Many of us already have DVD players we like. What we don't have is an SACD/DVD-Audio player. All the universal players I know of have DVD-Video included. Forgo the Video electronics and produce a high quality DVD-Audio/SACD/CD player. Perhaps with an upsampling chip for red book CD's.

I don't know how much savings there could be in dropping the DVD-Video portion of such a player, since you still need a video section of some sort to use DVD-Audio discs. That's probably why you don't see any audio-only universal players (plus the fact that the market for universal players gets a lot bigger when it includes a good video section that will let people use one player for video and audio).

There hasn't been much talk about it in a while, but I know that at one time Outlaw was kicking around a design for a universal DVD player. With the recent shift toward entry level (~$100) players and "audiophile) ($1000+) players, the options for players in the $400-$600 range have dwindled significantly in the last year or two, making it that much easier for Outlaw to try to carve out their own niche. It's a very, very complex product to develop, especially for a small operation like Outlaw, but I suspect it's still rattling around in the background somewhere. I'll probably get a Yamaha DVD-S1500 later this spring, but it would definitely be interesting to see what Outlaw could come up with.

------------------
gonk -- 950 Review | LFM-1 Review | Pre/Pro Comparison Chart | Saloon Links

My Pioneer Elite DV-47Ai has a switch on the front panel to turn off all the video circuits when using it as an audio player only. I understand this universal player is now selling in the $600 - $700 range.

------------------
Tekdredger

My Panasonic RA60 (interlaced only, DVD-Audio support, $180 about two years ago) has the same button; it's fairly typical, and a good way to minimize the circuit activity (and potential noise) in the chassis. It is more or less standard on any DVD-Audio player. But you still need the video circuitry for the discs with menus, if only to get the ball rolling.

------------------
gonk -- 950 Review | LFM-1 Review | Pre/Pro Comparison Chart | Saloon Links

OK, so you need some sort of video circuit to deliver the DVD-Audio menus to your TV. It certainly wouldn't have to be anything fancy or costly. A simple composite output would probably suffice (including the technology to read the DVD). You certainly wouldn't need on board DD/DTS decoding, Faroudja decoding, component video outputs etc... that many current universal players incorporate. I'm just saying for those who have already made a significant investment in a DVD player we like, manufacturers should forgo the fancy DVD-Video options and upgrade the audio portion of at least one model. Me likes options!!

The reason they give you DD/DTS decoding is for people who buy one of these "high end" universal players and are going to use it as their only DVD player. It becomes annoying to have to use 2 separate inputs on the receiver for 1 dvd player. Not to mention the software on some units will only allow one set of outputs to be on at any given time (either the 6 channel analog or the digital output). This is also a great hassle for then you'd have to go into the DVD player menu and change the output every time you wanted to change from a DVD movie to a DVD-A/SACD. The way they've done things to this point seems only logical to me. Perhaps DVD-A will forgo the menus at which point we can drop the video section altogether.

Gonk,

Is the Yamaha player you've been waiting for in stores yet? If so, have you auditioned/bought one? If so, what is the "street" price of this unit?

I've got a Toshiba sd-5900 (I think - I'm out of town at the moment) but it starts playing the dvd-a tracks of any dvd audio disk I put in immediately... it's also got menu options so that I don't have to switch anything on the player when I switch between movies and dvd-a... I think that player is really cheap now it was around 150$ a year ago

The Yamaha I'm waiting for (S1500) is due out, but I haven't seen any of them in stores yet. It will sell for $400. I'll probably call this afternoon and see if they have an ETA on it.

------------------
gonk -- 950 Review | LFM-1 Review | Pre/Pro Comparison Chart | Saloon Links

400 clams!! Man, I WISH I had the upgrade cash you have....my wife would go insane

Gonk,

To your ears, can you hear an audible difference in any player? I would consider upgrading my Pioneer dv-45 universal player, especially if sacd playback sound was noticeably better. Didja get the Yamaha before your daughter arrived? Was it an improvement? (The player, not the baby! LOL!)

Jay

The Yamaha did arrive before Kate, and I've been using it since September. Video performance was quite pleasing (it trounced my old interlaced player and my progressive scan DVD recorder, although it had some troubles with the Secrets benchmark tests), DVD-Audio was very comparable to my previous DVD-A player, SACD is on par with or perhaps a little weaker than DVD-A on the Yamaha (based on the small sampling of SACD's in my collection, several of which are stereo discs that may not be the cleanest recordings and mixes), and CD performance was a bit stronger than my previous player. It's hard to say how the SACD performance might compare to your DV-45 since my previous player didn't suppor SACD at all. My biggest gripe with the Yamaha is definitely the user interface - no discrete FF/rew buttons and a display that is too small to show title/chapter information and timer simultaneously.

Gonk: I'm probably going to stand pat until a universal hd-dvd, sacd, dvd-a, cd, dvd player is created. I'm always interested to know if other people with "big ears" and "big eyes" notice any difference in different equipment. I've found, as a professional musician that I can "listen-through" just about any medium to the intrinsic music. 78's, lps and cassettes don't bother me if I really want to hear the music but, I can appreciate fine sound too.

Jay

PS The comments about keeping the background noise in your house at normal levels is right on. Here's another tip: respond quickly to Katie's cries. That way she won't learn that she needs to cry long and hard to get a response from you!

Waiting for the HD part may take a while considering the format war on that front, but if you've got a universal player you're content with I would say that sitting tight sounds like a reasonable move.

Noise levels around the house are unchanged during the day. My mother-in-law even vacuumed the den last Tuesday while Kate was sleeping in my lap, and Kate didn't fuss a bit. Once we put her down at night, we keep the lights low and sounds to a minimum in her room to promote the idea of night being for sleeping, but that's about it. As for crying, she definitely doesn't get much chance to tune up before somebody's checking on her. She's been good about crying, only crying when there's a reason and calming down once it's taken care of.

One neat idea for a universal player would be one intended to be used with an outboard video processor (like the DVDO ultra or such). Something that had good audio characteristics (or even digital multi-channel out) but was designed to send a digital interlaced (480i) signal over dvi/hdmi to your display or processor directly. I am finding I want a processor to hook my cable box and dvd player both into. Why pay for 2 sets of good video processors? This would be a little bit of a niche product but you could probably get by with cheap conversion parts and good connectivity.

Aaron