Views on Pioneer DV-747A

I'm looking at one of these ex-demo and wondered if I could hear any views on them as players (general do it all for SACD and DVD-Audio) and as a transport for an external DAC for CD replay. Any reliabilty issues? What transport is used and is it still available? Any other issues?

Thanks to all for any helpful input.

 

Personally, I'd take a Philips 963SA over the 747. The pio is a better designed player in terms of operation & build, and has a (much) more reliable transport mech, but it definitely has more digital sheen & gloss than the Philips.

CD playback is decidedly average on the 747 - it does most things right, but its just to bright & splashy in the treble for long-term listening.

With regards to dvd-audio - forget it. There's hardly any software available. What little software there is, is also quite variable in final quality.

Alternatively, I've found the Sony DVP-NS900V to be an excellent all-round machine. Very smooth CD playback (maybe a little too smooth), which makes it great with voices, but it does tend to paint the music in broad brush-strokes. If you want more finely-etched detail and a higher-fi sound, go for the 963. Both machines are exhilarating with SACD.

Rgds,
DT

 

Thanks for that.

I've actually already owned a Philips 963 and it broke within a fortnight, unfortunately - you're right, though, it was a nice sounding machine. I'm slightly hesitant to get another as I'm not the only one who has had issues with this machine.

The Pioneer would actually be used as a transport for CD in conjunction with an NOS d/a converter so I'm not too fussed about it's own CD replay - nice to hear that it's a solid transport, though.

SACD and DVD-A would just be on a very occasional basis (I only have about 6 of these discs in total at present) so these only, realistically, need to be perfunctory rather than truly exceptional, if you see what I mean.

Thanks for your advice - much appreciated.

 

Hang on, I didn't say the 747 transport was solid - it's a crappy plastic thing like the 963. I did say that IME it is much more reliable than the 963's mech in terms of reading hybrid sacd's and copy protected cds.

If you want the best transport at the lowest possible price, then you should go for one of the Marantz studio/pro models like the PMD340:

http://www.aandcaudio.co.uk/Marantz-PMD340-CD-Player-pid948.htm

http://www.discostudio.co.uk/djshop/product_info.php?product_id=102259

OK, not the prettiest thing, and it won't read single layer SACD or DVDA, but it does house the best transport mech available under four figures. It also has an XLR/AES digital output too.

It can read knackered cd's whilst doing corkscrew at mach 2

DT

 

Ah, yes, solid may not have been the best choice of words, as it was reliability rather than construction that I was referring to - I must think before I post on occasions.

I'll give the subject some more thought although I have a feeling I might plump for the Pioneer, if for no other reason than because it comes with a full Pioneer warranty and is very cheap.

Thanks again.

 

Don't these Marantz models have pitch control though (so you can speed up or slow down the playback by 10% in a similar way to a DJ turntable) - and the ability to alter speed in this way has something to do with the clock frequency being modulated, and thus increases jitter?

Seem to recall looking at a similar player to this as a transport myself ages ago, and it seemed great but then Isaac mentioned something about the pitch control ability introducing jitter or somehow corrupting the digital signal a little...?

The mech on these things is great for a transport, but the things I've heard about players with pitch control for transports aren't so positive.

 

Well, if you swallow that manufacturer bullsh*t about jitter-immune DACs, then there shouldn't be a problem?

Thing is though - what level does it increase the jitter from? If its from 75ps to 150ps, then I would argue its acceptable, because in absolute terms, its still quite low.

Maybe there's a way of bypassing pitch control, if its a major problem. However, slowing down & speeding up the cd sounds like quite good fun actually!

DT

 

Well how much the the thought of added jitter bothers you depends what DAC you're using it with obviously and the second point is quite valid as well.