Pioneer dv-578A failure

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  • 11-13-2004, 07:53 AM
    toenail
    Pioneer dv-578A failure
    It lasted exactly 12 days before crapping out on me. I put in Christmas Vacation this morning (what with the snow and all) and couldn't get audio output to my receiver. Then the picture froze 8 seconds into the first segment. Forwarded one segment and the picture froze again a few seconds into the segment. Happened on every segment I tried. I replaced that disc with Shrek II (viewed previously in the week) and got the same result. I tried both discs in my Toshiba bedroom system and they played fine with no problems.

    I just got back from Circus City with my new replacement and will be interested in seeing how long this one lasts. Looks like not all of the quality problems from it's predecessor have been fixed. Too bad, it makes a nice addition to my system for very little investment. Maybe the old saying is true.....
  • 11-13-2004, 09:06 AM
    kelsci
    Toenail; I hope you have better luck with the replacement 578A. I would hate to think that Pioneer's quality control has fallen down. It is good that you tested the first unit and discovered its defects.
  • 11-13-2004, 02:23 PM
    toenail
    I've had the second unit hooked up for a few hours now. Everything seems ok with one exception, and I'm unsure if this problem exsisted on the previous player or not. If I try to watch a DVD-Video using 5.1 analog outs, the subwoofer track is almost non-exsistent. As soon as I use DD or DTS it's back where it should be. Sub out works fine on DVD-Audio tracks in 5.1 analog and I did try swapping cables between DVD player and receiver just in case. Any thoughts?
  • 11-14-2004, 08:59 AM
    kelsci
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by toenail
    I've had the second unit hooked up for a few hours now. Everything seems ok with one exception, and I'm unsure if this problem exsisted on the previous player or not. If I try to watch a DVD-Video using 5.1 analog outs, the subwoofer track is almost non-exsistent. As soon as I use DD or DTS it's back where it should be. Sub out works fine on DVD-Audio tracks in 5.1 analog and I did try swapping cables between DVD player and receiver just in case. Any thoughts?

    Hi toenail; It beats me why you are not getting sub-bass on DVD-Video when you are getting it on DVD-Audio on the 5.1 analogue output of the player. You state when you use DD or DTS you are getting sub-bass. I would think you mean that you are getting sub-bass out of either the optical or coaxial output of the player into the optical and coaxial input into your receiver. I would recheck your bass management menu on the player to see if there is more than one setting for sub-bass out of the analogue output or in other words, is there separate settings in the player for DVD-Video and DVD-Audio for sub-bass. You know that you checked your connections so the connections between the players analogue output and the receivers analogue input are correct and in fact you hear sub-bass from DVD-Audio which just verifies your connections as being correct. I am hoping that you do not have another defective unit.
  • 11-15-2004, 04:40 AM
    toenail
    It's interesting that you mention DVD-A vs DVD-V. When I go to the menu that allows for either of these options I'm unabe to switch from DVD-A to DVD-V while a DVD-V disc is playing. I can move the cursor to DVD-V but if I hit enter nothing happens. Upon reading further into the owner's manual I found this: "DVD-A = All material on a DVD-Audio disc is playable, DVD-Video = Only the DVD-Video part of the DVD-Audio disc is playable". This seems to suggest that the that audio output while watching DVD-Video discs should remain unaffected while the player is set to DVD-Audio, despite my initial thoughts about these two settings. Not sure why the option even exists as I couldn't imagine watching the just the video portion of DVD-A with no musical portion playing.

    The only bass management offered by the player is to choose "large" or "small" speakers, or to activate the subwoofer "on" or "off" modes. I have the subwoofer "on" as evidenced by the output during DVD-A playback. I've not tried setting the speakers to small yet. I wonder if LFE is watered down to the sub channel during movie playback because the player knows it's also being distributed to the other 5 channels and movie soundtracks tend to have more dynamic LFE than music? Frequency response for music with the "large" setting has been pretty good so I never bothered to change that setting. I'll have to experiment when I get home tonight.
  • 11-15-2004, 05:08 AM
    kexodusc
    Geez, Toenail, sorry to hear about your troubles....we should start a dropping change in a peanut butter jar to help you out since you've pretty much been a guinea pig for us on this DVD player.

    I could be way off on this here, but in my old Pioneer DVD player I had to change a setting from PCM to Bitstream or something foolish in order to get my 5.1 analog cables to have sufficient signal...if I recall these setting make the Player do the Dolby Digital/DTS/DVD-A processing. I think you may also have to un-select any PCM Down Coversion too, if you haven't already done so, in order to use the analog cables. I have no idea if this even applies to your player but who knows, might be worth a shot...

    Good luck, keep us posted.
  • 11-15-2004, 11:55 AM
    toenail
    kex- The menu options do exist for linear PCM out, downsample on/off. I had it set to "on" but can't recall what the old player was set at. I'll have to try this set to "off" and see the difference. Odd that with it set to "on" I had no trouble getting all six channels through analog 5.1 outs for DVD-A and only lost sub on DVD-V.

    I don't recall seeing any reference to bitstream in any of the menu options.

    At $150 I didn't consider the risk too great for this unit. CC has a pretty liberal return policy as well. Don't start the pauper fund for me just yet.

    I did get to try DVD-Video using component outs for the first time last night. Watched Gladiator widescreen version with player and tv set to 16:9 on my new Toshiba 32AF44. Pretty friggin' sweet picture for 480i. If they set up these TV's like this in the stores they would never sell a HiDef system.
  • 11-15-2004, 01:42 PM
    toenail
    I got a chance to experiment a bit with "large" vs "small" and with linear PCM out > downsample "off". The downsample "off" had no effect on sub output.My recollection is that I had this set correctly on the first unit but forgot to make the adjustment on the replacement. downsample "on" is the default. The "large" vs "small" was interesting, but also had no effect on sub output. Well, I say no effect, it may have improved slightly as if sending some higher frequencies to the sub and therefore increasing output marginally, but nothing near the output level of DD or DTS. I definitely prefer the speakers set to "large". Much fuller and more accurate. I have a fairly small living room and am able to listen at pretty low levels. When set to "small" the system takes on a bit of a Bose sound. All high and low, no depth in the midrange.

    I'm thinking that the lack of sub output is designed into the DVD player only for DVD-Video discs while using 5.1 analog outs and that I just didn't notice it with the first player because I only watched a few samples with not much low end output while testing it out. This is the only time it crops up and I wonder if it is simply a "happy medium" output level setting decided upon by the manufacturer. The problem I have with it is that the signal is so weak, even heavy gain on the sub amplifier doesn't quite sound right. For now, that means DVD-Video will be DD or DTS (hardly a sacrifice) and I can still enjoy SACD and DVD-A with full sub output. It makes me wonder if this is one of the "bass management" issues I read about while researching mult-format players. I kept seeing the words "bass management issues" but no one really mentioned what the specific issues were.

    Another observation is that the 5.1 analog outs seem to have a higher output level than DD or DTS, all other things being equal.
  • 11-15-2004, 02:31 PM
    kelsci
    Hi Toenail; it does seem strange your machine working as it does. As long as you get sub output with DVD-A and SACD disc thru the analog output and sub output on DVD-V with D.D. and DTS 5.1 soundtracks thru the coax and optical outputs of the machine, you essentially for the money, equipped to play all the discs that you own. I think you are right that there is a bass management issue playing DVD-V through the analogue output of the machine from what you have described. Enjoy your equipment. KELSCI.
  • 11-15-2004, 03:53 PM
    dean_martin
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by kexodusc
    Geez, Toenail, sorry to hear about your troubles....we should start a dropping change in a peanut butter jar to help you out since you've pretty much been a guinea pig for us on this DVD player.

    I could be way off on this here, but in my old Pioneer DVD player I had to change a setting from PCM to Bitstream or something foolish in order to get my 5.1 analog cables to have sufficient signal...if I recall these setting make the Player do the Dolby Digital/DTS/DVD-A processing. I think you may also have to un-select any PCM Down Coversion too, if you haven't already done so, in order to use the analog cables. I have no idea if this even applies to your player but who knows, might be worth a shot...

    Good luck, keep us posted.

    I just read a review on this machine, otherwise I wouldn't know enough to chime in and probably still don't. But, the review I read said that you can use the player's 5.1 analog outputs for all formats. The review implied, however, that for DVD-V, the player's internal DD or DTS decoder must be used for correct audio.

    This info is from a cnet.com review I found at www.ecoustics.com.
  • 11-15-2004, 05:42 PM
    toenail
    Thanks for the link Dean.

    More findings this evening. I decided to fiddle with the DVD-A/SACD function using the 5.1 analog outs to see how sub performance was. For this, the difference between "large" and "small" speaker settings is fairly pronounced. When set to "large" output to the sub all but disappears. When set to "small" the sub is definitely active in it's contribution to the bass notes. This leads me to believe that the output on the player is fine. Dean's post about DVD-V and 5.1 audio performance seems to confirm (in part) what I suspected, that something is amiss with sub output during DVD-V playback using the 5.1 analog outs. I've found myself listening to the hi-res stereo tracks instead of the multi-channel tracks for DVD-A/SACD, not due to the subwoofer output issue, but because I prefer the stage and image properties to those of multi-channel playback.

    It would be nice if the manufacturer published specifications for what x-over frequencies are employed when activating the large/small settings in speaker set-up, instead of leaving it to trial and error. It would also be nice if they addressed what you can and can't output with the 5.1 analog outs. It would leave more time for listening and less time for testing, though I do enjoy both.
  • 11-15-2004, 05:55 PM
    toenail
    WOW- I wish I had read all those reviews/comments from the link in Dean's post a long time ago. It explains everything I've wondered about with this player and confirms all suspicions. A must read for those interested in purchasing this unit.

    I'm still really glad I made this purchase. For the money it's hard to beat hi-res 2 channel performance, DVD-Video performance in a single chassis.