Panasonic DMP BDT500 - Page 3

I've seen the actual product at CES 2012. Definitely there will be 7.1 analog output.

we all know the gold-plated terminals means squat in furthering audio quality.

I've seen the insulators, there is nothing special other than attached plastic with felt underneath

high-grade capacitors? I don't know the answer to that.

One thing for sure, however, I like the look of the player, twin HDMI out and the cool remote.

Balanced outputs. 2 hdmi outs to dedicate aseperate out for audio.

So you need something like a Classe 2 channel pre/pro?

Will this player be able to play 50i and/or PAL disc?

I just bought a 320 untill the 500 comes out, and then will compare it to the new HDI Dune Pro.

The 500 will start shipping in May.

I believe I have talked myself into getting the 500 as well as I am not sure if its a huge advantage over the 320 thou. Its one of the cases to where if I were to buy the 320 now I would would have that thought "what if". I do like the slot the 320 has thou. Now its time to sell the 210 & Avatar 3D disc and wait until May.

the main advantage is the wifi strength. It uses outboard antenna wifi whereas the 320 uses internal antenna wifi.

Outside of that, the 500 will have dual HDMI outputs and better anti-vibration chassis.

For the rest, I don't know yet. Will post here as soon as I get more information on March 21st.

cnet posted today its for sure 7.1 analog, looks interesting

I might not need the 500 becuase I will only use my blu-ray player as a transport- I have a Wadia S7i CDP/DAC.

Thanks-that is good to know!

new-ish info. The pricing will be US$350 (MSRP) for the BDT-500.

The only things missing are just PAL DVD playback and 1080i/50 playback... which is rather important for many of my clients (they tend to buy a lot of region-free music videos and TV series from UK).

only a few players are able to do that david. oppo is one of them.

Jacob

I know, but I've had bad luck with Oppo brand starting from their upscaling DVD player, to the 83, 93 and the 95. I ended up selling my replacement 95 due to my constant bad luck with that brand.

I currently still use my Elite HD1 and 320 for PAL and 1080i/50 materials.

The new Cary 12 has balanced inputs. You could use the balanced inputs for your stereo. Balanced outputs to your amp. HDMI in for your processing. I think the Cary is the best bang for buck for a processor. The audio will sound better being processed with your the Cary. Another good piece that I like is the Marantz AV7005.

Vintage pieces without the ability to play new codes will still need to have 5 or 7 channels. The bdt will process the codec for the vintage unit.

My interest in the piece is that it likely will have a better transport then the oppo 95. My 350 did. I understand the almost cult oppo club will put me on a post to whip but the transport for a 1000. dollars is the weakest link.

mandarax,

Why do you keep mentioning the Oppo 95 on this thread? I highly doubt that many if any that is considering the Oppo 95 is actually considering this Panasonic model. Also, as far as the transpoprt is concerned not one of the MANY reviews from reputable publications and reviewers have made mention of the transport of the Oppo being an issue. I really could careless what transport one purchases, but can we stay focused on the DMP-BDT500?

Wow, nice! I love MOG too, only I can't stand the new beta that we were forced into. Is it rumored that the Panasonic players also have a MOG app?

If the transport of the Oppo was not an issue I would get it and not wait for the Panasonic BDT500. If you read the thread here on the Oppo 95 you may note that many have written about this fact. So I guess one can regard multiple user reports with more credibility than a review from a reputable publication. I regard users of a product on a public forum especially avsforum then a publication. One might consider that if multiple reports of a noisy transport and loud fan noise is reported by many on this forum that perhaps there is a motivation to report the problem here or to exclude that aspect of the players review. It is my opinion that to exclude the transport as part of the review of any player is a huge omission. In fact there is a number of tests that can be undertaken to rate this aspect of any player. The omission or absence of this part of a players review is therefore is more suspect. It seems that if I can measure the fan and transport with my audio analyzer while operating then it most definitely be part of any review I would write.

If the player has similar uses and applications for people looking for processing within the player and is unique in its use of balanced outputs then it is relevant to the product. Many people come to the forum to compare products. This certainly isn't a new concept.

As not to derail this thread (Panasonic DMP-BDT500) I will communicate any further comments via PM. This thread should be about the aspects of the DMP BDT500. At this time there are no comparisons to be made to any other players in this price range since no one has a DMP-BDT500 in hand for such a comparison.

LOL, same here. What the heck is all the hoop-alaa over them? I sold/returned 3 Oppos. Never again, I learned my lesson.

Thanks! I used to have a Cary pre-amp- best bang for the buck in high end.

I really enjoy the signature sound of the Cary brand. There were some handshaking issues with the dvdo edge and duo with the 11a but they eventually worked them out.

Does anyone know if the 500 will have DIVX in the U.S. version?

Sorry to cut that sentence, but thought it might be best.

Other than your next sentence (following), can you name reasons why this relatively "inexpensive" Panasonic 500 blu-ray player might be a top-notch transport?

Or is that we'll have to wait until real *users* start getting the unit and actually *posting* about it here?


Is that "350" one of the units in this new Panasonic "DMP-BDT 220/320/500" line?

The 350 is from 2 years ago. Panasonic's first 3D player.

S~

Yeah the 350 was an older iteration of the product and the chassis was bigger than most. When I seen the 500 at CES it seemed to have the same chassis. I am not crazy about the transport on these units but on the 350 chassis and on the similar 50 chassis from even earlier I had better luck with the player performance. It also didnt feel like you would push the player off the shelf by pressing a button. In terms of bang for the buck tho I have been very impressed with the video portion of the Panasonic solutions and with their own proprietary solutions that seem to improve year or semi annually. I am impressed when companies come out with their own firsts. My 350 was 35% quieter in operation measured by my sp295 sencore than the other iterations of products they had at the time.

I also just prefer dollars spent on components that fit into their situation. If say you have a collection of SACD's then obviously this isnt going to be your transport of choice.

I don't think there is what I would call an exceptional player out there at the moment. Most people I know do not want the player to do anything in the processing department. Most watch bluray movies on the player and do so at 24fps. Most have better audio processing than any player now out there even on their receiver solutions and don't really want the player to do anything but pass the audio along as best it can. I would think if a company put out a great transport that had multiple inputs and outputs and a great transport with some wifi and forgets about the dollars on a remote then they would do exceptionally well. For 350.00 this unit does way more than I want it to but I would pay a lot for a transport that didnt have a cheap plastic tray and also if it did not have cheap mechanical components that got the unit hot and required a fan to cool down the player.

Players these days are throw away commodities or get moved from room to room. My first Sony bluray player had a better transport than the ones being made today. I am not saying that the Panasonic was the greatest but the older iterations of it had a less annoying pitch, it loaded fast, and it had less issues playing with other gear, and further it updated to the new disk digital rights changes quicker then most.

Excellent points mandarax. If you were closer, I would have you re-calibrate my Runco plasma.. I am also comparing (what I can gather) the 500 to the Cambridge 650. But, I would have to get a Roku for Netflix.

The following has nothing to do with the Panny 500.

lol the last time I calibrated a Runco TV I peeled the Runco sticker off the set and showed my customer what it really was. Wasnt sure if he was happy or sad. I think he was laughing but it got serious when he found out his AMX system was pooched and no longer supported.

Do you really watch Netflix?? Is it getting any better?? I found myself the first time I loaded it up sitting in front of the projector and with eyes glazing over like a cod fish in the market I kept passing out. I was thinking of keeping it in the bedroom to help get to sleep.

I would like to go to California but I only got to go skiing 4 times this year its 70 degrees here today.

Netflix is still garbage. Even the mid quality HD setting on a 50" viewed from 14' away look no better than SD cable. I only go with Netflix for TV series that I don't want to ever watch again (like Top Gear, Futurama). Even for something like Sherlock (BBC series), I still buy the blu-ray rather than torture myself watching the craptacular netflix.