Denon DVD-2930CI Media Compatibility Issues

Hmm...this concerns me as I just ordered one.

Anyone else able to test burned media?

I've been pretty busy, but I'll try to get some burned discs into the player on Sunday or Monday...

shane

Usually problems like the one you describe are due to the specific burner being used. You might try and different DVD writer and see if you still have problems. Some players are very sensitive to certain write errors, that most players can handle just fine.

Mine will be here on Tuesday. One of the first things I'll do is check a DVD-R backup copy of Corpse' Bride and report back.

I received mine today. I've been like a kid waiting for Christmas morning waiting on this to get here.

I can confirm on mine: Burned media does NOT play or plays with stutters and skipping.

This is a deal killer for me.

Additionally, the player does not load a single DVD-A I've thrown at it.

And with SACD, the player only about 10% of the time recognizes Hybrid SACD's as SACD. Most of the time it defaults to CD after "loading" for a good 30-40 seconds.

Load times are horrendous, even the original DVD's themselves are taking forever to load.

*edit" I think I got a bad unit. Sent it back *

-DD

thats why I sold my 2910

I'm a little surprised that the 2930 is just as bad with burned media as older Denons.

I have a DVD-R that plays fine on all my other DVD players, but choked the brand new 5910 I bought, which caused me to return the 5910.

I tried the same DVD-R in a LOT of other players and had the following experience:

Denon DVD-5910: Failed
Denon DVD-3910: Failed
Denon DVD-2910: Failed
Denon DVD-1730: Success
All Sony: Success
All Pioneer: Success
All Panasonic: Success
Samsung BD-P1000 Blu-Ray: Success
Toshiba HD-DVD HD-A1: Failed
Toshiba HD-DVD HD-XA1: Failed

Well... I'm glad to say that we must have very different machines.

So far I have played numerous DVD-R and DVD+R's without any error or problem.
I have also played several SACD and DVD-A's, Hybrids... whatever, also with no errors whatsoever.

I think the 2930 is a great machine. I hope that I continue to think so. It produces a startling beautiful image and the sound is brilliant.

Some functions are not super speedy, but never longer than a couple seconds wait for anything. I have not yet seen a layer change.

Currently, I rate it a solid 9.5!
Worth every penny.

cheers, and good luck to you all.

shane

Maybe we can tie down the cause a little bit. Or at least better recognize the problems

When was everyone's unit manufactured? Mine says May 2006.

DVD-A's which have failed completely for me are:
Beach Boys Pet Sounds
Beck Sea Change
Porcupine Tree In Absentia (got it to load if changed priority to video but it didn't go too smoothly when selecting the DVD-A sound option from the menu)

SACD's which have failed to find the SACD layer:
Pink Floyd DSOTM
NIN Downward Spiral
Elton John GBYBR

How long does it take a DVD to load? Mine takes 20-30 seconds. My old unit was around 10-15 (and it's 6 years old)
How long does it take a CD to load? Mine takes around 5 to 10 seconds.
How long does it take it to load an SACD as an SACD (when it finds the layer)? Mine takes upwards of 20 seconds.

Burned media on verbatim DVD-R, DVD+R, and some generic DVD-R.
Pictures on a CD played okay.
Haven't tried mp3's or burned CD's.

Anything else we know?

I'm mainly interested in manufacturing dates vs. problems found.

Not to go off topic, but how does the 1730 perform for picture quality given it's a budget unit? I've heard from a couple of people it's pretty good.

I have a Ridatek (sp?) DVD+R that did, in fact, give me issues on my 2930ci. This has not happened with any other player. It's possible there could have been a spec of dust or something on it, I'm not sure (room was dark). I don't have many back-up DVDs, so fortunately it's not an issue to me.

I do think a firmware update is needed to allow faster navigation of menus on movie discs. Even my Denon 2900 is faster.

Also, the player clips black and white levels unless +1 and -1 are selected in the picture setting for brightness and contrast - this is with HDMI YCbCr upscaled to 1080i. IMO clipping should not occur, period. Maybe a firmware update could fix this too.

I have played Maxell, TDK, Sony and Memorex brands of DVD-+R's. No issues. These have mostly been burned on a Toshiba stand-alone, but many have been burned on my computer.

SACD's include... Layla, DSOTM, Pictures at Exhibition, several Dylan.
DVD-A's include Krall, Fagen, Brown.

I've also played many compilation cd's with MP3's packed into them, both on straight play and random.

At 480p through either component or HDMI I have seen no evidence of crushed whites or blacks. BTB is transfered perfectly and adjusting for it with either the black control or the brightness does not have adverse effects (though I don't really understand the seemingly redundant adjustment control).

shane

No... I've played these for no longer than 5 minutes. I have skipped chapters, FF & RW in all speeds, paused, slo-mo, etc... but have not played them for that long.

I will try this tonite.

shane

Just wanted to clarify:

When I say it doesn't find the SACD layers on SACD's, I mean it doesn't even know they're there. The display shows that it is reading a CD (left hand side of the display). I can cycle through SACD priorities: MULTI, STEREO, CD, but it does not actually change anything because it thinks it's playing a CD.

On the rare occasion that it does find the SACD layers, the display shows SACD (left hand side of the display) and I can cycle through the options for SACD: MULTI, STEREO, CD. Each cycle stops the disk and changes the layer.

Also, I have the setup screen set to default to AUDIO on DVD's (rather than video). It's setup that way because that's the way the unit knows to get the high-res tracks and not the dolby digital ones. Many DVD-A's don't have an option in the DVD-V menu to select DVD-A tracks. That's why that option is there and that's the way it should be setup for DVD-A users.

Just some clarifications.

How is the 480i HDMI performance on this machine?
Anybody using a VP with it?

Same settings here. Left-hand display readout states SACD when appropriate, and multi-channel output has been confirmed.

shane

With the help I've received here from you guys and with more experimenting with the player last night, I have concluded that my issues are a result of my having a BAD UNIT. It is obviously damaged in some way.

So, exchange it I will do as soon as I get a RA#.

I got it to load Beck Guero DVD-A last night ONE TIME (all subsequent attempts failed). It worked okay for a little while then started showing green-static type blotches over the artowork on the display. When I hit "skip" it froze. Had to power completely off (not standby) and back on to get the disk out. Then, it wouldn't load it anymore.

SACD's are still almost NEVER loading. I have more success with Elton John SACD than the others, but it's still not right.

So, with the SACD issues that no one else is having, and with the DVD-Audio disks completely not loading, which no one else is having, I have determined I have a faulty unit and will be exchanging it for another.

Thanks for the help, guys.

Now, we need to compile a list of media which will and will not work with this player.

Last night I was only able to play two discs for extended periods.
1) Maxell DVD-R recorded at 1x on Toshiba stand alone unit off TiVo source.
2) CompUsa brand DVD-R. Same recording specs.

No errors after 45 and 50 minutes of play respectively. After extended play I ran it through the various commands, skip forward and back, stop, pause, slo mo f & r, etc. No errors, no extreme MB or other artifacting.

I will do more testing this weekend, but I sincerely hope I get the same results.

shane

Ps... Dustin, glad you decided to return/exchange your player.

Those of you with issues after long periods of time, how are your players installed?

I've noticed the Denons (especially high end ones like the 5910) throw off a bit of heat, so if they're installed in fairly tight quarters about 30 minutes might be long enough for them to accumulate enough heat to misbehave...

May 2006...
Also tonight I did some more long-play tests.
Some off-brand burned at 1x on the Toshiba - no errors.
Maxell and TDK both duped off RW discs on my computer at 4 and 8x - no errors.

This was after at least 50 minutes of straight play. Then torturous button-pushing! FF, REW, skip, slow mo, etc. No issues.

shane

Just as an aside, the "failure" I referred to in my "tests" were seeking to chapters 6 - 9 on a burned disk, about 30 - 50 minutes in.

Did you only see the issue when you played the disc for 30 minutes as opposed to jumped 30 minutes in?

Just looking for another data point.