An interesting quote from an Austrailian on DTV Forum, who just met with a couple of NAD engineers last week;

"MarkHJul 30 2007, 05:48 PM
I should also add that I asked them about HD-DVD and BR - they were understandably coy but hinted at a universal machine that would appear sooner than a lot of the competition."

Here's the thread;

http://www.dtvforum.info/lofiversion/index.php/t51898.html

Another quote from Mark H;

"MarkH Jul 31 2007, 12:03 PM QUOTE(ripclaw @ Jul 30 2007, 09:32 PM)

Mark, can you please tell us more about this universal player? I for one am tired of this HD-DVD vs. Blu-Ray battle. If they do have a universal player in development, I wonder if it's only in the Classic range or is there one for the Master series as well?

Unfortunately this is the most vague piece of info from the conference. I merely asked them did they have a preference. They seemed to skirt around the question a little, but understandably so. They did say that they do have a tendency to watch the market before jumping, but in this case they would surprise people by releasing a universal player sooner than a lot of other brands. But no time frame was given, or price. Its merely at the thought phase right now! "

If this guy is accurate, I wonder long it takes from thought phase to a retail shelf? I think what's interesting here is that here's another company thinking about dual-format. Denon hinted at it also

Denon is big in universal SACD/DVD-A/DVD/CD machines, so personally, I think it makes sense for them to follow on with HD DVD and BD.

I would buy a dual format player from either Denon, Marantz or NAD, provided the player was well made and could output the native 1080p24 video and either decode DTS-HD-MA / Dolby TrueHD. 'Nuff said.

I would buy a dual format player from either Denon, Marantz or NAD, provided the player was well made and could output the native 1080p24 video and either decode DTS-HD-MA / Dolby TrueHD. 'Nuff said.

I second that one. I have both now but would buy a quality dual player in a heart beat.

Nate

I would buy a dual format player from either Denon, Marantz or NAD, provided the player was well made and could output the native 1080p24 video and either decode DTS-HD-MA / Dolby TrueHD. 'Nuff said.

Why wait? the LG does all that now ! Love it !!!!!


Athanasios

Why wait? the LG does all that now ! Love it !!!!!


Athanasios


no thank you.

I want full features on both (including 24p for both)

Looks like Denon is going for BD only.
NAD will probably be quite expensive, and as SQ will preferably be in the digital domain with processing in the receiver, and NAD's PQ will probably be no better than Sony c.s., I suppose buying a new Samsung 2400 plus a HDDVD machine will be much less expensive.
Marantz/Denon (same company now) use Pioneer video boards anyway.
You yanks are lucky though, we here in Europe only see BS prices and very little different models!
Just my 2 eurocents!

So not happy with Denon that is what I was waiting on. Had a 2900 and loved the sound quality and picture quality. So they were my first choice for an all in one player.

Nate

Marantz/Denon (same company now) use Pioneer video boards anyway.

Um, no. The Marantz 9600 is quite a different beast than any Denon player out there, and Denon and Pioneer most certainly don't use the same boards. Just go look at how individual players perform over at Secrets.

NAD will probably be quite expensive, and as SQ will preferably be in the digital domain with processing in the receiver, and NAD's PQ will probably be no better than Sony c.s.,

With respect to the sound quality, the NAD player will be doing the decoding of the sound formats and passing it along as LPCM to your receiver / pre-pro. All HD-DVD discs are currently authored in Advanced Mode and not Basic. What this means essentially, is that the sountrack must be decoded first before being converted to LPCM. The only way that this is possible is via the player. So the receiver will not be processing the soundtrack. The player will be doing that.

Have a look at this excellent article by Joshua Zyber:

High-Def FAQ: Is HDMI 1.3 Really Necessary? (http://www.highdefdigest.com/news/show/Joshua_Zyber/High-Def_FAQ/High-Def_FAQ:_Is_HDMI_1.3_Really_Necessary/853)

A NAD universal player? I don't care what it costs, sign me up!

Denon really disappointed me when they went Blu-Ray only. I was seriously considering dropping the cash for a Denon universal player, knowing it might come in at 2 grand, but knowing I'd have a quality player I could use for year after year and get great results. Not now.

Um, no. The Marantz 9600 is quite a different beast than any Denon player out there, and Denon and Pioneer most certainly don't use the same boards. Just go look at how individual players perform over at Secrets.

The video boards of the Pioneer DV989 and the Marantz DV9600 are almost identical (had both at the same time).
Pioneer has been known to sell video boards and more to different brands for years.
Not surprising the PQ is quite the same.
Analog SQ is a different story, with Pio proved not-very-good in all respects and M much better- although the sound was still a bit fat in the high bass / low mids- sort of a Marantz trademark but getting less so on every new generation.
Still, of the affordable SD players SACD sounded best on the Marantz.
Redbook cd was quite mediocre (flat, uninvolving) on the Pio and tolerable on the M.
Best to use i-link to the receiver and process there.
As to reviews: I tend to be very critical and learned the craft of reading between the lines... ;)
Right now I use a Linn Unidisk 1.1, musical nirvana but a very different price!

With respect to the sound quality, the NAD player will be doing the decoding of the sound formats and passing it along as LPCM to your receiver / pre-pro. All HD-DVD discs are currently authored in Advanced Mode and not Basic. What this means essentially, is that the sountrack must be decoded first before being converted to LPCM. The only way that this is possible is via the player. So the receiver will not be processing the soundtrack. The player will be doing that.

Have a look at this excellent article by Joshua Zyber:

High-Def FAQ: Is HDMI 1.3 Really Necessary? (http://www.highdefdigest.com/news/show/Joshua_Zyber/High-Def_FAQ/High-Def_FAQ:_Is_HDMI_1.3_Really_Necessary/853)

I believe DTS-MA and its Dolby counterpart can be streamed unconverted over hdmi 1.3a to a suitable receiver,like one of the Onkyo's.
Correct me if I'm wrong...it's a confusing new HD world out there! :rolleyes:
BTW- Thanks pointing to this nice article!

The video boards of the Pioneer DV989 and the Marantz DV9600 are almost identical (had both at the same time).
Pioneer has been known to sell video boards and more to different brands for years.
Not surprising the PQ is quite the same.
Analog SQ is a different story, with Pio proved not-very-good in all respects and M much better- although the sound was still a bit fat in the high bass / low mids- sort of a Marantz trademark but getting less so on every new generation.
Still, of the affordable SD players SACD sounded best on the Marantz.
Redbook cd was quite mediocre (flat, uninvolving) on the Pio and tolerable on the M.
Best to use i-link to the receiver and process there.
As to reviews: I tend to be very critical and learned the craft of reading between the lines... ;)
Right now I use a Linn Unidisk 1.1, musical nirvana but a very different price!

I'm surprised you saw such similar video output between the Marantz and Pioneer. They share very similar MPEG decoding boards but deinterlacing and scaling is very different.

I hope its true and it doesn't cost a million dollars. NAD is a brand I would be proud to have in my rack.

There are more differences than similarities with the 9600 and Pio players.

a) The menu structure is completely different.
b) The Pio does remaining track time and remaining total time, the Marantz doesn't. (I compared the 9600 and 59AVi, and I couldn't live with the 9600 because of this.)
c) The layer change delay for the Marantz is a fair amount better than the Pio too.

Could be true, because I always use interlaced out to my scaler VP30.

This is somewhat surprising: NAD was a rather late comer to high resolution audio so I'm not holding my breath on this quote.

I suppose the putative player would be made in China?

They are also going to be one of the 1st manufacturers with an HDMI 1.3 pre/pro. Something's changing over there, and it's a good thing. :)

They are also going to be one of the 1st manufacturers with an HDMI 1.3 pre/pro. Something's changing over there, and it's a good thing. :)

The Integra 9.8 beat them to the punch with 1.3a.

They are also going to be one of the 1st manufacturers with an HDMI 1.3 pre/pro.

:)

This thread has gotten no where fast.

Has there been any further details confirming this?

:)

Yeah, don't even know why I posted that. :confused:

Now for the ten dollar argument; there can only be one first so how can they be one of? :D
They could be one of the first losers I suppose.. :p

No news is good news? :o

No news is good news? :o
"No news" is boring news! :(

One of us could always try emailing NAD. ;) I'd certainly be interested in something from them ...