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Official Pioneer Elite BDP-05FD & BDP-51FD Owners Thread / Vs 1.32 DTS-HD MA

4M views 31K replies 2K participants last post by  Mustangjeff 
#1 ·
#20,541 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by Beemer533 /forum/post/16609551


Just curious, what are you using the deadening material for?


Agree on the power power cord; I can't stand it when I can't just grab an IEC cord out of my bin and plug it in...


Jeff is correct - - - to reduce resonance which also reduces the noise floor. Vibrations can be transmitted to and through the components and mechanicals of the system, so removing or dampening these lowers the noise floor.


I typically take out all of the circuit boards and line the the Chassis with a material called VB-2 which is a self adhesive, mineral loaded vinyl. It does not make a night and day difference, but once I have the chassis open, it does not take me too long to do. After all, better video and audio is usually measured in a number of small adjustments and not a single silver bullet! I wouldn't open up the chassis just to do this (void warranty
), but since I'm opening it for another reason, I'll do this also.
 
#20,545 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by Kage /forum/post/16610171


Pioneer Electronics if you are reading this, please bring out a firmware to speed up the performance on the 51FD/05FD/320/23FD.

it is very unlikely because of hardware limitations. if it was software it was done long time ago, pioneer has to come up with new architecture in order to bring a fast player, the reason for 320 lower prices is because of similarity with 51/05.


there are faster players out there, according to Home theater Magazine latest issue they mentioned Panny BD60 top pick. Pioneer audio and video performance comes at cost of slow speed.
 
#20,547 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by Kage /forum/post/16610171


Pioneer Electronics if you are reading this, please bring out a firmware to speed up the performance on the 51FD/05FD/320/23FD.

According to Robert the speed optimization is coming by the end of summer. Chris gave me his # and I am calling him this week about the supposed performance overhaul from Feb. Widescreen Review had the BDP-09FD with 2.46 and they rated the menu navigation as sluggish and we know the load times are beyond slow. Whenever a shootout or benchmark is done the Pioneer comes in dead last. Cnet UK called these players slower than a one legged horse with a bad knee. The Panasonic DMP-50, Samsung 1500, Sony 350 can all load BD-J paraniod discs about 30-40 seconds faster and they were released at the same time if not before the Pioneer. Home Theater mag didn't even recommend the 51FD for purchase do to load times and sluggish navigation and the lack of 2.0 support when they reviewed it.


I am not saying the menu navigation and player response have not improved, but honestly when the player launched they were so horrid they had no place to go but up. The player is still choppy with BD-J while other players are smooth and menu navigation and player response is slower than players released from summer 2008 forward. Anyone with 2 players knows this.


Improvements that would be nice to see.


A quick start up mode.


The ability to eject a disc from off in less than 45 seconds. Another of my players does this in 2 seconds.


Hitting the eject button on the remote and the player starts and tray ejects.


I am constantly having to hit the play button on the faceplate twice to load a disc when the tray is open and a disc inserted. The button is held down for 3-5 seconds with firm pressure so this is not me.


Improved error correction. I have rented a few blurays from Family Video and fingerprints will cause the disc to be unplayable in my 05 although easily remedied.


Improved menu navigation, Death Proof take a full 5 seconds during scene navigation from the main menu and 8 seconds to go from scene to scene while the film is playing. This is using the menu not the chapter skip. Planet Terror takes a nausea inducing 20 seconds from the time the scene selection button is hit to the scenes popping upon the screen from the main menu! Then navigating from scene to scene takes 28 seconds! No kidding! While playing the film you can shave 5 seconds off these times. My Samsung does all of these thing instantaneously so taking 1 second at the most. I am not even getting into T2. Hitting a command on the remote to player response is over 20 seconds. My other player can load to the menu screen in just over a minute.


Anything at all that can be done to improve load times or make good on Pioneer's claim to be one of the fastest players on the market circa summer 2008!
 
#20,548 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by kemitchell /forum/post/16605520


It's not correct, or at least the sub channel isn't.


You really shouldn't use the internal test tones of the 51/05 anyway, they may get you in the ball park but not close enough IMO. I think this is true with most players and AVRs, it's definitely true with my HK 745.


Level adjustments should always be done with a test disc and an SPL meter. The Radio Shack meter will work fine for this. For the test disk, the DVE disc will work fine, but you really don't have to spend anything for a disk if you're just adjusting levels. In the DIY Speakers section there's a good disk you can download for free called the "DIY Audio Test DVD" . Lots of times I'll use it when I'm just setting levels and there's no need to wade through the menu's of an A/V calibration disk.

I'd like to further this and say level adjustments should INCLUDE your ears too!
 
#20,549 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by Toshiman /forum/post/16611607


I'd like to further this and say level adjustments should INCLUDE your ears too!

Just for fine tuning.. After a full audio calibration and EQ. For instance, I have a full calibration done by my calibrator, EQ/DSPs set for each channel and bass flat all the way own... Then, I tweak things.. For me just the low bass, adding 5 db of boost from 10 Hz to 25 Hz.. House curve!!
 
#20,550 ·
I just bought the BDP 51 player and hooked it up tonight. I installed the 1.32 firmware update. That worked fine. I have the player hooked up to a Kuro 5020 display and am using an ultra high speed hdmi cable. I have both HDMI controls activated yet it doesn't work. Prior to this setup I had a Sony bluray player hooked up and I recall the hdmi control worked and then I installed a firmware update for the 5020 and this caused the hdmi control functions to stop working. Does anyone else have a similiar setup and if so does the hdmi control work?


Thanks
 
#20,552 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by floridaman /forum/post/16611668


Does anyone else have a similiar setup and if so does the hdmi control work?

I have a Pioneer 5080 and a 51FD, I have never used HDMI control and use an HK TC10 (rebranded Logitech) remote so don't really have any use for it.


Probably not the answer you were looking for but you've asked this same question several times with no answer so I thought I would say something at least.
 
#20,553 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by PRO-630HD /forum/post/16611383


According to Robert the speed optimization is coming by the end of summer. Chris gave me his # and I am calling him this week about the supposed performance overhaul from Feb. Widescreen Review had the BDP-09FD with 2.46 and they rated the menu navigation as sluggish and we know the load times are beyond slow. Whenever a shootout or benchmark is done the Pioneer comes in dead last. Cnet UK called these players slower than a one legged horse with a bad knee. The Panasonic DMP-50, Samsung 1500, Sony 350 can all load BD-J paraniod discs about 30-40 seconds faster and they were released at the same time if not before the Pioneer. Home Theater mag didn't even recommend the 51FD for purchase do to load times and sluggish navigation and the lack of 2.0 support when they reviewed it.


I am not saying the menu navigation and player response have not improved, but honestly when the player launched they were so horrid they had no place to go but up. The player is still choppy with BD-J while other players are smooth and menu navigation and player response is slower than players released from summer 2008 forward. Anyone with 2 players knows this.


Improvements that would be nice to see.


A quick start up mode.


The ability to eject a disc from off in less than 45 seconds. Another of my players does this in 2 seconds.


Hitting the eject button on the remote and the player starts and tray ejects.


I am constantly having to hit the play button on the faceplate twice to load a disc when the tray is open and a disc inserted. The button is held down for 3-5 seconds with firm pressure so this is not me.


Improved error correction. I have rented a few blurays from Family Video and fingerprints will cause the disc to be unplayable in my 05 although easily remedied.


Improved menu navigation, Death Proof take a full 5 seconds during scene navigation from the main menu and 8 seconds to go from scene to scene while the film is playing. This is using the menu not the chapter skip. Planet Terror takes a nausea inducing 20 seconds from the time the scene selection button is hit to the scenes popping upon the screen from the main menu! Then navigating from scene to scene takes 28 seconds! No kidding! While playing the film you can shave 5 seconds off these times. My Samsung does all of these thing instantaneously so taking 1 second at the most. I am not even getting into T2. Hitting a command on the remote to player response is over 20 seconds. My other player can load to the menu screen in just over a minute.


Anything at all that can be done to improve load times or make good on Pioneer's claim to be one of the fastest players on the market circa summer 2008!

RE: Improved error correction. I have rented a few blurays from Family Video and fingerprints will cause the disc to be unplayable in my 05 although easily remedied.


I believe Pioneer may have addressed this to some extent with the 320/23FD. My 320s are much more reliable than the 51FDs I owned in this aspect.
 
#20,554 ·
I hope so, I wouldn't even consider the new Pioneer's for an upgrade as they are as slow as the 05 and 51 which by todays standards is simply unnacceptable. The 23fd and 320 are slower than any new player out there by a considerable margin. In Home Theaters review of the 51 last Dec. it was the slowest current gen player they had tested.
 
#20,555 ·
i don't believe that improvement will happen, if it was possible why did 320 is slow as 51. The reason is, if it could be done it should have been done on 320 before it was launched. It took one year to get DTS HD MA update. In an industry where new model comes out in six months a delay for improvement for more than a year is laughable, pioneer is counting on their loyal customers who are willing to pay more for Pioneer but I don't for how long. I was going to buy 51 when it came out but held back because of reviews and slow speed, i bought this player recently because the price is less than half of initial MSRP, if Pioneer wants premium money they need to deliver premium in PQ/Audio and speed.
 
#20,556 ·
Re: error correction


These players are a bit finicky. I've had mine for probably 4 months now, and have had at least 3 bad netflix BR discs. On the other hand, I've put in some awfully scratched up dvd's into this player and it handled them no problem.


It leads me to believe that mailed BR discs are indeed brittle, and susceptible to sustaining cracks that are invisible to our eye but not the blue laser.


Discs I've had problems with: Tropic Thunder, Domino, and Juno. The replacement discs worked no problem.
 
#20,557 ·
Hello,

To purchase a player that you are cognizant of having slower loading times and then complain about it is absurd. Regardless of the amount of discount offered. And the Pioneer does indeed produce superior AQ/PQ.


Home Theater Magazines review of the 51 was completed prior to the 1.17 upgrade which did offer a performance increase. If you doubt that, think about the lead times with magazines. Something done for December publication is usually completed in September or October or earlier.


If Walkamo stated there is going to be a performance upgrade, I am inclined to believe him. Many of those who said the 51/05 would never get DTS-MA are now saying there will not be a performance update. Given the problems Pioneer has had perhaps it is only now they are catching up so to speak.


While the 51 does not load as fast as other players, it does offer much better parts and build quality than anything in its price range. Something pointed out in every review out there. Though, people only seem to want to mention the load times.

AD
 
#20,558 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by thebland /forum/post/16611613


Just for fine tuning.. After a full audio calibration and EQ. For instance, I have a full calibration done by my calibrator, EQ/DSPs set for each channel and bass flat all the way own... Then, I tweak things.. For me just the low bass, adding 5 db of boost from 10 Hz to 25 Hz.. House curve!!

Yes! That is pretty much how I do it too. Calibrate it the best you can with the meter and disc(s) and then fine-tune it to your room & ear requirements. This, I've read many times, is pretty much the procedure and works well in most cases for most people.


But, unfortunately, the trims on the 51FD, sorely lack the dynamics (range) needed to calibrate it properly/correctly for level outputs. For instance, the Sub level adjustment is non-existent at its highest +6db setting and the noise heard is not the low hz you'd expect to hear and tune against but some sort of 'white 500hz noise' sound that is more characteristic of....well...can't find an appropriate analogy!
 
#20,559 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by bmwracer3 /forum/post/16612444


Re: error correction


These players are a bit finicky. I've had mine for probably 4 months now, and have had at least 3 bad netflix BR discs. On the other hand, I've put in some awfully scratched up dvd's into this player and it handled them no problem.


It leads me to believe that mailed BR discs are indeed brittle, and susceptible to sustaining cracks that are invisible to our eye but not the blue laser.


Discs I've had problems with: Tropic Thunder, Domino, and Juno. The replacement discs worked no problem.

i am curious, during format war between HD DVD and blu ray one of the blu ray mantra was BD are better scratch resistant and are better than DVD or HD DVDs. why they are more sensitive than DVD in playing in bluray players.
 
#20,560 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by Yoeddy1 /forum/post/16591532


How could anyone consider NOT upgrading after this major of a release. I also think the chapter skipping is faster with this revision.

Yes I can consider this.


If all HDMI DTS-HD MA/HR BD sources output from the player (including bitstream DTS-HD MA/HR) are remapped from 5.1 or 6.1 to 7.1 then I will NOT be upgrading.


The posts so far have not made it clear if the remaping is for ONLY PCM decoding or for PCM and HDMI decoding when using an HDMI/HDMI connection.


Until that is clear I am sticking with 1.25a. I haven't read the entire thread (out of the country for a week or so) but I don't see confirmation that the bitstreamed data is NOT affected by the re-maping? Has someone confirmed same? I have read conflicting posts in this and other forums with the 09 vs 51/05.
 
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