Hi

Thought I'd let you all know the experiences I have had with the new DVD5. Current player is a Pioneer 737.

As the subject says, I managed to get my hands on a DVD5 for a few days a few weeks ago

First off, it's got a good weight to it, secondly, it certainly fits in with all the 5 series stuff.

Onto the nitty gritty, the power on cycle is certainly nifty, nice naim logo as it all turns itself on.

Inserting a disc is on a tray as has been said, the front cover of the tray folds down and the tray then slides out. The transport is the same as Arcam use I believe, along with a lot of other companies. The tray motor is a little on the noisy side but nothing major. The tray is a bit on the flimsy side, but again due to limitations on dvd transports there's not alot naim could do without designing and building their own transport at major cost.

The player menus are uncluttered and all well laid out, every function I tried had a little help text that can be brought up as well, all very useful. The menus also fade in and fade out which is cool.

Onto the picture - used a few different DVDs, the first that came to mind was the second Mummy film for lots of cgi, explosions, gunshots and lots of changes in lighting. The pictures were pin sharp, pausing on pyrotechnics and swords showed images that were amazingly detailed with no jagged lines whatsoever. It did show up a lot of bad editing and cgi on the film which was not entirely unexpected. Back to my original DVD player showed jagged lines and mosaic effects on the screen everywhere, bleurgh!

Used a number of scenes out of the reconditioned Star Wars Episode IV. C3P0 showed reflections in his casework and amazing details within the dinks around his head and torso. Colouring of the gold was amazingly detailed. Frame updates throughout the film were amazingly quick with no picture break during very fast moving scenes. The final battle scene on the death star is something to behold, shockingly good considering how old the original film is and the amount of work that has been put into the restoration of the film.

This leads us onto the sound - absolutely stunning. The detail and clarity and handling of the sounds round 5.1 is awe inspiring. Noise coming straight at your sounds like is really is coming across the room and out the back, some choice expletives were used during some scenes, enough to make you want to duck!

Onto the downsides, there are still some bugs in the software of which a number have been fixed. The only additional one I came across was after leaving the Star Wars disc in overnight, I couldn't get the unit to come out of powersave, did get the sounds finally but no picturem, this required a power cycle to resolve.

There are some more upsides, the picture in picture zoom is cool, the remote is very good and would replace the Av2 & pre-amp/cd remotes but there is no tuner option on it though not having a tuner, this wouldn't affect me. There is also a 5 disc memory which is automatic, take a film out midway, play something else and put the first disc back in and it automatically starts from the point it left off at.

Now comes the most interesting part, would I buy one?

Now, I did have the option of buying one in the shop there and then and could have walked out straight away with one under my arm though it would have had to be set up properly to match everything I've got.

Would I buy one? Without a doubt! Would I buy one right now? If I had no DVD player then that is a resounding yes. But, I do have a DVD player which is adequate for my needs at this time. For the amount of available free time I have at the moment, it is not worth my while replacing my current player though it is aging, if it died tomorrow, I would put an order straight in. With my limited leisure time at the moment, music has more immediacy than a film so I would rather build that side up then come back to the DVD side.

Oh, I did play a bad disc, that being Red Dwarf which has damn bad encoding off the back of a crap master. The DVD5 made a good job of a terrible encoding, much better than my current player managed it.

Hope this has been a useful overview to you all.

Regards,

Steve.

What screen or display wer you using?


I'd be interested in the opinion of someone who actually tried it on a projector with at least PAL if not HD resolution and at least 2m width. On an average TV or even only a Pasma/LCD, there is hardly any difference to be seen between most DVDPs.

Alex
We saw the DVD5 in operation plugged in to a £3k projector this week at Audience in Bath[picture only as the guys hadn't yet set up the sound system].It was projected onto an 8' wide screen.Can't remember the name of the projector, but suffice to say the picture was just superb.We saw a bit of Monsters Inc. and LOTR 1,opening scene.I think NAIM have done for visual imagery what they've done for sound.This is unfortunate, because it looks as if it is the DVD5 or nothing.

Simon

quote:

---

Originally posted by Simon Douglass:
This is unfortunate, because it looks as if it is the DVD5 or nothing.

---

Not quite sure what you mean here, Simon.

Could you elaborate, please?

TIA.

JR

JR
We would like to get a projector at some time in the near future.Having seen how a DVD5 handles pictures, it would seem likely that we will be dissatisfied with anything less than a DVD5.I may be wrong, but the chaps at Audience have yet to see anything as good on another DVD player at any price.

Sorry for the obtuse comment on my last post.

Simon
[current DVD player is a Pioneer which is ok with our 28" CRT]

Simon,

Thanks for the clarification. FWIW I've seen the DVD5 in action at two separate shows and at a shop demo and IMHO in every case the sound as well as the picture was incredible.

CRT TVs still hold up pretty well nowadays in the face of the onslaught of LCD and Plasma so assuming you decided to go ahead and order a DVD5 your TV will still do it 'justice' temporarily...until you've saved up again for a projector!

Good luck!

Cheers,

JR

When I saw it in November at my local dealer he was using a Knoll projector (InFocus) ... I believe it was the CA$10K model (HD282). As for electronics ... it was in an all Naim system.

The details and colors were amazing. I saw long portions of "Master & Commander" and "Nora Jones: LIve in New Orleans".

The only artifact that I noticed was a little ghosting of the rigging on the ship.

I am looking forward to seeing and hearing the DVD5 with their top of the line home theatre system ... the Barco CineVERSUM 80 + Master (CA$30,000), Classé Delta amp and processor with B&W 802 speakers. They should be getting a unit in the next couple of days.

If I do purchase the DVD5, my home viewing will be done on a much less expensive device ... Sony KV36XBR400.

It will be interesting to see how the DVD5 stacks up to the CA$12.000 Classé CDP-300 (due for release in the first quarter of 2005).

Bob

[This message was edited by HiDef Bob on Fri 31 December 2004 at 19:20.]

[This message was edited by HiDef Bob on Fri 31 December 2004 at 19:22.]

quote:

---

suffice to say the picture was just superb.We saw a bit of Monsters Inc. and LOTR 1,opening scene

---

Simon, As you probably know, some clips will look great on any system. Monsters Inc, like all animated films, doesn't have a challenging enough colour palette in the way real images do and therefore always comes across well but doesn't show much differentiation between systems. Was the scene from LOTR the 'forging of the rings/battle with Sauron' scene or the introduction to the Shire ? The Shire scene is nice and bright and full of saturated colours and looks eye-popping on whatever it is played on.

What we need is something a bit more challenging. I'd love to see 'Collateral' (Tom Cruise/Jamie Foxx/dir. Michael Mann) on that setup. This is a recent movie that was shot using ground breaking HD video camera work in order to push the boundaries of low light-level film making beyond what has previously been achieved with film. There is a great article about the film production here: Building Collateral

The DVD is full of delicate night-time detail and appears punishingly demanding of the replay system. Take a look around the 'net at the various reviews for the DVD. Picture quality ratings are all over the place, ranging from 'grainy rubbish' to 'reference quality'.

I've been doing some back-to-back comparisons between my DLP projector (NEC HT1100) and a 42" Panasonic plasma (42PW7B) using this DVd (and one or two others). The plasma handles these prolonged dark scenes really well, maintaining a smooth, solid, almost glossy image with plenty of detail and colour. Whereas the projected image looks rather flat and noisy. It's prompted me to experiment with the image size from the projector to try and counteract the noise and desaturation effect noticed in these low ambient light scenes. Using the zoom, I've reduced the image down to the smallest I can make it from the projector's fixed position. The image is now down to about 60" across which works out at a viewing distance to screen width ratio of approx 2:1 - previously it was about 1.6:1. This improves things tremdously by helping to put some of the saturation and gloss back into the colours and gives a good compromise between the 'cinematic' effect of a projected image and the punch and clarity of the plasma. I'm also pleased with the postive effect this has had on a few other DVDs I've tried so I think I'll leave it like this awhile before I permanently re-mask the screen.

As for the movie itself - Starts off really well and comes over as a highly stylish thriller but a few bizarre plot lines begin to intrude and the final 15/20 minutes or so let the film down badly. Overall: average, but could have been much much better if it had followed through on its initial promise.

Allan

quote:

---

Originally posted by Alex B.:
What screen or display wer you using?


I'd be interested in the opinion of someone who actually tried it on a projector with at least PAL if not HD resolution and at least 2m width. On an average TV or even only a Pasma/LCD, there is hardly any difference to be seen between most DVDPs.

---

Alex, I'm using a Hitachi Plasma currently, it's a 42PD3000 I think about 16 months old. Hope that helps,

Steve.

I got this e-mail from my dealer today ...

"Your DVD-5 with multi channel audio cards was slated to leave Montreal today. So I should have it sometime next week."

My problem now is to pay for it!

Bob

Lucky man !

Still waiting for a demo here in France. My dealer told me he should have a DVD5 by mid january.

I've got mine yesterday
I mean the store one, a production unit, my personal one will have to wait... customers first.
Integration with the AV2 is so cool. Now I have a full Naim demo theater (except the Runco projectors), can't wait to add the sub with the SL2 (current NBL will come back home) .
I still use the Prodac Pro, next Naim shipment for the DC1.

Emmanuel
Euphonie

All opinions are my own, and reflect those of the organisation i work for, even if not stipulated.

[This message was edited by Manu on Fri 07 January 2005 at 5:45.]

Allan Probin

Allan for info I borrowed a DVD5 over the weekend - and will probably commit to one by the end of the week.

I spent the majority of the time watching problem disks including BBC Pride & Predjudice and High Society. These display lots of artifacts on my Arcam DV88, which has been upgraded using the component output - Silicon Graphics.

I was very impressed. It managed to resolve lots of detail that is missing with the Arcam.

I echoe the comments above re: sound quality and general picture quality.

Martin

I'd be interested to know if anyone who has seen the DVD5 has compared it to a Pioneer 868avi (as it is known in the UK, or 59avi in the US and 969avi here in Australia), Denon 3910 or Onkyo SP1000. These players seem to be regarded as the benchmark for upscaling DVD players with HDMI outputs, and cost about a third the price of the DVD5. I'm sure the DVD5 compares favourably to cheap DVD players, but I am sceptical that its picture quality is that much better than something like the Pioneer, Denon or Onkyo (and indeed may be a little worse than the Pioneer, since the Faroudja chip used by the DVD5 apparently has some glitches). With HD DVD about a year away (realistically, two years), it is hard to justify the extra cost of the DVD5 unless it really is that much better.

Ross

I haven't seen the DVD players that you mention,
but I have seen the similarly priced and highly rated (Perfect Vision) Arcam FMJ27A. My impression is that the Naim DVD5 has the superior PQ ... better details. Closer to HD quality.

And quoting from http://www.playhaus.co.uk/naimdvd5playhaus.html ..."the picture quality is truly amazing with a lack of noise and movement artifacts, exceptionally natural colour and a level of resolution that trouces our previous reference point, the more expensive Lexicon RT-10."

Bob

[This message was edited by HiDef Bob on Fri 14 January 2005 at 0:05.]

[This message was edited by HiDef Bob on Fri 14 January 2005 at 0:06.]