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Pioneer Elite BDP-52FD and BDP-53FD Owners' Thread - Page 14

post #391 of 575
3/13/12 at 10:16am
what a joke....no firmware update for the bdp-52fd. i thought they were the same player minus the marvell qdeo and this update is supposed to fix some pqls gitches so how does that equate? pioneer, wait by the phone....im fixin to call
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post #392 of 575
3/13/12 at 10:28am
note to al bdp52fd owners....just called pioneer and spoke to some dude named keith. he has no indications of any firmware for the bdp-52fd in the near future. i think im gonna take this turd out to my driveway and let my rubicon run over it a few times.
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post #393 of 575
3/13/12 at 10:36am
Quote:
Originally Posted by t-town oil View Post

just tried installing it on my bdp-52. i know in the past i have been able to install european firmware on my US player ... but i wasnt as lucky this time.

This european firmware is for the BDP-LX55 player, which is a BDP-53FD.
There is no new firmware for the BDP-440, which is a BDP-52FD.
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post #394 of 575
3/13/12 at 7:01pm
I just updated my player from 3.01 to 3.11. The update went very smooth and fast. I verified the version afterwards but have not had a chance to test anything yet.

UPDATE: CD, DVD video/audio and Blu-ray all seem to be working for me. I set the audio out to bitstream on the player and source direct on my VSX 52 (I think this is auto surround) and played a DVD-A DD 5.1 disc and saw no evidence of PCM on the receiver as before. This time the receiver just displayed DolbyDigital only. It did not sound any different than before but I just happened to notice the difference. Not sure if that is anything to be excited with or not.

UPDATE 2: Pandora is messed up now. Web Contents/Pandora and back to Home Menu it goes. Will try power cord out and in to see if that works. Power cord reboot fixed it! Man, this thing makes me nervous at times.
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post #395 of 575
3/13/12 at 9:11pm
Updated the 53fd firmware. Using the same SACD, Dire Straits BIA, SACD playback in bitstream still has issues with channel allocation, PCM remained fine. This first firmware upgrade did not address all issues. Bummer.
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post #396 of 575
3/14/12 at 1:02am
I think the update to 3.1.1 was more about adding Cinavia DRM rather than fixing bugs. If you have pirated films may be better not to update!
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post #397 of 575
3/14/12 at 4:14pm
Owning the LX-55 version, obviously I can't test these features, but will the US version (BDP-53) playback 1080i/50 blu-ray and PAL DVD natively? (on region-free disc, of course)
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post #398 of 575
3/14/12 at 5:40pm
Quick question for 53FD owners,Can you browse music files on an iphone,ipad or andriod device without using a TV? because i'm gonna use it with a hard drive loaded with mp3/flac flies and i will like to listen to them without the TV on.
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post #399 of 575
3/15/12 at 3:42pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Yo Joe Cola View Post

Anyone got the new firmware installed on their player yet? results? I'll have a go at it this weekend and report in.

I updated a BDP-53FD in our store today. The update was very fast and I now have discrete IR "On" and "Off" for the unit. Much preferred to a toggle power and Power-Up on Play command. Of course, that is still there as well.

I will be bringing my SACD collection and checking to see if any of the problems I was experiencing are now fixed.

I look forward to seeing the results.

One Update: I am still experiencing the same problem that others have expressed online. The player keeps defaulting to PCM output via HDMI, even though I set it to bitstream. As soon as I power the player down and then back up again, it reverts back to PCM output. I tried resetting the defaults on the player as well, and still the same results. Any clues?
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post #400 of 575
3/15/12 at 6:41pm
so the firmware fix doesn't seem to fix some odd problems here and there. Is it possible that because the odd problems are not "plaguing" too many players (unlike the sound cutting in and out) are due to hardware QC problem before the players go out from TCL?

As far as BD-Live problem. Pioneer is definitely NOT the only one with this problem. Certain titles at certain times (depending on the BD-Live server) can create this problem.
I had no problem playing Fast Five on my LX-55 for months and suddenly a couple of days ago the player kept freezing on that title. On the day it was freezing on the LX-55, it also failed to connect to BD-Live server and it took ages for my Panasonic BDT-310 to go to the main menu (thankfully, in the case of the Pana player, it doesn't freeze, but still it took a good 10 minutes before finally it went to the main menu). However, several days later, that title plays flawlessly on both the Pana and the Pio. Therefore I hypothesize that it has something to do with BD-Live server and not only the Pio player.
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post #401 of 575
3/16/12 at 11:02pm
Well I think I won't bother updating since I'm not having any major issues with my 53 at the moment. "if it aint broke don't fix it"..that's my motto..
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post #402 of 575
3/17/12 at 4:42am
Same here, basic functionality isn't an issue...I need a quirky problem patch and this isn't it.
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post #403 of 575
3/17/12 at 1:54pm
just a repost of my previous question:

Owning the LX-55 version, obviously I can't test these features, but will the US version (BDP-53) playback 1080i/50 blu-ray and PAL DVD natively? (on region-free disc, of course)
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post #404 of 575
3/19/12 at 6:42am
Trying to help out a friend who bought a BDP53. What is the recommended color space?. He is feeding the player to a Marantz SR6006 AVR and from the 6006 to a Panasonic 58" VT25.

When we set the player to "RGB Full" color space, it could hardy show the outer most black bar on the pluge test of DVE HD calibration disk. In fact it didn't even show the whitest parts of the grey ramp scales which is used to measure contrast. The whites were being crushed.

I set his SR 6006 AVR to complete passthrough, with no i/p scaling being done, as to iliminated the SR 6006, I also fed the HDMI from the 53 straight to the TV and the problem was till there. SO ITS NOT THE AVR that is affecting the whites.

Any advice here is appreciated.

Paul
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post #405 of 575
3/19/12 at 12:14pm
^^^ The default is YCbCr 422 which is where I have my mine currently. You could also try YCbCr (444). There is also the HDMI Deep Color settings of 30bits, 36bits and off. Off is the default here which is 24-bit color.

I'm not an expert at all but with that Panny it looks it would support YCbCr (444) and deep color of 36-bit. Have you tried that yet?
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post #406 of 575
3/20/12 at 8:38am
Quote:
Originally Posted by David Susilo View Post

Owning the LX-55 version, obviously I can't test these features, but will the US version (BDP-53) playback 1080i/50 blu-ray and PAL DVD natively? (on region-free disc, of course)

Not sure about natively, but it will play the only region free 50Hz PAL DVD I own at 60Hz. I have no PAL BluRays. And not the greatest 60Hz conversion, either.

My Panasonic plasma will not play 50Hz and, possibly due to EDID, stepping through resolutions with the HDMI button did not send 50Hz to my TV.

I call that inconclusive, sorry.

On a side note, the resolutions listed in the menu are 480i/576i and 480p/576p (as well as 720p and 1080i). Hope this helps.
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post #407 of 575
3/20/12 at 9:36am
Thanks for the info! Definitely from the list it'll play PAL. I'll try to get my hands on the 53FD and test it with a 1080i/50
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post #408 of 575
3/20/12 at 3:51pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by yhtomitb View Post

I updated a BDP-53FD in our store today. The update was very fast and I now have discrete IR "On" and "Off" for the unit. Much preferred to a toggle power and Power-Up on Play command. Of course, that is still there as well.

I will be bringing my SACD collection and checking to see if any of the problems I was experiencing are now fixed.

I look forward to seeing the results.

One Update: I am still experiencing the same problem that others have expressed online. The player keeps defaulting to PCM output via HDMI, even though I set it to bitstream. As soon as I power the player down and then back up again, it reverts back to PCM output. I tried resetting the defaults on the player as well, and still the same results. Any clues?

What code set did you use for Discrete Power on and off?
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post #409 of 575
3/21/12 at 2:37pm
I took a 53 home today to run it through its paces. I also did the firmware update and also discovered the discrete Pioneer elite codes now work. Why they didn't before actually caused a few returns of this player. It also caused some faith issues for me as Ive been professionally Working with Pioneer Elite since the 90's and owned as long as well all kinds of Elite products.
I'm gonna really test the hell out of it and compare it to my Cambridge Audio 650 bd . I just so happy about the discrete codes. I'm gonna give the iPhone app a full run as well.
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post #410 of 575
3/23/12 at 10:56am
What exactly did this firmware update do? It's still reading some of my SACDs as "unknown"...what a POS player.
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post #411 of 575
3/23/12 at 4:14pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by mywhitenoise View Post

What exactly did this firmware update do? It's still reading some of my SACDs as "unknown"...what a POS player.

The only thing I noticed was the Discrete power on and off with codes on a universal remote now work which it should have out of box.

I have plenty of SACD's that don't play on it. I plays some and passes DSD to my receiver but others it says SACD on the player OSD and the receiver doesn't even play a sound , the player is playing the disc. I switch to another disc and it plays fine. This is a very disappointing player to say the least. It doesn't deserve to wear the ELITE badge , it's far from an elite player. I have so many issues with it.
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post #412 of 575
3/24/12 at 2:15pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mantis10 View Post

What code set did you use for Discrete Power on and off?

I used the same discrete Off and On IR commands that worked previously for the BDP-09FD.
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post #413 of 575
3/24/12 at 2:42pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mantis10 View Post

The only thing I noticed was the Discrete power on and off with codes on a universal remote now work which it should have out of box.

I have plenty of SACD's that don't play on it. I plays some and passes DSD to my receiver but others it says SACD on the player OSD and the receiver doesn't even play a sound , the player is playing the disc. I switch to another disc and it plays fine. This is a very disappointing player to say the least. It doesn't deserve to wear the ELITE badge , it's far from an elite player. I have so many issues with it.

As a CD player, DVD player and BD player, I have very high regard for this player. I won't call the player a POS yet, but unless Pioneer gets on the FW updated soon, I may come to that opinion due to it's limitations in the SACD arena. I wish they'd fixed the problem with the player staying in the Bitstream mode for the HDMI output. It keeps defaulting to the PCM output.

Here's my latest run of test results on the BDP-53FD...

1. Rued Langgaard Music of the Spheres SACD Hybrid is not recognized. Plays fine on the NuForce Extreme Edition of BDP-93 and Cambridge Audio 751BD.

2. Tubular Bells SACD Hybrid I can play both the 2-CH and M-CH SACD layers. I can't access the CD layer. Plays fine on the NuForce Extreme Edition of BDP-93. Have not tested on Cambridge Audio Azur 751BD.

3. Jeff Wayne's War Of The Worlds SACD Hybrid. I can play both the 2-CH and M-CH SACD layers. I can't access the CD layer. Plays fine on the NuForce Extreme Edition of BDP-93. Have not tested on Cambridge Audio Azur 751BD

4. Great Film Fantasies Erich Kunzel/Cincinnati Pops SACD Hybrid. I can play both the 2-CH and M-CH SACD layers. I can't access the CD layer. Plays fine on the NuForce Extreme Edition of BDP-93. Have not tested on Cambridge Audio Azur 751BD

5. Star Trek Nemesis SACD Hybrid. I can play both the 2-CH and M-CH SACD layers. I can't access the CD layer. Plays fine on the NuForce Extreme Edition of BDP-93. Have not tested on Cambridge Audio Azur 751BD

Tim
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post #414 of 575
3/24/12 at 7:30pm
Tim, are you aware that you must change SACD/CD layers with the drive door open? It's far from intuitive but I was able to access the CD layer on all my SACD hybrids this way.
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post #415 of 575
3/24/12 at 11:16pm
OMG, how did you find this ?
I have BDP-440 (european version of BDP-52fd) and it works !
Now it is easy:
1. to switch between CD and SACD layer - open tray
2. to switch between SACD 2-CH and SACD M-CH press STOP twice.
and after that you can use CD/SACD button on remote.
And now I have only last problem with SACD - how to get analog output + HDMI work together.
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post #416 of 575
3/24/12 at 11:24pm
I guess I just discovered it by trial and error/chance. I thought it was mentioned in this thread already though? Glad it works for you too.
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post #417 of 575
3/25/12 at 7:25am
On the 53, the drive door doesn't have to be opened, just stop twice, and the cd/sacd button on the remote. I have to use the stop twice trick and play again to get pqls to engage on regular cds as well. It is really annoying, but I can't quite come to hate this player, sounds too good.
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post #418 of 575
3/25/12 at 11:10pm
Thanks Vonbek, that's even better.
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post #419 of 575
3/26/12 at 9:24am
I recently have been having problems with my Pioneer SC 35 shutting off and restarting when playing. First time I took it to the shop, couldnt find any probs... so been reading online and found about the HDMI Cec issue. So i turned it off, viola no more shut off.

But PQLS is now off to the -52

anyone else experience this? any way around this? note, this also happened with my previous BR player, a Panny...
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post #420 of 575
3/27/12 at 3:56am
Quote:
Originally Posted by yhtomitb View Post

As a CD player, DVD player and BD player, I have very high regard for this player. I won't call the player a POS yet, but unless Pioneer gets on the FW updated soon, I may come to that opinion due to it's limitations in the SACD arena. I wish they'd fixed the problem with the player staying in the Bitstream mode for the HDMI output. It keeps defaulting to the PCM output.

Here's my latest run of test results on the BDP-53FD...

1. Rued Langgaard Music of the Spheres SACD Hybrid is not recognized. Plays fine on the NuForce Extreme Edition of BDP-93 and Cambridge Audio 751BD.

2. Tubular Bells SACD Hybrid I can play both the 2-CH and M-CH SACD layers. I can't access the CD layer. Plays fine on the NuForce Extreme Edition of BDP-93. Have not tested on Cambridge Audio Azur 751BD.

3. Jeff Wayne's War Of The Worlds SACD Hybrid. I can play both the 2-CH and M-CH SACD layers. I can't access the CD layer. Plays fine on the NuForce Extreme Edition of BDP-93. Have not tested on Cambridge Audio Azur 751BD

4. Great Film Fantasies Erich Kunzel/Cincinnati Pops SACD Hybrid. I can play both the 2-CH and M-CH SACD layers. I can't access the CD layer. Plays fine on the NuForce Extreme Edition of BDP-93. Have not tested on Cambridge Audio Azur 751BD

5. Star Trek Nemesis SACD Hybrid. I can play both the 2-CH and M-CH SACD layers. I can't access the CD layer. Plays fine on the NuForce Extreme Edition of BDP-93. Have not tested on Cambridge Audio Azur 751BD

Tim

Curious as all the above players you are playing with are all on my short list as a replacement for my current Cambridge 65bd. I love the 650bd all bout discrete power. It's not that bad not having it but I'm going control 4 at home and I really hate any gear to be toggle.
I have Installed one 751bd and I thought it was stellar. I wired it both HDMI and 6 channel out and 6 channel out after calibration was amazing( all wired Audioquest).
I have not had the pleasure to play with the new Oppo 93 or 95 which I would like 2. How do you compare all these models? The BDP53fd is quirky , sounds fantastic and picture quality for everything I stick in it is stellar but the SACD issues is killing me as I use SACD often. I had no issues with DVD AUDIO.
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