Cambridge audio dv-89 Upscaling player

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This one is being sold around 12k in India. This has upscaling to 1080i. Not foroudja though. But getting good reviews all over.
Anyone has any experience with this player ?
 
I own this player. I bought it at 12,000 last year. Please look at the DVD-99 which has USB input and 1080p support as well. If you don't care for the SACD support then I feel 540D V2 is the better player.

I considered the Pioneer DV-600 as well because it does DTS via analog out which is the only thing the DVD-89 does not do but settled on it because of decent (SA)CD playback. Be aware however that while performance is pretty good the interface is (visually) awful. It has MP3/VCD support that is unlocked via a hack. I use a CRT so cannot speak of upscaling performance.

Anything else you wish to know, please feel free to ask.
 
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well no doubt the 540D V2 is better,its also a very good CD player with seperate stereo out i belive it costs16000.
do anyone know whether we get all these in the grey market including av recievers.

BTW what are the prices of SACD discs .

also how good is a PS3 in audio(cd,sacd)department via analog outs.
 
I had a look at one review for the 540D at audioenz. It seems the 540d does only 1080i.
Why is it priced much higher than the DV 89 ? What are the differences between these two ?
Any difference in the upscaler chip ?
 
Okay. I got this bit of info from avforums. By Adam of Cambridge audio:
Cambridge Audio DVD99 v Cambridge Audio AZUR 540d V2 - AVForums

Quote:

?If you want something to work very well as a Cd player, then go for the 540v2, as stereo CD playback is better than on the DVD99. The quality of components in this unit is higher than that of the DVD99.

If you want something to do as much as possible, then go for the DVD99. Over and above the 540Dv2, it offers: SACD, DVDA, 1080p, and a USB input allowing you to connect a hard drive and play back contenet sored on an external drive.

The 540Dv2 is part of the Azur series, and therefore matches the Azur anps and recievers better, and the remote for the 540Dv2 can also control an Azur amplifier or reciever. The DVD99 is not such a good physical match, as it is built on a different platform. Also, the DVD99 remote cannot control a Cambridge amplifier or reciever.


What it comes down to is whether you want something to match well and be easy to use and integrate with your system, or whether you want all the bells and whistles ?
 
well how many of u out there still play from cds the last time i bought a audio cd was 1 year ago.
 
Okay. I got this bit of info from avforums. By Adam of Cambridge audio:
Cambridge Audio DVD99 v Cambridge Audio AZUR 540d V2 - AVForums

Well, if you wish to use it purely for playback of movies then the DVD-99 is far better VFM. And with its new USB input, its even more attractive. The 540D excels mainly at CD playback and sort of matches their 340C for audio playback. But if it is not intended for CD playback then stick with DVD89/99.

It is really a pity they have not yet launched their 640D universal player. That would have been the best of both worlds, excellent CD playback and all the features of the DVD-89.
 
yes my bad the low end players like 89 & 99 dont decode dts which is unfortunate considering the price.also i believe the DVD 89 only passes stereo sound via HDMI.
 
yes my bad the low end players like 89 & 99 dont decode dts which is unfortunate considering the price.also i believe the DVD 89 only passes stereo sound via HDMI.

Oh boy.
Does that mean that I cannot use this with a regular stereo amplifier ( no hdmi) to enjoy down mixed stereo sound for Dolby digital ?
My eight year old pioneer dv 525 can do this. If your output is set to ??PCM Stereo? it down mixes dd or dts to pcm stereo and passes it through the analogue out (RCA left and right). This the preferred way to watch live concerts through regular stereo setups. Movies is a different story.
Do Oppo , pioneer and denon players allow this ?
 
Oh boy.
Does that mean that I cannot use this with a regular stereo amplifier ( no hdmi) to enjoy down mixed stereo sound for Dolby digital ?
My eight year old pioneer dv 525 can do this. If your output is set to ??PCM Stereo? it down mixes dd or dts to pcm stereo and passes it through the analogue out (RCA left and right). This the preferred way to watch live concerts through regular stereo setups. Movies is a different story.
Do Oppo , pioneer and denon players allow this ?

The DVD-89 does decode Dolby Digital so that will not be a problem. It will also downmix DD 5.1 to stereo for output to an amp. The sole exception is DTS only. The new Pioneer does DTS decoding (rather than digital passthrough) to analogue output as many do. Not sure about Oppo, Denon but a quick glimpse at specs should tell you.
 
hi guys,

since i will also buy either the dvd89 or dvd99, this post caught my attention. One clarification..why is it a problem if the dvd player does not decode dts natively? if it does a passthrough to the receiver, the receiver can decode it and pass it to the speaker..will the quality detoriate as a result?
 
hi guys,

since i will also buy either the dvd89 or dvd99, this post caught my attention. One clarification..why is it a problem if the dvd player does not decode dts natively? if it does a passthrough to the receiver, the receiver can decode it and pass it to the speaker..will the quality detoriate as a result?

It is only a problem in the case of connecting the DVD89 to an analogue stereo amplifier as DTS cannot be decoded. Your AVR will decode the DTS as you have mentioned, quality will depend on the DAC and other components used in the AVR -- there is no deterioration at all, it is just up to the AVR to handle the task.
 
Which pioneer player would be good buy around 8k ? Pioneer DV-600AV ? Any other model worth looking at ?

I saw that their entry level elite player DV-48AV sells for around 250$ in the US. How much do they sell for here ?
 
Pioneer DVD players are to be found only in the grey market so the price should not be much higher. But getting specific models is a bit tough -- it's usually pot luck. The DV-48 being from the Elite range is bound to have way better sound than the 600AV. More importantly it outputs DSD digitally.
 
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