Second Look at Universal DVD Player
Written: Jan 23 '05
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Pros: The 47A is a well made superior quality universal DVD player
Cons: Does not output audio sampled at over 96 Khz. No bass management for 6 channels.
The Bottom Line: I would recommend the 47A as an excellent universal player that will deliver exceptional video and audio quality from most any source. Its drawbacks are minimal.
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| shopaholic_man's Full Review: Pioneer DV-47A DVD Player |
The Pioneer Elite 47A was my first review on epinions. My review was only "somewhat helpful", but since then, I have had the unit for over a year, and I have also refined my reviewing skills.
Overall, the 47A is a top notch DVD audio/video and SACD player.
Setup is very detailed and will allow you to custom match it to your system. Using the remote, you can fine tune every aspect of both the audio and video performance of the machine. When I first bought my DLP projector, which can be set for 4:3 or 16:9, all my wide screen movies looked a little too wide. I discovered that simply setting my 47A to wide screen picture and progressive scan, dramatically corrected and improved my movie screen images. All of the audio options may be downsampled if your reciever is not compatible. I.E. DVD audio mastered in 96Khz sampling rate may be downsampled to a managable 48 khz sampling rate. You may use the menu to choose from the stereo or surround mix on SACDs. All my setups allow for the maximum possible quality from the source material.
The DVD 47A has digital outs, both coaxial, and optical as well as six analog outs for SACD and DVD audio sources. Be sure that your receiver has 6 channel inputs to enjoy the full versitality of this unit. SACD and DVD audio require six analog channels.
The DVD 47A appears on its face to handle most anything you put in it. I have had superior results watching DVD videos, both commercial and DVD+Rs and DVD-Rs that I have burned. It will also play mpegs, mp3s, dual discs, CD-RWs etc.
The video quality is exceptional with excellent rich color detail. I have my 47A hooked to an Optoma DLP projector via component cables and I watch my movies on a DA-Lite CinemaVision 4.5' x 8' movie screen. There are no artifacts or color bleeding present. The picture quality is very clear and crisp with excellent color tones and good deep blacks. It displays a beautiful film quality image.
I originally bought the 47A to listen to the two new formats of DVD audio and SACD. Overall, I have been very impressed with both the dolby digital and DTS soundtracks on my DVDs, but the excellent sound from DVD audio and SACD really overwhelmed me! The latter two require the use of the six analog inputs. If you have never heard either of these formats, you owe it to yourself to listen. The surround mix of Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon was the first SACD that I listened to on the 47A, and I was overjoyed with excellent sound. (My 47A is hooked up to a Yamaha HTR 5280 surround sound receiver with Cambridge Soundworks speakers and subwoofer).
The front panel of the DVD 47A is also very helpful, because it has LED lights that let you know if you are playing stereo, dolby digital, dolby surround, DTS, DVD Audio 2 channel or 6 channel or SACD stereo or SACD surround. You may also use the remote to see the settings on your monitor.
The 47A remote is large and fairly intuitive. It has all the standard buttons plus a wheel for frame by frame reverse or fast forward. You can set the speed of each incrementaly. My only complaint is that the remote is not backlit.
The benefit of having the 47A for over a year has given me insight into the drawbacks of this player. Up until recently I had nothing bad to say, but then I bought two new Neil Young DVD audios. A standard CD is mastered at a 44 khz 16 bit sampling rate. Most DVD audios are sampled at 96Khz 24 bit. The DVD 47A plays either flawlessly. Ah, but good ole Neil loves technology. He remastered his classic album "On the Beach" and "American Stars and Bars" at sampling rates of 172 khz and 176 khz. I was puzzled at why when I played these DVD audios that they didn't seem to sound that stunning. I looked at my screen and used the remote to let me see the audio track. It noted the 176 KHz sampling rate, and further noted that it was being DOWNSAMPLED. After going through all the menus and then finally my operating manual, I discovered simply that the Pioneer DVD Elite 47A does NOT output audio streams at higher than a 96 Khz sampling rate. I only have a dozen or so DVD audios, and I will state that the majority of DVD audios are mastered at 96khz or less, however, the advanced resolution stereo track of The Eagles Hotel California was also mastered at 192 Khz sampling rate. The 47A will play these DVD audios, but it downsamples them.
I would also note that the 47A does not have bass management for six channel input sources. This has never bothered me, because all my Cambridge Soundworks speakers are full range and have good bass response. Six channel analog input sends the entire spectrum to each of the channels, whereas a digital signal is routed so that the lowest of tones are sent to your subwoofer. Thus, I suspect that if you have a satellite style speaker system (small speakers with one subwoofer for low frequencies) your SACDs and DVD audios will most likely sound thin and lacking in bass. The 47A does have bass management for digital video sources (i.e. Dobly Digital, DTS).
That being said, overall I love my Pioneer DVD Elite 47A.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 599.00
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