Soldato
- Joined
- 22 Feb 2008
- Posts
- 11,108
Sony BDP-S350 can be found online around that mark. Top notch player - probably the best you'll find on a budget.
Best Blu-Ray player?
- Thread starter Robert1986
- Start date
Nah, I see what your getting at, that it downmixes PCM, and TrueHD to 1536DTS, but the question remains, is it's downmix actually better than the lower bit rate 640 Dolby stream. All depends how good that on the fly conversion is. Plus does it strip out the dolby dialog normalisation etc, and/or add the DTS 10db bass lift.
The main difference between DTS and Dolby is normally put down to slightly different mixes in the first place, I suspect that switching on the fly is more a gimmick than anything else.
PS, I did say that one reason for picking the sony is that its sp/dif is coaxial and I have no spare optical inputs on my amp
Ah right, cheers for that. Have also read that some of the new HD mixes arn't the best either, and based on an older DTS or DD track. But obviously there are some great ones with new mixes.
TO be honest, all this HD audio seems like a lot of words, when the real world difference will be very small unless you have some seriously capable equipment and ears, a bit like 1080p on a screen 8ft away
Having trouble deciding on what processor to go for, older arcam av9 or wait for a lovely emotiva umc1
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AgreedReviews are pretty much 100% positive, plus DVD-A, SACD and even the ability to play mkvs etc from USB is great...lack of NTFS support at the mo sucks tho.
Yep, can't wait for this; it'll be out of OP's budget but it'd be worth saving that extra bit for IMO. I've been holding out on a BR player and was sold on this months ago due OPPO's dvd player rep and the SACD and DVD-A features. Really like the fact that they've publicly done an extensive customer trial program for feedback and bugfixing prior to releasing it..
I'm hoping this is the player that will break the back of the ridiculously priced high end Pioneers and Denons etc..
Caporegime
Im seriously looking at getting one, my bro has the PS3 or is getting one tonight and i need a blu ray myself for my room.
Ive got my eyes set on the Sony one mentioned here but cant seem to find it for less than £180...i guess u cant mention the name of the place u got it from??.
Caporegime
my email is in trust
Ah so is yours ygm
That email is no longer in use...email sent to you from my proper email
Soldato
TO be honest, all this HD audio seems like a lot of words, when the real world difference will be very small unless you have some seriously capable equipment and ears, a bit like 1080p on a screen 8ft away
Having trouble deciding on what processor to go for, older arcam av9 or wait for a lovely emotiva umc1
Considering the prices people are prepared to pay to get the very most out of even a Dolby Digital 448kbps stream, I seriously believe that HD audio is mostly smoke and mirrors. Only the best decoder/amp/speaker combos will really make any use of them, and the biggest difference will be the original source mix, not the encoding.
Some of the older high end dolby/dts only processors are real gems, and can still outperform cheaper HD receivers.
As you say, its like 1080p on a small screen with a large viewing distance.
For what its worth, I did manage to borrow one of the Onkyo processors a while back, and to be honest I kept it for a week before returning it to the store because I prefered my old Tag AV32R, even though the Tag lacks all the HD codecs (being sp/dif only). I tried with the Onkyo driving my speakers directy, and also as a decoder/preamp with my speakers being driven by my normal poweramps. I still prefered my tag processor though. PS I've heard the AV9 thought it was great, definatly worth an audition if you can get one.
That UMC1 is one sexy looking beast though, if it sounds as good as it looks..........
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I thought that the Sammy units were the only BD players that recoded HD audio to max bitrate DTS?
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Still can't believe these haven't fallen in price - I paid £145 for mine (With 5 blu rays thrown in and 3 DVD's) back in November from a major e-retailer!
Other makes bluray players have dropped in price but the Sony hasn't really budged.
Associate
I agree, I've recently brought a second hand Denon AVR 2803 for a £100, and still amazes me on how well the Denon 2803 produces the sound, despite it's age. OK, it does not have HDMI and TrueHD decoders, but do I need really need em as I'm more than happy with listening to Dolby Digital and DTS.
I think you need to spend thousands on serious equipment to get the most out of TrueHD, plus I think this TrueHD is abit of a white elephant imo.
You be very surprised on how cheap you can pick up these decent amps on fleabay when they were 7 times as much a few years ago and still perfectly capable of producing amazing sound which yet still can't be matched with many of today's expensive amps.
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Soldato
I don't think this lot could be considered a competitor for Overclockers but I shall be vague nonetheless.
The company who's shops use catalogues and you then have to fill out a little form and hand it in at the till then goto the counter and wait for ages whilst some spotty kid throws your purchase around. They also had a load of crappy adverts featuring Richard E. Grant where he was this obnoxious rock star who's personal assistant always bought all the things he wanted from them.
I just reserved one for pickup tomorrow from my local branch for £149.99.
Soldato
I just bought the Sony BDPS350 and, with my limited knowledge of Blu Ray players, I think it's excellent.
First thing I did was update the firmware via the net and this took forever. No idea if it was just a poor net connection or the updates do take an age. After testing various films in it, and they looked great, I hacked it for multi region DVD, alas not Blu Ray, so now I can upscale my DVD collection in it's entirety and not just the R2 ones.
Overall I'd say it was £150 well spent.
First thing I did was update the firmware via the net and this took forever. No idea if it was just a poor net connection or the updates do take an age. After testing various films in it, and they looked great, I hacked it for multi region DVD, alas not Blu Ray, so now I can upscale my DVD collection in it's entirety and not just the R2 ones.
Overall I'd say it was £150 well spent.
Associate
I bought one yesterday and agree its an excellent player, Ive been using my PS3 as a Blu-Ray player for a long time now but honestly think the 350's image is better.
My firmware also took a long time to update, i ended up going out as it was going its thang.
Ive also got mine region hacked which was one on my major gripes with the PS3 as ive got a lot of R1 DVD's.
My firmware also took a long time to update, i ended up going out as it was going its thang.
Ive also got mine region hacked which was one on my major gripes with the PS3 as ive got a lot of R1 DVD's.
That email is no longer in use...email sent to you from my proper email
I have replied to the gmail account.
Soldato
Just found one thing to criticise on the Sony player. To get BD Live running you need to stick in a 1gb or larger mem stick. The usb port is recessed and I can't get my mem stick into the port. Seems to me this was done for no other reason than to get a Sony stick you know will fit. Dodgy gits
Soldato
DTS MA includes the full bitrate DTS Core soundtrack, the only place the Sammy wins is recoding PCM or Dolby TrueHD to DTS (apparently).
The question remains, is the live encoding better than a professionally encoded 640kbps Dolby Digital source. How much of the differences between DTS and Dolby (in their HD or earlier varients) based not on the codec itself, but the mix made before the initial encoding.
Either way, the 640kbps dolby digital stream is remarkably close to the original PCM stream in a double blind listening test most people are no better than 50/50. Same goes for DTS Core @ 1536 and DTA Master Audio.
What is apparent though, Dolby @ 256, 320 or 448 (which are the most common bitrates on DVD (256 is common on TV shows, and 448 on blockbuster movies) are all significantly worse than blurays 640kbps dolby. Likewise half bitrate DTS is considerably inferior to fullbitrate DTS.. Not that many Region 2 DVD's even include a DTS soundtrack at all.
To cut a long story short, Bluray feeding an oldschool DTS or Dolby processor with the maximum permitted bitrates for those standards offers a significant advantage over DVD, the additional improvements offered by upgradeing to a HD processor are a lot harder to justify. On the fly transcoding.. well that would depend if its really well implemented, for example DTS soundtracks often include bass lift, while dolby soundtracks have normalization. What happens with the transcoded soundtracks etc.
Another vote for the Sony BDPS350 from me. Just got one yesterday, and through my Sony Bravia KDL-40Z4500 it seems to output a pretty impressive picture! Cant really comment on the sound, as I don't have a decent amp / speaker set-up, I'm just using the speakers on the TV, but all in all it looks a good performer. Enjoy!