- Average user rating: 4.0 stars out of 19 reviews Back to product review
- My rating: 0 stars
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12 out of 12 people found this review helpful
4.0 stars
"Pristine video. Crystal clear audio."
Pros: 7.1-channel analog audio with internal decoding of all formats.
Blu-Ray Profile 2.0.
Stunning video performance.
Crystal clear audio.
User-friendly menus.
Quick startup time.Cons: Subwoofer output is -10dB too low.
Summary: Let me first start out by stating that I'm living in an analog world. I'm using component video and 7.1-channel RCA connectors for audio. This ability, combined with Profile 2.0, was the primary reason I waited for the Sony BDP-S550.
Disc handling slightly noisy. Sounds a little cheap.
Out of the box, the unit is surprisingly small. It's full-width, but only half the depth of every other component I have in my rack. This all but guarantees the new Blu-ray Disc player will sit proudly at the top of my six-and-a-half foot tower of electronics. It's a pretty unit with a slight bluish black complexion so I don't mind, really. I was just surprised. My previous foray into Sony disc players was the DVP-S9000ES which was a 40-pound, brass-plated monster.
The initial setup was a breeze. I like the matrix-like setup menus. The only tweaks I had to make were to set the Audio Output Priority to multi-channel analog and [eventually] to set the BD Audio Setting to "Direct". This last item was critically important and almost made me return the unit. By allowing menu-based sound effects to be mixed into the BD audio, it introduced a ~150ms audio delay in watching Blu-ray Discs. I was horrified until, on a SWAG, I changed this setting. Phew!
After playing a few minutes from every Blu-ray Disc I bought, I threw in a few reference quality DVDs. The upconversion from 480i to both 480p and 1080i (via component video) was excellent. It was almost too good, showing the limitations of some of my lesser DVDs. Film grain in the recently remastered "Dirty Dancing" DVD [Disclaimer: this is my fiancee's disc] was more obvious on this player than I've seen on any of my other DVD players. There are extensive noise reduction settings available in the player, but the film grain was more a testament to the clarity of the player rather than distracting.
I also tested 4x3 (1.33:1) DVDs and audio CDs, just to be sure the player could be my end-all, be-all player. Initially, the player stretched the 4x3 DVD to fit my 16x9 screen, but I eventually found the Screen Format video settings, which when set to the non-intuitive value of "Fixed Aspect Ratio", displays all DVDs in their proper aspect ratio.
In conclusion, the video on my 1080i RPTV is pristine; the best I've ever seen. The player-decoded 7.1-channel audio is also crystal clear. I didn't expect to hear an improvement over optical DTS-ES or THX-EX, but the difference is amazingly obvious. The player *does*, unfortunately, suffer from the -10dB subwoofer output limitation, which is very irritating (and the cause of only 4 stars). Relative to all the other channels, the line-level subwoofer output is over 10dB too low. This causes a major disparity in perceived output between the seven main channels and the subwoofer. I'm hoping and praying Sony will release a firmware upgrade to fix this in the very near future. Until then, I've got all the other channels set to -10 to -12dB with the subwoofer set to 0dB, which is almost close to the correct value for my home theatre.
If you can live with or compensate for the very low subwoofer output, or use HDMI for audio and video, then I do not hesitate in strongly recommending this player to anyone looking for an excellent, user-friendly, fully-functional and surprisingly inexpensive Blu-ray Disc player.
Updated on Oct 18, 2008-10dB LFE Update:
After doing extensive research, and finding an excellent article about LFE on AVSForum.com, I found out that the standard for LFE over analog output dictates that the signal be delivered 10dB lower than the reference level of the other channels. Digging deep into the setup menus of my Denon AVR-5800, I found a way to boost the LFE channel of the receiver's 8-channel analog inputs to bring all channel levels in line.
- 3 replies to this review
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Hi Dave,
I just bought this player yesterday from Best Buy, just like you, I am Analog guy, and my receiver doesn't have the latest HDMI etc. , so I hooked up to the 6.1 input.
I followed all the operating instruction for the Audio Output to Multi Channel Analog, set all speakers to small. Also I set the BD audio setting to Direct just like you said.
Then I started to playy the BD movies, like The Iron Man, Kill Bill 1, Kingdom of Heaven, but all I can heard the sound from the Center , L & R speakers plus the subwoofer, there was no sound from the surround back.. But the funny thing was when I played Golden Compass, I can hear everything, the surrond sound just like I am hoping to hear all that DTS HD, Dolby true HD.
Can you please give some advise and maybe I am doing something wrong., or is the player not working ? I.
Hope to hear from you soon.
Warren. Toronto, Canada . Dec 29 2008 -
Good Afternoon Mr. Dugal,
I hope you are well. Congratulations on your new amazing setup! I had 2 questions that I hoped you might be able to answer. It?s okay if you don?t have an answer.
I was curious if you read on the AVSForums that the ?10dB sub output? is the same issue that the Panasonic DMP-BD55 faces with regard to its analog sub out? The reason I ask is because I have not decided yet between the BDP-S550 and DMP-BD55 just yet. I would like to note that I too own a Denon receiver, but it is a Denon AVR-687. Recently, I found out that it has a setup microphone (DM-S205) and it worked nicely when I did an auto setup for my pseudo-home theater. So my second question is, if I owned the BDP-S550, and I found the same issue with the analog output for the sub was doing 10dB, then would it be resolvable by me doing the ?auto? setup with the setup microphone or would it still require me to manually change it like you had to??
Thank you!
Respectfully,
-Hawke -
Terrific review. As an owner of a Denon AVR-5800 too, I am extremely grateful to have the analog answers that I need that allow me to keep that beast!
Sony BDP-S550:
