[Tuberoller]

I was looking for a DVD player to use in my shop office and went to Best Buy to pick one out.I came across the Sony DVP-NS500V DVD/SACD/CDP.I figured that for the $200.00 on-sale price I couldn't go wrong and I'd get SACD playback as well.I am not often impressed by audio equipment and I hear lots of it.I was extremly impressed with the Sony player.I have a Marantz SA-14 SACD player(actually my wife does) and I have been using a Cambridge audio CD500SE CDP in my main system.I really love the Cambridge and I am simply blown away by the SACD performance of the Marantz.I will honestly tell you that I think the Sony is nearly as good as the Marantz in SACD playback and actually does some things better than the Cambridge in CD playback.I usually attribute low volume level detail to amp performance,SACD has changed my mind about that.I find even the low level bass and midrange is much better with SACD playback.this is why I think SACD lends itself nicely to headphone system use.The low level detail of the Sony DVD player is simply stunning,in either SACD or Cd playback.this is where this player creams the cambridge and many other higher cost players that the Cambridge has slain.I was amazed at the sonic bass attack of the Sony and the sweet multilayered vocals.My system at work consists of an Old Fisher 400 reciever and Dynaco A-25 loudspeakers.I was worried that this system might be masking some deficiencies of the Sony so I took it home to my main system where it continued to impress me.this is one of the few CDps that traverses the tube/solid state sonic divide.It sounds as good in an all tube system as it does in a good solid-state system.It's back at work now and I have found myself listening to this sytem more than ever and actually playing more digital than analog for the first time in a while.I have to buy a Cd rack to hold all the Cds and SACDs I have taken to the shop.That's what it's all about right?I listen to and enjoy my music more because of this player."A" Plus.

 

[Nick Dangerous]

This is very, very interesting. My ART DI/O setup coupled with a Pioneer 440 DVD player sounds very good, but with no SACD.

Could the Sony do better on its own? Not many players can beat the Pioneer/ART combo... even at twice the price.

 

[eric343]

Hey hey hey! That's just the kind of CDP I was looking for... I wonder how it compares to the Arcam on redbook playback...

 

[Audio-Me]

you've been attacked by team sony!

 

[darkclouds]

Tuberoller,

How's the build on the unit? I had also considered it but was a bit concerned about it's solidity. I'll probably end up with the 222es this weekend. I prefer the build of the 555es but couldn't push for it.

 

[Nick Dangerous]

Fuggedaboutit. Check AudioAsylum for reviews on this beastie. It's nice, but no ART killer. Also, SACD apparently only works from the 5.1 outputs.

I might have bought one if I didn't already own my Pioneer 440.

 

[darkclouds]

Nick, hope you're not talking about the 222es. I sorta had my heart set on it. Really, I'm not gonna push for the 555es. Don't make me

 

[Tuberoller]

Quote:

Originally posted by Nick Dangerous Fuggedaboutit. Check AudioAsylum for reviews on this beastie. It's nice, but no ART killer. Also, SACD apparently only works from the 5.1 outputs. I might have bought one if I didn't already own my Pioneer 440.

Nick,I used an ART briefly(back when everbody was really high on them) and liked it but it never proved to be the giant killer it was claimed to be.The Sony plays SACD fine right from any of the digital or line level outputs.How do you think I connected to a 40 year-old Fisher reciever?I don't have a surround system so I have yet to attempt surround playback.The Art may indeed sound better to some but the Sony plays SACD,has a 24/192 audio DAC,and has decent(not oustanding)DVD playback as well.all things considered I think it is a fine player and well worth the low cost.I can only make comparisons to the equipment I have heard or own personally.this player scores big on the price/performance scale and I recommend it most highly.I ordered a DVP-NS900 from J&R to compare,they are currently on backorder so that comparison is on hold.


The Build quality is typical Sony consumer fare=nothing special.I was not impressed by the build and the manual is unusually bad.I was a little more difficult to set-up than I would have liked but the remote is truly full functioned.I think the overall quality of the unit is on par with the Cambridge.It does not compare to any of the high end players I have had in my system(Creek,Musichall,Arcam,Roskan,NAD)in terms of build quality but in terms of sonics it compares very well.

 

[RickG]

Quote:

Originally posted by Tuberoller The Sony plays SACD fine right from any of the digital or line level outputs.

Strange! I didn't know you could pipe the SACD signal through digital outputs. My SCD-C555ES won't do it.

 

[Dan H]

Tuberoller, don't knock that 40 year old Fisher recever! I do all my headphone listening through a Fisher 500C recever now. The 400 is very musical. You may want to replace the selenium rectifier and caps for safety and sound quality..........Dan

 

[Hirsch]

Quote:

Originally posted by Tuberoller The Sony plays SACD fine right from any of the digital or line level outputs.How do you think I connected to a 40 year-old Fisher reciever?

Through the analog outputs, you were indeed listening to SACD. However, there is only one SACD player out there that can output digital SACD. Since there is no SACD digital standard (the security issues haven't been worked out), the unit requires its own dedicated DAC to decode the signal, which is digitized using a standard proprietary to the company (whose name has temporarily slipped my memory, but can likely be found with a search at audioasylum).

To get an "SACD" digital output, you were listening to a hybrid disk that has both SACD and redbook layers. SACD was going to the analog outputs, and redbook was going to the digital output (at different times. Anytime the unit is reading the redbook layer, that would be going to both outputs). There are no DACs that can decode SACD (except for the one above), so it's incorrect to say that SACD works right from a digital output. Still, the fact that you might have thought it was SACD says a lot about the redbook quality of the unit.

 

[Magic77]

Tuberoller,

I also just bought the Sony DVP-NS500V last week. I also think it's a great player and an excellent bargain. I like that it has 2 separate analog audio outputs, so you can hook up 2 differnet headphone amps to it. I'm not a big fan of watching movies, but I do like to watch DVD's once in a while. But, even if you want to use this player for audio only, you can't beat the price,especially that it has the SACD capability.

 

[Tuberoller]

I have yet to use the digital outputs and perhaps I am reading the manual wrong.But I thought for sure in the connections it shows a digital SACD connection.I will check again when I go by the shop tomorrow.

 

[ai0tron]

HIrsch, I believe the name you were looking for is Accuphase.

 

[Tuberoller]

Quote:

Originally posted by Dan H Tuberoller, don't knock that 40 year old Fisher recever! I do all my headphone listening through a Fisher 500C recever now. The 400 is very musical. You may want to replace the selenium rectifier and caps for safety and sound quality..........Dan

No way man,I would never knock a Fisher reciever.I love all those I have.I too use the headphone amp from my 400 at the shop.I only recently have found dedicated headamps that sound as good.