I need a new DVD player with good error correction. The one I have been using for the past five years cost me £37 at Tesco (reduced from £59.99) and came with a complete 5.1 amplifier and speaker system (which I threw away).

I realise that I might have to spend a similar massive amount, or possibly even more, to get real quality! Any suggestions? Any out there with discrete analogue outputs? I need something that I can play my Lady Gaga and Beyoncé concerts on so that I can bust a few moves to 'Born This Wa-hay!' and join in the 'Single Ladies' dance, so it has to be able to put up with some vibration, as the volume levels are very, very high.

Also, my wife is deeply dismayed by the fact that her fav. Tom Petty live DVD (Running Down a Dream) has a small scratch. She has seen those polishing kits that claim to take out scratches and wants to know if they are any cop. It freezes on 'It's Good to be King' which is her fav. song. Rammstein is still good to go, which is excellent news for our sex lives.

Dunno about error correction, but the best DVD player I ever bought is my Sony Playstation 3.

CDs, DVDS, Blu-Ray, Streaming from network, Youtube, iPlayer... it really is the heart of my entertainment system. I don't use it for games much (though the odd bit of Resident Evil and Silent Hill never goes amiss!).

No separate 5.1 outputs, but if your AV amp has an optical input you don't need them.

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An Eagle for an Emperor, A Kestrel for a Knave.

Oppo do some good players. THey can be kitted up to play almost anything digital, shiny disc (blue ray, DVD-A and the rest) or memory sticks etc. The picture quality is very good too. Their price is a little different, but that is your choice!!

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http://soundcloud.com/for-mash-get-ash

Must have 5.1 out. My AV amp is something I built myself.

Quote The Red Bladder:

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DVD player with good error correction.

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You may be thinking of audio CDs.

By contrast, data CD-ROMs and all DVDs use a different (and more robust) coding scheme, where either the data is recovered 100% correct, or not at all.

So this isn't something you have to worry about.

That said, it's still possible that some DVD drives/players are more likely than others to accept damaged/dodgy disks.

Quote The Red Bladder:

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Must have 5.1 out. My AV amp is something I built myself.

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The Oppos all have 7.1 out

oppo

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http://soundcloud.com/for-mash-get-ash

Around 8 years ago I bought a Pioneer DV-575 - it plays just about everything I put in it and the audio sounds great too. It was just under £100 and definitely a step up from the average DVD player. Not sure whether the current Pioneer range lives up to that one but it would be worth a look.

James.

PS - forgot the other reason I bought it was that it handles SACD and DVD-Audio discs. Not that I've ever bought anything in those formats though.

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JRP Music - Audio Mastering and Restoration.
http://www.jrpmusic.net

Edited by James Perrett (05/03/13 03:12 PM)

DVDs are a recurring motif in the life of Bladder. I was under your impression that DVD sales are the powerhouse of the industry - providing much deserved revenue to starving musicians. With that said, I find it hard to understand why the market has not followed this massive surge in sales with suitable playback devices.

Good luck!

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I'm All Ears.

This one seems pretty reasonable: http://www.petertyson.co.uk/ebuttonz/ebz_product_pages/meridian_800_dvd.shtml

Sort of a non-sequitur: My boss has bought at least 5 DVD players over the last five years. He has an obsession with getting 5 discreet analog channels. He's purchased Toshiba, Denon, Samsung, Pioneer, and Harmon Kardon DVD players. And still, when he has an electroacoustic concert uses his notebook computer to stream 5 channels (plus the sub) with Audition. He's chasing the dream that one day he will show up to an electroacoustic concert, and hand the technician a piece of media, and all is well.

In regards to the original post, the most reliable DVD player that he purchased happens to be one of the cheaper models: The Samsung HD841.

For sound and picture quality, impressive connectivity options, and the ability to play everything apart from BluRay, the HHB UDP-89 is hard to beat. But it is a frustratingly slow loader...

H

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Technical Editor, Sound On Sound

Thanks for the replies so far; has anybody tried these DVD polishing gizmos to get rid of scratches? My wife is giving me gyp about her Tom Petty concert freezing on 'It's Good to be King.'

You could see if your computer can rip it, then you can re-copy it to a new disc.

Maybe try this method; it has your favourite pharmacy product involved.

http://www.instructables.com/id/Remove-Scratches-from-a-CDDVD-with-Vaselin e-Petr/


I've no idea if it works.

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http://soundcloud.com/richie-royale
http://www.mixcrate.com/richieroyale

Quote The Red Bladder:

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... has anybody tried these DVD polishing gizmos to get rid of scratches? My wife is giving me gyp about her Tom Petty concert freezing on 'It's Good to be King.'

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When the DVD can be replaced with a brand new one for £6.46 (amazon), why would you want to blow between £6 and £50 on a dubious DVD polishing system?

H

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Technical Editor, Sound On Sound

Nothing that a dab of Brasso won't fix

James.

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JRP Music - Audio Mastering and Restoration.
http://www.jrpmusic.net

I've polished scratches out of CDs before -- toothpaste is surprisingly easy (and safe) to use, being a very mild abrasive. Takes time and patience, though, neither of which are in abundnace around here... hence the amazon suggestion! DVD scratches are a little harder to deal with because the relative dimensions and thickness of the substrate is significantly smaller, and so achieving optical perfection becomes more challenging.

H

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Technical Editor, Sound On Sound

I would love to use that Amazon service, but I just can't find the link. I must be thick or something! I know that they do this, but I can't bloody find it!

I can't find the DVD at the price Hugh quoted, only a £38 copy or for some reason a second hand one at £200.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_0_10?url=search-alias%3Ddvd&f ield-keywords=runnin+down+a+dream&sprefix=runnin+dow%2Cdvd%2C163

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http://soundcloud.com/richie-royale
http://www.mixcrate.com/richieroyale

Oops! Sorry -- went to find the link adn discovered that in my haste I had mistaken the book for a DVD!

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Runnin-Down-Dream-Petty-Heartbreaker...

There's an inport US DVD for £12 though:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Runnin-Down-Dream-Region-NTSC/dp/B00...

Strangely the UK DVD does seem to be £38!

hugh

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Technical Editor, Sound On Sound

It is 3 DVDs and a CD, so not just your bog standard disc in a box.

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http://soundcloud.com/richie-royale
http://www.mixcrate.com/richieroyale

Quote Hugh Robjohns:

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For sound and picture quality, impressive connectivity options, and the ability to play everything apart from BluRay, the HHB UDP-89 is hard to beat. But it is a frustratingly slow loader...

H

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What is it with HHB and their beard growingly slow load/cue? We have several realtime HHB burners, and it takes a very long time after you insert a disc until it is ready to write to that disc. Finalizing also takes more than 4 minutes, which is crazy, the tascam burner I have finalizes in less than a minute.

"beard growingly slow"

Quote chris...:

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"beard growingly slow"

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Are you looking at me?

Andy

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When the going gets weird, the Weird turn Pro.