Universal DVD Players


The Universal DVD player today may be the one-stop playback device of the near future.

For many fans of high-resolution audio, the future is now. A universal DVD player can play anything pressed onto disc - CD, DVD-video, DVD-Audio, SACD, DVDR, DVDRW, CDR, CDRW, MP3. Some even read image formats with a rudimentary slideshow.

The most sought-after benefit of the universal DVD player is the ability to play both DVD-Audio and SACD. The competing high resolution multi-channel formats have long been found only on separate players.
Universal DVD players started appearing a few years ago and were priced for a niche market. By 2003, some had actually dipped to around $500, but Pioneer changed the rules with its DV-563, first universal DVD player that retails under $200. Reviews for the DV-563 are very good, it's a highly regarded DVD player for both audio and video quality, some say it out performs Pioneer's own Elite line. The benchmark has been set by Pioneer, so expect more low-cost universal DVD players soon.

Budget Universal DVD players are criticized for shortchanging listeners on SACD performance, since SACD can be "down-sampled. That's not to say SACD sounds bad on players such as the DV-563, it will just sound more like DVD-Audio (sampled in PCM) and Sony's unique DSD sampling process will be lost.

To deliver true SACD requires a separate processing stage, which is expensive to make. The Marantz DV8400 is one such Universal DVD player. This highly acclaimed Universal DVD player actually has a dedicated circuit board with its own power supply for SACD, so nothing is down-converted.

Onkyo has a new model, the DV-SP1000. This is another Universal DVD player that uses dedicated SACD circuitry and is the first to feature an HDMI output. Either of these fine universal DVD players will set you back $1,000.