I have an old DVD player, a Sony DVP-S560D. At the layer change, there is a delay, and my 950 loses the digital audio signal. As a result, the on-screen display comes up. I’ve read some of the archived posts, and know that I could set the 950 to lock on the signal, but I find that turning off the OSD is the easiest current solution.

I am planning on purchasing a new DVD player. One of the most important features that I am looking for is a layer change that won’t cause my 950 to lose the signal. I would also prefer DVI and/or HDMI. I was very excited about the Denon DVD-1910. It has DVI out and is under $250. According to hometheaterhifi.com, it fails their layer change test, taking 2 seconds. Does anyone own the 1910, and does the 950 stay locked on the audio through the layer change?

Is buffer size the key determinant in the layer change delay? I have been unable to find out the size of the Sony’s buffer. The Denon 1910 has 2MB. According to hometheaterhifi.com, the Denon 2200 and 2900 have zero delay, but they lack digital out, these two units have 8MB buffers. The Denon 3910 is considerably more than I want to spend, has an 8MB buffer, and according to hometheaterhifi.com makes the layer change in a ½ second. The Denon 2910 has DVI and HDMI output and an 8MB buffer. Does anyone have this player, and how does the 950 react to it?

I understand that the more expensive players are universal players, and that the 2900 has a Silicon Image deinterlacers, while the 1910 has a different Faroudja than the 2910 and the 3910.

Thanks
-Scott

I've used five different players (three different Panasonic, one Toshiba, and one Yamaha) with the 950 and never experienced the signal drop-out you've been experiencing with the old Sony. The oldest Panasonic had a fairly slow layer change, too. I'll leave it to others to comment specifically on the Denons (although the two in question are very new to market), but I would expect both to maintain signal lock through the layer change.

I use a Denon 1200 and have had no issues with the signal drop-out.

I have used an older Pioneer, and currently use a Denon 2900. No issues with signal drop with either player and the 950.

I have the very low priced Pioneer DV-563a and have never had the signal droped by the layer change. As a matter of fact the layer change(it is slight but there) is the only thing I can find wrong with the 563a. It has a great picture using progressive scan and plays DVD-A/SACD's with no problems. If your looking for something to hold you over for a while then the 563a($150 or less Street)might be worth a look. Hope this helps

Lasher

I have had the 950 have problems losing the signal *within* a song on a CD. (Happens a few times on No Code by Pearl Jam.) The trick that worked for me, is to map the physical input to the named input (i.e., coax1 to DVD, coax1 to CD) and then for each input tell it what signal to expect (DD/DTS for DVD and PCM for CD).

That certainly works if necessary. I've done that for CD's, not for the purpose of signal format but to automatically be in stereo for CD's and surround mode for DVD's.

Thanks for the responses. I always noticed the layer change, but it never drove me nuts until I got the 950 and the layer change triggered the OSD. It's nice to know that whatever new player I get shouldn't have that problem.

I suspect that the problem in the case of your old player was due to the player's behavior during layer change - in my experience, it is extremely rare for a player to interrupt the digital audio signal at layer change, since the format of the signal should always be maintained across the change. It would have been this handling of the audio signal during the layer change rather than the duration of the change that would cause the 950 to mute and re-acquire. I'd be curious to hear if a new player did the same thing.

I own a Denon DVD 1000 and have never had a signal drop due to a layer change, but my 950 will experience a signal drop through the digital inputs due to power spikes and/or extended delays in commercial HD programming.