Youngklip Posted May 24, 2003 Share Posted May 24, 2003 A few days ago I got the pioneer DV-47Ai for $635. I was looking at the new Marantz DV8400 and it has a DVI connector. I was woundering if that is just for digital video only or digital out too? I wish pioneer had that on its player too. But between the two which is a better player? the MARANTZ or the Pioneer? The marantz better have a 108mhz 12bit video chip to compare to pioneer's. My guess is that my pioneer is better because it has the i-link for the hi-res audio. Then again the marantz has a DVI for video. To me I think I rather have the i-link over the DVI. Because I bought this player for audio quality, not video. Does anyone know how much better DVI is over Component? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marksdad Posted May 24, 2003 Share Posted May 24, 2003 i bought the pioneer 1 week ago, and after i did i went surfing, looking for reviews, and if a person listened to all of the people reviewing electronics, than 1 would never buy anything. i after reading the reviews felt a little saddened. so instead i listened, and watched movies, the pioneer is every bit as good as my rotel was, plus it has sacd which is an really refined format. it does have the chroma bug, but this is only under certain circumstances, and at a very reduced rate, i have not played a movie that exibited this yet., for my pennies i really think this is a fine machine, i dont know anything about the marantz player, and i do not recall anyone here having 1 either, go on line and read reviews, even in a-b comparasions it is hard to know, just when you buy develope a relationship with your dealor, and make sure they have a good return policy. but i am glad to see yhou going for a better player, my son has an 200 dollar sony, and in comparison it just isnt there, good electronics coupled with klipsch, man oh man it just dosent get any better! music and ht have never sounded better Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Youngklip Posted May 24, 2003 Author Share Posted May 24, 2003 Can you tell me more about this chroma bug? I not know much about about that in DVD players. Tell me how to find it and how to prevent it from happening. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arthurs Posted May 24, 2003 Share Posted May 24, 2003 DVI pic is better resolution than component, and the DVI connection is for video only per your question. You should also look at Denon players, I auditioned the Marantz, the Yamaha un iversal player, and ended up going with the Denon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marksdad Posted May 24, 2003 Share Posted May 24, 2003 i auditioned the denon (new) 2900 against the rotel 1080, no comparison, the denon has features but the audio section sounded? well lacking, good picture however, and than i auditioned the rotel against the 47ai, for me it was hard to pick 1 over the other, and that says something especially since the rotel is heads above most other players, but it is better to do research and than audition, and the display i was doing the audition on was an sony plasma tv Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bruinsrme Posted May 24, 2003 Share Posted May 24, 2003 Like Marksdad I was disappointed after reading the "professional" reviews. I find the picture and playback top notch. Yes the player suffers from the chroma bug and I have noticed it only after reading the exact location of the problem. Not only would I recommend the unit I bought a second one for another HT step up. Scott Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marksdad Posted May 24, 2003 Share Posted May 24, 2003 young, go to the pioneer site, go to elite products, and there you will find a detailed explaination on the chroma bug, also explains that it is almost elimated in the ai seriese Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
STL Posted May 27, 2003 Share Posted May 27, 2003 What sad is that you could have spent almost 1/3 of what you did and bought Panny RP82 which produces a better picture! See: http://www.hometheaterhifi.com/cgi-bin/shootout.cgi?function=search&articles=5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TauRus Posted May 27, 2003 Share Posted May 27, 2003 Following are some facts mixed with a good deal of my humble opinion. I made A/B comparison of Denon DVD2900 and Pioneer DV47Ai at home rather than in a show room. Both players were connected through the same set of Outlaw silver core coax component cables, coax for digital out (for movies, dts, dd) and a set of six Outlaw pure copper twisted pair interconnects for SACD/DVD-A. Other equipment: Hitachi 43FDX01B RPTV, Denon AVR3803, Klipsch Reference line speakers (RF3s, RC-3, RB-5s). In both Video and particularly Audio Denon beat Pioneer hands down. The difference was not slight but very apparent. Having said that, in terms of video performance I was frustrated with less than perfect PQ on both players jagged edges, combing, CUE (Chroma Upsampling Error) - all these artifacts were very apparent particularly on DVD2900. At least in my case. My older JVC in the same setup and playing the very same disks did not show any signs of these artifacts. Audio i.Link (FireWire) output on Pioneer - definitely a step forward in technology. However, it only works currently with Pioneer VSX-49TXi receiver. I am not aware of any other receiver to date that accepts i.Link audio signal. Also, keep in mind that because of the Digital Rights limitations, the audio signal that is directed through i.Link interface is downsampled to 44Khz, not 192 as when you use analog cables. I might have erred a bit in numbers but the essence is correct - you get high sampled signal from DVD-A/SACD through analog connection only. This was done to prevent copying of the hi rez material. Sony is rumoured to come out with the digital connection for SACD that is not downmixed, but I do not have confirmation of that. So, at this point, until a global standard for digital interface for DVD-A and SACD are accepted widely, i.Link output is a mixed blessing. DVI on Marantz DV8400 (video only) - another goodie that has currently limitations - the unit ships with DVI interface disabled until "future upgrades" are made available. DVI provides better video than any analog video interface, even components, because it eliminates unnecessary D/A conversion and keeps the video signal in digital domain. Also, many of the DVD players available today can "upscale" the original 480i DVD video to 720p, 1080i and other combinations. That's very nice, because you basically get a picture that might rival HD in clarity. But I got a feeling that DVI makes sense only when you have a TV/monitor that is truly digital, like plazma, DLP, LCD. All CRT based TVs are converting the digital video signal back to analog due to the analog nature of CRTs. Marantz DV8300 was based on the Pioneer DV47Ai chassis and inherited most of the Pioneers electronic circuitry. I would guess that DV8400 is also from the same family. So in turms of the video and audio performance when using similar output interfaces both units should be quote comparable, perhaps with the slight edge toward Marantz since it is a newr generation of universal players and was reported to go through "major re-design" compared to DV8300. My 2c. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Griffinator Posted May 27, 2003 Share Posted May 27, 2003 ---------------- On 5/24/2003 8:11:21 AM arthurs wrote: DVI pic is better resolution than component Horse feathers it is. Same resolution, just a matter of where the D/A conversion happens. Here's the fundamental problem with DVI vs. Component: A CRT tube generates MASSIVE amounts of RF interference. - Component video D/A happens at the source (HD receiver, DVD player, etc) - DVI D/A happens at the destination (FP, RP, tube) In the case of Plasma or LCD screens, there are no CRT tubes, and there is no D/A conversion. An HD signal is not subject to any kind of conversion (except down-sampling in the cheapo EDTV units) A DVD signal is not subject to any conversion either - WYSIWYG. In the case of a tube, FP, or RP, the D/A conversion happens within 6 inches of this massive RF interference generator (or three smaller ones if we're talking about projection) - anyone who's ever dealt with audio D/A (I do on a daily basis) knows how RF interference affects a D/A conversion. It introduces jitter. Jitter can literally destroy this delicate signal - especially in video D/A where the bandwidth and frequencies involved are much higher than that of audio. It's really simple. You want the best pic on your tube/projection HDTV? Use component video, and be prepared to spend big bucks on heavily shielded (because that is the most important part - regardless of the hype) component video cables. You want the best picture on your plasma/LCD HDTV? Use a digital path, whether it be RGB, DVI, or FireWire. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fish Posted May 27, 2003 Share Posted May 27, 2003 I agree,the Denon beat the pioneer in audio by a noticable margin,imo.The video I really can't say,I thought they were both fine on the dvd's I watched.Now that Denon and Marantz are the same company it will be interesting to see how they compare. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.