Digital-Audio Reviews

this is one of the best universal dvd players denon has to offer.in that case any dvd player has to offer,anything you put in this machine it will play,anything!!!The video part of this player is outstanding, the best there is now!, it uses Progressive Scan DVD-Audio/Video Super Audio CD Player • Powered by the Silicon Image/DVDO PureProgressive (SiI504) Decoding Engine - highest quality progressive decoding engine available • PureProgressive decoding features high speed ultra-resolution DSP at 6 Billion Operations Per Second (6 GOPS)with 64Mb external SDRAM • 4 fields (2 frames) digital video processing for optimum motion detection and compensation • Accurate 2:3 pulldown detection and reconstruction, even with inaccurately flagged content • Optimum processing for film content, video content, graphics content and mixed-mode content • 12fps(Animation), Video overlay detection and processing • New 'Chroma Bug Free' Mitsubishi MPEG/DVD-Audio Decoder!

I wanted to buy the x-gamer really bad, but i look at my wallet and there were $ NO MORE! , so i decided to buy the aureal vortex 2 that i'd seen in magazines, look, what is important is the chip, i've never heard from digital research but now i know they r fine, the sound is extremely clean and the games, in particular system shock 2 sounds GREAT, the sound appears to come from everywhere in the room, u have to have a nice speeker team to squeeze everything from this lady-.

After a year of shopping, my wife & I decided to experience this puppy. Granted that all plasma t.v.s look great, this one on the show floor looked a tad better, so we sprang for the extra bucks after first getting a sale price, then a 10% discount ontop of an additional 10% discount. It was merely a horribly expensive unit instead of obscenely expensive that way.

At home, we had an installer scheduled to come out and mount it on the wall, but we couldn't wait and went ahead and did the installation on the pedastle, which is a two person job and takes about 3 hours, with the constant fear of dropping something on the screen. We didn't break anything, but I don't recommend self installation unless you have nerves of steel.

After haggling with the cable company, we added HDTV service and after about 5 days managed to review the unit in the following modes:

1. analog cable t.v.
The image quality is good, probably superior to regular NTSC quality. Key advantage is you can toggle the 5 or so image scale modes to make it fit just right. There is a progressive distortion mode that while stretching the image to fit the 16:9 from the NTSC standard, does it so well that there is no obvious distortion except for the rare case where you see what should be a circle in one of the corners. The image size is such that you really can't take in the whole screen at once so it's a rarely if ever noticed distortion and visually quite good considering the low quality of analog broadcast
2. digital cable t.v.
Probably not a great idea. You have two modes on the Hitachi and 3 modes on the cable box to scale the image, and they seem to fight eachother resulting in a less than stellar picture. I actually prefer analog for quality when all settings are done. I would suspect the same issues with Satellite, but I'm not ready to add that to my gadget list to be sure.
Special note for folks who have "movie on demand" fantasies. NONE of the "movies on demand" are HDTV format. Maybe next year. I'm disappointed, but with my cable company, not Hitachi.
3. digital 1080i cable t.v.
Granted, this device is not a 1080i display, it's 1,280 by 780, but however it down-converts the signal, it's an amazingly clear picture. The only concern you might have is looking at the imperfections on people's faces that are normally invisible. I mean, how many of you will find your attention distracted by looking at the details of the hairs growing from a mole on the interviewer's face. Sometimes, detail it too much of a good thing, but by all that's holy, it's remarkable detail and quality. My suspicion is that satellite folks will love this mode too. HOWEVER, there are very few HDTV channels right now, and I'd say, like all t.v. wasteland material, maybe 1 or 2 has something interesting.
4. svideo DVD
A high quality display that looks fine, but you'll discover that frame sizes vary depending upon DVD producer's whim and you may find yourself toggling among 6 different display modes trying to find one that won't burn-in and that looks good too. I don't have the HDTV composite version of a DVD player so I can't comment on that and I blew my toy budget for the next 3 years so it'll be a while before I know how wonderful that feature is.
5. RCA jack vhs video
This is the worst image quality mode, due to the source. however the analog variable image scaling works well, and the picture is better than when displayed on the baby 30 inch sony 3:4 that this replaced.
6. RGB output from a PC
Jury is out here. I've hooked 3 different PCs into this and know for sure that your milage will vary. Depending on which version of Windows you have, whose display driver you have, etc, etc, you will either get a stunning image of your desktop, or a stunning distorted image of your desktop. Be warned a 1280 X 780 display is obviously not the top display mode debugged by video card driver makers. It's not that you won't get it to work, but you may find that your actual display size is, well, funny. Hitachi has a nice "auto size" mode that at least gets the desktop to fill the screen, irrespective of what the video card driver wants to do. You can browse easily, clearly, and start shopping at once for a wireless keyboard and mouse. We did.
7. Universal remote vs. Universal remote
There were actually three settups done for us. The one my wife & I did, the one the official installer did, and the one the cable boy did. Each of us knows how a system should be wired, and how the universal remote should be programmed. At the end of the day, I had THREE universal remotes, sony, cable company, and hitachi. Each programmed by the mad mind of the perfect configurator. At the end of the day, the universal remote that works best is the Hitachi, which surprised me. The cable guy insisted that it would never work with the cable box. I discovered that it works better with the cable box than the universal remote that came with the cable box. That doesn't mean you will have ONE universal remote. Mixed vendors = mixed results. I can now get by with TWO universal remotes, provided I keep a third nearby. Driving 5 different vendor's devices with 2.5 remotes ain't bad.
8. Burn in
Hitachi says, never keep the side bars (normal HTDV display) on for more than 15% of the time, lest thou shalt melt the phosphor and destroy your display. I looked at the persistance image after turning the device off (in the dark), and my guess is that 15% is the maximum. I plan on keeping it down to as close to zero as possible. If you plan on using this with a PC, make sure your screen saver is really on, and really doing a dynamic or BLACK display unless you want to see START on the bottom of your display for eternity. (apologies to MAC users)

I just bought this thing from Amazon and all I can say is WOW!!!!

This is probably the best purchase I have ever made. This thing is everything I ever expected and more!! It's easy to use as well - even my wife can operate it!

I have to say, everyone out there who is thinking of buying this, stop thinking. I bought it and I am extremely happy with it the moment I powered this thing on. YOU ABSOLUTELY POSITIVELY CANNOT GO WRONG WITH THIS PURCHASE! I GUARANTEE IT!!!

This is quite simply the best music player ever made. It has more built in features than an ipod, longer battery life, faster transfer speeds, can act like a USB drive - the list goes on and on. All for a price that is considerably less than a comparable 20 GB ipod. Some may say that not having a screen on the base and only the remote is a downside - but I say absolutely not. It genious in design. You never really want to take that out of your pocket or belt and fumble around with it anyway. You'd risk dropping it - esp if you're walking or running.

The controls on the remote are ellegantly designed - with a minimum set of dials and buttons serving muliple purposes. You can even manage your files through those controls too. What I like most is that there is a lock on both the remote and the base. If you lock the base, and unlock the remote, you can still turn it on though the remote but not through the base. Simply brilliant in that you can leave the controls on w/o risking a mis-press when it's in your pocket.

Great features with JVC reliability! Sound presets you can actually HEAR the difference. Adjustable speaker set-ups that tell the receiver how to process sound. Compulink 3 is a great JVC bonus that gives you greater control over an integrated component system and is compatible with older JVC products. Puts SONY to shame in terms of reliablility ("protect" light on a SONY receiver, anyone?), and has more options and inputs than other receivers in its class. Forward thinking JVC also has made it Dolby digital ready, and made room for all of the speaker outs that you'll need. Only complaints: it only has one Tape/MD input, so if you have a tape deck and an MD player you have to use the VCR input (not possible for some people). Also, no optical ins-or-outs. A little large, and pretty heavy, but well designed aesthetically. For people who want great sound, a decent price, and superior technology without the "show-off" qualities (read: flashing lights, buttons, and strange control systems for features you will never use) of higher priced models.

I've owned this A/V receiver for six months now and could not be more pleased. It is loaded with all the latest & greatest features a home theater receiver should have, including Dolby Pro Logic II, DTS-ES (6.1) and Dolby Digital-EX (6.1) processing, and six discrete analog inputs for high resolution audio sources like DVD-Audio and Super Audio CD. It also has pre-outs for all six channels plus subwoofer, four digital inputs (1 coax, 3 optical), and inputs for Phono, DVD, MD, TV/DBS, CD, CD-R, VCR x 2... Simply put, a receiver that can do almost everything and do it pretty well too. I say "almost" everything because the only area where it fell short was an additional amplifier for the back surrounds for 6.1/7.1 surround sound. In other words it is only powered for 5 channels (LF,C,RF,LS,RS). However I was aware of this and purchased a 2-ch outboard amp from [local store] for the "back" surround speakers. Undoubtedly adding the extra amp would have added to the price substantially when *most* people don't have 7.1 systems anyway (much less 5.1).

I originally purchased this receiver primarily in order to play high resolution DVD-Audio and the sound quality from this source is nothing less than spectacular. My feeling is that if a component (DVD player/receiver) can play music well then movies are no sweat and this is very true with this receiver. It handles music and movies equally well. Some people pay literally thousands of dollars to get this kind of performance from an AV receiver. At this price this is a steal!

I recently discovered these batteries in a store and tried them out as they claimed they were designed for digital applications.

They dusted regular and premium AA batteries when I used them in my Canon 550EX flash. With normal batteries I get around 250 shots, but to get those I have to swap the batteries out to let them cool down after about 100 shots. With the Kodak 3x batteries, I got over 400 shots and did not have to swap them out. On top of that, they seemed to recharge the flash even faster then normal as they warmed up.

While I don't recommend them for low-continuous power devices such as clocks and flash lights, I do highly recommend them for high-energy use devices such as digital cameras and flashes.

The reason I have found from looking up the specs on the Kodak site is they are indeed designed for high-energy digital devices which consume a lot of power over a short duration, in fact the more you drain (up to a point) the more over all power they should provide.

If you only take an occasional picture once in a blue moon, I don't recommend them, but if like me you take lots in one setting, these batteries are fantastic. Unless I can't find them I don't use anything else in my camera flashes anymore.

I have had these headphones for about four months now and have never had any trouble with them. They were a little uncomfortable for the first couple days but ever since they have felt really comfortable now that I am accustomed to them. I wear them for about 5 hours every day, sometimes more. Sometimes I crank my volume really high when I'm listening to music and the headphones still deliver really clear, loud sound. But what I like best is that they do an excellent job of muffling outside sound and keeping the sound in. I can play my music or games with the volume quite loud and my roommate, four feet away, can't hear even the slightest noise escaping from the headphones.

It rocks if you drop it it still worlks