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zepman1
10-29-2008, 08:06 AM
All right, so I finally got the new Sony 550 bluray player and was able to get it setup last night. I didn't have time to give it a rigorous workout, but I do have some initial impressions. I have it connected to my 50" LCD (720p) via HDMI-DVI cable for video, and to the AVR via 5.1 analog outputs since I have no HDMI. I played the Dave Matthews Live at Radio City bluray disc.

Setup:

The initial setup is somewhat complicated as there are a lot of options to choose and adjust within the Bluray player and the AVR. This is complicated by the fact I am using the analog outputs as I will explain. There is a quick start guide that is very helpful and makes it easy to get many of the settings in at least a workable state. I went through the complete system menus to finalize all the video, audio and speaker settings. I found the menus to be well laid out and easy to navigate. They also include basic descriptions of what the settings are for, which was helpful.

Bass management is present and the speakers can be set to small or large. I don't know what the crossover point is. Speaker distances can be changed, as well as the output attenuated. This seems to be a significant issue for some people as apparently there is some issue with the LFE channel being -10db too low when using the analog connections. This issue is common to all players, not just the Sony 550. I adjusted the sub output gain up on my receiver instead of reducing the speaker output as I think this would increas S/N ratio since volume would have to be higher. It seemed OK to me with sub input at +6 dB, although I have not calibrated it with a setup disc and SPL meter yet.

Player appearance:

Nice looking unit with gloss finish. The front panel is a bluish black that looks pretty good to me. The front face plate folds up to hide the disc tray and the few controls that are available for a nice clean look. Connections well laid out on the back with component video, HDMI, analog 7.1 audio, digital coax audio, and optical audio outputs available.

Playback:

I don't have another bluray player to compare it to, but the load times were fairly quick. I did not think it was much, if any slower than my older DVD player. It wasn't an issue for me anyhow.

Video:

I did not re-calibrate my tv settings for the new player, but eventually will. For now it is the same as I had set up with DVE disc with my DVD player. Anyhow, the picture quality with a bluray disc was excellent even on my 720p display, probably a bit crisper than a typical HD broadcast from the cable company. Not a big step up, but there was a noticeable improvement. At my seating distance and 50" screen 1080p/24 would probably improve the picture a little bit more, but I don't think I am missing much.

I did not have time to check a standard DVD to check the upscaling capabilities. That will be for another time. I am curious to see, as I have always been pleased with the way DVD output looked on my tv, even when compared to HDTV broadcasts. It was better than tolerable with my tv doing the upscaling from 480p to 720p.

Audio:

I was able to output the Dolby TrueHD audio track via analog outputs and it was excellent. It is difficult to compare with the standard Dolby Digital for DVD's without doing some sort of A/B comparison. I switched to the Dolby Digital track (640kbps) and the difference was not huge, but again it was there. The TrueHD track was more detailed and more dynamic. The standard track was certainly good, but was missing something. Probably would not miss it though if you did not have the option to go for the TrueHD.

Bass management was not really a problem. I would certainly rather be doing it in the AVR, but the Sony seemed to do an OK job, and the bass was good once I adjusted the gain to +6dB. I think I will end up tweaking this a little more when I get around to calibrating it with the DVE disc and SPL meter.

All in all this was a solid performing player, I have no regrets or complaints with it. I wasn't blown away by anything in comparison to broadcast HDTV or DVD audio, but it was without a doubt a step up in all comparisons. I'm going to be away from home for a week, but hope to do some additional experimenting when I get back. I want to look at video upscaling performance with DVD's, check audio tracks when watching bluray movies as opposed to the music bluray I was watching, and maybe see how well it sounds when playing audio CD's.

Rich-n-Texas
10-29-2008, 10:18 AM
Great job zepman1. A well organized and thought out review. IIRC, the low LFE output level was discussed here some time back, so yeah, you're not alone with this ongoing issue.

My first concert DVD was Cream at the Royal Albert Hall recorded in 2005, which included a DTS 5.1 track, and at the time I was blown away with the clarity and presence I noticed. Then I bought a Jazz BD, loaded it up in the PS3, and wow, what a difference to my ears. The fact is though, the Cream DVD gets much more airtime than the Jazz disk, and I'm a freak for the highest definition possible. I guess that speaks more towards content than clarity.

The big question in my mind though... what's the price going to look like after Thanksgiving. Not trying to rain or your parade, but even the local TV news here did a piece on the Blue-ray player market seeing prices slashed on Black Friday.

dax
10-29-2008, 10:20 AM
Thanks for posting that. Glad to hear you are satisfied even with your limited time with it. I just ordered the Sony 550, and it's due in on Friday. As luck would have it, I'm going to be pretty busy on Fri and Sat, but should at least be able to find the time to go through and do what you did. I too will need to use the 5.1 analog output, hence my reason for the 550 over the 350. Ordered and received an HDMI cable from Monoprice.com so I should be good to go.

zepman1
10-29-2008, 10:49 AM
Thanks Rich. Yeah, I bet the 550 can be had for $250 or maybe less by Christmas, but I wanted it and I wanted it NOW! I was happy to get the deal I did, even though it will be cheaper in a month or two. Still paid $50 less than I can find it for online today. But, for those looking to get into Bluray, the next couple months could be a great time to get a deal.

Dax: good luck with your 550. It's a nice player with all the features it has, and for the price we paid, nothing comes close right now. FYI, techonweb ships thru FedEx and requires a direct signature for this item, meaning someone must be home or they will not leave it. I had to call FedEx and arrange to have it held at the local terminal and pick it up from there. And at my terminal there are designated pick up hours of 8-10am and 4-6pm. I showed up at lunch one day and they told me to get lost.

RoadRunner6
10-29-2008, 11:13 AM
Excellent review Zepman. Glad to see your detailed and honest comments on this product. You are obviously very fair in your evaluations and not just because you happen to own it. I will be looking forward to your evaluation on the standard DVD on the 550 when you get back. Also interested in your evaluation on a BD DVD movie with top quality 5 star video rating.

Hope you enjoy it.

RR6 :thumbsup:

zepman1
10-29-2008, 11:23 AM
Thanks RR. I'll add to this thread when I get around to some of the other stuff, but probably not for a couple weeks unfortunately. I do intend to check out some movies, because I have a feeling the PQ will be better than what I saw already. I would imagine in a movie studio they can produce a better picture since they have more control over lighting etc. than at a concert (and more than 1 take!). Also, HT sound is a different animal than a concert so that is another issue that may impact the final verdict.

It is possible my impression will be improved after watching a good movie or two. And I know I have some re-calibrating to do as well. Right now I am happy with the player, just not blown away. I guess that is what I expected anyhow, and I am fine with it.

pixelthis
10-29-2008, 11:14 PM
Thanks RR. I'll add to this thread when I get around to some of the other stuff, but probably not for a couple weeks unfortunately. I do intend to check out some movies, because I have a feeling the PQ will be better than what I saw already. I would imagine in a movie studio they can produce a better picture since they have more control over lighting etc. than at a concert (and more than 1 take!). Also, HT sound is a different animal than a concert so that is another issue that may impact the final verdict.

It is possible my impression will be improved after watching a good movie or two. And I know I have some re-calibrating to do as well. Right now I am happy with the player, just not blown away. I guess that is what I expected anyhow, and I am fine with it.


watch casino royal, the new Bond movie, the scene where he checks in is an exelent example of black level.
On the video side the video of Celine DIONS show at Las Vegas
is nothing short of spectacular, this is an outstanding example of HD video.
Also, and I am sure Mr p agrees with me, the LPCM is really fantastic,
the best overall sound I have heard comes from that.
SHOOTOUT is also good, as is a strange movie , apocalypse.
Wasnt expecting much from this one, but the quality is outstanding.:1:

dax
10-30-2008, 11:35 AM
Dax: good luck with your 550. It's a nice player with all the features it has, and for the price we paid, nothing comes close right now. FYI, techonweb ships thru FedEx and requires a direct signature for this item, meaning someone must be home or they will not leave it. I had to call FedEx and arrange to have it held at the local terminal and pick it up from there. And at my terminal there are designated pick up hours of 8-10am and 4-6pm. I showed up at lunch one day and they told me to get lost.

I do recall your posting in another thread about paying $299 through technoweb. However, I actually purchased mine at Best Buy for the same price. Original price was $399, but I got $100 off a bluray player for purchasing a Sharp HDTV. I just have to stop off at Best Buy on my way home from work on Friday and have them bring it to me. Of course, I'll call first to make sure it came in...

winston
10-30-2008, 06:20 PM
zepman" thanks for that heavy up date posting on the BDP-550, sounds like a very honest review, (excellent) that said, i too got my tracking # from techonweb today and i an really looking forward to that 550 i an thinking at this stage of the game it maybe a $307.75 well spent, as -rabindranath tagore- said you cant cross a sea by merely staring into the water....winston.

RoadRunner6
10-30-2008, 08:42 PM
Zepman, I rented Pirates of the Caribean , Dead Man's Chest to evaluate my new Panny plasma because it had a 5 star rating in one of my magazines. I see in the new issue of HT magazine they have it listed as one of the Best Overall Blu Ray discs. They say: "This release sports reference-quality audio and video.....impeccable presentation....." I thought the video looked superb on my display, a great test disc.

They also list the Dave Mathews/Radio City as one of the Best Concert/Music Video.

RR6

zepman1
10-31-2008, 05:45 AM
Thanks again RR. I has heard that the Dave Bluray was a good one, and was part of the reason I bought it. The other part because I wanted to see it! I usually buy music DVD/blurays and rent movies. I'll tend to watch the concerts more often than I would a movie. I don't think I've ever watched a movie more than twice, so it just makes sense for me to rent them.

The Pirates movie is a good suggestion though, and I will probably rent that one on your recommendation. Would be nice to evaluate performance on a "reference disc."

kelsci
10-31-2008, 09:14 AM
A very good review Zepman. If I were going into BD, I would have done much of what you have done for the audio adjustments. My brother will be the one that will eventually go into blue ray but as to which player he will get is a big ?.

zepman1
10-31-2008, 09:32 AM
watch casino royal, the new Bond movie, the scene where he checks in is an exelent example of black level.
On the video side the video of Celine DIONS show at Las Vegas
is nothing short of spectacular, this is an outstanding example of HD video.
Also, and I am sure Mr p agrees with me, the LPCM is really fantastic,
the best overall sound I have heard comes from that.
SHOOTOUT is also good, as is a strange movie , apocalypse.
Wasnt expecting much from this one, but the quality is outstanding.:1:

thanks, always good to have good options. black levels are tough with an lcd, but when i get it calibrated right it is acceptable. I use DVE for calibration, and then maybe I'll check out Bond and see how it works and if I need further tweaks.

zepman1
10-31-2008, 09:35 AM
I do recall your posting in another thread about paying $299 through technoweb. However, I actually purchased mine at Best Buy for the same price. Original price was $399, but I got $100 off a bluray player for purchasing a Sharp HDTV. I just have to stop off at Best Buy on my way home from work on Friday and have them bring it to me. Of course, I'll call first to make sure it came in...

Oops, sorry! I was actually thinking of winston since he bought from the same place I did. But, good luck with your 550 nonetheless...

Woochifer
10-31-2008, 01:56 PM
Congrats. Sounds like you made a good purchase for yourself. Definitely do the level/LFE calibration with DVE or Avia. It will make a huge difference, and a lot of the posters here like to set the LFE at least 4 db higher than the other channels because our hearing sensitivity at the lower frequencies is lower.

Wouldn't worry about the price on the Blu-ray players too much. Yeah, there probably will be some price cuts during the holiday season, but last year, the bargain pricing on Blu-ray players went away after the New Year because of short supplies and continued high demand.

No telling what will happen this year, but one certainty is drops in the Blu-ray disc prices. The Dark Knight will carry a list price only $1 higher than the two-disc special edition DVD and $7 higher than the single-disc movie-only DVD. The Dark Knight will easily break all BD sales records, and I suspect redefine the Blu-ray price points on future releases as well.

Wits
10-31-2008, 07:46 PM
Congrats on your new player; I hope it exceeds your expectations! :)

Is the primary difference between the 350 and the 550 the ability to connect and use analog 5.1? And therefore most people will be ok with the 350?

I'm trying to decide between the Sony 350 or the PS3. Mostly I play games on a computer, but there are a few PS3 games that I could see myself enjoying. But every penny counts because in order to get fully set up for HDTV I need to buy a ton of stuff! :lol:

L.J.
11-02-2008, 05:03 PM
Great review. Sounds like a great option for those with older AVRs. I would have liked to see selectable crossover points but the bass management options seem decent enough. It could be a lot worse.

I agree with RR6 on going with Disney BR for excellent demo/reference material. Disney has been doing an excellent job. I highly recommend Ratatouille for audio/video quality. I'm telling you, you could just hold out your hand and pick the little guy up.

dax
11-02-2008, 07:42 PM
Like Zepman1, I picked up, hooked up, and setup my Sony BDP-S550 this weekend. It's connected to a Sharp Aquos 1080P 46" LCD via HDMI and to my older Denon receiver via the multi-channel analog outputs.

The setup was straight forward. Yes, there are a lot of different settings and options but as Zep stated, the menu was laidout well and easy to understand and navigate your way through. The speaker settings and bass management were laid out pretty much like any AV receiver with size, distance, and level, and were easy to modify. Glad I had seen Zepman's initial review or I would have been bothered by the -10db subwoofer output level via the analog connection. I was able to increase the gain on the sub to get it to match the output levels of the fronts/center/surrounds, but would have liked it to go another +3db or so. Hopefully, there will be some software update to eliminate this issue in the not too distant future.

The S550 is half the height and half the depth of my old DVD player. Guess big things do come in small packages after all.... Front of the player does have a nice clean look to it with a small panel, a couple indicator lights, and only play, pause, and stop buttons at first glance. Initially, I was surprised that there was no on/off nor open/close switch on the player and thought you had to use the remote. Found that to be a little annoying until I actually read the manual the next day and saw that these do exist as part of the top edge of the player and are unmarked. At least they are there. One nice feature is that some components connected via HDMI could be set up to turn-on and switch to the blu-ray player input automatically. Fortunatley, my TV has that capability. Pretty much just have to turn on the blu-ray, insert the disc, and watch it. Of course, my older receiver doesn't have HDMI so I still have to turn it on and switch it to the multi-channel analog inputs, but I think I'll survive...

My HDTV is only a week old so I have not yet calibrated any of its settings. Figured I'd let it warm up a bit before doing so. Either way the picture using the S550 is nothing short of amazing. First blu-ray disc was BBC's Planet Earth. The mountains appeared to be as if I was looking out a window at them. In one scene with monkeys, you could see what looked like split-ends on their fur and the scratches on their nails. Couldn't have gotten more up close and personal even if I was looking at them at the zoo. Even my wife, who doesn't care one bit about A/V, commented on how fantastic the images were. The audio on this blu-ray left a lot to be desired, but I that was more the BBC's recording than the fault of the player.

Second blu-ray was "I Am Legend," which featured Dolby TrueHD soundtrack audio. The sound was quite impressive and did appear to be a lot more dynamic than listening to the Dolby Digital 5.1 audio track. The surround channels especially appeared to have a bit more effects via TrueHD. Unfortunately, it did seem to be lacking in the low end, which I assume is due to the analog connections. Could hear it, but just didn't feel it as I would have expected. Will have to play around a little more with the LFE level settings and try some other discs which would provide a better demo for the sub.

Wanted to try a DVD to see how well the unit upscaled. With it being Halloween, the kids wanted to watch something scary so they rented "30 Days of Night." Won't go as far as to say it looked as good as a blu-ray disc, but I was quite impressed with what I was watching. Kids wouldn't have me pausing and replaying as they just wanted to watch the movie, but I was more than satisfied. Didn't have time to watch it through my regular DVD player, but will do a comparison using some other discs at some point. The soundtrack again lacked a little in the lowend so I may just have to connect the player up via a digital input when watching/lisening to regular DVDs.

All in all, based on my limited experience, I'm happy with it. If there wasn't the issue with the LFE channel, I'd be ecstatic.

dax
11-10-2008, 03:18 PM
FWIW, I returned the Sony BD550 to the store and swapped it for the Panasonic BD55K. Same issue with this unit and the subwoofer level via the analog outputs. Kinda makes the analog outputs worthless. I will contact both Sony & Panny to see if there are any firmware updates planned in the not too distant future.

BTW, the Panasonic is a nice player as well, subwoofer level aside.

pixelthis
11-11-2008, 12:26 AM
FWIW, I returned the Sony BD550 to the store and swapped it for the Panasonic BD55K. Same issue with this unit and the subwoofer level via the analog outputs. Kinda makes the analog outputs worthless. I will contact both Sony & Panny to see if there are any firmware updates planned in the not too distant future.

BTW, the Panasonic is a nice player as well, subwoofer level aside.

I am just curious as to why you cant adjust the sub level after the BLU CONNECTION, on the sub , etc.
My receiver Being somewhat outdated, LPCM is just about it for me,
watched Casino Royale with it and it is worth a slightly low bass level, lossless surround is the end of the golden road for HT enthusiasts,
thats for sure.
Listening, in the 2nd scene, to the sound of automatic gunfire, this is the most realistic sound I have EVER heard, and concerts, at 96khz,
well...
WOW.:1:

dax
11-11-2008, 06:21 AM
I am just curious as to why you cant adjust the sub level after the BLU CONNECTION, on the sub , etc.

Have the output level on my sub cranked up. Yet it still isn't enough compared to the other speaker levels. I have no issue at all when using the digital output, only the analog outputs.

On another forum, someone posted a link to a review of the Panny player. Reviewer said he had "deep thundering bass" while using the analog outputs so there is a solution out there. Hopefully, I can find it....

dax
11-12-2008, 08:46 PM
Thanks to some links about the Panasonic DMP-BD55K and some trial and error, I finally got an adequate subwoofer level!

This is a great unit, but the speaker level adjustment menu is ridiculous compared to Sony's. No manual mode to select a speaker, so the unit switches between speakers every couple seconds. Not much time to read the meter and adjust the level. You more or less need to make a mental note of it, and wait for it to come around again to adjust the level. Then the level adjustments don't take affect right away. You can increase and decrease the levels until your blue in the face, but the meter reading will not change. You need to tell it that your changes are complete. Exit all the way out of the analog menu and go back into it to confirm your changes. If they require tweaking, you need to go through the process all over again. Plus it doesn't output anything for the subwoofer. You need something like the Avia disc to help adjust your sub levels. Very annoying. The Sony unit was much more user friendly. But now that I have the Panny working properly, I'm satisfied.