Another kick in the groin for Pioneer 563A owners

It's not just new discs though. It won't play Boz Scaggs Dig or the old dts disc of Midnight Oil's Capricornia either. If a disc meets the dvd-a standard, then a dvd-a player should play it.

KW

 

I've had to take my 565 (the European equivalent of the 563) to a specific service center instead of the one that would have normally corresponded in case of a warranty-related issue. According to the person from Pioneer's technical department I spoke to, this was to keep the issue under wraps locally (Spain). they don't want to "generate confusion" among their customers. Sounds funny, doesn't it, especially when in the US the DVD-Audio incompatibility issue seems to be practically a matter of public knowledge.

 

Huh? Sony doesn't support DVD-A, so their combo DVD/SACD players do as advertised: play DVDs and SACD, so as long as there's a DD downmix on the DVD-A, it'll play. They're not making it incompatible per se, or forcing a format choice; it's how Sony implemented the DVD portion. Is it driven by SACD? Sure. I could see you saying what you did if DVD-As - even downmix - couldn't play.

 

BTW
I found a copy of Gaucho(DVDA) and I hoped that somehow my player would play it.........Looks like my player is taking a trip to Ohio.

 

that's what I meant by low-resolution only. isn't that the same thing as downmix?

what I mean is: there's billions of DVD players that will also play DVD-A at full, high resolution 5.1; all the low-end Panasoncs will do it, etc.

it would be easy and cheap for SONY to do it too. SONY could easily be making all their SACD players be universal. There's no reason for them not to support DVD-A. (other than their catty little format war).

the thing is, most DVD-As will play in any DVD player (like with SONY's) at lo-res. They will also play hi-res in a lot of ordinary DVD players. People buy DVD players to watch DVDs. So DVD-A will win and SACD will just go away unless people just learn to live with BOTH formats and everyone eventually has a universal player.

that would be easy and cheaper and nice for everyone. But no, SONY and Philips are determined to relive the fun of Beta v. VHS. You remember how that one turned out for them?

 

It's not like Panasonic, JVC, or Toshiba are adding SACD capabilities, so your point is absolutely moot. Point your fingers at them if you're going to try that argument. Those players are worse IMHO; at least you have the option to hear the DVD-A in Dolby on the Sony. You can't even pop in a SACD unless it's a hybrid in DVD-A only machines, so you have no hope of accessing higher rez stereo or mch. Pot meet kettle.

Plus, as I posted elsewhere, your average consumer has no clue what Advanced Resolution is, so with DVD-A 5.1 or SACD, they're going to assume they can use the digital outs like they do with movies.

That's a bigger problem.

 

good heavens I don't work for ANY of them... Well, I agree about the people who don't add SACD compatibility to the players (Panasonic for instance). All the players should be universal; I feel very strongly about that.

You may not know it but I began my relationship with this particular thread by railing against the DVD-A authors who make discs that won't work on the universal players. I'm not saying the SACD people are worse (although I DO believe that SONY could lose the battle and win the war by making their own players universal).

 

The issue isn't Warner, EMI, etc. The company making the software clearly had an update that is not incompatible with older firmware/BIOS on that particular player. That's the issue. Sure, Sonic (or whoever makes it) should try to make it compatible, but if it's only ONE player, it's a firmware issue. Companies making DVD-A authoring SW can't worry about every machine out there. It's just not feasable.

 

Does anyone know if someone were to buy one of these players new now, would they be getting an "updated" player, or would it still have to be sent back to Pioneer? I may recommend this player to someone, but would feel bad if they have to send it out as soon as they take it home from the store.

 

Someone over at 'QQ' went to BB and bought a NEW 563A, took it home, it played everything fine, then they packed up their old one and returned that one.

Not the most scrupulous thing to do, but he solved his problem!

(PS - Please, I am only reporting what I read, I am not advocating this tactic.)

 

Thanks Jon!

 

I just got the 563A last week, but don't have Groucho or Greendale to test it. I got mine at Circuit City ($134!).

Are there other "problem discs" that I could try?

 

Has someone taken or sent their 563 to be updated and already gotten it back? If so, how long did it take. I took mine last Wednesday. They told me I should have it by Friday at the latest. Then on Friday they said I would have to wait until next week.
Bummer.

Meanwhile I am playing the DD 5.1 track on "Gaucho" on my Sony. It sounds like its going to be a nice mix to listen to in MLP.

 

Sorry to report that I picked up the "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" DVD-A today and it, too plays silently on my 563A. I have a call in with Pioneer, the closest place is Ohio for a fix, so I'm going to wait it out a bit to see if they make a firmware upgrade available.

 

From what I understand there won't be an upgrade that consumers can do themselves. Pioneer said it can't be done.

 

I can't imagine these are not flashable and need to be sent in for service! That is a bummer, but one never knows...... Recently a Panasonic DVD player firmware update disc image for most all of thier stand alone models (not intended for the public to use) was posted on a forum and in binarie newsgroups.

 

If there can't be an upgrade consumers can do themselves, I'd at least hope that it'll be something factory authorized service centers could eventually do - heck with mailing the thing all over the place!

 

It took five days from when I dropped it off to when I received the fixed version.

It now works perfectly by the way.

-s

 

From what I have read here, it appears that the DVD-A
"GAUCHO" and "GOODBYE YELLOW BRICK ROAD" (among others) wiil not play on a 563A. Does anyone know if TOMMY (DVD-A) will play properly on an unmodified 563A?

 

I'm having problems with the Frampton Comes Alive dvda. My 563a is reading the discs as sacd's? Does anyone else have a problem with the Frampton dvda on their player?

 

Doh! Of course, I meant Gaucho.

 

I just got my Pioneer back from the Service Center today (must say mine is the European version of the 563 - I'm on the other side of the pond, but we've all got the same problem). It now works perfectly, so I've finally been able to listen to the MLP tracks in "Gaucho". It's a great mix.

After reading through your new messages let me point out that the incompatibility issue must have started around early March. How do I know? Because I bought the Sting "Sacred Love" DVD-Audio back then and it works fine, but practically every titles that was announced to appear after that has the compatibility problem.

And, yep, the technician there told me they had to substitute a chip, so I imagine the original machine has no EPROM and so they have to install one before flashing it. This would explain why it has to go to the Service Centers.

BTW, if you are planning on sending you machine to be updated make sure to take note of all your settings because when you get it back they will all be erased.

Regards.

 

Problem solved. Universal Music has admitted the disc was a pressing error. They labelled the sacd's as dvd-a's. Whew! It's not the player

 

Could this spell another letdown for us Pioneer 563/565 users?
http://www.audioasylum.com/forums/dvda/messages/12398.html

 

I purchased the DVDA of Goodbye Yellow Brick Road today, it won't play either the stereo or the multichannel on the Pioneer 563A. Someone please post a number for Pioneer so I can call for the shipping address. I live in Houston.

Thanks,
Joe Lee