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CNET editors' review
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CNET editors' rating:
stars
Excellent
Detailed editors' rating
- Reviewed on: 02/24/2002
- Updated on: 03/19/2003
The numeric rating for this product has been changed since the review's original publication. The reason for this is simply the general improvement of technology over time. In order to keep our ratings fair and accurate, it's sometimes necessary to downgrade the ratings of older products relative to those of newer products.
All the basics covered
The SD4700's businesslike appearance carries through to its overall design. The front panel is an understated black with clean lines and all the necessary buttons, including a menu control. The slightly bulky remote, with its annoying flip-up door, lacks backlighting but makes up for the omission with a simple, easily memorized button layout and a responsive minijoystick to move the menu cursor. We also appreciated that the onscreen menus are clean and simple, although there aren't any text explanations of menu items, which would have made navigation even simpler. You also won't find many image-adjustment options, but the picture is so good that we didn't miss them (more on performance later).
Connectivitywise, the SD4700's back panel includes outputs for component video (you can switch between progressive and interlaced output via a button on the remote), S-Video, standard video, analog stereo audio, analog 5.1-channel audio, and digital audio via coaxial and optical connections. No problems there.
Audio jack-of-all-trades
If your music collection consists of a wall full of 5-inch discs in every format imaginable, this audio Swiss Army knife should handle them all. It played three differently authored CD-Rs filled with MP3 files without a hitch, displaying the first eight digits of the filenames in an onscreen menu that allowed access to the entire disc. Unlike pretty much every MP3-capable player we've tested, it can also play entire MP3 CDs--which often contain hundreds of audio files--in random order, regardless of whether they're buried in individual folders.
For the uninitiated, higher-resolution DVD-A discs have 5.1 channels of sound instead of the normal 2 channels found in stereo recordings. To hear the benefits, you'll need a receiver with analog 5.1-channel inputs (DVD-A doesn't currently support digital outputs) and a nice surround-sound speaker setup. The only catch: the current selection of DVD-A titles is pretty limited, but you can expect the list to grow quickly as more affordable DVD-A-compatible decks find their way into people's homes.
We compared the CD and DVD-Audio versions of Bjork's Vespertine using a Pioneer VSX-D810S receiver (100 watts per channel) and a set of HTD Level Three speakers. Bjork's soaring voice on the song "Aurora" was clean and full; the CD version was harsher and one-dimensional by comparison. Subtle electronic atmospheric clicks and pops danced in the rear channels while the voice sang solidly from the center. The receiver clipped when we turned the volume too high, a problem that could be solved if the SD4700 had bass management. To be fair, no current DVD-A-compatible player offers bass management. Continue reading
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