[Welly Wu]

Well, after nearly one full month of patience and waiting, it's finally here: my Pioneer Elite DV-59AVi universal player arrived! No impressions for today. I'm still trying to read the manual and to let the information sink in. I configured it but I'm not too sure if I did things correctly. This will constitute my official impressions / review (at a much later stage) of the Pioneer Elite DV-59AVi. I will spend the rest of this week reading the manual and testing each of the advertised features along with tweaking the setup configuration.

I must thank God for this gift of music, especially high fidelity music, in my life. Two and a half years ago, I was like a kid with his face pressed against the clear window looking into the wonderful world of high fidelity audio and video. By His grace and blessing, He let me get past the window dressing and walk aroudn in His store! Thank you God!

 

[Music Fanatic]

Congratulations. The 59AVi is difficult to configure, and it is really worth it to buy a configuration DVD (I suggest the Digital Video Essentials DVD, although you should note that there is a volume problem with .1 channel on this DVD, so you can't use it to calibrate your low frequency effects.)

 

[Welly Wu]

Hmmm! New stuff to learn from old hands every day. I'll look into that once I finish reading the manual right now. Thanks for your tip!

 

[Welly Wu]

I just finished reading and highlighting the 100 page user's manual written solely in English. This thing isn't a dvd player; it's like a computer! It's unbelieveable the amount of time that I spent pouring through the manual hoping like heck that all of the initial configuration changes I made were what I really wanted after all. Build quality seems to be pretty solid but the feet of this player seem a bit on the cheapy side. The remote is a total joke; it's the worst darn thing I've ever held in my hand. It's just plain old cheap and flimsy. But hey, both the feet and the remote are replaceable. I guess Pioneer put the money into the guts and build of this player by my initial reaction to unpacking it. Seems fine to me. I can't comment any further than this. I need time to digest and reconfigure, if necessary, this beast of a dvd player.

 

[Music Fanatic]

Quote:

Originally posted by Welly Wu I just finished reading and highlighting the 100 page user's manual written solely in English. This thing isn't a dvd player; it's like a computer! It's unbelieveable the amount of time that I spent pouring through the manual hoping like heck that all of the initial configuration changes I made were what I really wanted after all. Build quality seems to be pretty solid but the feet of this player seem a bit on the cheapy side. The remote is a total joke; it's the worst darn thing I've ever held in my hand. It's just plain old cheap and flimsy. But hey, both the feet and the remote are replaceable. I guess Pioneer put the money into the guts and build of this player by my initial reaction to unpacking it. Seems fine to me. I can't comment any further than this. I need time to digest and reconfigure, if necessary, this beast of a dvd player.

You'll love it. And as you expand to use HDMI, i.Link, and start building up your SACD and DVD-A collection, you'll come to respect this unit more and more. This one is a keeper.

 

[Welly Wu]

Music Fanatic:

Shoot! You got two of the exact same DVD players as me! Holy Cow! We got something in common!

I don't know if this will be a keeper for me as of yet but I like what I'm hearing thus far.

I might want to add that the sound is very congested, of one tone and hue, and veiled. I'm guessing it will take 250+ hours to fully burn in before it opens up and blooms. I'm not certain that I hear any major differences between this Pioneer Elite DV-59AVi and my previous Denon DVD 2900 but I can say that with the Denon beyond 500+ hours, the components burned in and it showed up. Yet, it wasn't the most dramatic thing in the world and the Denon was still struggling to define its' voice with Red Book, DVD-Audio, and SACD.

I'm thinking that the Pioneer Elite DV-59AVi has some serious potential for aftermarket modifications. Perhaps that's where I should be concentrating my focus in the future. This thing has the potential to be a giant hi-fi killer on paper...

 

[davidmiya]

Glad you're happy with your purchase. I just picked up a new Pioneer DV-47Ai and sent it off to modwright for transport mods. However, I think my player will still share the same DVD and SACD playback as yours does.... hopefully.

If it doesn't... then no biggie, I only listen to redbook CD anyways...

 

[ServinginEcuador]

Congrats on the new CDP Welly. It is one of the three or four sources on my short list to get me into the high-rez world. I will end up having some pretty serious mods done to it by someone like Dan Wright or Matthew Anker once I finally get it, so let us know if you get some mods done and how they sound.

 

[Music Fanatic]

Quote:

Originally posted by davidmiya Glad you're happy with your purchase. I just picked up a new Pioneer DV-47Ai and sent it off to modwright for transport mods. However, I think my player will still share the same DVD and SACD playback as yours does.... hopefully.

I don't think so. I understand that the software and hardware on the audio section was modified (much as it was between the 47A and the 47Ai.)

 

[Welly Wu]

I did some informal tests on my Pioneer Elite DV-59AVi:

WMA discs = failure
MP3 discs = success
DVD +R/RW discs = success
DVD -R/RW discs = success

Basically, I compiled a MP3 & WMA test mix of songs ranging from pop, rock, jazz, and classical along with latin music. I used the same source material (i.e., Red Book CDs) and I ripped using EAC secure mode and compressed using LAME 3.95.1 and WMA 9 Standard. I burned the files on two separate 700MB CD-R discs that were finalized discs. The MP3 disc can be read and played back fine. The WMA disc failed to read it as such and tried to play it as a Red Book CD. I have to figure out what's going on here.

I burned a copy of Josh Groban's self-titled debut music DVD-Video onto a blank Memorex DVD +RW disc. Then, I put it into both my Pioneer Elite DV-59AVi and Panasonic DVD-RP82. Both were able to read the disc properly and play it fine. Whew!

My ongoing impressions will have to be sparse. So far, this thing is configureable like all heck. There's a lot of options available. I have to say that sound wise, it sounds very solid and well balanced thanks to the Legato PRO upsampling and Hi-Bit features enabled. The neat thing is that Virtual Surround works with DVD-Video music discs too. Kind of a full headroom going on there with that Virtual Surround enabled. This is a very nice universal DVD player and it looks like it has all the hallmarks of being a keeper worth modding. Now, I've never really said or done that with any source component.

I've just exchanged a bunch of e-mail mesages with Mr. Dan Wright of ModWright, LLC. I'm thinking about doing one of these two modifications:

Recommended mods:

Standalone 2CH mods w/AD op-amps = $275
Power Supply upgrade = $150
Slipstream Analog Bybee mod = $190
AC Bybee filter mod = $170
Transport mods = $100

Total price = $885. I could offer you this as a
package, for $795 + shipping

My desired mods:

Standalone 2CH mods w/AD op-amps = $275
Transport Mod (in addition to other mods) = $100
Power Supply upgrade mod = $150
XO3 clock with clock supply = $450

Total price = $?

I don't think that I'll need Bybee filters right away because I have a lot invested in power conditioning and AC cleanup. I'm also hoping the above mods won't cost me more than $900 USD.

I think I will wind up going with a heavily modded source component instead of the UE-10 Pro in the short term (say by the time I graduate this May 2004). Who knows? I might be able to afford both?

 

[ServinginEcuador]

Welly,

Personally, I would avoid the Bybee mods. Expensive and don't do much or anything. There are those who swear by them, and those who are extremely skeptic. I would personally use the money for the Bybees toward soemthing like an Absolute Statement Mod by Dan Wright, which includes a tubed output vice solid state.

Those SlipStrem Bybees are brand new and no one I know has tested one and reported back with positive results. Actually, I haven't heard anything yet, other than from those who peddle them. Caveat emptor.

 

[Welly Wu]

Doug:

Thanks for your honest opinions. They do carry a lot of weight around these parts. I figure I need the "real meat 'n potatoes" in terms of these specific modifications:

Standalone 2CH mods w/AD op-amps = $275
Transport Mod (in addition to other mods) = $100
Power Supply upgrade mod = $150
XO3 clock with clock supply = $450

Hopefully, Mr. Wright can quote me a price of less than $900 USD not including shipping. I put a ton of money (too much in hindsight) into a power conditioner and power cord that are supposed to clean up my power; they do but the differences come down to refinement. My understanding of Bybee technologies is that it's intended role was a purely military one in which it was but a single component in a complex, multi-million (billion) dollar piece of equipment where every single advantage was crucial in times of both war and peace. I don't think I need that kind of edge: I'm trying to make my music sound better, not win WWIII-IV-V-VI-VII-VIII-IX-X...etc.

 

[ServinginEcuador]

Quote:

Originally posted by Welly Wu Doug: Thanks for your honest opinions.

Hopefully I don't shoot myself in the foot. Sometimes I say things that hurt me later. My KGSS has two Bybees installed in it, so hopefully I can still sell it for a decent price after saying that I don't think that they really do anything.

Maybe I'll have to sell it on Audiogon.

 

[gpalmer]

Quote:

Originally posted by Welly Wu I don't think I need that kind of edge: I'm trying to make my music sound better, not win WWIII-IV-V-VI-VII-VIII-IX-X...etc.

While I agree with your choices in mods, what are you talking about here! Moderators ban this man immediately!

 

[Sovkiller]

I just was looking for a cheap universal player and found this one, does anybody has heard about it (not sure if it plays SACDs also):

Standard Features

Plays DVD Video, DVD-R, DVD+RW, DVD-RW, CD, CD-R/RW, SVCD, VCD, JPEG Playback, WMA and MP3 formats
Digital Direct Progressive Scan
High-bit/high-sampling (10-bit/54MHz video D/A converter
New Stylish Design with Front Illuminated Panel at only 45mm high
Express Play Start- The first scene of the movie appears on screen in world-record time. Under 4 seconds (with single-layer discs only.)
Component Video, Composite Video, and S-Video terminals
192kHz/ 24-bit Audio D/A converte
Multi-brand Glow remote control
Coaxial digital outputs for PCM, Dolby Digital and DTS
Optical digital outputs for PCM, Dolby Digital and DTS
Adaptive Geometrical Chroma Mapping
Resume (bookmark) function
3D-Phonic for virtual surround sound
Zoom
Dynamic range 16 bit 98 dB, 20/24 bit 100dB
Theater position (1,2,3,OFF)
Video output
DVD Component Video output
Versatile VFP (Video Fine Processor)
S-Video Output
Warranty: 1 Year Parts, 90 Days Labor

Special / Custom Added Features:

Keeps the original aspect ratio of widescreen European DVDS. (Cheap machines will vertically stretch the picture)
Auto Region Detection. No lengthy instructions to get into secret menus like cheap Multi-code machines.
Optional manual region switching. This allows you to set the machine to a specific region 1-6.
Plays RCE, REA encoded DVDs from Disney and Universal.
All Modifications come with a lifetime guarantee.

The price is just a joke compared to other similar players but I would like someone who knows a little bit more on the subject to comment on this specs.....is real cheap...