Sony DVP-NS755V DVD-V/SACD
Player
 Sony's pulling a fast one with the
DVP-NS755V, so read the fine print. Yes, it's a progressive-scan DVD player that also
plays the customary assortment of CDs, CD-Rs, and CD-RWs. But here's the prize in this
Cracker Jack box: The DVP-NS755V is also a multichannel SACD player, which makes it one of
the world's best reproducers of recorded music. Not a bad deal for $300 USD. Likewise, the
entire Rolling Stones production from 1963 to 1970 on ABKCO Records was reissued recently
in packaging that only hints at what's really inside -- a dual-layer disc with both CD and
SACD versions. The sticker on the wrapper promises an "Inaugural Edition"
certificate inside. Turns out it's the mass-market inauguration of SACD -- and it can be
yours for $18.98 for a single disc, only $1 over the retail price of a CD.
So what's the big secret? And why has SACD suddenly gone
undercover? Maybe Sony doesn't want consumers to think they have to choose between two new
high-resolution formats, SACD and DVD-Audio. Or that maybe if consumers like SACD, once
they realize they actually have it, they'll want more. And more.
Let's leave that to the marketing departments. All we at GoodSound!
care about now is a multichannel SACD player with rudimentary bass management bundled with
a progressive-scan DVD player has arrived at a price of $300.
Description
Seems like only 1999 that an SACD player cost $5000. Now
Sony is tossing SACD chips into $500 Dream System home theaters and $300 DVD players. But
it often takes an alert buyer willing to sift through product features and specifications
to find one.
And we've got a live one here. The DVP-NS755V doesn't look
like the world's greatest anything, just another ultra-thin (2.5" high) and
lightweight (5 pounds) progressive-scan DVD player. The SACD chip, though, is a gold mine
for the audio adventurist on a budget.
Both SACD and DVD-Audio aspire to multichannel,
high-resolution sound, but it hasn't been easy. Because of copyright considerations, there
has been no agreement on a digital output for the new audio formats. If you want to
listen, it has to be on the industry's terms -- in other words, analog. If you're running
a traditional stereo music system, in the GoodSound! tradition, mark this down as
irrelevant. A digital connection would be impossible, anyway, with your analog equipment.
But if you also have a home theater for movies and wish to
experiment with your new DVD player's multichannel SACD capabilities, you must connect it
to a multichannel receiver's six-channel analog inputs. Unfortunately, the analog inputs
bypass the receiver's critical bass-management function, which makes adjustments based on
the speaker's size, whether the system has a subwoofer, and the distance between the
listening position and the speakers. The adjustments ensure the bass goes to the right
place, like the subwoofer, and that sound from the front and rear speakers is coordinated
to arrive at the listening position at the proper time. The DVP-NS755V attempts to address
the bass-management issue, with results that we'll discuss shortly.
When the connections are done, finally, you can sit in your
own den and listen to the differences between CD and SACD on the same player, through the
same electronics and speakers. Simply shift from one format to another on a dual-layer
disc using the DVP-NS755V's remote (there's also a button for shifting between
multichannel SACD and two-channel SACD). The only possible variable, as in my home-theater
setup, is the cables. I used digital coaxial cable for the DVD/CD connection to my Marantz
SR7000 receiver, for instance, and an assortment of analog cables for the SACD connection
via the six-channel analog input.
The DVP-NS755V looks like any other off-the-rack DVD
low-rider with click-shuttle and jog controls, but look a little closer and you'll see
something unusual -- a SACD indicator light. Out back, the DVP-NS755V has two sets of
audio-video outputs and digital optical/coaxial outputs.
Setup
I listened to the DVP-NS755V in its intended home-theater
setting using a StraightWire digital coaxial cable for CD and an assortment of AudioQuest
and MIT cables between the DVD player and the SR7000's six-channel analog terminals. For
home theater, I used the PSB Alpha B speakers with the PSB SubSonic 5 subwoofer. For
two-channel listening, I used the rump-shaking Athena AS-F2 speakers as well as the
Acoustic Energy AEGIS EVO One speakers. Both the Rotel RA-1060 and Arcam A65 Plus
integrated amplifiers were onhand to drive those speakers.
In either digital or analog mode, the DVP-NS755V must know
about the equipment around it to perform properly. Much like a home-theater receiver, the
DVP-NS755V has an onscreen menu for speaker setup (for multichannel setups, the distance
between the speakers and the listening position also must be entered). You must input the
size of the front speakers, large or small, and indicate whether you're using center- and
rear-channel speakers. It must know where to send bass frequencies and if the machine is
part of a multichannel system.
The first DVD-Audio multichannel players were designed with
built-in bass management, performed digitally, for Dolby Digital and DTS movie soundtracks
only. In DVD-Audio mode, with analog connections lacking access to the receiver's
bass-management feature, disaster awaited. A DVD-Audio disc and its greater bandwidth --
an octave higher than a CD -- would expose a home theater of smallish speakers to
distortion or possible damage at higher volumes. The first SACD players, two-channel only,
were less problematic.
The DVP-NS755V will direct bass frequencies to a subwoofer
if asked, but it's none too flexible. If informed a subwoofer and small speakers are
present, it automatically directs all frequencies below 120Hz to the subwoofer. No
questions, no debate. That's it.
But what if you have a two-channel system built around
bookshelf speakers, with no subwoofer? If the DVP-NS755V knows you're using small speakers
and no subwoofer, your system loses everything below 120Hz. That's a lot, because a good
bookshelf speaker should be able to reach down to at least 65Hz. Faking out the DVP-NS755V
by telling it your speakers are large, not small, will send all bass information to the
little bookshelf speakers, possibly overloading them.
Performance
Better get the bass-management question out of the way
first. In a two-channel setup with the Arcam integrated, the full-range Athena AS-F2
speakers had no trouble with an assortment of Rolling Stones SACDs. With the smaller
Acoustic Energy AEGIS EVO One in "No Subwoofer" mode, some low-frequency breakup
was evident, only briefly, on a single track ("She's a Rainbow") from the
Stones' Singles Collection -- The London Years [ABKCO 719231].
That's not bad. Keep an eye on the volume control and
you'll be fine. Just to see how far audio reproduction has come, find a CD from the early
days of digital and compare it to the same material on a SACD/CD hybrid disc. I tracked
down at the local library the Stones' Between the Buttons [ABKCO 95002] compilation
containing "Let's Spend the Night Together," released in 1986 by ABKCO with the
pronouncement, "Digitally Remastered from Original Master Recording."
Whoa. Talk about nasty digital. The music, beyond the tape
hiss, is muffled and distant, with drums sluggish and vocals sounding as if they were
coming from the next room. The CD layer of Singles Collection with "Let's
Spend the Night Together" shows marked improvement in clarity and immediacy, with
bowed strings suddenly gaining prominence. The tape hiss remains and vocals remain
slightly muffled.
The SACD layer cleans up those vocals -- Jagger's words no
longer sound slurred -- and now all that doesn't sound natural is the tape hiss. It's like
listening to something approaching the absolute best analog on a $300 DVD player. The
difference between the original CD and the hybrid-disc's CD layer was night and day; the
difference between the hybrid CD layer and the SACD layer was much more subtle. But I
could not believe the quality of sound coming from this modest setup.
In standard CD mode, the DVP-NS755V could not possibly
approach the refinement of, say, the $599 Arcam CD62T, but it would
rate above average in a pool of DVD players. Pair it with a more relaxed speaker like the
Acoustic Energy instead of the more forward-sounding Athena AS-F2.
But why not take full advantage of the DVP-NS755V's
features? You could spend $300 for this machine, use it solely as an SACD player, and
still have a great bargain. If you tire of the DVP-NS755V's CD playback, add an outboard
digital-to-analog converter. Then, if you decide to get into home theater, route another
digital cable from the DVP-NS755V to your new audio/video receiver for movie playback. And
if you ever upgrade to a digital TV, use the component-video hookup to access the
DVP-NS755V's progressive-scan feature.
Conclusion
It's safe to say that until SACD, consumers have never
heard music sound like this from a $300 player, especially one like the DVP-NS755V that
does so much more. These are still the early days of SACD, but the Sony DVP-NS755V gives
us a nice start at a nice price.
Price of equipment reviewed
|
