Which is better at upconverting DVDs? Toshiba HD-A3 or Pioneer Elite DV-46AV

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mmadden28
mmadden28 Posts: 4,283
edited April 2008 in Electronics
I recently acquired a Pioneer DV-46AV DVD/SACD player and a Toshiba HD-A3 DVD/HD-DVD player. Both upconvert to 1080i.

My avr/pre/pro is the Onkyo SR805 which upconverts to 1080i and my TV will upconvert anything to 1080p. (everything is connectd via HDMI)
1st--is choosing between them even necessary?

I haven't had a chance to do any comparisons on my own yet (two maniac kids :eek: ) and I'm still mainly tweaking on the audio side.

If I had to choose one to play my standard DVDs in, which would be better?


Thanks
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This post is a natural product. The slight variations in spelling and grammar enhance its individual character and beauty and in no way are to be considered flaws or defects.

HT:Onkyo 805, Emotiva XPA-5, Mitsu 52" 1080p DLP / polkaudio RTi12, CSIa6, FXi3, uPro4K
2-chnl : Pio DV-46AV (SACD), Dodd ELP, Emotiva XPA-1s, XPA-2, Odyssey Khartago, LSi9, SDA-SRS 2 :cool:, SB Duet, MSB & Monarchy DACs, Yamaha PX3 TT, SAE Tuner...
Pool: Atrium 60's/45's
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  • danger boy
    danger boy Posts: 15,722
    edited April 2008
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    I own the HD-A3 and while I like the picture quality.. load up time for HD DVD's and even standard DVD's is horrible. i mean.. it takes a while for the player to even go thru it's start up sequence. so i've just been leaving it on all the time now. I used to turn it off but the start up time was so long.

    I like the sound quality too of the A3. sorry I 'm not familiar with the Pioneer player.
    PolkFest 2012, who's going>?
    Vancouver, Canada Sept 30th, 2012 - Madonna concert :cheesygrin:
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  • mmadden28
    mmadden28 Posts: 4,283
    edited April 2008
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    Thanks--Yeah I thought it took awhile to start up as well-I think my Windows Vista box starts up faster. Drives me nuts. Not very responsive on button pushes either (like eject)-its kind of like hitting the CANCEL button in Windows-doesn't really seem to do anything for you. I don't think the Pioneer is all that speedy either.

    That's another reason I haven't really had time to do this testing--the time it takes to swap the DVDs back and forth-uhg!! I'd probably just need to buy (or borrow) a second copy and have one loaded in each player and just switch back and forth.
    ____________________
    This post is a natural product. The slight variations in spelling and grammar enhance its individual character and beauty and in no way are to be considered flaws or defects.

    HT:Onkyo 805, Emotiva XPA-5, Mitsu 52" 1080p DLP / polkaudio RTi12, CSIa6, FXi3, uPro4K
    2-chnl : Pio DV-46AV (SACD), Dodd ELP, Emotiva XPA-1s, XPA-2, Odyssey Khartago, LSi9, SDA-SRS 2 :cool:, SB Duet, MSB & Monarchy DACs, Yamaha PX3 TT, SAE Tuner...
    Pool: Atrium 60's/45's
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  • engtaz
    engtaz Posts: 7,675
    edited April 2008
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    A3

    engtaz
    engtaz

    I love how music can brighten up a bad day.
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  • mantis
    mantis Posts: 17,637
    edited April 2008
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    I perfer the Pioneer for standard. I think the picture is tighter and smoother at the same time. I also think it's better detailed.
    Dan
    My personal quest is to save to world of bad audio, one thread at a time.
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  • avphile
    avphile Posts: 38
    edited April 2008
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    I have a related question. I have a lcd tv that upconverts to 1080i/720p, a a/v receiver that upconverts to 1080i/720p and a dvd player that upconverts to 1080i/720p. If I connect them together and set them to upconvert my non blu-ray or hd dvd what is the end result? Is is better or the same as just have one componet doing the upconversion?
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  • mmadden28
    mmadden28 Posts: 4,283
    edited April 2008
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    danger boy wrote: »
    I like the sound quality too of the A3. sorry I 'm not familiar with the Pioneer player.

    Will the sound quality of the A3 matter much if the AVR is doing the processing? Or is it a cumulative thing?
    ____________________
    This post is a natural product. The slight variations in spelling and grammar enhance its individual character and beauty and in no way are to be considered flaws or defects.

    HT:Onkyo 805, Emotiva XPA-5, Mitsu 52" 1080p DLP / polkaudio RTi12, CSIa6, FXi3, uPro4K
    2-chnl : Pio DV-46AV (SACD), Dodd ELP, Emotiva XPA-1s, XPA-2, Odyssey Khartago, LSi9, SDA-SRS 2 :cool:, SB Duet, MSB & Monarchy DACs, Yamaha PX3 TT, SAE Tuner...
    Pool: Atrium 60's/45's
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  • danger boy
    danger boy Posts: 15,722
    edited April 2008
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    I have my A3 hooked up using a optical cable.. so the A3 is doing the processing. it is a good step up from my 3 yr old Pioneer in sound quality hooked up with a coax digital cable.
    PolkFest 2012, who's going>?
    Vancouver, Canada Sept 30th, 2012 - Madonna concert :cheesygrin:
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  • mmadden28
    mmadden28 Posts: 4,283
    edited April 2008
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    So how do you 'tell' the avr/pre-pro not to process the audio and just pass it through to the amp or amp stage? Or is that automatically decided since you chose to use that output/input?

    I was under the impression that digital coax and the optical pass the same 'digital' signal (just using a different method)-I wouldn't have expected a diffference between the two unless EMF/RFI interference were an issue. ??
    ____________________
    This post is a natural product. The slight variations in spelling and grammar enhance its individual character and beauty and in no way are to be considered flaws or defects.

    HT:Onkyo 805, Emotiva XPA-5, Mitsu 52" 1080p DLP / polkaudio RTi12, CSIa6, FXi3, uPro4K
    2-chnl : Pio DV-46AV (SACD), Dodd ELP, Emotiva XPA-1s, XPA-2, Odyssey Khartago, LSi9, SDA-SRS 2 :cool:, SB Duet, MSB & Monarchy DACs, Yamaha PX3 TT, SAE Tuner...
    Pool: Atrium 60's/45's
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  • danger boy
    danger boy Posts: 15,722
    edited April 2008
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    as I understand it.. if you use an optical or coax digital cable from your DVD player to your receiver.. the DVD player does the decoding. if you use analog cables (RCA's) then your receiver does the decoding. (5.1 is more of an old school analog inputs, not used much anymore except in cases for SACD-DVD-Audio and HD-DVD/Blu Ray).

    You are correct.. both optical and coax pass thru a digital signal to your recevier.
    PolkFest 2012, who's going>?
    Vancouver, Canada Sept 30th, 2012 - Madonna concert :cheesygrin:
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  • WilliamM2
    WilliamM2 Posts: 4,811
    edited April 2008
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    danger boy wrote: »
    as I understand it.. if you use an optical or coax digital cable from your DVD player to your receiver.. the DVD player does the decoding. if you use analog cables (RCA's) then your receiver does the decoding. (5.1 is more of an old school analog inputs, not used much anymore except in cases for SACD-DVD-Audio and HD-DVD/Blu Ray).

    You are correct.. both optical and coax pass thru a digital signal to your recevier.

    You have that backwards. If you use the optical cable, the reciever is decoding. Using the analog outputs the player is doing the decoding, except with the A3's analog outputs it can only output stereo.
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  • mmadden28
    mmadden28 Posts: 4,283
    edited April 2008
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    WilliamM2 wrote: »
    ...except with the A3's analog outputs it can only output stereo.

    Lost me there-my A3 is doing full 5.1 multichannel output on the analog outputs, after all I have 6 ICs to the avr.
    ____________________
    This post is a natural product. The slight variations in spelling and grammar enhance its individual character and beauty and in no way are to be considered flaws or defects.

    HT:Onkyo 805, Emotiva XPA-5, Mitsu 52" 1080p DLP / polkaudio RTi12, CSIa6, FXi3, uPro4K
    2-chnl : Pio DV-46AV (SACD), Dodd ELP, Emotiva XPA-1s, XPA-2, Odyssey Khartago, LSi9, SDA-SRS 2 :cool:, SB Duet, MSB & Monarchy DACs, Yamaha PX3 TT, SAE Tuner...
    Pool: Atrium 60's/45's
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  • WilliamM2
    WilliamM2 Posts: 4,811
    edited April 2008
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    You sure you have an A3? The A-3 only has right and left analog outputs, not 5.1.
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  • sbpolk
    sbpolk Posts: 644
    edited April 2008
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    mmadden28 wrote: »
    Lost me there-my A3 is doing full 5.1 multichannel output on the analog outputs, after all I have 6 ICs to the avr.

    If your A3 is hooked up with 6 ics..... I'll give ya $80 for it! :D

    Sounds like you might actually have an a35. MUCH nicer player.;)
    "People sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf." George Orwell
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  • sbpolk
    sbpolk Posts: 644
    edited April 2008
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    In addition, if you do have an a35, it upconverts to 1080p, and will show HD-DVD at 1080p24htz. I think the a35 would be much better than the Elite in that case.
    "People sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf." George Orwell
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  • danger boy
    danger boy Posts: 15,722
    edited April 2008
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    WilliamM2 wrote: »
    You have that backwards. If you use the optical cable, the reciever is decoding. Using the analog outputs the player is doing the decoding, except with the A3's analog outputs it can only output stereo.

    yes, you are correct.. and the A3 DOES NOT HAVE 5.1 ANALOG OUTPUTS. this i know.

    in the early days of standard DVD players.. the better ones came with 5.1 ch analog outputs.. so that if you didn't have an optical connection on your receiver. the player would do the decoding.

    sorry for the confusion on my other post. ;)
    PolkFest 2012, who's going>?
    Vancouver, Canada Sept 30th, 2012 - Madonna concert :cheesygrin:
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  • mmadden28
    mmadden28 Posts: 4,283
    edited April 2008
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    My fault-I was discussing the A3 and the Pioneer DV46-AV in multiple threads-I mixed it up. After awhile the acronyms and model #s start melding together.

    In my case I have the 6 ICs on my SACD player; the Pioneer. The HD-A3 is connected via HDMI only.
    I would never have even considered using the analog outs on the A3 so in my mind I assumed you were referrring to the SACD (even though you clearly stated A3)-Sorry William.
    :o
    ____________________
    This post is a natural product. The slight variations in spelling and grammar enhance its individual character and beauty and in no way are to be considered flaws or defects.

    HT:Onkyo 805, Emotiva XPA-5, Mitsu 52" 1080p DLP / polkaudio RTi12, CSIa6, FXi3, uPro4K
    2-chnl : Pio DV-46AV (SACD), Dodd ELP, Emotiva XPA-1s, XPA-2, Odyssey Khartago, LSi9, SDA-SRS 2 :cool:, SB Duet, MSB & Monarchy DACs, Yamaha PX3 TT, SAE Tuner...
    Pool: Atrium 60's/45's
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