Tosh HD-XA2 1080p HD DVD - First End User Reports!: USERS ONLY PLEASE! - Page 19

Just get two sets of Component cables to run the 5.1 audio ( about $30-$50). You won't be dissapointed.

Component Cables for Audio?

you really need just 6 RCA type cables, and I found that buying 2 sets of component cables made wire management easier.

Reasoable, custom and high quality..

Blue Jeans MC Audio Cables

Add techflex and it's all "one" cable.

Different movie. Different sound mix. Apples and oranges.

Try comparing the HD DVD to the DVD edition of the same movie.

I have three of these (two 7.1's and one 5.1) and they're great. Unfortunately, I'm probably going to wind up selling them very shortly, as I've come to the conclusion that there is just no satisfactory way to switch multi-channel surround sound using RCA-type cables (I only have one set of 7.1 inputs on my preamp and two high-def audio sources).

PM me if you might be interested in buying one of these cable sets.

Well, I received my XA2 on Saturday.

After taking it out of the box I was pleasantly surprised at how nice the thing looks just sitting there powered off. The construction felt very rigid and sturdy as well.

Picture quality was great; the HDDVD transfer of the film-based source is a superior, high-fidelity transfer (even if some of the film-based source was less than pristine).

Audio was fine, but I am currently using SPDIF untill I can pick up another HDMI cable.

The player operated flawlessly with the five HDDVD titles that I watched this past weekend (Unforgiven, Sahara, MI3, Jarhead, Last Samurai).

Definitely an upgrade from SD DVD, although the SD DVDs that I sampled in it looked better than they have ever looked. Upconversion of SD DVD on my XA2 is better than it was on my Oppo 981, and the Oppo 981 is a very good upconverting player...

Like most Dads, my vision of enjoying the latest in Hi-Def on my HD-XA2 vanished when my 6 year old brought me his copy of Scooby Doo and the Alien Invaders for us to enjoy together...Yikes

I took this opportunity to play with the noise reduction adjustments for the first time and...Wow!

(bear in mind that I've been playing with all sorts of noise reduction systems during a (recently finished) 20 year carreer in retail consumer electronics, remember the NEC DX-1000?)

This system really rocks! All edge noise was gone, images were cleaner. I don't mean "smushy" like most systems do, the image was just clean

Color me impressed

The Reon SD noise filters on the XA2 are the reason I went from an A1 to XA2. Worth every penny for someone who has a medium or larger DVD collection. The filters work, and I'm a little surprised to say that I like the "Egde Enhancement" set to 1 for some of my old soft DVD's.

I'm convinced, I'm ordering an XA2!

you wanna borrow my copy of Scooby Doo and the Alien Invaders?

Absolutely the best a/v device you could add to upgrade any HT system. Enjoy!

-Robert

I bought it, tried it, but couldn't see anything over HDMI, not even SD DVD. The XA2 just refused to play nicely with my Optoma H78 projector no matter what I tried, different cables, with and without the Monoprice 5 x 1 switcher, starting up source and display in different order, you name it, I tried it and I couldn't even get a snowy picture or sparklies.

So I had to return it and I'm presently evaluating both an A2 and an RCA HDV5000 (re-badged A1). The RCA connects immediately but the A2 takes a full 2 minutes to do the handshake each and every time I try, with and without the switcher.

By the way, while the XA2 was in my home, I did get a chance to try HD DVD over component and I've got to say that the XA2 puts out an image over component that rivals the A2's and RCA's image over HDMI.

I only wish it had worked for me. Maybe next projector.

Wayne

did you make sure that the switch on the front was set to "2"?

Oh yes! Trust me. This XA2 just wasn't compatible with my projector. I guess I could have tried another one but I figured the chances of the first one being a bum unit were remote. Oh well. Maybe next generation and XA3?

Wayne

That's not really a surprise. The A1 puts out excellent analog video as well. If the display handles component input competently, any difference is going to be minor, if noticeable, when comparing apples to apples (same resolution, etc).

larry

Wayne, I have one of my A2s connected to the Optoma HD79 and it works perfectly. I know the XA2 would perform as well on the HD79, but of course, I have not tried the HD78. I am very surprised you had any trouble.

-Robert

Robert,

I am loving the XA2.

Jim

Does the XA2 come with an HDMI cable? Or should I plan to source this separately?

...I'm afraid it does'nt...

Hi Robert,

I'm glad to hear that your H79 isn't misbehaving.

I don't know why the XA2 wouldn't work at all over HDMI. It seems each device reacts differently with my projector. I wish the A2 wouldn't take 2 minutes to sync with it. It's kind of weird I think that the HDV 5000 does the handshake better in my setup than the XA2 or A2.

By the way, I don't know if this should matter or not but I'm going HDMI to DVI. Two minute delay with the A2, no delay with the HDV 5000 and no picture at all from the XA2.

If/when you start shipping to Canada, let it be known!

Wayne

Wayne, I love my northern brothers, but Toshiba and most other CE companies do not permit their USA dealers to ship outside of the US.

BTW, I also have my A2 connected to the Optoma HD79 via HDMI-DVI.

-Robert

It's been a week since i brought an XA2 home,

And it's very impressive, i recommend this unit to anyone thinking about hd-dvd,

I originally planned on waiting till summer to see what comes out of the blu-ray camp, and maybe the onkyo hd-dvd player announced, but a customer where i work bought the only one we had, and then brought it back after one night when he couldnt get it working with his projector.

after testing it in the store on variopus displays via hdmi and component, i decided the problem was not with the XA2, So what the heck i took the plunge and have not regreted it, this player is quite amazing.

Right out of the box it impresses, the entire machine is shelled in a beautiful brushed "gun" metal finish, and sports an impressive weight!!, and a beautiful black remote, that is very nicely backlit i might add, to bad i won't be using it, using my harmony 880pro instead..

As for performance, so far i'm blown away, i havent tried hdmi as my pio pro-520 only supports component ( i've ordered an hdmi to component converter on ebay). some of the movies i've tested so far include, the mummy, king kong, the hulk, superman returns, casino, serenity, fear and loathing in las vegas, batman begins. All have played flawlessly and have never looked better..load times are reasonable and the fast forward and rewind are acceptable, when you hit FF it pauses for a sec then clunkily forwards ahead, oh well.

One main reason I decided to go ahead and buy one was it seems pretty future proof, it has hdmi 1.3, supports deep color, and dolby true HD.

But I do have one question and maybe someone can answer it, the manual says it only supports DTS core streams and not DTS-HD loseless, BUT if in the future if i buy an A/V reciever that decodes DTS-HD loseless and the fact that it's equipped with HDMI 1.3, will i be able to pass the DTS-HD stream to my amp for external decoding.?

also the only glitch i've noticed, and i don't think it can even be considered a glitch, maybe someone else can report seeing this, when i first turn it on, the unit says WELCOME on its display, but on the tv screen i see a weird bar going down the middle of the screen for about 15 seconds then it disapears and the hd-dvd logo appears, thats it?, a little weird.

Over all i love my new XA2, especially that cool blue light under the unit!!!, owners will know what i'm talking about.

Yes I too love my XA2 it is a wonderful player! Great for SD DVDs as well

Is it HDCP compliant?

I think it should be red

GARY

In the description, it says it completely bypasses hdcp. i read the guys feedback for that product and it seems to work like a charm based on the feedback from past customers

One push on the display button and the blue light is gone. It does make a nice flashlight to tell which side of the combo disc to face up though.

I just upgraded my HD-A1 to an HD-XA2 two days ago. My display is a Samsung HL-S 5687W (56" DLP) that is supposed to accept 1080P input through HDMI (so says the owner's manual). The XA2 is feeding into a Panasonic Digital receiver on HDMI and from there the signal goes HDMI to the Samsung display.

After setting the XA2's resolution to "Up to 1080P" in the Setup Menu, I loaded my first HD DVD for the new player, The Mummy Returns. The movie played flawlessly and the PQ and audio were excellent, however, the indicator light on the XA2 stayed on 1080i throughout the playback.

Yesterday I called Toshiba and asked them about this and they were unable to shed any light on it. The rep that I spoke to didn't seem too knowledgeable, in fact he suggested I upgrade the firmware (hard to do, since there is not a firmware upgrade available for the XA2 yet!).

Last night I watched Brokeback Mountain and had the same experience - played flawlessly, great PQ and audio, but still no 1080p light on the XA2.

Has anyone had the same experience? Does anyone know why the XA2 won't feed the Samsung 1080p?

Thanks in advance!

Perhaps the receiver can't accept/re-send 1080p. Have you tried going directly to the TV?