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I have commercial VHS tapes that are better video quality than many DVDs and wonder if some are produced on the assumption that the buying public is uncritical (probably true).Most of the latest movies are fine but I'm more interested in DVDs of musical content - operas, ballets etc and some of these are disgraceful video quality. There are exceptions like Cecilia Bartolis Vivaldi concert, which prove it CAN be done, but most are mediocre.
Maybe a lot are mostly rehashings of what was previously released on inferior VHS tape with no effort to improve quality. However there are newer releases like the Decca Houston production of Rossini's "La Cerentola" and the EMI released in 2002 Covent Garden conert by Angela Gheorghiu (both NTSC format) which are not sharp. I imported these from the UK at high expense (and was irritated to find them NTSC & not PAL) so was not pleased with the video quality. Artistically and sonically they are fine but the carelessness of video production bugs me as unecessary in what should be quality releases.
Another rant over.
John
Peace at AA
Follow Ups:
Still enjoying watching LDs on mine.
Soundlabs Group in Melbourne & Sydney do digital mods and have lifted the sound on several players here. I sent them the HLD-X9 but they could not decipher the circuit without a diagram to know what to do best. They now have the circuit and will fit in an Audiocom superclock. Not that the audio is bad, just it could be better. But the picture is, as you say, superb, a lot better than on many DVDs.Did you ever track down a translation of the owners manual?
John
Peace at AA
Hi,
I just had my Rotel RCD-1070 & DPA Enlightment DAC mod with the superclock II & better quality diodes by Leon of Soundlabs (Leon has been very helpful and knowledgeable). To say I 'm delighted with the sonic improvements is an understatement and it's only been the 3rd day with the mods. BTW the Black Gates caps are already on order from the US........
I guess I have caught the "bug" to upgrade my Pioneer DV-533k DVD player with the clock as well (LC Audio clock this time). Leon has mentioned that some of his customers who had this done to their DVD players not only notice the sonic improvement but the picture quality has improved as well!!! Just wondering what your experiences are, if any?
Thanks.
Has anyone had to have their HLD-X9 repaired yet? I finally purchased one that was in fantastic cosmetic condition. Unfortunately, it did not work when I received it, it may have been damaged during shipping from China to California. Anyway, the unit powered up using the 110v-to-100v converter but all it would do is give me a "U1" error message. The player has been with a Pioneer authorized repair facility for three weeks because Pioneer won't reply with pricing, or availability, for the laser pickup. If anyone has any constructive suggestions I'll love to hear them. I've waited and waited to finally buy the ultimate laserdisc player and now I can't even use it! POO!
This is just a follow up to my original post. I took it upon myself to contact Pioneer about ordering a laser pickup for the HLD-X9 (the NEW repair technician says that it isn't the problem anyway). I was able to purchase the item and it was at my door the next day. Unfortunately, the ORIGINAL repair techician made more money going on house calls so he wasn't working on my player at all, he just used the excuse that Pioneer wasn't responding to him, which was not true. The only reason that I wanted to post this is to note that Pioneer was VERY responsive and I am very impressed with their customer service!!! I have this whole issue resolved so I really consider the topic closed.
They put an LC Audio clock in the Meridian 800 and that did improve the audio but I did not notice any video improvement. As my previous ranting post says, the biggest video problem experienced here is poor software, or poorer than it should be.I'm VERY impressed with the work that Soundlabs Group do and am an enthusiastic supporter of their mods. My previous feeling about mods were that if the manufacturer could improve the product, they would have done so meaning mods were a waste of dollars. No more, I'm converted - I've heard the light!!!!
John
Peace at AA
Three different times I tried to get the owners manual translated but for one reason or another I could not. By the way, if you have not done so by now you might want to order the service manual for the HLD-X9 player from Pioneer. I ordered one but it is unfortunately on backorder. Stacey Spears, I believe, had a SDI output added to his LD player. I bet that is a pretty impressive upgrade to the HLD-X9 player.Still having issues with smearing?
Hi MichaelNo more problems thanks. It was caused by an incorrect setting on the video processor feeding the projector and was nothing to do with the player. I guess it took 2 years to sort out the multitude of video setting possible with this Barco VSE40-808s projector combo.
As I changed over from composite to s-video the 5 inputs (2 composite, 2 s-video & a component) on the Barco VSE40 became inadequate so I fitted an 8 pole s-video switching card to the Meridian 860. 5 of these are used (4 VCRs + a PAL LD player) but I left the HLD-X9 connected direct to the VSE40.
Using XP TDK tape and JVC s-video recorders (one with a hard drive recording capacity) I'm getting film quality on time shifted satellite broadcasts of good material. The set up here really quickly shows up deficiencies in broadcast video quality. I guess HDTV is better than the best I'm getting at present but I doubt if it will be the quantum jump it should be judging on the variable video quality of present broadcasts.
I can understand why s-VHS has never had wide appeal. TDK EHG tape on a good recorder can yield fine recording that is not much poorer than s-VHS on most broadcast material. I can detect the difference when it is pumped up onto a 8 ft wide screen but the difference on most TVs would be difficult to see. So why pay more for a recoder and for tape if you cannot see any difference? It is surprising the s-VHS recorders were produced for as long as they were.
John
Peace at AA
% of people with expensive audio/video rigs - maybe 10
% of *those* who really care about audio/video quality (versus those making a fashion statement or pursuing status) - maybe 30In the U.S., that would take you from approx. 100,000,000 households to 10,000,000 to 3,000,000 -- certainly not a large enough market to warrant the extra time and expense of actually paying attention to quality.
% of *those* who really care about audio/video quality (versus those making a fashion statement or pursuing status) - maybe 30This is flawed logic, IMO. People do care about quality, be it video or audio, granted that the improvement is noticable such as DVD vs VHS quality. It is true that people are generally happy with what they have and not question the quality. But once they have had the better choice, it's usually hard to go back.
One shouldn't blame the nameless "joe-sixpack"'s for his or her incompetence to produce a more than average quality product.
Two rejoinders:1) If "average Joe Sixpack" really cared about quality, GM would be out of business, Budweiser wouldn't be the best-selling beer, and McDonald's would be in bankruptcy. Nor would Bose and those execrable "home-theater-in-a-box" systems be flying off the shelves from Best Buy, Circuit City, et. al. Or Wal-Mart be able to foist tens of billions of dollars of Chinese-made junk off on blindly acquisitive consumers.
2) Much as with the conversion from LPs to CDs, consumers' adoption of DVDs is as much for the convenience and durability of the medium as anything else. Across America, many, many DVD players are outputting signal through an RF converter to a standard (and probably older) direct view TV and being listened to on a TV's speakers. Not exactly a quantum leap in quality from VCRs and cable boxes.
As for your statement, "One shouldn't blame the nameless 'joe-sixpack's' for his or her incompetence to produce a more than average quality product," I have no idea what the hell you're talking about. Are you referring to manufacturing (0% of which is done in the U.S.) or the consumer's ability to build a "more than average" home theater system given their lack of knowledge on the subject? (Which, of course, goes back to my point that perhaps 3-5%, and certainly not more than 10%, of American households boast what could be described as an "above average" audiovisual system capable of displaying the poor audio and/or visual quality to which John C. refers?)
I heartily agree... the average consumer (at least from my American standpoint) is told that DVD looks so much better, so therefore they believe that it is better. Honestly, DVD doesn't look much better on most TVs than a quality VHS player, but people don't want to believe that. Of course DVD has the potential to look far better, but most people don't want to make the small effort it takes to do this.Of course a lot of people still confuse widescreen TVs with HDTV, not realizing that they are two different animals. Then there are those who insist upon 1920x1080 to reproduce a format that is encoded in 720x480. Need I mention what brand of speakers they insist upon using?
Of course I'm using a couple of rash generalizations, but unfortunately they're not far off the mark. The average consumer is not willing to research past the marketing that's thrown at them. They rely upon advertisements as information and salespeople as experts. They're being told "this is GOOD" and they just nod their heads. Sure, a few realize that it's not and go in search of something more... and websites where they can rant about this crap. Some are a little smarter and realize that there are far more important things than how great their AV system can look and sound... and promptly finds friends who aren't as smart so they can come over and hang out.
You can't blame people for their ignorance, but you can blame them for their lack of initiative. If you get past age 13 in this day and age and can't figure out that you're being sold something 23 1/2 hours out of every day, something is wrong. It just bugs me when people are so obviously sold on something and then they have to try the same sales pitch on others to prove that their purchase was the right one.
I have to disagree with one statement you made:"Honestly, DVD doesn't look much better on most TVs than a quality VHS player."
My wife, 2-year-old (at the time) daughter and I visited my mom last Thanksgiving. We brought movies, including Shrek, "just in case," and when we arrived my brother had thoughtfully brought a VHS copy of Shrek over.
Now, my mom's VCR isn't state of the art, but as a housewarming gift we bought her an $80 DVD player from Target so I think the comparison is apropos. I fast-forwarded both DVD and VHS versions of Shrek to a gorgeous outdoor scene showing a lot of detail. Even my 60+ year old mom, no video- or audiophile she, was amazed by the terrific and easily noticeable improvement in color saturation and detail of the DVD over the VHS.
BTW, her TV is a nice 32" Panasonic, the same model I have for my family room except hers is one model higher so it has two-tuner PIP.
However, picture quality aside, I still think people like DVDs for their convenience -- small, light, no need to rewind -- and comfort level with CDs ...
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