Pioneer Elite BDP-52FD and BDP-53FD Owners' Thread - Page 4

Strange. We typically do not put special order product up on the web site. I will look into this. If possible, I will get it put up next week.

I'm still genuinely perplexed as to why some are considering the Pioneer Elite BDP-53FD over the Oppo 93. Is it really for PQLS (which is used in 2 channel mode only, if memory serves) only? Clue me in, folks.

For the record, I am a former owner of the SC-07 avr and BDP-23FD blu ray player, so I am familiar with and appreciate Pioneer's quality products. I'm not slamming the company at all. I presently own the Oppo 93, however.

I've taken a look at the BDP-53's specs and read preliminary reviews of the product on this and other websites. I was hoping that Pioneer would have hit it out of the park with the 53, but the early word is less than encouraging. A bunt single, as opposed to a home run. Thoughts?

Pqls comes in many favors but it does support mch and bitstreams too

From preliminary specs it looked like it would give the oppo a run for its money

With pqls, icontrolav2, common styling, and no fan and 176.4 PCM sacd conversion (oppo doesn't) (and neither does the 53fd) and a newer mediatek chip

Now that it is in the hands of consumers reality has hit home, I agree at the same price as the oppo, a tough sell

Maybe it will be more popular in Europe where the oppo costs more

For me the this unit is quite a bit cheaper then the oppo. I am going to give it a try if don't like it I will return it and get the oppo.

Sounds like it is shaping up to be a foul ball.

even if where to get the wireless adapter still cheaper then the oppo. But At my tv location I have a hardwired connections so I am good there.

If these palyers are a bust for Pioneer, there will likely be price reductions on these units to boost sales, if they stay in the Blu ray game, they may revert their next gen players to Sharponeers.....just an opinion.

I'm really surprised with the views on PQLS being a gimmick. I really like the feature, whole reason I'm buying the 53 over the Oppo. Even after I became disillusioned with the 05fd, I kept it for a cd player for pqls. Even bought a used 23fd off ebay (after my 05fd drive gave out) to tide me over till the 53 came out, just for pqls. Didn't expect to be in a minority about the benefits of pqls. I do hear a difference like I said before, especially on acoustical music with strings and piano. My 53 gets here Tuesday, looking forward to playing around with external hard drives and testing wav playback vs cd in terms of resolution. Will share my opinions probably after Thanksgiving...going to be a busy week.

decided not to drop the bucks on the new Pioneer 53 and went with the Oppo 93 instead. Very disheartening that Pioneers new BR is having issues right out of the gate. Besides if your going to want to play with the big boys in this field I would thing you would enter the game primed and ready to win... looks like they only laid an egg. Sorry Pioneer but I do love my SC25

Don't be so surprised, as jitter is a contentious topic (there is a huge thread in the 2CH forum with lots of snipers and insults) and most if not all here who think it's a gimmick happen to be Oppo fans. Of course every feature Oppo has is a must have, and anything Oppo hasn't is a gimmick. That's just the way it is around here. If you read the Denon thread, people also like using the Denon Link. If as you say you heard a difference before that's all it matters.

Not all big boys are jitter sceptics and you could say the same thing about advertising, blind testing and speculation for the superiority of the 32-bit Sabre DACs in the Oppo. At least I don't see any official Pioneer ads on the top of this forum.

Have you guys also enlightened users of the science in the Denon threads or is this just picking on Pioneer?

The 53FD unit hang issue is due to the existence of the Windiws Home Server in my network. There were reports that the Panny 75 has the similar issue. It seems that both players are based on the same software design. There is no solution yet. However somebody reported that WHS 2011 seems to be fine.

Other than that, the unit seems to be OK with PQ. But I am disappointed by it's SACD playback. It cannot beat my 6 years old LINN CD player.

Why are you disappointed with the SACD playback? Bad analog 2ch outs?

I do not know why it does not sound good. Probably it could be the DAC or the analogy stage.

was considering the 53fd, but after this thread - will need to re-consider.

Have you tried the same sacd using hdmi? Any improvement?

ok, the 53fd has been out for a week along with the lx55 so do we have a summary of what these things can do now?

Specifically: as I understand it

still no chapter displayed, even though it appears there is a space to display it

no ISO playback from HDD or thumb driver, this was only a rumor from europe

52fd may lock up last years pioneer receivers when they are on same network

53fd does not work when windows home media server is on the same network

has the SACD/CD/mch/stero problem been put to rest? It appears that the player must be stopped during playback to change the layer?


has anyone verified

1) FLAC playback on the 53fd
2) NETFLIX streaming 1080p or 720p? 5.1 or stereo?

how do you enter in letters when searching or logging into your netflix account?

I've reading conflicting things on 1080p mkv files playing HD audio which i assume is DTS-HD MA?

normally i would just read the manual but as we all now, it is a bit lacking

Got the 23FD to link up PQLS! Yay! I turned 'control' off then on. Dunno if I hear a diff or not, but still cool.

Can't get the 52FD to link though. Dunno why.

I think I'm going to look for a cheap SACD (DVD-A too would be a plus) player that will stream DSD.

I'll stick with the 23FD for BR and CDs. 52FD is going back to the store.

No. My 2-ch pre-amp takes analog input only.

My 53fd arrived a day early. Been playing around with it all afternoon. There's good, bad, and ugly. The good is that it sounds fantastic in my set up for the couple of cds and dts Hd audio discs I threw at it. SACD sounds good too, but I'm having trouble getting PQLS to engage consistently on sacds. Haven't dug out my dvd audio titles yet, will do that later. Coming from a 23fd, an 05fd, and two sony 960 changers, the 53 seems to load like a speed demon compared to what I am used to. That is nice. The bad is that I can't get it to recognize any of my NTFS external hard drives. Recognizes the connection, but can't see the files. I need documentation on what size limitations the 53 can handle since most of my drives are 1tb or over and I wonder if this is the problem. The ugly, is the player itself. The unit looks like an old vhs unit. I don't like buttons, the remote, or the unit itself...just doesn't scream quality. I really liked how the 05fd looked and felt...and this seems a major step backwards.

Overall, I'm mixed. Will definitely keep for sound and video, the pqls for cds, but while this ugly duckling may sound like a swan, it is going into my rack, not a display device in my opinion.

I will post more later after I do more performance testing. My two cents so far.

The cheapest SACD players that will stream DSD are Sony BD players (BDP-S380, BDP-S383) and the Pioneer BDP-140 BD player... At least here in Europe.

that BDP-S380 is less than half the cost of the BDP-140 on this side of the pond

the oppo 93 is also much cheaper here than Europe being the same as the BDP-53fd

and frankly the feature/price ratio is not to Pioneer's advantage

i think it would be smart for pioneer to compete on features and not price

there should be pqls in the 140 - as that gives people a reason to buy a pioneer receiver

and pure direct in the 52fd - what are they thinking with the SC-55/57 having the QDEO marvell chip in it?

at least pioneer in North America was smart enough to dress it up like the SC55/57

any dealers in toronto carry the Pioneer 53FD?

Toronto home of Audiophile

Eh Stilly, check the specs on the DACs in your current HDMI receiver. If the s/n ratio and dynamic range are 111dB or higher, then you don't really need a player with good analog outputs. The only reason I used to be big on high-quality multi-channel analog output was because until last year around this time, I had a CRT and a receiver without HDMI input, and needed something to accomidate an older system. Now that I have the VSX-32, as long as the player has jitter reduction and does good decoding, as well as has a soundproof, quiet disc mechanism, a player's analog output is no longer an issue.

Another little update, my family and I watched a few movies yesterday and I have to say the 53 hooked up to my 151 is wonderful. Great PQ. Once I figured out you have to set it to 4:4:4 to get 36bit to work...looks fantastic. Still sounding great too. I'm still not totally happy, but it is functional and fast. The autoplay on cds is actually too fast, pqls doesn't engage unless I stop the cd and stop again...then it will sync...I think the firmware updates ultimately will determine how great this player can be. Still don't like how the unit looks though!

Whether using analog outs or HDMI outs, I prefer discs over iTunes, YouTube, Netflix, etc.. If you have a good receiver, do you really need a headphone amp? I'm not criticizing you. In fact, your reasoning behind choosing good analog output is somewhat similar to mine. Pioneer's VSX-1120-K, VSX-1121-K, VSX-32, and VSX-52 I believe use the Burr-Brown PCM1691 DACs, which have a signal-to-noise ratio and dynamic range of 111 dB. While they might not be as good as the Wolfson WM8740 DACs, considering the price of the receivers I just mensioned, I thought the VSX-32 was a good compromise in price and quality in order for me to make the switch to an all-HDMI system. Just plug a good pair of headphones into that and I'd say you're good to go! I haven't regretted my decision yet.

i believe the Digital to Analog Converter (DAC) in the 53fd is the same as in the SC-57

and while I am the last person to call out a spelling mistake, you have been consistent

mensioned is spelled with a t, mentioned

Thanks for the heads up! Being sight impaired, having everything spoken to me has made me less of a Braille reader since I graduated. So I'm bound to develop some bad habbits. I'm sure our online communication skills leave huge impressions of each other, so I understand. So thanks again for pointing this out to me!

I am glad you took that the right way. I know I would have appreciated it.

by the way, i think this is the data sheet for the DAC in the 53fd

http://www.akm.com/datasheets/ak4480_f01e.pdf