Pioneer DV-563A
July 2nd, 2004 | by Tim Price
 |
Average user rating from 2 users |
Best bang for the buck
by timalpr on Apr 1st, 2004 at 4:33 PM:
Many people out there have been jumping on the DVD bandwagon since last Christmas. The problem is that there are so many players, and so many formats out there that it can get confusing when it comes time to buy one. Granted, most of the consumer base just want something that will play a movie they rent or purchase from the store. But, as technology has proved in the past, there will always be a better format out there to view or even store such materials. This is where a good universal player comes in handy.
The Pioneer DV-563A is such a player. Let us start with the basics.
Detailed Specifications
Description: DV-563A-S DVD Player (Progressive Scan)
Manufacturer: Pioneer
Remote Control: Basic Remote
Audio DAC: 24 Bit
Audio Output: Digital Coaxial, Digital Optical
Disc Mechanism: Tray
General Features: MP3 Support, Progressive Scan
Interface Type: Video - Component, Video - Composite (RCA), Video - S-Video
Media Supported: Audio CD, CD-R, CD-RW, DVD, DVD Audio, DVD-R, DVD-RW, SACD, Video CD (VCD)
Number of Discs Supported: 1
On-board Decoders: Dolby Digital 5.1-channel, DTS
Video DAC: 10 Bit
Video Features: Cinema Mode, DVD Resume Playback
Video Format: NTSC
Video Output: Component Video, Composite (RCA), S-Video
Dimensions
Height: 2.18 in
Width: 16.5 in
Depth: 12.25 in
Warranty
Base Warranty: 1 year(s)
Labor Warranty: 1 year(s)
Parts Warranty: 1 year(s)
Now that that is out of the way we can start talking about what makes this player better than most of the players within the $100-$300 price range.
First, there is flexibility. This player can handle almost any format out there, and unlike most players that say they can read CDR and CDRW+,- and then have problems depending on the disk, or the way one chooses to write to the disk, the Pioneer handles them with little or no problems. I myself have never had a disk that was properly burned not work on this player. And trust me, I have burned a lot of material. It is not a question of what this machine does play, but rather what it wont. Almost nothing!!!
Now back to viewing movies. The Pioneer DV-563A is selectable between progressive scan(480p) and interlaced(480i). The picture quality is great. There are really are no complaints when it comes to viewing DVD movies thanks to Pioneer's PureCinema de-interlacer chip. This is the same chip that was normally reserved for thier higher end ELITE models.
Now the audio!!!
The Pioneer DV-563A universal player plays multi channel high-resolution DVD-Audio and SACD disks.
I repeat, The Pioneer DV-563A universal player plays multi channel high-resolution DVD-Audio and SACD disks.
The sound quality of these two formats alone are well worth the $140.00 price tag on these players. (Yes I know that high end audiophiles like to keep their audio players seperate from their video players, but not everybody has enogh money to do so). I ran this player into multiple recievers from a high end McIntosh to a Sony STRDE-895, and the sound quality stayed clear. Of course the higher end recievers sound a lot better, but that had nothing to do with the DV-563A.
The DV563A can be switched to read the multi layer of a SACD or the 2 channel layer which comes in handy if you do not have a reciever with 6 channel inputs.
It has Digital coax and optical outputs as well to handle the DTS and Dolby Digital aspects of movies.
When it comes to setting up the DV-563A's audio properties you have a lot of control. You can use presets and adjust your speaker size accordingly, or you can adjust the cross over yourself. You can even play MP3 and Photo disks on this thing.
All and all, the Pioneer DV563A is the best bang for the buck. For a price tag around $150.00 I dare you to find a player that has this many options at such a great price.
Write Your Review
Your review should be relevant to this item. An email address is required for verification purposes only and will not be displayed. HTML is not allowed in comments. If you want to discuss the product rather than write your own review, visit the forums.
RSS Feed
Best buy!
by waldis on Sep 1st, 2004 at 6:32 PM:
Very good DVD player. Or you can just use it as standalone CD/SACD/DVD-A player, because music playback is awesome!
DVD playback. I don't have TV cith composite inputs so i can't judge video quality properly. S-Video delivers good picture with no jigged lines or artifacts. Plays most of Blockbuster DVD's without a glitch, BUT few badly scratched discs caused blocks in picture and movie will skip. But i guess that these are media not a player problems.
Music. Very nice and clean sound. Built in 5.1. chanel decoder for SACD and DVD-Audio (and also for DD and DTS) , digital (coax and optical) outputs. There is no variable xover, only large/small speaker selection in menu. SMALL ~ 120Hz, LARGE = FULLRANGE.
Supports MP3 long file names (~32char), no ID3 tags. Two random playback modes (disc and folder).
JPG file viewer is not very fast, there are few sec delay between files.