Official Pioneer Elite BDP-05FD & BDP-51FD Owners Thread / Vs 1.32 DTS-HD MA - Page 966

How do the audio dacs compare from the 51 to the 33FD? I love my 51 for music and have a chance to pick up a new 33 for around $150! I wouldn't want to go backwards, tho.

thx

bob

Keep in mind that the 33 is a Sharp player rebadged for Pioneer (Pioneer no longer makes its own BD players). From what I've read, the rebaged Sharp players aren't near as good as the "true" Pioneer players (23/320 and earlier models, including the 51/05).

IMO, you would be downgrading by going with the 33.

Thanks for saving me I saw "Elite" and assumed...


bob

Unfortunately, "Pioneer Elite" as it was is no more.

I've had problems with my 51 reading certain cd's / dvd's, like the firmware upgrade discs (No Disc" error). I took apart my unit and cleaned the lenses. I still get the same problem. I did observe what happens when a disc is put in. First the blue laser comes on. If and only if, a disc is present the red laser then comes on. Both cycle with the firmware disc inserted, but the no disc present error comes up. The drive is BDV-103-XA. Is there a generic replacement for it? I've seen the question asked here before, but I didn't see any definitive answers.

I don't believe there is. I have an 05 with a BDV-103-XP drive. It only plays BDs for about 20 minutes before locking up; DVDs are fine.

I would think that, as with all custom electronics, that a new drive needs to be "blessed" for it to work. The service manual describes the process, but quite frankly, I don't have the patience for this kind of thing anymore.

That being said, a quick search for a BDV-103-XP turns up a few hits. Most are in the $600 range, which I'm quite sure are inflated due to the age and nature of these first generation drives.

If anyone knows how to add in a generic drive, in a somewhat easy manner , I'd love to know, too.

FWIW..I cannot get The Hit List from Netflix to play on my BDP-05FD v 1.71. I have tried everything. It loads, goes through the progress meter, then I have to force the pop-up menu. I can perform set up, but when I select play, it freezes. I am pretty sure that it was a new release when I received it. I tried cleaning it. It must have gotten damaged in the mail. I tried another disc from my collection, which played flawlessly.

Wow.I'll probably gey kicked off this 51fd thread as i got kicked off the 09fd thread when I mentioned how my 09fd started getting the drive issue ("cannot play disc" "unknown disc").And i explained how it was a drive failure,after only owning it for several months.People were very offended,defensive,etc,etc.. back then.
I got the dealer to get me a replacment 09fd,which took 1 1/2 months,referb.Now this one is doing tye same drive failure symtoms.
I had purchased a 51fd at my local store to use as back up.Not being able to see the 09fd thread any longer,I just had the thought to look at my 51fd player thread,wow after pnly a few postings I see drive failures being mentioned!!!!
How about a class action suite??!!!
I am totaly disgusted with Pioneer! In only several years (2) $2200 BDP-09FD Pioneer MSRP players failing,and other owners failing,right?
What does it take to do a Class Action Lawsuit?

I said 2 players in several years,actually after just checking reciept,it's 2 Pioneer Elite blu ray player failures since only 12/2009!

A lawyer who sees money.

Well, after giving up on this disc, and powering off my player, I started watching cable, and during a period of boredom with all the commercials, I hit the play button on my remote. Lo and behold, the movie loaded, and played flawlessly to the end.

It would ONLY be the lawyer to see the money too. We'd probably just get a coupon for $20 off our next purchase of a pio product.

Does anyone have any feedback.Are these really all drive,laser failures?
Or, are the Pioneer 09,05,51 suseptable to lens getting dirty,dusty,hazy,etc,etc,,and a manual lens clean,polish be a fix.I would'nt think so.
Maybe Pioneer,if tries player and sees the "CAN'T PLAY DISC" "UNKNOWN DISC",just replaces drive,or player.Instead of manually cleaning lens???
If I remember correctly,when I saw a service manual,for the 09 and 05,I thought I saw the lens assembly is exposed,not in completely sealed drive box.And,where the fan is on the back,which would also pull air,and dust in,maybe getting too dirty,maybe finicky,or very touching at improper reading of discs if the slightest dust gets on lens.
Just really wonder if it's a BIG waste of effort and time taking the player all apart to get at lens surface and polish.Cleaning disc's and playing a DVD player cleaning disc did'nt work.Just as first player the player has slowly got to the point where no disc's will play now.Blu ray disc's that is,CD's and SD dvd's always work(ed),seperate CD/SD dvd drive lens is in these players.
Such a drag to have a beautiful $2200 blu ray player junked after only approx 1 year usage.
Thanks
I have an Esoteric X-03SE I use with the Pioneer SC-09TX recvr for SACD/CD's.
Also Onkyo DV-SP1000,I-Linked to SC-09TX for DVD Audio disc's.Just wont use the Pioneer blu ray player for CD's.But is a great CD player,analog,just not the reason I had bought it.
Probably not even sellable,at least for a fair price,where defective,wont play blu ray disc's
So,does anyone think I should take apart and clean lens, had same issue,where slowly got to point where wont play blu disc's,polished lens and fixed.
Thanks

I first tried a disc cleaner, no luck. I then took it apart and manually cleaned it. Same result. I can't say for sure if it would be a waste of time in your case, but it was in mine. I guess not totally a waste. I got to see how it all works (or doesn't).

Phew!
You really went ALL the way to your lens?
I just got the top off.I was wrong. I can peek thru the many boards,parts,screws,cables,etc,etc.. that would need to be removed.I can see it is a sealed drive box.I have taken those sealed drives apart before.small screws,aluminum tape,which can get damaged,the alu tape that is.
As I say you took your player all apart,including the drive box,got to the lens eye(s) and manually cleaned,polished that eys(s)???

Spitting this back out for those who may need a handy reference.

Yes I opened the drive up and cleaned the lenses with a q-tip and alcohol. I didn't get to it quite the way the manual shows it though. With the drive powered up I opened the tray and took the plastic tray front cover off (where it says BluRay). Release the plastic tabs on the bottom and slide it up and off. Re-close it and unplug it. Cut the wire ties off the sides. I also found it easier to remove the screws from the bottom of the flanges, rather than the sides. It was easier to get the needed leverage. Unplug the drive and it should slide back and up.
Remove the 5 screws on the bottom, the 3 on the top. Now you have the plastic enclosed drive. Remove the 4 screws and the top comes off. Now you can clean the lenses.
I don't endorse it, but I actually plugged everything back in and cycled a disc in it to watch it work. I wanted to see if both lasers were working. The white disc has a magnet in it and and sucks down to the top of the spindle. This is how the discs are held in place.

My LX71 (05fd) has recently decided to stop playing CDs - anyone else have this problem? Blu-ray, no problem. DVD, no problem. Whenever I put a CD in I get a "No Disc". I've tried a factory reset, and I'd love to update the firmware (currently on 1.69a), but it won't seem to update off a DVD+R.

I have that same problem.

Good to know I'm not the only one then!

My 51 has not played CD's for some time (meaning no firmware updates, music through iPhone hooked up to SC-07), and increasingly Netflix BD's have been "iffy." DVD's played fine until recently.

Today I took it out of the system and replaced it with a Panasonic 210. It's certainly fast and slick, and the wireless hookup must have taken all of 2 minutes. Yes, it plays everything, but the sound, even through HDMI, seems a bit . . . "thinner." Probably my imagination, as I truly wanted the 51 to last. Rather depressing to think what I paid in 2008, its lovely appearance, and utter lack of reliability or durability. Watched a Netflix streamed this evening, which did not sound too great and resulted in auto protection shutdown twice on my SC-07.

Things have to be easier than this.

I think we are going to have to spend some bucks to get good quality cd playback that is as good as the 05/51, I installed the latest panny player in my system and quickly booted it upstairs to the family room system, I felt there was a big difference in sound. Picture was a little less noticable. I hope my 51 continues to hold up.

Has anyone made a comparison on sound quality of an older red laser DVD player vs. the blue laser of a BluRay player when playing CDs or standard def DVDs. This is when using coaxial output (not analog or HDMI).

I was playing around the other day and think my older Denon 5900 audio sound better for audio CD and standard def DVD than the Pioneer 51.

Did you try something to clean it?

I often get frustrated with the speed of the player, but quite honestly I am blown away with the picture and audio of the unit. It frustrates to wait for it to load, but damn it has a wonderful picture. I'm using it with a planer 8150 projector on a 11.5 inch screen and it's just fantastic. I wont replace it because of the PQ.

Blu-ray players both have a blue and a red laser. The blue laser is only used for Blu-rays, the red for CDs & DVDs.

But it really does not matter since the data on optical discs are in digital format (bits are bits...). It's like worrying that your Word or Excel document will have different content depending on which drive you read it from.

Dan.

HDMI isn't necessarily better than the 51's analog outs. It all depends on your receiver's DACs when using HDMI, and the receivier would have to be pretty high end to beat the 51 in that regard.

Hi Everyone, I have try to watch a new BD "The Big Bang" and after selecting "play" in the main menu the disc did not start playing. Cleaned the disc up, erased all the data on 51FD (firmware 1.71), restarted, reset it without positive results. Finally in the main menu, instead of selecting "play" i have selected "chapters" and pressed chapter 2. Rewind to chapter 1, because selecting the chapter 1 directly put me in the endless loop. The rest of the movie played OK. Anyone else experienced similar issues with this particular title? Good luck with your 05's and 51's. I do own two 51FD's and love them. Occasionally I'm experiencing issues with the rentals and very rarely with new BD's. The Other Woman BD with Natalie Portman had a pause in the middle of the movie. The pause was in the same spot so it had to be something wrong with the disc. Thanks.

I had a problem with my 51 and The Hit List...popped the movie in and when the top menu was suppose to come up it just was stuck at 00.00.00 and stayed there...had to manually press top menu on remote and it then worked...first time since I've owned the 51 that something like that happened.

Yes it's your imagination. Through HDMI, the player is just a transport. The receiver will determine audio quality, and the 51 and 210 should sound exactly the same. If you used analog audio outs, it would be a different matter, and the 51 would be tough to beat.

I reported a similar issue with "Hit List" from Netflix (see post #28957) and finally got it to work after much persistence.