Denon DVD-2910 Universal Player
Posted: Sat Dec 10, 2005 6:04 pm
After the Sony NS500 (which had no functional bass management for SACD), the Pioneer DV-45 (which would get grumpy from time to time and lock up on discs no other player had a problem with), and the Samsung HD841 (two examples of which had faulty component video connections, one DOA -- the back connectors are so chintzy that you can easily push them almost all the way into the chassis), I decided to stop screwing around and see if spending more dough would actually result in a functional DVD player.
So I dropped $630 (retail $730) on this thing. (You can get it for under $600 from unauthorized outlets, though Denon is militant about not honoring warranties for grey-market purchases.) Definitely not cheap for a DVD player (though Denon also sells a $3500 monster, the DVD-5910, and Music Direct would love to sell you a $13,000 Esoteric). In the age of $20 Cyberhomes, what does this machine have to offer?
This box features *both* DVI and HDMI ports for connection to a HDCP-compatible digital TV, and will upconvert to 720p or 1080i. Sadly, my HDTV only has a component connection, so I'm unable to use this capability. Not a big loss, since in my experience upconverts are marginally better than 480p, if at all.
One hassle with previous players has been matching brightness levels among different components. My DirecTV receiver's picture is significantly dimmer than any DVD player I've had, so setting the TV to where the satellite looks good results in a bright, washed out DVD image. Fortunately, the TV offers different settings presets, but it was still something that had to be changed all the time. The Denon solves this problem as it has a myriad of picture controls itself -- including brightness, contrast, color, tint, and an insanely complex gamma correction option -- which can be stored into five presets. So I can adjust the TV to the satellite, adjust the DVD player to the TV, and life is simpler. Progress!
So far, I haven't found any issues with DVD playback. The picture looks fine, and everything seems to work as you'd expect. The player includes an 8MB buffer, so layer changes are nearly seamless. (I haven't noticed one yet.) It seems to read CD-Rs, DVD-Rs and DVD+Rs without incident, though I would hope that wouldn't be a problem in 2005.
The real reason I got this deck, though, was to try to get manageable SACD/DVD-A playback. In the past, my experience has ranged from complete failure (the Sony) to mere aggravation (the Samsung, which could be made to work with both formats, but only with signficant monkeying around with channel levels and having different bass management setups for different formats).
The Denon just plain works. A source of pain in the past was the fact that SACDs and DVD-As do not have the 10dB subwoofer channel boost that DD and DTS do. Therefore, to make a system calibrated to sound good with 5.1 movies work with SACD or DVD-A, a lot of compromises were needed. The Denon includes a simple menu option to add 10dB to the sub channel. Problem solved. For the first time ever, I can set all the channel levels to zero in both the player and receiver, dial in the sub volume, and all sources sound correct.
Unlike other non-Sony players I've used, switching between SACD playback modes is a simple one-button process here.
Redbook playback is excellent, with notably better quality than the DACs in my Integra receiver. The biggest difference is the stereo soundstage, which seems pinched and collapsed with the Integra. (I'd preferred the Integra DACs to those in the Samsung, FWIW.)
Finally, the Denon has an HDCD decoder, the first player I've ever had with this feature. Unfortunately, it can't be easily turned off, so I haven't done a good A/B test to see if it really makes a difference or not. HDCD discs I've tried sound nice, but I don't know if HDCD can be credited.
Gripes? Other than the price, response to commands is often poky. Don't try to skip ahead by mashing the "skip" button -- you'll end up helplessly watching the player march through the tracks instead of allowing you to advance the counter to your desired track then catching up with you. Also, for $600 I'd expect a back-lit remote, but I guess Denon figures most everyone is using universal remotes these days.
It won't play DivX, though it does apparently convert PAL. (I haven't tried it.) There's region-free firmware hacks out there, though I'm not sure I want to risk that with this player. I can pull out the crippled Samsung and watch other regions (and DivX, for that matter) over S-video for the moment.
Is it worth the money? It actually works well where previous $199-$499 players didn't, and offers more flexibility in setup than anything I've ever used, so at some level yes. Obviously, if you don't care about hi-res playback there are cheaper options that will probably work just as well (and work with DivX, which isn't a high priority for me), but this is the first player I've used that successfully fulfills the role of a "universal player" without compromise.
Ryan
So I dropped $630 (retail $730) on this thing. (You can get it for under $600 from unauthorized outlets, though Denon is militant about not honoring warranties for grey-market purchases.) Definitely not cheap for a DVD player (though Denon also sells a $3500 monster, the DVD-5910, and Music Direct would love to sell you a $13,000 Esoteric). In the age of $20 Cyberhomes, what does this machine have to offer?
This box features *both* DVI and HDMI ports for connection to a HDCP-compatible digital TV, and will upconvert to 720p or 1080i. Sadly, my HDTV only has a component connection, so I'm unable to use this capability. Not a big loss, since in my experience upconverts are marginally better than 480p, if at all.
One hassle with previous players has been matching brightness levels among different components. My DirecTV receiver's picture is significantly dimmer than any DVD player I've had, so setting the TV to where the satellite looks good results in a bright, washed out DVD image. Fortunately, the TV offers different settings presets, but it was still something that had to be changed all the time. The Denon solves this problem as it has a myriad of picture controls itself -- including brightness, contrast, color, tint, and an insanely complex gamma correction option -- which can be stored into five presets. So I can adjust the TV to the satellite, adjust the DVD player to the TV, and life is simpler. Progress!
So far, I haven't found any issues with DVD playback. The picture looks fine, and everything seems to work as you'd expect. The player includes an 8MB buffer, so layer changes are nearly seamless. (I haven't noticed one yet.) It seems to read CD-Rs, DVD-Rs and DVD+Rs without incident, though I would hope that wouldn't be a problem in 2005.
The real reason I got this deck, though, was to try to get manageable SACD/DVD-A playback. In the past, my experience has ranged from complete failure (the Sony) to mere aggravation (the Samsung, which could be made to work with both formats, but only with signficant monkeying around with channel levels and having different bass management setups for different formats).
The Denon just plain works. A source of pain in the past was the fact that SACDs and DVD-As do not have the 10dB subwoofer channel boost that DD and DTS do. Therefore, to make a system calibrated to sound good with 5.1 movies work with SACD or DVD-A, a lot of compromises were needed. The Denon includes a simple menu option to add 10dB to the sub channel. Problem solved. For the first time ever, I can set all the channel levels to zero in both the player and receiver, dial in the sub volume, and all sources sound correct.
Unlike other non-Sony players I've used, switching between SACD playback modes is a simple one-button process here.
Redbook playback is excellent, with notably better quality than the DACs in my Integra receiver. The biggest difference is the stereo soundstage, which seems pinched and collapsed with the Integra. (I'd preferred the Integra DACs to those in the Samsung, FWIW.)
Finally, the Denon has an HDCD decoder, the first player I've ever had with this feature. Unfortunately, it can't be easily turned off, so I haven't done a good A/B test to see if it really makes a difference or not. HDCD discs I've tried sound nice, but I don't know if HDCD can be credited.
Gripes? Other than the price, response to commands is often poky. Don't try to skip ahead by mashing the "skip" button -- you'll end up helplessly watching the player march through the tracks instead of allowing you to advance the counter to your desired track then catching up with you. Also, for $600 I'd expect a back-lit remote, but I guess Denon figures most everyone is using universal remotes these days.
It won't play DivX, though it does apparently convert PAL. (I haven't tried it.) There's region-free firmware hacks out there, though I'm not sure I want to risk that with this player. I can pull out the crippled Samsung and watch other regions (and DivX, for that matter) over S-video for the moment.
Is it worth the money? It actually works well where previous $199-$499 players didn't, and offers more flexibility in setup than anything I've ever used, so at some level yes. Obviously, if you don't care about hi-res playback there are cheaper options that will probably work just as well (and work with DivX, which isn't a high priority for me), but this is the first player I've used that successfully fulfills the role of a "universal player" without compromise.
Ryan