Marantz UD9004 Universal player with Blu-ray - Page 3

Originally Posted by Rod#S

My hunch for the reason you prefer the Oppo over the A1 using HDMI where SACD is concerned (and justifiably so) is that the A1 outputs SACD at 44.1/16 (as will the Marantz) but the Oppo sends full resolution so it stands to reason the Oppo would sound more rich, detailed and have clearer highs. If you had the opportunity to compare the Oppo using HDMI and the Denon using Denon Link my guess would be similar to your results with Bluray, DVD and CD. Unfortunately the Marantz has no way to send SACD digitally at full resolution. Now if you were comparing the analog sections of the 3 players according to the specs things would be a bit different. The Marantz would in theory edge out the Denon and the Denon would edge out the Oppo, again in theory but whether one could actually tell the difference is totally on the individual.

Originally Posted by ca1ore

I have and I do.

A buddy of mine owns the A1; I own the Oppo. Ran both units via HDMI into my Meridan HD621/Meridian 861 combo. I detect no appreciable audio quality difference between the two players on Bluray, DVD or CD. On SACD, I slightly preferred the Oppo - although not night and day.

Originally Posted by crispy98007

Denophile: I'm sure there is a Marantz whine and cheese show near you soon.


C

Originally Posted by butsu

I will get Marantz_UD9400 next week,looking big and solid construction.

Originally Posted by butsu

The big difference is always the sound...which is the best ever since I've heard from BD player.

but I like Denon more than this one anyway

Originally Posted by welwynnick

So which did you like more - the Denon or the Marantz?

Originally Posted by hdblu

Am thinking of buying the UD9004 from Singapore at a very good price can anyone tell me is it worth buying this player. or just get the A1 or the very best Pioneer.

Originally Posted by Denophile

if its like the denon you need to make sure hdmi audio is set to 2 ch

then you need to select multichannel in the setup menu, press the select button when it is highlighted and you should get multichannel setup options like speaker distance, delay, etc.

This was an issue when the denon 5910 came out that was confusing--if the marantz has a similar setup menu and gui it may fix ya up.

also if there is a multichannel mixdown option make sure it is off.

Originally Posted by edorr

I cannot believe this. I spend three hours trying to figure this out - there is no reference to this in the manual, and simply setting HDMI out to 2 channel solved the problem. Am I really this stupid or is it the morons at Marantz? In any case, I was getting prepared for 48 hours of deep frustration and visions of shipping the unit back, and instead I am now looking forward to a weekend of sonic bliss and enjoyment of my new toy. I cannot thank you enough and next time you're in Atlanta I'll buy you a drink.

Originally Posted by Denophile

Its really not intuitive at all--a problem with denon gui's and poor instructions at times. We went through this with the 5910 when it came out and there were a LOT of confused people looking for answers--Very happy to pass along the knowledge.

I can only imagine youre frustration--If I had that machine and couldn;t try out the multichannel hi-rez I would be flipping out! I had a greattime last time I was in atlanta--if i;m there anytime I'll definitely PM you. And Ive got round 2

Originally Posted by BCH

Yes, the bass will improve dramatically but unfortunately it will take about 3 months of continuous play. When I first got mine about 6 months ago I was comparing it soundwise, to my Wadia which was unfair to be sure but that was (is) my reference along with the Bladelius Embla. It certainly was not in this league so I used it mainly of course for blu-ray and SACD. Well to my surprise just about 3 months later after playing continuously all that time it is now very very competitive with both units and in some areas surpasses at times with redbook CD. I know this sounds crazy but give it time and keep it running. I know with my other things break-in did not take as long and sounded very good out of the box but the UD9004 for some strange reason is close to dreadful out of the box and not much better after over 2 months later but hang in there because it just wakes up and will truly surprise you as it did with me. I guess it is just so many components (even compared to the Wadia) it takes along time to prime the audio path completely. Anyhow good luck and be patient

Originally Posted by edorr

did not realize burn in was such a big deal. I will be using the Marantz exclusively for SACD, DVD and Blu Ray - I go another direction for redbook CD. I guess I should use a multi channel disc for burn in since using a CD I will just have a signal goin through 2 channels. Is this what you did?

Originally Posted by BCH

I used a multichannel SACD for about a month and was not really getting what I expected, so I just continued break-in for two channel as I could just repeat indefinately for weeks at a time. I have reached what I presume to be full break-in for two channel (as it directly compares to my Wadia and Bladelius CD rigs) but probably still has a little to go for multi-channel. I say this not that it does not sound great in multi but more over that it is harder for me to discern improvements as readily in multi-channel.

Originally Posted by Steve Bruzonsky

Hi guys. I "listened" to edorr over at the $20K forum and got the Marantz UD9004 about 2 weeks ago. I've done some burn in only when sleeping, gets hot here in Arizona and don't wanna burn it out.

Initial impressions:

First, I discovered what edorr did on my own, as I did some speaker level matching and used the +10 db sub setting, also the sub + main setting. As I run four Aerial 9s, one Aerial CC5 and three Aerial SW12 subs (the three subs are chained). And Theta CB3 and Six Shooter. Set sub crossover at 40 Hz, just sound best this way in my system when I use CB3 direct with Xtreme DACs for music (oh - I use PS Audio PerfectWave Transport and DAC for stereo anyway)

My impression is that when you set in the menu for source direct to either 50 Hz or 100 Hz, that the setting is only meaningful when you also use the remote button to employ source direct to on or as you've set one of the custom modes. With the menu source direct set to off, its clear SACD is converted to PCM using the bass crossover. For SACD source direct is the only way.

Also played some DVD-A, though didn't try yet source direct vs it off.

I am just takin' my time, do a bit of listenin' here and there, some watchin' here and there, and will let my opinions form over time.


I think that barely warmed out of the box the Marantz on multi-channel SACD and DVD-A is close to my fully burned in Theta Comli (woops, it is currently selling on Ebay). So as it burns in it will surely be outstanding.

Funny thing on source direct for video. Blu Ray is native encoded at 4:2:2
YCrCb. I have a Lumagen Radiance XE and Sim2 C3X 1080. The Radiance menu shows that incoming source direct video from the 9004 though is 4:4:4. So the Marantz is doing a bit of upsampling of 4:2:2 to 4:4:4.
But the Radiance does its processing at 4:2:2. Its better to have the native HD signal go to the Radiance untouched, then let the Radiance do the processing. I have seen this with the Oppo BDP-83 blu ray player, where in the menu I can set to 4:2:2 or 4:4:4 and native 4:2:2 looks better and sharper. And early on I am disapointed because I am seeing a bit of reduction in picture quality due to the 4:4:4. I went on the Marantz website and inquired regard this two weeks ago, they said they referred it to engineering, but no response yet.

Roy Orbison - Black and White Nite - sounds fantastic on Blu Ray. Never heard it this good. Though I also have the multi-channel SACD and I will get to try that too.

Firmware update is weird. First time took forever, had to unplug unit as it wouldn't upgrade and wouldn't turn off. Later before I went to bed, I did the firmware upgrade again, and when I woke up in the AM, it had updated fine.

Today, I decided to do the firmware update that info was posted on the Marantz website yesterday. This time download went quick, maybe fifteen minutes, but then the player hung up endlessly with front panel saying "Waiting". Went to dinner, came back few hours later, player still said "waiting". I gave up. Couldn't turn off unit from front. Unplugged power cord, then plugged back in. Before I could turn unit on from front, it showed on the front panel that it was updating. And in a few minutes it completed updating. And when I went back into firmware upgrade, it indicated that I had latest firmware.

Marantz should have the menu or front panel display the firmware version and date of the current loaded firmeare.

What are your experiences on firmware update?

Originally Posted by edorr

I suggest crossing over in the Marantz at higher than 40Hz. I used 40 in the CBIII as well, but the Marantz bass management is very different. As long as you set to "LFE+Main" the entire bandwidth will go to your R/L anyway so you loose nothing there.

Originally Posted by Steve Bruzonsky

So what did you set your subs to - 80 Hz?