Heavy Performer

Right now, you can get Blu-ray players for less than $200.

Well, you can, but do those players offer you onboard decoding of all the audio formats, upconverting of the 8-bit video to 16-bit, Marvell Qdeo processing, eight Wolfson DACS, tank-like build quality and pretty much everything else you can think of to eke out every last bit of performance?

That was a rhetorical question

At just over 30 pounds, Pioneer’s BDP-09FD blu-ray player is nearly as heavy as the Rotel RSX-1560 receiver.

Just as the low weight of the RSX-1560 is impressive given its specs, the tonnage of the BDP-09FD makes it an outlier in its product category.

It’s important, believe it or not, to make a high-end product feel like a high-end product. There was a time when manufacturers put sheets of lead at the bottom of a product to make it heavier (therefore feeling more “expensive”).

Not that the BDP-09FD needs lead to feel hefty. It does that with its own guts and chassis. Pioneer really got the feel of it right, from the disc tray to the solidity of the unit itself.

Inside, there’s a toroidal power transformer similar to what you’d find in a good power amp or receiver. There is even a power supply with massive capacitors dedicated to just the analog audio stage. In looking at the whole parts list, two words come to mind.

Glorious Overkill

With the BDP-09FD, Pioneer seems to have decided to go all out in making the ultimate Blu-ray player. A similar attitude brought us the KURO plasmas (may they rest in peace). The question is, and this is one many companies struggle with: How do you make a high-end version of a commodity product?

The first step is making it look and feel the part, which, as mentioned, they’ve pulled off. The bigger issue then is the performance.

“But I thought Blu-ray was perfect,” you say. Well, sort of. The potential is there for the content on Blu-ray to be perfect. Let’s say you have that perfect disc in your hand, can your player and display re-create that disc in all its perfection? Pioneer is betting no, and has a bunch of do-dads to clean it up before you send it to your display.

The first is an upconversion from the 8-bit video on the Blu-ray to 16-bit. This smoothes out the transitions between different shades of gray (and therefore, allowing more shades of colors). While this can be transmitted over HDMI, chances are your TV is going to neuter it back down to 8-bit to process it again; though, I suppose we can blame that on your display.

Suffice it to say, you’d be getting the best possible video to your TV. There are also extensive video adjustments and noise reduction circuitry. Sure most people wouldn’t need this level of adjustment, but it’s helpful in certain installs and probably won’t hurt.

The real überness of the BDP-09FD lies elsewhere.

Powerhouse

For the foreseeable future, most people’s movie collections are going to be predominantly DVD. The BDP-09FD makes DVD look as good as just about any consumer product I’ve seen. Using Marvell’s Qdeo chipset, it does so well on every processing test that you step away and wonder why other products can’t do this well.

De-interlacing all content is a no brainer, as is pickup of the 3:2 sequence from 480i and 1080i content. Where the BDP-09FD is really over the top is with diagonal lines. On lesser processers (either in your TV or in your BD player), diagonal lines can get the much despised “jaggies,” as in, jagged steps instead of a smooth diagonal line. With both SD and HD content, the BDP-09FD does a better job creating a diagonal line, no jaggies, than any product that comes to mind.

With the waving flag test on the Silicon Optix test DVD, a test of video processing, the BDP-09FD creates a smooth flag with lots of detail. Nearly flawless.

Detail with scaled DVD content is excellent as well.

Audiophile

Adding a whole other level to the performance is the audio quality. With the aforementioned dedicated power supply for the audio, plus eight 24-bit/192kHz Wolfson DACs, the audio sound quality was clearly an important aspect in product development. Sure you can send all the audio via HDMI to your receiver or pre/pro, but depending on what you’re using, the analog out of the BDP-09FD might actually sound better. When was the last time you thought that was possible with a Blu-ray player?

Using the analog outputs, I found the audio quality with CDs to be a bit more natural and smooth. A little less brittle. Again, this will depend a lot on what you’re using as a receiver or pre/pro, but it’s worth checking out. The BDP-09FD will also decode, on board, all the latest audio formats. So if your processor doesn’t have HDMI in, no worries. Again, thanks to the DACs, you may want to go analog.

Sadly, from the company that brought us the first “combo” player, the BDP-09FD doesn’t play DVD-Audio or SACD. These are essentially dead formats, but I still have a collection of discs I love, and I’d love to hear them on a player like this.

If you have a Pioneer receiver, the Precision Quartz Lock System (PQLS) eliminates jitter across HDMI for that extra bit of performance.

Ultimate

The BDP-09FD is a niche product to be sure. After all, you can get perfectly acceptable Blu-ray performance from any player. But that’s not what this product is about.

This is for those people who want the absolute best performance from every aspect of their system, and that extra little bit of video and sound quality. For those people, this is the source they should be looking at first. How do you build a high-end version of a commodity product?

Source : hemagazine.com

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Pioneer Electronics has announced a new special edition digital turntable and mixer in a special black color. The Pioneer CDJ-400-K and the DJM-400-K are now available in a limited edition black color. The limited edition version comes with a special badge and has the digital turntable and 400-K 2-channel mixer in a sleeker appearance.

The products are all black with blue trim and blue LEDs for accent lighting. The CDJ-400-K has USB integration, MP3 playback, MIDI support, scratching capability, scratch job effect and a variety of loop functions. The DJM-400-K has high quality sound reproduction.

In addition to the overall black color of both units, Pioneer added a distinctive touch to the new appearance of the CDJ-400-K digital turntable and DJM-400-K digital mixer by changing the original red illumination to a cool blue, completing the Limited edition’s theme. The CDJ-400-K offers excellent performance and features, with USB integration and MP3 playback, MIDI support, scratching capability, scratch jog effect and a variety of looping functions.

The DJM-400-K offers DJ’s considerable performance capabilities, achieving high quality sound reproduction with 96Khz/24-bit sampling, a variety of beat effects that can be easily synchronized, and audio adjustability for each of its channels through the use of a 3-band equalizer.

THe CDJ-400-K and DJM-400-K models will be available exclusively from Pioneer at www.shoppioneer.com beginning in December 2009 and will come with estimate retail price at $910.00 for CDJ-400-K and $805.00 for DJM-400-K.

Source : akihabaranews.com

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click to enlarge

The SC-09TX from Pioneer is the flagship A/V receiver in the Pioneer Elite line.   It sports a unique look and is the only Pioneer receiver that currently features a front LCD display.  Pioneer’s SC-09TX “Susano” receiver offers a robust feature set for both video and audio enthusiasts.

Pushed as the top of the Pioneer Elite receivers, the SC-09TX includes Qdeo video processing for all six of its HDMI inputs.  The receiver also has five component inputs, four for S-video, and eight for composite.  Video processing features include HDMI x.v. Color, a component video converter, and support for videos straight from an iPod.  Curiously, HDMI signals receive no video processing, and pass through unaltered.

The Pioneer SC-09TX is a 10 channel receiver and is able to be set in a variety of configurations, including standard 5.1 and 7.1 setups.  Each channel boasts a 200 watt output at 8 ohms.  Among the audio inputs are 4 coaxial digital ins, 4 optical digital ins, a 7.1 channel analog in, 12 stereo analog ins as well as support for iPods, Sirius radio and XM radio.

The SC-09TX supports all current high definition audio formats including THX Ultra 2 Plus, Dolby True HD and DTS-HD Master Audio, and features sound tuning by Air Studios sound engineers. The built in Multi-Channel Acoustic Calibration (MCACC) system allows for a quick and simple way to adjust the receiver to fit a room, and is able to be used in a basic mode, or an advanced mode for more experienced users.

Click the thubmnail below for full image view

The addition of a LCD screen to the Pioneer Susano receiver makes navigating set up menus more pleasant, but a standard LED display is much less distracting and simple to read from across a room.  The LCD screen is also able to display the programming that the receiver is set to send to a television, but unfortunately will not display any of the HDMI inputs.

The Pioneer SC-09TX “Susano” A/V receiver is available now and can be found for prices ranging from $4,000 and $5,000.

Source: avrev.com

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Used to be people got mad when somebody talked all through a movie. Now they pay extra to hear it.

DVD commentary tracks were bad enough. Somebody tell that guy to pipe down – I’m trying to watch a movie here. Sorry, but your auteuristic insights into this robot fight aren’t exactly vaulting over my fascination threshold. Some things are better shown than told, which you figure if anybody’d know that, it’d be a movie director. Besides, if I wanted to go to film school I’d send an application to Columbia.

Now, though, along with your Blu-Ray movies, your Pioneer BDP-121 Blu-Ray Player, a broadband Internet connection, and a USB flash drive (not included), you get access to something called BD-Live. What it is, I gather, is another way to enhance your movie experience, except in Hollywood “enhance” starts with an “r” and ends with an “uin”. Play trivia and chat with other people who are watching the same movie I am? I wouldn’t do that with my own family, and I actually like most of them. As for the downloadable featurettes, do I look like the kind of person with the time or inclination to ponder the influence of the Italian neo-realists on Paul Blart, Mall Cop ?

Features:

• Enjoy your favorite Blu-ray movies with perfect playback video at 1080p resolution and 24 Hz
• BD-Live (Profile 2.0) Compliancy enhances your Blu-Ray viewing experience by downloading additional exclusive content, current movie trailers, play/chat with other BD-live connected players, and much more (requires external USB flash drive and broadband internet)
• Quick Start Mode allows for Near-instantaneous Power-up
• 1080p DVD upscaling and 36-bit Deep Color conversion provide exceptional high-quality Blu-ray and DVD viewing
• KURO™ Link – any format you choose is automatically optimized for the KURO™ line of plasma displays and devices
• Built-in Dolby TrueHD, DTS-HD High Resolution and DTS-HD Master Audio decoders allow you to experience what the director intended

Read Compatibility:

• BD-Rom
• BD-RE Dual Layer
• BD-R Dual Layer
• DVD Video
• DVD+RW/+R/-RW/-R Dual Layer (Video/VR/AVCHD format)
• Audio CD (CD-DA)
• CD-RW/R (CD-DA, JPEG file format)

Specifications:

• Disc capacity: Single disc
• Power Supply: AC 120, 60 Hz
• Power Consumption (Normal): 19 W
• Power Consumption (Standby): 0.5 W (when “Quick Start is set to “No”)
• Operating Temperature: 41 °F to 91 °F (5 °C to 35 °C)
• Storage Temperature: -4 °F to 95 °F (-20 °C to 55 °C)
• Operating Humidity: 10% to 80% (no condensation)
• TV systems: NTSC system
• Box Dimensions:(W) 21 15/16” x (H) 5 3/16” x (D) 13”
• Box Weight: 8.8 lbs
• Unit Dimensions: (L) 10.25” x (W) 16.5” x (H) 2.125”
• Unit Weight: 6 lbs

Inputs and Outputs:

• HDMI OUT: HDMI 19 pin standard connector (1080p 24 Hz output) HDMI™ (V.1.3 with Deep Color, x.v.Color™, Dolby TrueHD, DTS-HD Master Audio | Essential)
• Component Video: Output Level – Y: 1 Vp-p (75ohms) PB, PR: 0.7 Vp-p (75ohms) Jacks: RCA-pin jack
• Video: Output Level – 1 VP-p (75ohms) Jack: RCA-pin jack
• Digital Out Optical: Terminal – Square Optical Terminal
• Audio Out: Output Level – 2 V rms (Output impedance: 1k ohms) Jacks: RCA jack
• BD Storage/Service: USB 2.0 High Speed (480 Mbits/s) correspondence (for Local storage/Software updates)
• Lan: 10BASE-T/100BASE-TX

In the box:

• Pioneer BDP-121 Blu-Ray Disc Player
• Pioneer BDP-121 Remote Control
• (2) AA Batteries for Remote
• Composite Cable
• Power Cable
• Pioneer BDP-121 Operating Instructions Manual
• Pioneer Warranty Card

Source : woot.com

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