This is my updated review of the Pioneer DV 563A. I hope that this review will provide enough information about my experience with it to help you decide if its a purchase you want to make. First, why did I buy it? I love the new formats of SACD and DVD Audio, but when the formats first came out, units that played both where expensive and rare. Now Pioneer has the DV-563A that is under 200! At that price, I can put DVD audio and SACD capability in all my rooms! I have a much more expensive Pioneer Elite DV 47A in my living room, but I bought this to add to the surround sound system in my bedroom. I saw it at Best Buy for only $135 dollars and I couldn't let it just sit there on the shelf. ( I am a shopaholic, remember) I did not purchase it to use as a DVD player, I purchased it as a SACD/DVD audio player. Any unit that plays DVD audio is by definition also a DVD player. If you have no interest in these two outstanding new audio formats, first, you don't know what you are missing!, and second, I really don't think this DVD player is any more impressive a DVD player than others for the same price, if you ignore the SACD/DVD-A features.

DVD player - picture quality, standard features

As a DVD player it is average, it has a good picture, progressive scan, DTS, and dolby digital signal processing, component video cable out, optical cable sound out, and yet another blaise but functional remote control. I have it hooked up to a Kenwood Surround Sound System (0.7 %THD), and a 20" flat screen Apex TV with a regular video cable. The Rolling Stones 4 Flicks is playing while I write this review. The picture is bright, sharp and clear, you can see all the lines on Keith Richards face. The colors look real and natural. However using the zoom function to go to 4X, the quality definitely deteriorates. I don't know if that would improve if this was hooked up with component video cables (and I'm too lazy to hook it up in the living room to test that, sorry)

DVD DTS/Dolby Digital/SACD/ DVD-A Sound Quality / Important hook up information

The sound quality is this units strongest point. Its ability to play all the formats at a cheap price is what attracted me the most to this set. The unit has 6 channel output to play these formats. Be sure your receiver has 6 channel input, it is NOT the same as the digital coaxial inputs or digital optical inputs. Both SACD and DVD-A use a 6 channel output which is 6 analog cables, one for each channel. I know that DTS and Dolby Digital are 5.1 or 6 channel sound, but the SACD and DVD-A signals are different and 6 channel output or input refers specifically to these formats. Digital cables for DTS and Dolby, 6 analog cables for SACD or DVD-A.

Again, $134 dollars to experience DVD audio and SACD is an open invitation to hear these new formats. I tested the SACD sound with the Surround Sound SACD Goodbye Yellow Brick Road by Elton John and the Surround Sound SACD TOMMY by the Who. The sound was wonderful! On Funeral for a Friend on the Elton SACD for example, the wind effects swirl around and then the organs come in from the rear and swell to fill the entire sound field. In Tommy, guitars and vocals fill the front sound stage and the horn section comes in from behind you! You literally re-experience albums you have heard dozens of times in a whole new way. For DVD - Audio, I listened to Deep Purple Machine Head, and was equally impressed. I will also note that I didn't notice any change in the quality of the music from the more expensive Pioneer DV 47A I have in my living room. (except for those produced by the deeper bass response in the Cambridge Soundworks speaker set up in the living room v. the Kenwood satellite style speaker set up in the bedroom).

Other Features / Ease of Use

One feature I liked about using the Pioneer DV-563A is that it is one of the few players that has the standard enter button surrounded by the four arrow wheel on the UNIT as well as the player! If you can't find that pesky remote, you can make your selections right on the player. I also like the fact that the unit has a LAST MEMORY feature. Say for example you were writing this review watching the Stones DVD, and then put in the Elton John SACD to remember where the sounds came from. When you put the Stones DVD back in, the Unit remembers where you were! I like that! It also has a zoom feature and fake surround sound (TruSurround SRS) to emulate surround sound if you only have stereo. It also has a photo viewer, but I have not used this feature, so I can only say its available, but not how well it works.

Style

For those of you more into aesthetics than sound, this Pioneer DVD player is available in silver only. It looks and feels a bit cheaper, but thus far, I cannot hear or see any compromise on the electronics inside. It is also a very thin unit, and has a stylish looking design.

Myself, I am pleased with this Pioneer, and I will probably buy another to add SACD and DVD-A surround sound to my office or maybe my sons room. Of course my bathroom is only wired for stereo...

Final update

About two years after the original review, the dolby digital /DTS chip got fried. I can still listen to DVDs in 6 channels with the analog cables, but if I set the player for Dolby Digital or DTS, it won't work. I checked the cables carefully to make sure everything was still plugged in. I even upgraded the amplifier. Of course at the low price, it wasn't worth getting fixed. I ended up giving this player to my son (who doesn't really care if its dolby digital, he just likes the surround sound) and I purchased a Pioneer 45A, a much more expensive unit that has come down to $350.00 in price. I subtracted one star from my original 4 star review.

Recommended: Yes

Amount Paid (US$): 134