Pioneer 563A sacd/dvda player, I"ve made the jump!!

Sorry Joe, not this Cowboy. Only SACD's so far and as you know the player faults to this automatically. Hopefully someone will know the answer and reply soon.

 

I couldn't stand it any longer. I dragged a TV to my system. You need get to the menu.

Looks like I need a small TV, if I'm gonna buy more DVD-A's.

The stereo mix sounds really good.

Joe

 

When I first got my Pioneer DV45a, I went through all of the menus on the TV and set it to default to SACD and DVD-A 2-channel playback. Since then, I just put in the disc and hit "play"...no problems! I would guess the DV563A has a similar setup. I use it for video playback so the TV's always connected, but I think once it has its defaults setup, you can leave the "tube" off.

I've had mine a few months now and it's nice and broken in. On a couple of the SACDs, I'm hearing details I never heard on the original vinyl or on the CD. And this isn't even on close listening! I don't know about CD playback, but IMHO mine is smoother than anything else I own and sounds quite good. No complaints, and I only need one disc player now. The only improvement I could see would be to put these guts into a 300-disc changer and an in-dash car player. If they can make a universal player this cheap for the home, I don't doubt other players are in the works.

 

See pg 65. The unit defaults to single group playback. I changed it to all.
Using the >> button, I skipped past the first group and proceeded to group 2.

Yes, normal hi-res stereo and dmix is not displayed.

Thanks Rudy, I think it will do the trick.

Group 1 should always be the stereo mix, but I guess it depends on who authored the DVD-A.

What a great player, even the redbooks sound good to me.

I am one happy camper!!!

How can you go wrong.

Thanks to all who bought one, have a great weekend!

Joe

 

Ther may be more good news concerning this unit.
The following was posted today over at HTF.
Quote:
Hi Folks,

Yesterday I wrote an email to Pioneer Support from their website on the DSD to PCM downconverion topic of 563A and got this reply. I am posting it as it is (Only editing that has been done is my email has been removed). One thing that you will notice is that there are a lot of typos .....

Hope this will help....

Thanks,
-Bimal

Date: Thu, 18 Sep 2003 08:11:30 -0700
From: [email protected]
Subject: RE:Feature and Specification|E00001|4084976293 [#787508]

DV-563A is a true SACD player that passes the signal through a DSD chip.

According to the Factory, The DSD signal is not converted to PCM
before converting to analog .

There is no PCM conversion on the line. The DSD signal is converted to
Analog directory.

The bass management, 563A has 100hz crossover frequency.

For more detail
When playing a SACD Disc, The signal goes on;

For Front 2CH playing ;
EBY-CHIP(DVD Decorder) ?SACD Decorder ? SW IC for Audio Digital Data
select of SACD or Others ?D/A Convertor ? Analog output.

For Multichannel playing;
EBY-CHIP ? SACD Decorder ? D/A Convertor ? Analog output.

--Original Message--
From:
Date: 09/17/03
To: [email protected]
Subject: Feature and Specification|E00001|4084976293[#787508]

Inquiry Type:Feature and Specification
lstPublishers:0001
lstTitles:E00001-Home Audio Video Products-DVD Player
Inquiry:This is regarding the 563A DVD/DVD-A/SACD player.


I read the following comment in the net. "When the 563 was first
announced, it was stated that it converted SACD's DSD to PCM to keep it
cheap"

Is the above statement true? Are we not getting 100% hi res?


Some SACD players have dedicated 192kHz/24-bit Audio DAC for each
channel (They are ofcourse more expensive). 563A had only ONE 192kHz/24-bit
Audio DAC. So what is the difference in sound quality?


I plan to buy this system this weekend. If you could answer my
questions I will be ever greatful.

Regards,
-Bimal

 

If it works the same as the 47a, you can hit the "audio" button to toggle through the different audio programs.

 

Wow!!! Thats great news!! As I've been saying, this player sounds amazing, and I dont really care WHY, I'm just glad it does. Buts its nice to know that its a true SACD player.

169$ !!!!

Thank you, America.

 

My player finally arrived yesterday. After I set all the initial settings to my liking, I spent most of the day auditioning several DVD-A's and a couple of SACD's on it, and the evening watching The Two Towers DVD. I must say that I am for the most part very pleased. Perhaps it will sound even better once it is properly burned in, but I do not think this unit will be replacing my Sony C555ES for CD/SACD playback anytime soon. Although I was pleasantly surprised at the quality of SACD playback, the 555ES still has the edge IMO. The Sony just sounded smoother, fuller, and more detailed than the 563a, but the 563a was no slouch. I would not have any qualms recommending it to anyone but the most ardent 'audiophile' who would probably not be looking at this sub-$200 unit anyway.

Now, on to the DVD's:

I listened to a few Classic Records 96/24 DAD's:

Nanci Griffith The Last of the True Believers, Sarah McLachlan Touch, and John Coltrane Blue Train.

For these DAD's I used the optical outs to my Sony DA4ES A/V Receiver, briefly switching over to the analogue inputs on each disc and boosting the volume 6db (to more closely match the levels) so as to compare. There was a definite drop in sound quality when listening to the recordings decoded on the player versus listening through the DACs on the DA4ES, but the 563a sounded very good playing these discs through the analogue outs. Going from the optical to the analogue outs seemed to result in a slight drop in clarity, though the tonality remained the same. The Blue Train disc especially sounded very good, if a little hot in the treble.

For DVD-A's I spun these, all in multichannel:

Natalie Merchant Tigerlilly, Queen A Night at the Opera, R.E.M. Automatic for the People and Document, The Band Music from Big Pink.

Right from the start I noticed a huge improvement in sound on this player of the JVC DVD-A player it was replacing. Whereas the JVC sounded dull, boxy, sort of 'rough' and restrained, the Pioneer unit was clear, open, detailed, relaxed and clean. When playing back Document I noticed some details in the surrounds that had not gotten my attention on the JVC, and even the Tigerlilly DVD-A, one of my least favourite, regained some of fullness and warmth that the CD has and I always felt was missing from the DVD-A. A Night at the Opera shone. It had energy and punch.


SACD's:

Aimee Mann Lost in Space (hybrid/stereo), Beck Sea Change (single-layer/mutlichannel) and Marvin Gaye Let's Get it On (hybrid/multichannel).

As I said before, I was impressed with its SACD playback. SACD's sounded round, smooth and detailed, with every bit as much clarity as the DVD-A's. The multichannel mix on Sea Change still sounded energetic and involving, if a bit thin. The brightness on Marvin Gaye's Let's Get it On, which is apparent to me even on my 555ES, seemed to be even more pronounced, however, on the Pioneer, which made it little tiresome to listen to. Aimee Mann's Lost in Space SACD, the best sounding of the bunch, IMO, retained all of it's warmth and intimacy, and was a very easy, relaxed listen. Again, it only seemed slightly thinner and a bit more 'veiled' than when played back on the 555ES.

On another note, as a previous post seemingly has confirmed, the 563A does not convert the DSD signal to PCM before converting it to analogue. As I was playing back SACD's on this unit, I did not get the sense from the sound that it was anything but a straight DSD->analogue conversion. All of the so called 'characteristics' of DSD were seemingly in tact.

 

I forgot to mention that the player was also very good on picture quality. I am not using it on a progressive scan TV, so I cannot comment on that. I have it attached via the component outs and it is stellar. The picture was clean and clear when watching The Two Towers. I didn't notice any digital artifacts such as aliasing. The blacks were black and the colours were vivid. Apparently picture quality is one more area where this player demolishes the JVC it is replacing.

 

Golden Boy...this player is the Audio/Video Bargain of the Century. Everyone here on SH Forums should own one, if only as a second machine.

 

I totally agree with that. I have to admit, I was at first a little skeptical that it could possibly sound as good as everyone was saying it did at that price point. I was pleased to be put to right.

 

As long as they don't get a room together. BTW, that's a very muted photo of Peter Gabriel behind the drops. Pucker up!

I'm pretty certain that's how my 45A player works (I've double-checked it a couple of times), although I wish there was some kind of indicator on the front panel showing what is playing. (It does show "SACD", "VCD", "CD", etc. when there's a disc in the drawer, but IMHO that doesn't necessarily indicate what it eventually plays.

Pioneer is gonna sell a ton of those 563As I think. I might be dreaming, but if the mass market stores ever catch on and market it as a "universal" player properly, especially at this price, it could be one of Pioneer's most popular, as well as make the other manufacturers take notice and possibly produce their own universal players in the near future.

Even if the 563A isn't perfect, the idea is just so right. It's affordable, and plays any disc format you throw at it, turning a potential format war into a non-war.

 

The typos are funny--that makes me think the answer was relayed from Japan. I sent a similar e-mail to them that was never replied to. All I got was a message saying they had sent it off to Japan "for study", immediately giving me a mental picture of a half dozen white lab coated lab technicians standing around reading my e-mail.

IMHO, Pioneer should make this clearer in their specifications. It's a question we've asked here quite often about the 45A and 47A, and now the 563A.

 

And the question was put to rest as far as the 45A and 47A are concerned, which was why I was about to jump into a 45A before this player came along. As I will not be using it for SACD (or CD for that matter) playback at all, it doesn't matter to me whether it converts the DSD to PCM or not, but it is rather reassuring anyhow to know that it doesn't.

 

I don't own a 563, and it seems like a great bargain. However, I can tell you a dedicated SACD player beats the pants off of it in performance. I've been travelling for business and finally have been able to do a better A/B between the Marantz SA-8260 SACD/CD player I got recently and the Pioneer DV-45a I've had since it came out.

I just upgraded my interconnects in my signal chain and use a switchbox system to switch between the DV-45a and the 8260. I use a Marantz SR=7000 as my receiver. I have Fried Model R speakers as my main fronts, Fried bookshelf speakers as my rears, and a Cambridge Soundworks Center channel.

If you've heard of the SA-8260, it has been rated as pretty much a reference redbook player and a true bargain. I got mine on clearance for $650 and its sonics have been compared to much more expensive players.

But we care about SACD, right? Here goes ...

I first popped in Journey "Greatest Hits", a stereo only disc. Then I flipped to "I'll Be Alright Without You" first on the DV-45a since it's a later recording. On the DV-45a it wasn't bad, and had a decent sound. Then popping it in the 8260, wow! The soundstage was much more deep, and you could hear the hi-rez detail more. It was like the DV-45a was masking the sound, but the 8260 opened the curtain.


Then I compared Peter Gabriel's "Up" in surround. Again, no comparison. It made the DV-45a sound like listening like I was listening to a 16-bit 44.1 recording with so-so sonics.

2 for 2. No more comparison needed.

Plus, with the dedicated SACD player you also get more of what the format is supposed to offer: the text for each SACD, etc. I forgot about that even on the DV-45a.

Now, I actually liked how SACD sounded on my DV-45a ... until I heard SACD on my SA-8260. I don't regret ever getting the DV-45a. And assuming that the DV-45a's sound is better than the 563, it would be a bigger step up from a $179 player.

That said, the 563 is a bargain. Not everyone cares as much as I do. I would recommend people listen for themselves. I got a great deal on my 8260, and it has kick ass redbook CD sound, too.

 

No, you cant.

 

Re: No, you cant.

Even if that is the case, I would seriously doubt it would beat a discreet player. Simple audio facts. I am in no way denegrating the 563 because it is a true bargain, and may be better than the 45a, but it's like saying the 563 is better than one of the over $1k combo players for audio performance.

There is a reason some players cost more. I may even consider getting a 563 as a player for my bedroom.

 

Ummm ... I can safely say that the 8260, which has gotten good reviews everywhere and is considered a reference redbook and SACD player is better than a $179 combo player. The SA-8260 is discreet. The Pioneers are not. It make a huge difference.

This got lumped in a quote somehow.

 

Although I can agree with you somewhat that a stand alone SACD player will probably grant better sonics than the 563A (as evidenced by own comment above comparing it's playback to my Sony C555ES SACD/CD player) I really cannot accept that anyone can make a bold statement such as you have without even owning or hearing a specific component. As far as I'm concerned, your statements reek of audiophile 'elitism', rather than being based on any factual assessment. It doesn't matter if you intended to denigrate the 563A or not.

Personally, in my brief time owning this Pioneer, I think it compares rather favourably to other, more expensive components that I have heard or own for either leisure or professional recording/playback.

 

One other thing - I think that is one hell of a thread-crap if I ever saw one.

 

Yea, I suppose if I spent 1,000$ on a SACD player, my brain wouldnt be able to accept that it even COULd get beat by a sub 200$ player.

But Audio marches on.

 

Tell me about it.