DVD up vs. the Sony on a blue ray disk, it's ability to scale DVDs to the same quality as the denon.

MikeC78

There will no comparison when you play a Blu-Ray on that Sony player. The Denon might upconvert regular DVD's slightly better, maybe the guys that have them can chime in. If I had to choose between the two, I'd grab the Sony. If you'd like a good bang for the buck gaming machine/BR player/DVD player and SACD all in one, grab a PS3.

haimoc

Denon 2930 has HDMI 1.1, and Sony 350 has HDMI 1.3.

Only HDMI 1.3 can deliver Dolby True HD and DTS-HD bitstream over HDMI.
If you have later version of receiver that comes with HDMI 1.3 to process input bitstream, then you really want the same output on DVD player.

cheddar

haimoc wrote: »

Denon 2930 has HDMI 1.1, and Sony 350 has HDMI 1.3.

Only HDMI 1.3 can deliver Dolby True HD and DTS-HD bitstream over HDMI.
If you have later version of receiver that comes with HDMI 1.3 to process input bitstream, then you really want the same output on DVD player.

Of course you have to have a blu-ray player to use TrueHD and DTS-HD MA in the first place. These are not DVD standards. So unless you have a blu-ray player, it doesn't matter what version of HDMI you have.

Also, having a receiver that decodes TrueHD and DTS-HD MA internally only gives you the option of bitstreaming. It doesn't mean that's your only good option. Players that decode lossless internally do a great job as the decoding process is simple and straightforward (it is digital and lossless afterall). Many people seem to push bitstreaming as the only best way to go. But with the mix of equipment people often have, having the player internally decode the formats can be an equally good option to bitstreaming. Then, any capable receiver hdmi 1.1 and above will process the decoded PCM from the player. That said, I don't think the 350 can decode DTS-HD MA internally so it's a limitation of this particular player.

Paul.Cox

thanks for the comments. The AV amp I have is an Denon 2106, while I would really like a blue ray player, i cannot affored to upgrade the AV amp at this stage. The ideal for me is to have a coxa tfrom the blue ray player to my amp, will this give me 5.1, or do I have to have a blue ray player that will decode the sound then output to the AV amp ?

haimoc

Either one of blu-ray players above will decode new HD sound format and output them via 5.1 analog, so you can use these output to your current receiver when playing Blu-ray movies with new HD sound format... When playing regular movies (not blu-ray) with standard Dolby or Dts, digital coaxial will do it fine..

Sherardp

skip the sony and the denon and opt for the Panasonic BD30. Awesome machine, and can be held at around 300-330 bucks.

billbillw

^^
The Panny BD30 doesn't decode the advanced ) codecs (True HD, DD+, DTS HD Master) internally, so that is not a good match for the Denon AVR-2106. I'd only recommend the Panny BD30 to those with a new HDMI 1.3a receiver that can decode everything internally.

To the OP, Paul,
Unless you are only spending $200 or less, I'd stay away from an upscaling DVD player at this time. Yes the Denon puts out a fine picture and has fine audio as well, but you can get 99% of that from a $160 Oppo player.

BluRay players are in a whole different league, at least, when they are playing BluRay discs. For your receiver (2106) you probably want one that decodes everything and can send the signal by multichannel analog.
Unfortunately, most of the current BluRay players are less than stellar at upscaling DVDs.

Honestly, I'd wait another 6 months (possibly sooner) for when Oppo releases their BluRay player. It will have top notch upscaling, full analog output of the advanced codecs, and also SACD playback. It will be one to wait for.

Sherardp

billbillw wrote: »

^^
The Panny BD30 doesn't decode the advanced ) codecs (True HD, DD+, DTS HD Master) internally, so that is not a good match for the Denon AVR-2106. I'd only recommend the Panny BD30 to those with a new HDMI 1.3a receiver that can decode everything internally.

Youre correct, my mistake. Then the Sony S350 or the Panny BD35.

Paul.Cox

thanks for the comments - I get the feeling that waiting a bit longer could be the thing to do. The wife will be please with that option.

Cheers

cheddar

haimoc wrote: »

Either one of blu-ray players above will decode new HD sound format and output them via 5.1 analog, so you can use these output to your current receiver when playing Blu-ray movies with new HD sound format... When playing regular movies (not blu-ray) with standard Dolby or Dts, digital coaxial will do it fine..

The denon 2930CI is not a blu-ray player as the OP probably already knows, so it won't play any blu-ray lossless formats such as TrueHD and DTS-HD MA. As I already noted, the s350 does not seem to currently decode DTS-HD MA and people are not sure on the forums whether or not it's possible for a firmware update to do so in the future. In any case, the s350 is listed as only having 2 analog outs. So 5.1 analog would not seem to be possible from this player even if it could decode all the lossless formats. The only other player discussed before your post was the ps3 which also lacks anything but stereo analog outs.

Also, old school digital connections will do just fine for both regular movies AND BLU-RAY when playing back standard dolby or DTS sound tracks. Blu-rays include either old school DD or the DTS-HD MA "core" which is similar to DVD DTS for those set-ups which can't access the lossless formats. The bitrates of these tracks are 640kbps and 1.5 mbps respectively which are up to twice the bitrate used on standard DVDs. So they have the potential to sound better than SD-DVD without the need for an hdmi digital connection.

To the OP: You are getting good advice about waiting. More choice is always better for you as you have very specific requirements to access the three lossless audio options (TrueHD, DTS-HD MA, and uncompressed PCM - which is the same as the decoded Dolby and DTS options. Studios sometimes just use the original PCM track on the blu-ray disk without compressing it via Dolby or DTS.) Internal player decoding and multichannel analog outs is not an uncommon requirement with older receivers. But you have to pay close attention to the current group of blu-ray players as they are often missing internal decoding for DTS-HD MA and to a lesser extent TrueHD. And, the number of channels the analog outs support will vary from stereo, to 5.1, to 7.1. So make sure the features line up with what you want. And with major Christmas sales only a month away, it would seem a no brainer to wait at least that long and see what Santa brings...;)

jon s

If you look at AVS Forum's Denon 3930/2930 postings, you will see a LOT of users reporting issues with Denon's players. I have a 3930 and can tell you it failed three times in one year. Denon has been having issues with their optical block assemblies and and still have not resolved them with their newer Blu-Ray players ever since they moved production to China.

This plus the fact that they only offer a one year warranty on a high end product makes me not to even consider another Denon product. Another note, Denon's call center is horrible. You will be on hold for an hour and they never call you back. They always give the standard answer, we never heard of this problem before and do not seem at all interested in helping you. Other than their central NJ service center, other service centers are contracted out. If you call them, they will tell you that they do non-warranty work first as it pays more than warranty work. It took several weeks to get my unit back from repair.

kolyan2k

PS3 all the way

broncsrule21@

I own and have owned Denon products for many years and have never required using the warranty at all. To each their own. I personally went the PS3 route. But waiting a little longer at this point is good advice.