According to Denon's marketing hype (and to be fair most of the comercial reviews - all be they thin on the ground), the new DVD-2900 is the best multi-format player on the market (give the price range naturaly).
Has anyone had any experience of the player - any feedback would be great as I'm considering auditioning one for my system.
Has anyone had any experience of the player - any feedback would be great as I'm considering auditioning one for my system.
I got mine in May.
Its not a revolution though, it is good and as good as it gets for the money but I am sure the successor of the 3900 will be better.
Are there any particular aspects of the machine you're interested in.
Its not a revolution though, it is good and as good as it gets for the money but I am sure the successor of the 3900 will be better.
Are there any particular aspects of the machine you're interested in.
Thanks for the reply.
I was interested in the main qualities of the player naturally - for example the sound quality of the high-res formats.
Also day to day things like build quality (although I'm sure this wont be a problem for the Denon, given their reputation) - for example is there a spinback noise problem? how smooth is the loading tray, etc - those type of things.
Any general comments would be good, for example any problems you may have had with it, pro's and con's etc.
You say the 3900's succesor should be better, but is that not a DVD-V/A only machine, i.e. no SACD playback?
Thanks again for the feedback on the player.😉
I was interested in the main qualities of the player naturally - for example the sound quality of the high-res formats.
Also day to day things like build quality (although I'm sure this wont be a problem for the Denon, given their reputation) - for example is there a spinback noise problem? how smooth is the loading tray, etc - those type of things.
Any general comments would be good, for example any problems you may have had with it, pro's and con's etc.
You say the 3900's succesor should be better, but is that not a DVD-V/A only machine, i.e. no SACD playback?
Thanks again for the feedback on the player.😉
It is on all counts, in its price segment a very good player.
It will however not beat a Krell or any other highend gear.
On dvda and sacd it is good enough to get me exited about the formats and the fact that it aslo does PS PAL makes it a no brainer for me.
It is solid as rock, quite, very smooth nice feel, NO layerchange!, will play mp3 and jpegs, great picture, sound is smooth, clean, very dynamic can however get a bit crushed and lack foundation when pushed, again in its range very good.
It has a silicon Si 504 for I/P conversion and ADV 7300 da for svideo and component. Sound is decoded by a analog devices melody 32 bit dsp and da conversion is done by 3 burrbrown DSD/PCM1790 (cant find data sheets on these) and opamps are a 2068 type and ad825. Not more then one pair in parallel (balanced) and another for buffer.
Regulators are your average 78xx and some sharp lowdropout version for 3.3, 2.5 and 1.8 voltages
Powers supply is in general a bit weak which is why I think the successor of the 3800 will be much better.
I am pretty sure it will include sacd and a few other nice features.
If you are into heavy tweeking this will be a rewarding candidate.
It is difficult to give any good advice unless you give me a reference.
It will however not beat a Krell or any other highend gear.
On dvda and sacd it is good enough to get me exited about the formats and the fact that it aslo does PS PAL makes it a no brainer for me.
It is solid as rock, quite, very smooth nice feel, NO layerchange!, will play mp3 and jpegs, great picture, sound is smooth, clean, very dynamic can however get a bit crushed and lack foundation when pushed, again in its range very good.
It has a silicon Si 504 for I/P conversion and ADV 7300 da for svideo and component. Sound is decoded by a analog devices melody 32 bit dsp and da conversion is done by 3 burrbrown DSD/PCM1790 (cant find data sheets on these) and opamps are a 2068 type and ad825. Not more then one pair in parallel (balanced) and another for buffer.
Regulators are your average 78xx and some sharp lowdropout version for 3.3, 2.5 and 1.8 voltages
Powers supply is in general a bit weak which is why I think the successor of the 3800 will be much better.
I am pretty sure it will include sacd and a few other nice features.
If you are into heavy tweeking this will be a rewarding candidate.
It is difficult to give any good advice unless you give me a reference.
...ok after hearing all this good of the Denon the killer question has to be what it looks like inside.
Is there any chance you could post some pics of the player to further whet my appetite?
Cheers for all the response thus far.
Is there any chance you could post some pics of the player to further whet my appetite?
Cheers for all the response thus far.
Thats it,
The two boards in the left section are the video and audio boards, the upper one is the video board and contains all processing after the mpeg decoder.
easy to get to in other words.
The two boards in the left section are the video and audio boards, the upper one is the video board and contains all processing after the mpeg decoder.
easy to get to in other words.
Looks very promising - am I right in thinking that the power supply is a SMPS and that it's replacable (should I want to make a linear one instead for example)?
It looks like theres enough space in there to beef up the PS a bit - if that's the PS on the left of the picture?
Cheers again for the post - nice player.
It looks like theres enough space in there to beef up the PS a bit - if that's the PS on the left of the picture?
Cheers again for the post - nice player.
I might do some closeups next time mine gets taken apart.
Yes the ps is on the left and it is a switch mode supply, lots of space to beef up..hehe.
The A1/9000 has the same switch mode supply for all functions but the audio and video analog supplies.
I quickly found that I needed to beef up the analog video supply a bit.
Have not touched the audio side yet, still trying to figure out the best strategy.
It gets pretty hot and to much tweaking without considering heat dissipation could potentially get you into problems.
Yes the ps is on the left and it is a switch mode supply, lots of space to beef up..hehe.
The A1/9000 has the same switch mode supply for all functions but the audio and video analog supplies.
I quickly found that I needed to beef up the analog video supply a bit.
Have not touched the audio side yet, still trying to figure out the best strategy.
It gets pretty hot and to much tweaking without considering heat dissipation could potentially get you into problems.
This page has an extremely thorough comparison of dozens of DVD players.
http://www.hometheaterhifi.com/cgi-bin/shootout.cgi?function=search&articles=all#DenonDVD-2900
They rank the 2900 behind the 1600, and behind two cheap Panasonic models. Both Denon modesl are very highly rated, however.
http://www.hometheaterhifi.com/cgi-bin/shootout.cgi?function=search&articles=all#DenonDVD-2900
They rank the 2900 behind the 1600, and behind two cheap Panasonic models. Both Denon modesl are very highly rated, however.
Well, you got to understand how they make their ranking to get anything out of their scoring.
As you say it still ranks high and if it was not for an issue with alternating progressive flags when the mastering people ****ed things up it would come out on top.
Besides they only rank picture quality and don't care about audio in general or any dvda or sacd capabilities.
As you say it still ranks high and if it was not for an issue with alternating progressive flags when the mastering people ****ed things up it would come out on top.
Besides they only rank picture quality and don't care about audio in general or any dvda or sacd capabilities.
Eh, right. I was just thinking of it as a DVD player. But I think your point is invalid, because almost 100% of DVD material available today is improperly encoded.
I love referring to this review, because most of the units at the top of the ratings are inexpensive consumer brands that deliver great results, and many of the very expensive boutique brands are the worst performers. Marantz, Pioneer Elite, and Sony ES are all gross failures. If the DVD players they build can't even decode MPEG properly, what makes anyone think that their audio gear is better than anybody else's?
I love referring to this review, because most of the units at the top of the ratings are inexpensive consumer brands that deliver great results, and many of the very expensive boutique brands are the worst performers. Marantz, Pioneer Elite, and Sony ES are all gross failures. If the DVD players they build can't even decode MPEG properly, what makes anyone think that their audio gear is better than anybody else's?
Thanks one and all for all your replies thus far - any suggested modifications (either undertaken or purely theoretical) would be great, especially with circuit diagrams.
Can't wait for those close-ups!
Can't wait for those close-ups!
This is the video da, filters and buffers for progressive component out.
All of the DA powersupply has been decoupled by a 1000uF Oscon on each supply ie analog, digital and interface supplies.
The analog section is getting a bit of help as well, besides adding 2*10,000uF there are also a few oscons close to the chips and some more stuff but it don't show on the pics.
All of the DA powersupply has been decoupled by a 1000uF Oscon on each supply ie analog, digital and interface supplies.
The analog section is getting a bit of help as well, besides adding 2*10,000uF there are also a few oscons close to the chips and some more stuff but it don't show on the pics.
Attachments
...if anyone has any ideas for mods for the player - schematics would be good.
For example, how easy is the re-clock on this machine?
Also power supply designs would be good.
Cheers for posting all!
For example, how easy is the re-clock on this machine?
Also power supply designs would be good.
Cheers for posting all!
annex666,
There is so much you can do on a DVD player like this one.
If you're this interested why don't you buy a unit, use it for a while and post your thoughts.
Identify an artifact or area that you want to improve and I'll be happy to give you suggestions.
In general though any tweak is similar to what gets discussed on these boards. The video section consists of the same basic elements as audio so similar conceptual approaches can be taken even if the details may differ because of the higher frequencies involved.
Wrt the schematics I have them but think it would be inappropriate to post or share as its copy protected and a new player.
You can however probably buy them from your Denon reseller or country distributor.
There is so much you can do on a DVD player like this one.
If you're this interested why don't you buy a unit, use it for a while and post your thoughts.
Identify an artifact or area that you want to improve and I'll be happy to give you suggestions.
In general though any tweak is similar to what gets discussed on these boards. The video section consists of the same basic elements as audio so similar conceptual approaches can be taken even if the details may differ because of the higher frequencies involved.
Wrt the schematics I have them but think it would be inappropriate to post or share as its copy protected and a new player.
You can however probably buy them from your Denon reseller or country distributor.
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