Comments Pioneer BDP-LX71 Blu-ray Player - Surround Sound System - review

Comments

Please wait while we process your request

Please wait while we retrieve the user's information

Bio

Your bio is currently empty. Now is a great time to fill in your profile.

This profile is private.

This profile is only shared with friends.

This profile is under review.

We were unable to request friendship with this user.

We were unable to request friendship with this user. Are you logged in?

Your friendship request has been sent to this user.

We were unable to terminate friendship with this user.

We were unable to terminate friendship with this user. Are you logged in?

You are no longer friends with this user.

We were unable to ignore this user.

We were unable to ignore this user. Are you logged in?

This user is now ignored.

We were unable to stop ignoring this user.

We were unable to stop ignoring this user. Are you logged in?

This user is no longer ignored.

pluck_user_mp-abuse_too_long_err

Name withheld

John McLean

9:53 AM on 6 November, 2008

This comment is hidden because you have chosen to ignore John McLean. Show Details Hide Details

I can understand that 10/10 for design and performance - it is a stunning piece of kit and evidently produces phenomenal pictures - but I have a couple of questions:

(1) can you genuinely tell the difference between the bitstream audio output of this deck and that of a lesser deck into the same amp? I would have thought each would output an identical bitstream?

(2) How can you reconcile a score of 8/10 for features with the outdated Profile 1.1 and the lack of DTS HD decoding onboard?

(3) How, pray tell, will they get this firmware upgrade out to users when the deck has no ethernet connection? I assume it will be some tedious process of downloading the firmware to a PC and then burning to CDR? How 20th Century.

Score:

Name withheld

Nik

12:23 PM on 6 November, 2008

This comment is hidden because you have chosen to ignore Nik. Show Details Hide Details

I'd be interested in (1) too. As for (2), well DTS HD/MA will come via firmware (for sure - this is Pioneer) and lets be honest, we've yet to see any decent evidence of the benefits of BD Live downloadable content. Personally I'd take all the fine-tuning and other features exclusive to this deck over the rather lacklusture prospect of BD Live content. The reviewer has marked this down by 2 points for the omissions and that seems fair. As for (3), well it might be a little inconvenient to download and burn a CD-R, but didn't take me long to update the firmware on my LX71 recently... its pretty easy and the file sizes are very small. Personally I absolutely love my BDP-LX71, as the reviewer says, it looks stunning (even my wife thinks it looks good and she hates all the rest of my AV kit) and performs even better. The excellent DVD AND CD playback are a big plus (in fact a major factor in my buying decision), as most competitors are distinctly lacklusture in this regard.

Score:

Name withheld

DannyP

1:08 PM on 6 November, 2008

This comment is hidden because you have chosen to ignore DannyP. Show Details Hide Details

Hi John, answers to your questions below:

(1) There's no real difference between the bitstream output from deck to deck, the quality of the sound depends purely on the receiver (and speakers) and how well it handles that raw bitstream. However, in the sound section of my review I was primarily talking about the sound quality when using the analogue outputs, which is largely dependent on the decoding and audio circuitry inside the player itself. I merely mentioned the quality of sound when using the bitstream output at the end to reinforce the fact that it sounds great no matter what method you use.

(2) I docked points for those missing features but I still felt the deck deserved an 8 based on the wealth of features found elsewhere, particularly when it comes to image tweaking. Also, I didn't want to come down too hard on the DTS HD decoding thing given that there's a firmware update on the way, and to say it lacks DTS HD decoding isn't strictly true - it can decode DTS HD MA and DTS HD into hi-res PCM when using the HDMI output, it's just not available from the analogue outs. And I'm playing devil's advocate here, but don't most people have HDMI equipped receivers now anyway?

(3) As Nik said, the DTS firmware upgrade will be available as a download from the Pioneer website, which you'll have to burn onto CD-R. If you don't have those facilities, or if it's too much hassle, then Pioneer will send you a CD-R with the update on it if you get in touch with them.

Score:

Name withheld

John McLean

5:29 PM on 6 November, 2008

This comment is hidden because you have chosen to ignore John McLean. Show Details Hide Details

Thanks for the answers Danny. Does look like a great deck. I'm just astounded that Pio is releasing a flagship Blu-Ray player which doesn't conform to profile 2. I know the benefits aren't huge, but it still seems like a step backwards.

Score:

Name withheld

KyleMitchell

3:52 AM on 7 November, 2008

This comment is hidden because you have chosen to ignore KyleMitchell. Show Details Hide Details

Danny,

You said "it can decode DTS HD MA and DTS HD into hi-res PCM when using the HDMI output". I don't believe this is true, it can bitstream DTS-HD MA, but it cannot internally decode it and send it out as PCM. It will not have that ability until the DTS HD firmware update is released.

John,

There are many who do not wish to have a 2.0 profile player (myself included). I don't want my viewing habits recorded for the purpose of recieving targeted advertising and spam. If I want to download extra content, I'll do it on my computer. When I want to watch a blu-ray movie, I want to watch the movie...not download a bunch of crap.

Score:

Name withheld

niftynigel

1:33 PM on 10 November, 2008

This comment is hidden because you have chosen to ignore niftynigel. Show Details Hide Details

According to the manual (Page 50) (I haven't got the player, but downloaded the excellent manual nonetheless), DTS-HD Master Audio and High Res are output as PCM through the analogue audio connections.

As PCM is an excellent codec, then I think you should not have been so harsh, especially as there will be a firmware update to give full DTS HD functionality!

I really can't see what people are getting hot and bothered about the lack of Profile 2 functionality. Sure, it might be a nice feature to have, in the future, but give me all the extras on the disc(s) anyday!

The other issue about Profile 2 is that one day, the studios will charge for the extra downloaded content and functionality. They're not stupid. We should all be wary of this potential direction! Profile 2 won't appear to be such a good idea then, will it?

All the great extras we now take for granted, could start to migrate to Profile 2 / internet only status!

I know some HD DVD owners waxed lyrical about it's internet accessability from day one, but really how much time did people really spend using this feature? They cited this as being HD DVDs trump card and it's reason for being better than Blu-ray! How misguided was that, given HD DVDs quite obvious technical limitations!

I make it that there are about 23 current Blu-ray players out there, eight of which have full Profile 2 functionality. Both Sony and Panasonic players conform to this. Also, each manufacturer has one machine that decodes and outputs DTS-HD as PCM via analogue outputs for those of us with slightly older AV amplifiers/receivers!

Score:

Name withheld

PeterAllen

12:23 PM on 11 November, 2008

This comment is hidden because you have chosen to ignore PeterAllen. Show Details Hide Details

niftynigel,

I agree with all you say, but your first statement is only half right! Page 50 of the manual says that when the source is DTS-HD HR or DTS-HD MA, then the analogue output is DTS Digital Surround (ie the DVD variety) converted to 5.1ch PCM. As well as being only core DTS quality, also missing are the two surround-rear channels that DTS-HD is capable of.

This is what the promised Jan/Feb firmware upgrade will presumably fix.

What surprises me in perusing the manual is that I have yet to find any reference to delay compensation adjustments for surround channels at different distances to the listener than the primary front speakers. Both the Panasonic and Sony counterparts to this machine have distance compensation. I have this problem with my 2002 SACD player, and it's most annoying (but was unavoidable at the time). I WANT the Pioneer to be right for me due to its sound, video and build quality (& don't care one whit about network connection), but this factor, if true, is a strike against it.

Also, I'm a legacy user on two counts. All the money I could afford was spent on TV and AV amp in 2002, and it's too early to replace them yet. So I need analogue video (1080i component) as well as 7.1ch analogue audio in a blu-ray player (+ HDMI 1.3 for the future, no problems there). Page 25 is therefore disappointing. On the 1080i output setting for component video, neither NTSC or PAL DVDs are upconverted, only de-interlaced. Compare the Sony, whose output is 1080i for DVDs and BDs, unless the contents are "protected".

Well, I've never heard of protected content on DVDs that would prevent upscaling; indeed upscaling is common on DVD players. As for blu-ray, from what I've read in forums (fora?) so far, only a handful of BDs have had the ICT flag enabled, which would force the BD component output to 480p. (As if pirates would "play" analogue video at reduced quality to make a copy rather than find a way to digitally rip the contents! - another stupid studio "shot in the foot" idea and annoyance for real users, like region coding, IMO. But I digress).

Anyway, I see that as two strikes against the Pioneer, unless someone can show me otherwise. I'm a complete newbie to blu-ray - have never had a player - and am trying to learn fast so as to not make an expensive mistake. I welcome any enlightenment on these issues!

Score:

Name withheld

Ian6

1:57 PM on 29 November, 2008

This comment is hidden because you have chosen to ignore Ian6. Show Details Hide Details

Danny/ All, I am considering buying the BDP-LX71 or the panasonic dmp bd-55 which is a little less expensive. Ultimately I am looking for best video and audio quality. Any thoughts?? tks

Score:

Please wait while we file your abuse report.

We're sorry. We were unable to report abuse at this time.

We limit the number of reactions an individual user can submit over a given period for quality reasons. You have currently reached that limit. Please try resubmitting your abuse report again later.

Comment is too long. Enter 500 characters or less.

Type Comment
(optional)

Please wait while we send the email.

You may send this to 5 e-mail addresses. Please separate each address with a space.

We're sorry, but the item you are sending has been removed from the site.

We're sorry. We were unable to send the email at this time.

Please specify a recipient.

You can only send messages to 5 addresses at a time.

The address "" is not valid.

Subject

Please specify a subject.

Comment
(optional) Send Cancel

Score
vote upvotes up
vote downvotes down

More Photos

If you're serious about movies and want the very best Blu-ray performance, then look no further than the BDP-LX71. Its image quality is the best we've seen so far, beating even the best decks from Panasonic and Sony and leaving you in no doubt as to where that extra money has gone. It's also a dab hand with DVDs, which is good news if you have a big collection of standard-def discs that you don't want to replace. What's more, its build quality is immaculate, it looks gorgeous and its advanced picture adjustments make it a videophile's dream deck. But don't let its many positives make you lose sight of the fact that its feature set is far from perfect - the Profile 1.1 spec (with no chance of upgrading) means it will never let you enjoy the complete Blu-ray experience, and the lack of decoded DTS HD Master Audio from the analogue outputs - however limited its appeal may be - should have been included from the box at this sort of price.

Overall

9/10

Write your own review

Reviewed by Danny Phillips

06 November 2008

Price as reviewed

£586.99

Comments on Pioneer BDP-LX71 Blu-ray Player

Overall

Price as reviewed

Comments

Name withheld

John McLean

Name withheld

Nik

Name withheld

DannyP

Name withheld

John McLean

Name withheld

KyleMitchell

Name withheld

niftynigel

Name withheld

PeterAllen

Name withheld

Ian6

Awards

Scores in detail

Price as reviewed

Manufacturer

Three of the best Surround Sound Systems Over £450

Marantz SR7005 AV receiver

Philips MCI8080

Tannoy Definition

Explore TrustedReviews

Site Sections

Round-ups

Tools and Social

More Information

Comments on Pioneer BDP-LX71 Blu-ray Player

Overall

Price as reviewed

Comments

Comments

Name withheld

Name withheld

Name withheld

Name withheld

Name withheld

Name withheld

Name withheld

Name withheld

Awards

Scores in detail

Price as reviewed

Manufacturer

Surround Sound System round-ups

TrustedReviews newsletter

Three of the best Surround Sound Systems Over £450