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New member Username: KewlPost Number: 2 Registered: May-05 | I have a 2 year old Pioneer DV-563. Mostly satisfied with it, I only bought one DVD-A (Steely Dan's Everything Must Go) and one SACD (Diana Krall's The Look of Love). For a few months now I've been making my own DVD-A http://dvd-audio.sourceforge.net from original 24/96 and 24/88.2 recordings. I thought I'd give the new Pioneer DV-588 a try, since it's fairly cheap ($150 CDN). Wow. What a letdown. First, the disc mechanism is loud. I tried two units, both produced the same loud whirl while reading DVD-A, SACD or CD. Compared to that, the 563 drive mechanism is whisper quiet. Secondly, it's impossible to read a DVD-A directly, without navigating the disc menu. With the 563, if I put a DVD-A in, it will automatically read the DVD-A section (AUDIO_TS folder). The 588 won't. Since my home made DVD-As don't have menus, there's no way to make them play. To the 588 credit, the video signal thru the S-Video output seemed to be slightly better than the 563. - Kewl |
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Anonymous | Letdown? What are your expectations on a $130 unit? (Thats the price I got mine at) I have not had any loud mechanism related issues and am happy with this unit for the next year or until the HD stuff comes out. It's a great "Economy" unit worth every dime! The fact that the bass management has issues should give a clue that this is not a "High End" unit, it screams "Economy". But for the price you will not find an equal. |
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New member Username: KewlPost Number: 3 Registered: May-05 | OK, let's try that again. Whatever the price, the drive mechanism is loud: while listening to classical music, the whirl is clearly audible in pianissimo passages. Not good. I expect that after 25 years of making optical disc readers, this shouldn't be an issue. Heck, my Pioneer DVR-109 DVD writer is quieter than the DV-588. I don't expect to loose functionality in a more "advanced", or at least equivalent, model. But this the case here because you need to turn your TV on to play a DVD-Audio. Such a player should be able to play CD, SACD and DVD-A directly, without the help of an external GUI. As for the problems with bass management, it's possible, but I listen in straight stereo with full range floor standing speakers, so it doesn't affect me. If in fact there's a problem with bass management, the DV-588 doesn't look like a good investment even more, however cheap it may be. All in all, I found a new respect for my trusty DV-563. - Kewl |
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New member Username: El_zorro37Post Number: 8 Registered: Mar-05 | Kewl, You should be able to play DVD-Audio without a menu or hooking it up to a TV (or at least after you do the initial setup with a TV). Try this: put the DVD in the player, let it load the menu, press stop, and the play. It starts playing the DVD-A directly then. What is happening is that it is reading the DVD-Video playlist and the player is waiting for you to make a selection select off of the playlist. I haven't figured how to shut this off from the set up menu but it only takes a few seconds to work around. I haven't noticed too much noise on mine maybe you got a defective one. I got mine for $106 and I have been pleased so far. Glad you are pleased with your DV-563, I had heard good things about that one but Pioneer doesn't make it anymore. I agree with your accessment of keeping all existing functionality when introducing models. I hope that DVD-A workaround mentioned above helps you out. |
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New member Username: KewlPost Number: 4 Registered: May-05 | Thanks for the tip. I don't know if it would have worked with my home made DVD-As (the VIDEO_TS folder is empty), but in any case the machine is gone and won't be coming back. As for the mechanical noise issue, maybe I'm just too sensitive or picky: I tried two units and they both produced the same whirl. Mind you I was in another shop yesterday and one DV-588 was playing a movie: with all the ambient noise, the unit seemed OK, but I got closer (six inches) and I could then hear the noise I was hearing at home. I guess it's really an issue of how loud the movies and music are playing and how noisy is the home environment is to start with. Again it seems the DV-563 is an exceptionally quiet model. Thanks again, Kewl |
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Silver Member Username: Thx_3417Post Number: 957 Registered: May-05 | Yeah I noticed it on my Pioneer DV-525 region 2 model, strange, I wonder if there's a way to isolate the mechanisms sound, I also have the Sony DVP-S336 region 2, she's a lot quieter than the Pioneer. And I'm still running two Pioneer Laserdisc players CLD-1750 and CLD-2950 and the spindle motors are much louder when starting them up, with the maximum acceleration starting at the outer edge and gradually gets quieter within a few seconds... |
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Unregistered guest | Purchsed a 588 beause my 563 did not have SACD. Yes it's somwhat noisier when inserting disks, but after that its quiet. CD sonics are equal to my Pioneer 563, are better than my Philips 963with upsampling enabled and blows away my Rotel 991 AE. However, the picture is nowhere a match to the Phillips 963 or Pioneer 563. It does make a great CD/SACD/DVD-A all-in-one player. What do you expect for a $130. . . The unit is quiet once it goes through the initial phases. I am using AudioQuest Diamondbacks with all my audio paths. I am using Classe CP35 preamp+CA101amp+Paradigm Studio 20's - bi-wired Audioquest Granite (no DBS). Makes a great audio only player as does the 563. This unit blows away a Rotel 991AE as does the 563 and 963. The sonics are also better than the Phillips, by the way. |
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Silver Member Username: SemNew York USA Post Number: 515 Registered: Mar-04 | John P You may want to recheck that. The 563a does indeed play SACDs. Or am I misunderstanding what you're saying? |
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Unregistered guest | I just bought a Pioneer DV-588 and i think I am going to return it for another model. The disc mechanism is SO LOUD! Very annoying high pitched whine. Our ancient Sony is nearly silent, but it doesn't play the formats I would like to play. Any suggestions for a great player for this price or less that plays DVD-Rs and has excellent audio and video quality and is quiet? Thanks! |
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Unregistered guest | Big mistake: my unit is a DV-656A not 563. I got the Philips and Pioneer numbers mangled up. It was a "senior moment." In any event . . . after viewing a number of other DVD's the picture is a far better than I originally thought. But what distinguishes the 588 is it's stunning audio in all formats: in two channel mode it has a three dimensional quality with superb imaging and depth. CD's are almost of SACD or DVD-A quality. The bottom end is deep and very well ccontrolled. Massed strings, brass, and voices are realistic - the unit has an analog quality about it. And it does get better with usage. I use it all the time now for every thing. I suggest a good set of interconnects like AudioQuest Diomondbacks if you have ccorresondingly good electronics and speakers. Pioneer did something very right with this unit. Forget about any mechanical noises during loading and enjoy the sound. I spent $1000 for my Rotel 991AE in '01 and this $130 unit blows it away. The only thing missing is HDCD decoding. |