As I will be setting the 990 up this weekend I would appreciate opinions regarding input assignment. I will have 3 inputs from the Denon DVD 3910 – Coaxial 1, 2 channel analog and 5.1 channel analog. Would this be a correct config and assumptions? There will be no video inputs to the 990.

1. DVD Input, device name 3910, audio = Coaxial 1 (for watching movies or playing CD’s via digital using 990 DAC’s)
2. CD Input, device name 3910, audio = analog (for CD using the 3910 DAC’s I assume? Or may depend on whether Direct is chosen or not?)
3. 7.1 Input, device name 3910, audio = 5.1 analog out from 3910 (for DVD-A and SACD)

Or is there a better way to config this?

TIA

That is similar to the way I have my Yamaha DVD-S1500 set up - optical1 to the DVD input, analog to the CD input (although in my case I've developed a preference for using the 990's DAC's for CD's, so I have optical1 assigned to CD), and 5.1 from the S1500 to the 7.1 input. Be aware, however, that only the video inputs (DVD and VIdeo1 through Video5) can be renamed - CD will stay CD and 7.1 Direct will stay 7.1 Direct. It would probably get pretty confusing to have three inputs with the same name, anyway - it would be impossible to glance at the front panel and know which of the 3910's outputs you were using.

Thanks Gonk. I will play around with the CD inputs as you did and see which sounds best. I don't know for sure if can do this, but it would be nice to connect the Toslink output from the 3910 to Video 1 and rename it to say "CD Digital", then just switch back and forth doing comparisons between analog CD analog and digital, but I guess I can already do that by changing to the DVD input, which will already be digital.

Hope that made sense!

You can easily do that, barnabas - all of the digital inputs are addressable, and you can assign the same digital input to multiple inputs.

I will give it a try. Just getting anxious to get this up and running!

Hmmm...4 inputs for one DVR. My family is going to go crazy figuring this out! Time for a Harmony

Wow - I'm in need of an education! This is my first foray into multi-channel, though I've been 2 channel geek for 30 years. I just assumed that I would use the same output from my DVD player (Pioneer Elite DV-37) to the 990 to play both DVDs (audio portion) & CDs. I have coax for this connection. Separating CDs from DVDs sounds interesting, I may have to get an optical cable to test this out. Like Barnabas, this is the weekend to set stuff up, though it won't be until Sunday.

I hope to get up to speed quickly, would you guys have any specific suggestions of where to get a good overview of multi-channel issues/lingo?

Looks like back to school time.....

Bob

Bob, I am an old 2 channel guy too, until about 5 years ago.

Your player has 2 analog outs as well as the digitals. Hook 2 analog RCA cables to CD input and connect digital with your digital coax, then see what sound you like best on CD's.

Optical will likely sound the same as coaxial. When you use analog L & R, you can hear the DAC's in your DVD player vs. using the Outlaw processing. Then you can see which you like best. gonk did this and prefers the 990's processing as he stated earlier in this post.

You should consider a good universal player and see what 5.1 multi channel hi res SACD and DVD-A will do for you!

Thanks barabas! I'll give it a try. I'm thinking of sticking w/ my current player until the Blu-Ray/DVD-HD stuff gets sorted out, but we'll see.

Should be a fun weekend,

Bob

A lot of people are doing just that; waiting for the HD-DVD/Blue Ray thing to get sorted out. That is one of the main reasons I didn't get the Denon 5910 at this point. There is a lot to be decided and ironed out right now.

Barnabas:
You wrote:

You should consider a good universal player and see what 5.1 multi channel hi res SACD and DVD-A will do for you!

What do you use, and how do you like it.
Any recommendations for best pricing?

nfaguys, there are a lot out there. Just depends on what you want to spend. Prices range from just shy of $300 to over $3,500 I have a Denon DVD 3910. It runs around $1,400 but audio is superb. I had a Denon 2910, which goes for around $600. Not too shabby either. Samsung makes a couple in the 200 - 300 range. Maybe others that have universal players will chime in with some more recommendations.

Be aware that multichannel can be addicting! You have to get 6 analog cables to go from the DVD player to the 990 and SACD/DVD-A discs are a bit pricey too. I have a nice collection of DVD-A and SACD now, as well as some Japanese import XRCD 2 channel offerings that rival (and sometiimes downright beat up on) multichannel formats.

There are several DVD-V that sound absolutely awesome with just a regular DVD player HERE is one that is highly recommended and one of my favorites (if you like Bluegrass/Country). Filmed in HD and DTS 5.1, it will just blow you away!

Pioneer also offers several very strong DVD A and SACD players as well . Check them out .
http:www.pioneerelectronic.com/pna/product/album/compare/0,,2076_150206671,00.html

nfaguys,

I have the denon 2910 and really like it. It does a great job with DVD's and and the video is awesome. I have been really happy with the player, and it pulls at least double duty in my system, DVD player, DVD-Audio, SACD, and a whole slew of other formats...

I think its worth the price..

I like the Denon 2910 as well, although I only have a Pani RP56 atm.

Has anyone taken delivery of the Oppo OPDV971H? I would like to see some feedback on that..

Everything you want to know about the Oppo is here:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=491306&perpage=20&pagenumber=1

Thanks for the link Barnabas. It would be nice to get some personal feedback from someone in the group...

When are you buying one gonk?

Actually, I got one earlier this week, but unfortunately the week has not been conducive to enjoying it or even running DVE to make sure it and my TV are squared away. I'm pretty impressed from what little I've seen so far - mediocre transfers can only improve so much, but even without calibration, good transfers can look extremely good. I haven't tried the audio section and probably won't.

Looking forward to your review..

I don't work for the company so don't sue me...
I took delivery of the Oppo a couple weeks ago. I've watched about 5 movies on it so far, and like Gonk said, the quality of transfer on the DVD will determine how close to HD it looks. For example, my Gladiator DVD looks spectacular. I've watched a few rental new releases (I was gone for 4 months so I have a lot of catchup to do when it comes to movies). One of them (can't remember title, it was so forgettable) didn't look quite as good, or "HD'ish".
As far as audio, I'm only capable of playing CD's or DVD-V on it, as my pre-pro is still circa 1995. When I get my 990 I'll have to buy a DVD-A or two and try that out.
I don't think it plays SACD...at least it doesn't list it. Maybe Gonk knows...
As far as the company's customer service, I called them for help in flashing the firmware and they were very helpfull. No complaints there.
I haven't tried too many other DVD players, but this one definately makes a DVD look very good on my HD RPTV via the DVI connector. It only upscales via its DVI output however. If you don't have a DVI or HDMI input on your TV, then you wouldn't want this unit.
In my opinion, if you want an upscaling DVD player for your HD TV and you have a DVI or HDMI port (you could use a converter connector) you can't go wrong with the Oppo DVD player, especially for that price. I bought mine from the company's website, and no problems with the transaction. Very quick shipment.

I have had the Oppo for about 2 or 3 weeks now and it lives up to the hype. Here is a little blurb I wrote about it on another site:
"the Oppo dvd player looks spectacular on my 52" DLP tv. I was using a Liteon dvd recordable so it was an enormous difference in picture quality. It is very smooth and fluid looking on my tv scaled to 720p. I also tried it on my 32" crt hdtv through dvi at 1080i and I was impressed, but I think it looked better on my dlp, probably due to size. I would buy one for the 32" if I could justify it, I just never watch movies on that tv. I was seriously thinking about upgrading my projector to one with a dvi/hdmi input just so I can buy another Oppo for my theater. I will put it this way, for $200 I doubt you will find a better picture anywhere. The thing that stands out to me the most is the blacks, which are definitely blacker than black. Because of that, the colors just pop, almost to a three dimensional level."

It will not do SACD. I haven't hooked up the analog outputs (my Yamaha universal handles that for me), so I don't know how DVD-Audio stacks up on the OPPO. Customer service seems very helpful and responsive. There is one bug that I was able to confirm (movies that use a subtitle track to provide foreign language subtitles with the main audio track - or, in the case of the Star Wars movies, alien dialog such as Greedo's - do not have that "hidden" subtitle track turned on automatically), but they have assured me that they are pursuing a fix for it. In the meanwhile, users have to hit the "SUBTITLE" button a couple times to select the track manually (it seems to usually be track 2) when playing a disc like this.

I think the biggest thing to keep in mind with the OPPO is what assid mentioned - unless you have a display with a DVI or HDMI input (or plan to get one in the near future), it's not really worth pursuing because the component outputs are limited to interlaced (480i). For DVI or HDMI inputs, though, it seems to be a mighty fine value.

My Sony VPL-HS51 Projectors has HDMI, but I am using compenent because I currently don't have any equipment that outputs that signal..