Sony's "Reference" Standard NON-Hybrid - Not Quite Up To Par...
Written: Apr 09 '03
|
Product Rating:
|
|
| Sound: |
 |
|
| Ease of Use: |
 |
|
| Picture Quality: |
|
|
| Durability: |
|
|
|
Pros: Semi-Diverse playback capability, SACD allignment (almost)
Cons: Many, both audio and video- please read review for meaningful feedback- No DVD-A
The Bottom Line: Unless you are married to Sony and/or SACD, there is no reason you shouldn't spend the same money or less on a BETTER, HYBRID UNIT from another manufacturer!
|
|
|
| nick1326's Full Review: Sony DVP-NS999ES DVD Player |
Before I let the title deter you from this unit, I want to be clear: Sony's DVP NS999ES is certainly the flagship player of the Sony line... Yet nevertheless, despite being a very capable unit, Sony once again has introduced a "new" product which it claims is the "standard" yet just does not measure up to the competition! Let me go back to my long-time Sony mantra: "Lean on your name, and never make it quite up to date" Sony's taken a stab at the Reference DVD/ SACD market and has brought a respetable player to market, yet still leaves much to be desired, ESPECIALLY considering the price...
Before I delve into the review, I want to discuss some immediate pros and many cons of this unit, and later I will go into full detail on all. 1) The unit does have 2 strong pros: 1) A 5 year warranty - this is higher than most of the competition, yet there are still a few manufacturers which match it OR do better by actually letting post-warranty repair go uncharged (Sony has NEVER done this for me, while a few others have). 2)*** This is the biggie: Sony's DVP NS999ES is the ONLY player thus far to offer SACD allignment/distance compensation- truly a very nice feature- however the down side is it still doesn't seem to handle alignment on SACD as well as I've seen all other players allign for DVD-A... go figure....
Now for the cons: 1) The unit DOES NOT PLAY DVD-A!!! 1a) The player just does not sound like a true "reference" caliber machine Sony claims it to be- and at a retail price of 1000.00, the damned thing better sound reference quality, but sadly it just doesnt - it sounds very good, but not fantastic/ knock-your-socks-off, like a few other players do. 2) The player does NOT handle Kodak picture discs nor does it do JPEG pics or MPEG video files - again, many other players do this... What is it with Sony - this goes STRAIGHT back to my Sony mantra: Many times in the past I've criticized Sony for appearing to almost PURPOSELY stay behind the competition in certain regards to playback capability -- I reviewed a few Sony DVDplayers and all-in-one systems which did not handle MP3 playback when almost all of the competition did! There was a point not too long ago, where it appeared Sony listened to consumer feedback in this regard and made changes- they began to add compatibility at the same level of the competition. Sadly, not this time - ***And THIS is their "FLAGSHIP" "REFERENCE STANDARD" player*** I guess it's tough to teach an old dog new tricks... 3) Lastly, video and audio in general are just not as good as other comparably priced players...Please continue to read and I will elaborate in detail - I surely hope this review helps bring the big Hybrid-PLayer picture into perspective!
First, I'd like to draw your attention to 2 other players which are priced in the same category and just straight-up OUTPERFORM the Sony in both audio and video departments AND UNLIKE THE 999, ARE COMPATIBLE WITH DVD-A - Yamaha's 2300 and Pioneer's 47Ai:
http://www.epinions.com/content_95282433668
http://www.epinions.com/content_94406020740
Please read all the reviews thouroughly - my intent is to really give the reader color on as much of the Hybrid market as I can, since I've concentrated alot of my research afforts to find the best one - my A/V system is the source of alot of enjoyment - finding the best player to handle DVD-A and V, as well as SACD and CD media, in addition to all the other JPEG/MPEG stuff has been a mystifying experience, to say the least! I hope my research will help you make the best choice!
The DVP NS999ES ( "999" for the rest of this review) is certainly much more than your standard 200 dollar DVD player. Sony has put together a respectable list of features and specs, as quoted from the Sony website:
--------------------------------------------------------
" • Single Disc SACD™CD Player
• Multi-Channel Playback
• 6 SADACs (Super Audio Digital to Analog Converters)
• Multi-Channel Management System
• Tri-Powered DAC
• CD-R/CDRW Readable
• Frame and Beam Chassis
• Twin R-Core Power Transformers
• Play 1, Exchange 4 Disc Capability
• Super Audio D/A Converter
• Direct Stream Digital Decoder
• 32 Step Programming
• SACD/CD TEXT
• Remote Control Remote Commander
anti-resonant chassis with frame-and-beam construction
plays DVD-Video, DVD-R & DVD-RW, and Video CD
plays SACD, CD, CD-R & CD-RW, and MP3 CD-R & CD-RW
108MHz/14-bit video D/A converter
selectable interlaced/progressive-scan component video output
(progressive-scan requires a compatible TV)
Precision Cinema Progressive de-interlacer with 3-2 pulldown processing
front-panel jog/shuttle control
built-in Dolby® Digital/DTS® decoding with 5.1-channel output
bass management for Dolby Digital, DTS, and SACD
optical and coaxial digital outputs for Dolby Digital/DTS/PCM
(96kHz/24-bit-capable)
2 sets of A/V outputs (2 composite, 2 S-video, and 1 480i/480p component video)
remote control (multibrand for TVs)
192kHz/24-bit audio D/A converter
audio signal-to-noise ratio 120 dB
16-15/16"W x 4-1/2"H x 14-15/16"D "
------------------------------------------------------------
First and foremost, obviously SONY invented SACD - so obviously they'll be the most staunch advocate of it. However, to ignore DVD-A, Sony is truly selling itself short- Instead of making the DVD-A vs SACD battle a true war, why not do what every other manufacturer is doing - HANDLE BOTH! It looks like both formats are here to stay- so I can see the logical move to accomodate those listeners who want to be able to listen to which ever format they choose.
IMPORTANT QUESTION: WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU PUT A DVD-A DISC INTO THIS PLAYER? The played will treat the DVD-A disc like a movie DVD and play it back in either Dolby Pro-logic or DTS Neo-6 - YOU WILL NOT BENEFIT FROM THE ENHANCED BANDWIDTH OF DVD-A, AND THE PLAYER LACKS THE 6.1 RCA OUTPUT REQUIRED.
Video wise, the unit uses Sony's own technology for 2/3 pulldown and video processing and enhancement. To elaborate on con "3" the unit lacks the industry standard Faroudja or Silicon Graphics technology which has proven itself to be the best. While video looks very good on this unit, the unit is NOT entirely free of the chroma-upsampling bug (sound familiar?) AND PLUGE and other key color-elements are not handled in a true "reference" fashion as other players in this price range or even less - once again, Sony is asking you to pay more and receive less! Why can't these people get with the program and REALLY COMPETE?!?! My reference material for this player included Gladiator, Spiderman, Star Wars Episodes I and II, Blow, Sleepy Hollow and Sum of All Fears. Video wise, I've seen each and every one of these discs look notably better on other players - Particularly Sleep Hollow - this movie is deliberately shot in a very drab and grey-ish manner, to capture the essence of dreariness that Tim Burton had in mind. However the garden scene, where Lisa Marie levitates, is SPECTACULAR in terms of richess of color- as is the "Red Carpet" scenes portraying Ichabod's childhood home. Neither scenes were played back with the "life" I've seen on other players - especially the levitation scene: Throughout the whole movie (up to this point) your eyes have steadily adjusted to grey-grey-grey - This scene should make the screen JUMP TO LIFE - on the Sony, no matter what settings I played with, I could not make the picture come to be as alive as I've seen on other players.
Audio wise, Gladiotor and Star Wars I and II are great soundtracks to monitor from transients - These sounded very good on the Sony, but again, not quite as "Alive" as they could have. The "Seismic Charges" scene (28 on episode II) is revealing - the space-deptch-charges have one of the most interesting sounds imaginable- on a great system (amp and speakers) coupled with a truly GREAT player, the room feels like it is going to literally come apart on the viewer! I watch this scene on both the Sony 999 and the Yamaha 2300 in the same room, and the Yamaha clearly blew the Sony right out of the water. On "Sum of All Fears" the orchestral theme throughout the movie, as well as many other spoken word scenes are shot with an excellent audio mix-down - The Russian nuke facility scene early in the movie is particularly revealing of a players faults - more so than the ground-shaking scenes aforementioned.... On a great "reference" player, the viewer can actually feel as if he/she is standing in the hallway of the nuke plant as the large bomb is lowered down the screen- and when the orchestral parts sound over and over, you can feel like you are sitting just a few feet away from the orchestral pit of a large concert hall.. Not on the Sony - while the audio parts sounded reasonably dynamic, I would hardly consider the sound "reference" grade - quite dissapointing for a player which not only costs 1000 bucks, but lacks playback capability of players that cost less and sound better...
As for SACD playback, this is one area where the 999 does do a very good job. SACDs sound dynamic and bright- distance compensation/alignment is also a critical feature here - thought to be honest, I was a bit surprised when my ears told me the player sounded better at default level than when allignment settings were specified... although the unit boasts SACD compensation, it doesn't sound like it achieves the exact desired effect -- In the same room, DVD-A sounded great on default level, but when Allignment settings were specified (obviously on a different player) the room sounded more precise - as if alignment had done something positive. When the alignments were set for SACD on the 999, the mid-range and higher mids seemed a bit scattered and unfocused- like it actually did the opposite of what was intended! I tried playing with these settings for quite a long time playing 2 discs, Diana Krall's "When I Look Into Your Eyes" and Joe Satriani's "Engines of Creation" While both of these SACDs sounded excellent on the player, the alignment settings seemed to throw off the sonic balance of the room and the recording- at default level I achieved a better image and more balanced sound... I guess it may be back to the drawing board on this one - but in fairness, at least Sony HAS this feature- I've not yet seen any player which has the ability to compensate for alignment on SACD.
Overall, while the Sony 999 sounds like it has the makings of a great player, it just doesn't cut it for a grand! Even at street price of 850 (or thereabouts) I just can't justify recomending this player when you can spend the same or possibly LESS and get a player than 1) Sounds and Looks better and 2) plays DVD-A AND JPEG/MPEG files to boot! Unfortunately, it looks like my old Sony mantra still holds true - and the ONLY way this player comes recomended is if you are absolutely married to Sony or MUST have SACD alignment (which doesn't appear to achieve the exact intended effect anyway). If you are considering this purchase, I urge you to give it a bit more time and really shop around and check out the competition -- The Yamaha 2300 and Pioneer 47Ai AGAIN, come at the same price or less and outperform the 999. Clearly, unless you had a very specific reason to buy the Sony, you would otherwise be selling yourself short.
Good try Sony, but it looks like once again, you'll have to bite the bullet and make some substantial improvements before this player really competes...
Recommended:
No
Amount Paid (US$): 869.00
|
|
|
|
Epinions.com ID:
nick1326
|
 - Top 100 |
|
Location: Long Island, NY
Reviews written: 232
Trusted by: 93 members
About Me:
Music, Motorcycles, Drumming, Surfing, the finest cigars and living life to its fullest...
|
|
|
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.