Denon 3910 Owners Thread - Page 249

Hi

I just got a very nice 3910 on ebay.

Everything works fine, but the loading of the disc seems very loud to me.

It's when the tray move in and out of the 3910. It sound kind of grinding.

Is that normal?

Cheers,
Per

No, that's not normal, there shouldn't be a "grinding" noise. It's not the quietest of players but you should not hear the mechanism grinding.

Thanks for your comment.

I disassembled the unit, cleaned the tray and used silicone grease on the plastic gears.

That helped alot. It's now quiet.

Regards
Per

Good job!

larry

Hi 3910'er thread,

Here is another question:

The display in my 3910 seems to be a little foggy. Not really dimmed, its more like a "glare" inside the front display.

Does anyone have this problem too, what did you do to get rid of it?

I see three possibilities.

1. Open the 3910 up and clean the display on the inside.
2. If that won't help, order a new Front display at denon (might be expensive )
3. Display glare is normal in Denon Products, just get used to it!

Cheers
Per

You can safely rule out #3 - definitely not normal.

I tried to get inside the display, but no luck.

The display is behind a plastic part (on which the front buttons are mounted).

IMHO - It is impossible to separate the aluminium front from the plastic which holds the display and buttons, without breaking the plastic, because it's all glued together.

Between the front display, which is transparent, and the display there is a small kindof dark-red thin plastic window which seems to cause the foggyness i see. Maybe this plastic window gets "old" - due to the exposure of light, smoke, whatever - and loses its clearity.

The only option i see now is #2. The question is, will it help?

Maybe, just maybe, this window can be replaced by a hard plastic window, which doesn't age like that.

(I got some photos, i will upload them later)

Cheers
Per

Once you have the 3910 set up how often are you going to actually look at the display? Most of the stuff that you need to see you will view on screen not on the display.

I think you are putting a lot of effort into something that is going to give you little in return.

John, you're right.

I started out hoping that it was an easy task to complete. But now, as you pointed out, the price is too high, for such a little effect.

I will drop this - and get used to it.

Thanks
Per

Hi
I bought the dvd 3910 dvd playaer some years ago. I used it to listen to some music and watch through SCART. (Europe) and never used it with HDMI... I did not have a TV with HDMI connectors.

To day I bought the Philips 9706K TV and tempt to conenct the DVD 9310 to it with a HDMI connector.

The 3910 is blocked as I plug the HDMI cable into it.
1) I turned off the DVD3910
2) I pluged the cable
3) I turned on
=> it show the name DVD3910
then LOADING a while...and nothing happen.
The remotecontrol is disabled => I can press anything, Nothing happen.

If I unplug the HDMI cable and turn it on I can watch DVD through SCART connector.
But it seems the DVDplayer does not recognize something as soon the HDMI cable is plugged.
The screen shows HDMI and 1080i but always LOADING ...
Tested without a DVD inside => same pb.

I tempt to see the software version with some tips :
it's ESS 6609-5

I do not know if it's an hardware pb or if an upgrade of the software could solve something.
Anybody could hep me ?
Thanks in advance

Regards

Try contacting Denon rep for your region.
For newer firmwares you can check also the Denon EU site, you will have to input your unit serial number.

i own a Philips-DVP3336X/94 and i have fallen in love with it and my speakers Energy Take Classic 5.1 ..................

I have a 3910 in my system as I value it equally as a great CD player in addition to a superb dvd player. No need to upgrade however as blu-ray is just too tempting

If you want BluRay and your receiver accepts HDMI, keep your 3910 for CDs and get an inexpensive bluray player. I did!

I've had my 3910 since they first came out, and value it as a great multi-disc player. Have had no problems with mine at all. I upgraded my Denon-link cable to a shielded cat5 and noticed a slight improvement at the time, but then I had an absolute mess of wiring behind my units at the time, so who knows what was going on.

I haven't really been all that tempted to go to blu-ray, somewhat due to the number of discs available, and also because I don't trust the manufacturers to properly master the new discs as well as they should. Same thing occurred with standard dvd's. Rarely do you see ones that take full advantage of the medium, so they don't look or sound nearly as good as they should. But those that do are so good I just don't see the need to upgrade, especially regarding the sound differences, which I value more so than the video ones. Plus most of the real audio differences you end up hearing are due mostly to the differences in mastering.

Additionally, I don't think I could settle for just adding a mediocre blu-ray player. I'd want to put in a top end one comparable to the 3910 as a multi-disc player, and I just can't justify the cost so far, or trying to fit it into an already crowded audio-video console. Maybe after I get rid of my cassette deck, and one of my vcr's, lol.

I would disagree with you about BluRay mastering. There are plenty of excellent ones. You can use reviews here on AVS, on dvdverdict.com, dvdbeaver.com, and elsewhere for descriptions and screenshots.

Concerning your statement "most of the real audio differences you end up hearing are due mostly to the differences in mastering," how do you know that? And whether the improved audio on a BluRay vs. a DVD is due to mastering differences or lossless compression of the audio, does it matter if you can hear the difference.

Now, concerning your statement about not wanting a "mediocre" BluRay player, if you are using a digital connection from your 3910 to your receiver, you will get the same audio quality on your CDs from a BluRay player (even a cheapie) as you do from the 3910. I have two BluRay Players, each of which sold for <$200, and I am getting identical audio quality on CDs over HDMI as I do from the 3910 (which had MSRP $1500) via DenonLink. Oh, and one of the BluRay players (Samsung) has the unadvertised ability to play DVD-As, and they sound the same as they do on the 3910. Finally, either of these relatively low-cost players does a better job upsampling DVDs than the 3910 does.

Time marches on, and so does technology. The 3910 was a top player in its day, but it is in no way superior to the current $500 Oppo model, which also handles BluRays and other music/video file formats that the 3910 doesn't.

I'm not saying there are not any decent blu-ray masterings out there. In fact I would expect most of the early ones to be fairly decent, especially considering that they have to get people to want to switch from their old dvd players in order to really get blu-ray to take off, which will take some work. The original dvd masterings were relatively decent as well. However, once a format gets accepted it will be typical for quality to fall off. Look at hd-tv for example. How many channels actually broadcast true hi-def anymore, except for directly over the air, and they won't even tell you that they have lowered the broadcast quality. In fact they even go out of their way to block the ability to check what the transmission rate is.

You take that into consideration, plus the number of current titles available on blu-ray, and how long it will be before they have a truly substantial library, and it just makes it harder to see the value in switching right now, at least as long as my 3910 is still operating.

As far as audible audio mastering differences, there have been numerous comparisons already published in several well respected publications. The few improvements that were heard were typically not that substantial, which goes to show how well compression mastering techniques have come. In some cases the sound actually got worse, which goes to show how much mastering abilities can have a role in the final product, despite the hardware/software changes/improvements.

Your argument regarding equal quality cd playback on cheaper machines could go on forever, so I am not going to belabor it much. I will only say this, what you hear and think are equal, is unlikely to be what I hear and think are equal. You seem to be of the camp that really thinks digital is digital, no matter the source and transmission differences. I strongly disagree. Yes, equipment has come a long ways, but I would hardly compare the average cheap blu-ray player to having the same digital audio quality as the 3910. There is so much more to audio/video quality than the processors that might have the same or different specifications. And then you have to take into account the receiver/processor as well. Parts is not parts, so to speak.

Wow, one blu-ray player that touts the ability to play dvd-a, great. What about all the sacds that I also have? Sorry, but the 3910 just does a lot more more for me than any blu-ray player can (DD, DTS, dvd-a, sacd, dvd-video, cd, cd-r, cd-rw, etc.).

Yes, the Oppo is a nice unit, but I would not rate it above the 3910, except for it's ability to play a very limited number of different formats, none of which interest me at this time. Things are still going to have to change a bit before I will bother to add a blu-ray player, and even then I will most likely be hanging onto the 3910 for the number of formats that a blu-ray may never be capable of handling.

I have both the Denon and an Oppo blu-ray (BDP-83) in my system. I use the Oppo for all movies, both blu-ray obviously and also DVD's for its better upconversion. However I use the Denon when listening to audio-only disks (CD, DVD-Audio and SACD) and watching DVD concerts, of which I have quite a few. Main reason is that I have the Oppo connected to 7.1 analog to an older receiver (Denon 3805) and the 3910 is via Denon Link. I enjoy getting sound out of the surround rear speakers when playing DVD-A's, SACD's and DVD concerts which the Oppo (connected via analog) does not provide.

P.S. Not relevant to the discussion, but I also employ a high quality, 3 channel amp that provides power to the 3 front channels, and that greatly improves the SQ irrespective of whether I'm playing the Denon or the Oppo!

Hi All,

Just picked up a DVD-3910 for what I think was a good price. I'm looking forward to receiving the unit later this week and am happy to see there's an active owners thread here.

I have a couple of questions to start:
1) I noticed (from the pictures of the unit since I don't have it yet) that it appears to have a serial number sticker placed on top of the original serial #. It starts with 302xxxxxxx, but when I plug this number into Denon's website to download FW, it says it's not a valid product/serial combination. Is the sticker an indication of a refurb? Anyone else have a serial# starting with 302?

2). Do any reputable places still mod these? Wish SACDmods was still around, but they're not. Would only be looking to spend $200-400, so not interested in spending $1000 or more.

Thanks all!

I have just purchased a used 3910 that will be used for DVD-A, SACD & CD discs via DL3 with a Denon AVR4311. I have setup the 4311 and 3910 for DL3 and audio seems to be playing correctly. I would like to get the video to display so that I can tweak setup menu on the 3910 and to be able to go to disc menu to select playlist, etc. I have atried with just the DL3 cable connected to 3910/4311 and in conjunction with a HDMI cable. Can't seem to get it to work, although if I turn off hdmi control at 4311 and turn hdmi on at 3910 I get video, but then audio is not transmitted via DL3, but instead is downsampled to PCM and sent via hdmi. Any suggestions? I suppose I could just use an s-video cable, but was really hoping to get it setup with DL3 only.

Unfortunately, I don't have mine set up at the moment to check the configuration that I had, but I used DL3 and DVI-HDMI cables with no issues at all. That was with a 4806 and 3910.

I have connected the DVD-2910 and AVR-3805 with DLIII and HDMI from DVD directly to TV. I get DSD on receiver (not downsampled or converted).
I think in the DVD menu you have one setting for so-called "Audio mode".

My 3910 stopped reading cd's a while back. It still read any SACD I put in it most of the DVD's I put in it. If it was along DVD it would make a lot of noise while trying to read the disc, and while it played the disc. Any way afetr reading this thread I tried to replace the laser with a new HOP-1200S. Now the player reads all CD's but no DVD's. Any idea what I did wrong? Had a little trouble with removing the solder blobs. Maybe I didn't get one of them, although I went back and tried them both again but still have the same results. I wanted my player to play both like it's supposed to. Actually the playing of the SACD's and the DVD Audio's are the most important to me, but still. What do you think I should do? Can you tell me which solder blob is for the DVD section? Is there a chance I might have ruined the laser somehow? Someone please help !!!

Blopez,

If you did, the lasers are readily available (look for HOP-1200S on ebay) relatively inexpensive, and relatively easy to replace (no soldering - just a tedious bit of dissasembly.)

I finally found the images I took of my laser replacement process and am in the work of labeling them right now. After 2 years I should finally be able to post these -- because these are still very capable players!!!
If you have any direct questions on the laser replacement process though, go ahead and email me at (michi (at) superaudiocenter (dot) com).

First steps of laser replacement on 2910/3910/5910.

I'm not done labeling these yet so consider this "PART 1."

... Part 2 will follow where it gets into actually getting the laser off of the rails and putitng it back on.

Overview


Getting the tray bezel off and prepping for faceplate removal


Removing the faceplate part 1


Removing the faceplate part 2


Removing the disc tray to access the laser


Prepping and disconnecting the drive to prepare to remove the Traverse Mechanism



... Part 2 will follow, as I have to label stuff a bit more meticulously and I have been just completely swamped (as some people writing do know)... Hopefully this will give folks at least an idea of what this takes. It's tedious but not impossible for a layperson to do.

More to follow, as soon as I have time to mark up the images. I really am sorry for how long this has taken as I just have had a lot going on, and this ends up falling to back-burner a lot.

IF YOU DO wish to go further than this on your own right now, basically you have to

1) Remove the drive, with four screws that are in deep holes in the plastic black carrier,

2) Remove the ribbon cable to the 'motor board' from the bottom of the drive -- carefully,

3) Lift out the ribbon cable going to the laser mechanism - extra carefully,

4) remove the screws in the rubber 'shock absorbers' on all 4 points of the traverse mechanism BEING CAREFUL NOT TO LOSE THE SPRINGS/RUBBER INSERTS. These tend to go flying. So be careful there, too;

6) Remove the two screw at the far end of the rails, the 'plate' that holds the rails in, and slide the laser mechanism off,

7) **DESOLDER THE STATIC PROTECTION BLOB(s) FROM YOUR NEW LASER** ... This is where I really have to show pictures, but if you're adventurous you can find it yourself, some of the mechanisms have two 'blobs' (one for the IR/CD laser, the other for the RED/DVD laser), some have one (which shorts both lasers to ground); I use a "solder sucker" for this, the laser WILL NOT WORK unless these protection blobs are resoldered!!!

8) Slide the new laser mechanism on,

9) Replace the rail retainer plate,

10) Screw the traverse mechansim back onto the drive, making sure to replace and not lose the rubber bushings/springs,

11) Reattach the ribbon cables from the motor board and laser board,

12) Reattach the ribbon cables going to the drive from the motherboard BEFORE SECURING THE DRIVE (trust me, it's easier this way)

13) Resecure the drive with its four screws,

... then follow the disassembly steps in reverse

I've done about 8 of these now; occasionally the new laser is dead, but that's mostly been with the ultra-cheap "plastic" new ones; I try to stay with the HOP-1200S if available as it seems to be more reliable than the HOP-11xx ones.

Feel free to email me with any questions, though.
Edited by michidragon - 10/4/12 at 1:33pm

Hi!

Just joined and this is my first post. I need to ask some advice rgarding this player.

I've been offered a 5yr old unit, was told its in mint condition and very seldom used. I will be using it mainly for dvda/ sacd play. Any risk i should consider and is it worth the £150 the seller is asking for? Or should is there any alternative player out there.

Hoping for your assistance.

Regards

A few people have reported failure of the laser unit, but I haven't seen many postings of this nature--so I suspect these are exceptions. I bought mine a few months after it came on the market in the USA and it still works flawlessly with every disc it plays. Make sure the one you're buying works fine. I can't comment on whether the asking price is fair.

The 3910 will not transmit SACD or DVD-A over HDMI--your choices are either the 6-channel analog outputs or (to compatible Denon receivers) DenonLink 3. The sound quality is great!
But you should be aware that the version of DenonLink (which is the 3rd edition) on this machine is not compatible with DenonLink HD on the latest Denon receivers.

As a video player, I find that it doesn't upsample DVDs nearly as well as the two BluRay players I own, each of which cost 1/10 of what the 3910 did when new. But you want it for high-resolution audio, so this won't be an issue for you.

I'd say it would come down to the DL3 connection to make it worth it. Mine sounds amazing and DVD's look better than on my Sammy BR though my TV will only do 1080i. Hi-rez music is a thing of beauty. I've had the laser assembly replaced locally and next time will do it myself as per the directions here, unless I happen to come across something better like a DBT-3313UDCI /Avr-4520.

^^^

The 5.1 analog sound is also excellent if you don't have a DL3-compatible Denon receiver. Bass management is decent here, too, including both a choice of crossover points and distance settings.

The 3910 also and importantly provides the SACD and DVD-A bitstream through its Firewire / IEEE 1394 connectors. This is a far more universal (becoming more difficult to find) format that is compatible with audio, video and computer hardware. It is at least as good as DL3 in terms of sound quality, and better in some technical aspects. Well worth the trouble to investigate.