I got mine yesterday and have run quite a few comparison tests using speakers and headphones. Here are some impressions.
First impressions were mixed. The packaging was so-so, the player itself feels kinda light, I was expecting a heavier machine with a more solid chassis, not quite the case, the pictures are slightly misleading in this regard. Next negative, the remote, which looks really bad, it has those white tiny raiser rubber buttons you find in cheap 5$ universal remotes, and the shape is also kinda funny and it definitely doesnt looks like something that should be packaged with a player selling for over 200$ in many places.
I liked the look of the player however, its a smart looking machine, and doesnt draw too much attention to itself and looks solid (even though its light). The rear connections are well laid out. One thing I noticed with this player is how many options there are for audio connectivity. There's multichannel analog connections, mixed stereo RCA and HDMI, optical and coax. Thats pretty much every type of connectivity you could possibly want.
It took me a while to figure out how I wanted to hook this up to my receiver but after that I powered it on. The display on the player is not very bright which might be a plus or minus depending on preferences. The tray is really nice, its smooth, quiet and very stable. The mechanism is quiet and disc spinning is quiet as well.
My first test was to do SACD comparison with CE595. I have only one song that I have on two SACD's, its "Give me a Reason" by John Lee Hooker on TELARC Sampler 1 and his own "Come into my House". I only tested the stereo layer on SACD since my receiver has only one multichannel analog input.
I have a fairly basic home theater setup.
Panasonic BX500
Infinity Primus P362 Mains and PC250 Center
Yamaha NS225F surround and surround back
My first impressions were nothing startling, I didnt find anything better or worse. I switched back and forth and couldnt really tell much of a difference. I had a feeling the Sony's treble was a bit on the harsher side, slightly grating, and sibilant in nature, and the bass weaker than the Yamaha, not quite as pronounced, lesser body and weight.
The Yamaha on the other hand felt slightly congested, and like spacing between instrument and voice was lacking a bit.
I was not convinced with this test, so I took my Ultrasone 680's to assist me with the test. This was where the difference became more apparent. The Sony to me, has a smoother quality overall in SACD, but my previous views remain the same. The Yamaha, just felt like its putting stuff together a little bit, and not giving space to breathe between instruments.
I then compared redbook using Red Hot Chilli Peppers "Blood SUgar Sex Magic" album. The results were different, I still felt Yamaha had better control over bass, but the Sony felt a bit dull, and slightly lifeless, the Yamaha OTOH a bit more lively and punchy. But IMO the DacMagic firmly beats both by a good margin offering a much more smoother, refined sound thats less fatiguing and more engaging.
The biggest selling point for me was DVD-A, since I have a handful of discs already, and no player. I can tell you one thing, if you are even considering this for DVD-A, GET IT! Its fantastic. The difference between DTS track and MLP 96/24 or even 48/24 is immediately apperent in a calibrated home theater setting. Its just fluid and detailed and tiny minor details appear out of nowhere. I havent done a SACD vs DVD-A test just yet for the same album, but for me DVD-A justifies the price in itself.
Also worth noting, that the player sends LPCM signals over HDMI for DVD-A, along with the multichannel analog outputs. I couldnt tell any difference between the two. But its good to have that flexibility if you have a receiver that takes LPCM multichannel over HDMI.
A quick note on video, upconversion works. not quite as good as the best ones I have seen before, theres a bit of noise and darker regions show some artifacts, but nothing major and its pretty good at that as well. Plays DIVX just fine (someone on some forum said it struggles with DVD-R's after 15 minutes of play, I havent had that issue so far, my DVD-R concert DVD's play just fine)
Overall I would say it is a fantastic deal if you are
A) Looking to get a DVD-A player and a good transport or
B) Just looking for a solid transport with a lot of connectivity options and want to try out SACD
But if you have Sony CE595, and have no interest in DVD-A, then its not really an "upgrade" as such, yes it has a few advantages, maybe they will flesh out some more over time, but as of now, I would say its about on par with the Sony in terms of overall redbook and SACD quality with some minor variations.
