Denon 3910 Universal Player - Opinions?

Ears - The folks on Audiogon are audiophiles whereas and the folks on AVS (bless their hearts) are not. I believe they are more or less videophiles. So...their comments as they pertain to audio, are taken with a grain of salt.

On this site, the excitement behind the Denon players is a result of the improvements which can be made through modification. For example, the Denon 2900 modified by Exemplar Audio often gets compared to EMM Labs, and Reimyo players. - The fact that the modified Denon player is good enough to strike up a debate like that is astonishing.

Regarding your comments on manufacturing. Well... For what its worth. Some of the most advanced manufacturing on the planet takes place in China. And yes.. it's as you put it, "cheap". This means that companies who manufacture in China can cram more technology, engineering and features into a device that costs less for consumers.

I know you intended the comment "cheaply built Chinese made" to be a negative slam against Denon but - the truth is, those words are not as derogatory as they may once have been. Think about it.

Thanks for the info on Macroblocking. I looked up the term and I think I understand what it is - Here is an explanation from Perfect Vision

On a standard-definition DVD movie, the video bit-rate ranges from about 4Mbs (megabits per second) to 9Mbs, depending on the amount of motion in the scene. If you’ve ever seen a DVD with a fast action sequence in which the image suddenly becomes very blocky, that’s a sign that the data rate used at that moment wasn’t high enough to show all the detail in the fast motion (this artifact is called macroblocking).

Seems to me that this is a problem with the media (DVD) vs. a problem with the player itself.

Nothing against Onkyo but for some reason, no-one modifies these players so they have a rather limited potential thus far - as far as audio goes.

Bwhite, you could not be any more wrong, as the macro blocking shows up because of the DCDI chip in the Denon 3910 and 5900....like I said go read up.

The Onkyo is brand new, so that is why there are no modders doing mods yet, but Two that are already looking into it are RAM and EVS.

There is a pro reveiw that has the Onkyo 1000/Integra player as the winner over the 3910/Flagship Marantz and Flagship Pioneer.

The Integra10.5/ Onkyo 1000 thread at avs has comparisons to the Estoric DV-50 and Krell, and one 10.5 user just brought an Ayre player home for a try, so I say this is some pretty good competition.

I have a RAM modded 963sa And have had a Modwright signature 9000, and use a modded Sim Audio i-5 for sa-cd/redbook comparison.

Although avs, is mostly videophiles as you say, there are those that are also audiophools like myself.

AVS is the only place to find out about all the problems whith the 3910, and after reading about them , who in there right mind would have a 3910 modded.

My 5900 was supposed to be modded, but whith trasport grinding/Lock up and the macro blocking and excessive video artifacting, I decided to wait for a player that had less or no problems.

Looks like some people on AVS are having trouble with the Onkyo too. "head and toe room" clipping bug (whatever that is) - HDMI output not functioning.

User "PooperScooper" who likes the Onkyo & returned it will re-buy it when they fix the HDMI problems.

I don't know much about video but buying any of these DVD players seems like a crap shoot.

There are also a lot of bad things written about the Denon 2900 on that forum too. And... a lot of people - in their right minds have had them modified.

Seems like every component mentioned on that site has had negative comments made about it.

How about your experience with the HK DPR-2005?

You will have to translate french, but here is the only known comparison of the better video based universals besides all the personal reveiws at avs.

Look for the comparison at this site.

www.hifissimo.com

Greg

Bummer - I couldn't find the comparison. On AVS, I noticed you've had 17 DVD players over a bit of time - that's very impressive and your knowledge is appreciated.

The Macroblocking thing: This seems weird to me because if it truly is the result of just the DCDI chip vs. the media, then every disc played through a unit with DCDI would have this problem. Common sense tells me this problem is a result of the DCDI in tandem with a certain (effected) or improperly mastered disc. Since DVD's cannot be "fixed" manufacturers of players issue firmware corrections where possible.

Here is some more stuff from AVS on the Onkyo/Integra locking up:

My Integra DPS 10.5 has a more advanced implementation of this same circuitry. It locks up on all of the above, but also freezes up on-

9 1/2 Weeks
Rat Race
Phantom Menace (but WILL play the pod race if I'm demo-ing for friends)
ANY Barbra Striesand movie, especially "Mirror has 2 faces"
Godzilla (1999)
The first 2 Project Greenlight movies

But that's what I paid the $$$ for

DVD and 2CH:
You know, I am starting to second guess the idea of having a DVD player connected to my 2CH system at all. When I connected everything, I started getting a hideous buzz which I presume was caused by the Satellite. I tried some voltage limiting transformers on the Satellite COAX - which seemed to solve the problem but then the receiver couldn't find the dish. Ground Loop Woes. Argh! I guess I'll eventually figure it out.

You know, players not reading SACD's, reading slowly and having trouble with certain discs is a problem that has been around ever since the very first SACD player was introduced. I've had just about every serious SACD unit and the only one which I do not recall having trouble with SACDs was the DVD-S9000ES. It may have, I just don't remember. Instead, my 9000ES had lip sync problems whereas the video was off-sync with the sound. Weird. All other SACD players have issues of one sort or another - no exceptions. The latest generation of universal players seem to be a lot better thus far - but I wouldn't be surprised if problems show up down the road when the lenses get a bit dusty.