Ive just been down to my local sony to see the new sony blu ray player and the guy in the shop tells me the only hardware difference between the two is in the audio department! so as id be bitstreaming the audio to my amp is it worth the extra outlay for the 550? I was prepared too spend the xtra becouse i asumed the 550 would be a better upscaler mmmmmmm
sony 350 vs sony 550
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Gerrardasnails
Well-known member
garethwd:Ive just been down to my local sony to see the new sony blu ray player and the guy in the shop tells me the only hardware difference between the two is in the audio department! so as id be bitstreaming the audio to my amp is it worth the extra outlay for the 550? I was prepared too spend the xtra becouse i asumed the 550 would be a better upscaler mmmmmmm
I would take more notice of the reviewers on here Gareth. The guys at Sony are often clueless - no offence to the guy who posts on here with the 740s! I have called my local one to discuss the 2400es and they had no clue what I was on about. It seems that most go on the spec that they have in front of them.
I would take more notice of the reviewers on here Gareth. The guys at Sony are often clueless - no offence to the guy who posts on here with the 740s! I have called my local one to discuss the 2400es and they had no clue what I was on about. It seems that most go on the spec that they have in front of them.
Your right about them being clueless! the players in in the store were profile 2.2. ermm
So is the 550 a better dvd player then as the review just kinda states that its quite a good upscaler but there is no point of reference, i assume the yardstick is other blu ray players as opposed to dedicated DVD spinners???
Oh i love buying new toys but stuff like this you generally cant demo arrrggg
So is the 550 a better dvd player then as the review just kinda states that its quite a good upscaler but there is no point of reference, i assume the yardstick is other blu ray players as opposed to dedicated DVD spinners???
Oh i love buying new toys but stuff like this you generally cant demo arrrggg
Gerrardasnails
Well-known member
garethwd:Your right about them being clueless! the players in in the store were profile 2.2. ermm
So is the 550 a better dvd player then as the review just kinda states that its quite a good upscaler but there is no point of reference, i assume the yardstick is other blu ray players as opposed to dedicated DVD spinners???
Oh i love buying new toys but stuff like this you generally cant demo arrrggg
Well, you've got the same screen as me and I think it upscales dvds brilliantly. I have to admit though that I am so impressed with the BD picture, I'm only watching them at the moment. I would imagine you would do the same so if the dvd playback on the 550 is a tad worse than your Denon, I reckon you could live with it.
So is the 550 a better dvd player then as the review just kinda states that its quite a good upscaler but there is no point of reference, i assume the yardstick is other blu ray players as opposed to dedicated DVD spinners???
Oh i love buying new toys but stuff like this you generally cant demo arrrggg
Well, you've got the same screen as me and I think it upscales dvds brilliantly. I have to admit though that I am so impressed with the BD picture, I'm only watching them at the moment. I would imagine you would do the same so if the dvd playback on the 550 is a tad worse than your Denon, I reckon you could live with it.
Hi garethwd,
the differences between the 350 and 550 are:
onboard decoding of all HD audio formats to LPCM
multi-channel analogue outputs
backlit remote control
ÿProfile 2.0 out of the box
ÿÿ- I hope this clears things upÿ
the differences between the 350 and 550 are:
onboard decoding of all HD audio formats to LPCM
multi-channel analogue outputs
backlit remote control
ÿProfile 2.0 out of the box
ÿÿ- I hope this clears things upÿ
Gerrardasnails
Well-known member
Andy Madden:
Hi garethwd,
the differences between the 350 and 550 are:
onboard decoding of all HD audio formats to LPCM
multi-channel analogue outputs
backlit remote control
ÿProfile 2.0 out of the box
ÿÿ- I hope this clears things upÿ
At the end of the day I am really over the moon with my S550. However, for once, I am a little disappointed with the reviewing of the four BD players (Pana and Sony recent models). From reading the reviews it isn't evident that the junior and senior models from both Sony and Panasonic offer the same quality in BD playback and upscaled dvd playback. I remember reading recently that Claire ranked them overall, 1. Pana 55, 2. Sony S550, 3. Pana 35, 4. Sony S350. I know that the picture is not the only quality that is rated in the reviews but, if the Pana 35 and 55 are identical in picture quality and so are the Sonys, I think it should be at least mentioned that this is the case. Especially when the Pana 55 review said, "For
Sublime Blu-ray images; an excellent DVD upscaler" and the 35, "Scintillating Blu-ray playback; good DVD replay". One is an excellent upscaler for a £400 machine and the other is good at £300 - even though we are now led to believe they are as good as each other?
Anyway, a small mention - I am a huge fan of the mag and website as it should be obvious when you see the amount of posts I have offered. I don't want to annoy anyone, I just thought I should have my say. I know that one of the team will make me look fairly silly, fairly soon but hey ho.
Hi garethwd,
the differences between the 350 and 550 are:
onboard decoding of all HD audio formats to LPCM
multi-channel analogue outputs
backlit remote control
ÿProfile 2.0 out of the box
ÿÿ- I hope this clears things upÿ
At the end of the day I am really over the moon with my S550. However, for once, I am a little disappointed with the reviewing of the four BD players (Pana and Sony recent models). From reading the reviews it isn't evident that the junior and senior models from both Sony and Panasonic offer the same quality in BD playback and upscaled dvd playback. I remember reading recently that Claire ranked them overall, 1. Pana 55, 2. Sony S550, 3. Pana 35, 4. Sony S350. I know that the picture is not the only quality that is rated in the reviews but, if the Pana 35 and 55 are identical in picture quality and so are the Sonys, I think it should be at least mentioned that this is the case. Especially when the Pana 55 review said, "For
Sublime Blu-ray images; an excellent DVD upscaler" and the 35, "Scintillating Blu-ray playback; good DVD replay". One is an excellent upscaler for a £400 machine and the other is good at £300 - even though we are now led to believe they are as good as each other?
Anyway, a small mention - I am a huge fan of the mag and website as it should be obvious when you see the amount of posts I have offered. I don't want to annoy anyone, I just thought I should have my say. I know that one of the team will make me look fairly silly, fairly soon but hey ho.
Ive been looking into this! the pana 55 has the same silicon as the 35 but is running a slightly different software package! so there may be a differnce in pic quality but the sony's silicon on the video side is identical in the 550 and the 350! the only difference is in the audio.
Just to annoy me, the S550 is down to £225 delivered now, only a week and a bit after I got mine for £50 more
I think sometimes we're all guilty of over analysing our equipment and going a bit spec comparison mad to the point where we're almost continually reviewing our system rather than just watching, listening and enjoying it.
I bought the BDP-S350 last week and have watched two films on it now (Die Hard 4 & 21). I've been gobsmacked at how good the picture and sound quality are through my Yamaha RX-V1800, Sony LCD & KEF 3005's. I've actually sat smirking my way through each of these 2 films to the point where my cheeks hurt - just purely because of the picture and sound quality on offer in my living room!
At £179 delivered with Batman Begins & Casino Royale chucked in for free from Sony - its a great deal. In terms of comparison I don't think you should worry - all 4 got rave reviews and I suspect that you can't really go wrong with any of them. It just depends on whether certain features and connections are more important to you than others, which is ultimately guided by the other components in your system and on how flush you're feeling at the time of purchase to gain what at best will be minor improvements in picture & sound.
My advice is thus. Stop worrying about it and just sit back in your sofa, turn off the mobile, open up a cold one and start enjoying the fruits of your labours. Let the smirking begin!
I bought the BDP-S350 last week and have watched two films on it now (Die Hard 4 & 21). I've been gobsmacked at how good the picture and sound quality are through my Yamaha RX-V1800, Sony LCD & KEF 3005's. I've actually sat smirking my way through each of these 2 films to the point where my cheeks hurt - just purely because of the picture and sound quality on offer in my living room!
At £179 delivered with Batman Begins & Casino Royale chucked in for free from Sony - its a great deal. In terms of comparison I don't think you should worry - all 4 got rave reviews and I suspect that you can't really go wrong with any of them. It just depends on whether certain features and connections are more important to you than others, which is ultimately guided by the other components in your system and on how flush you're feeling at the time of purchase to gain what at best will be minor improvements in picture & sound.
My advice is thus. Stop worrying about it and just sit back in your sofa, turn off the mobile, open up a cold one and start enjoying the fruits of your labours. Let the smirking begin!
I have two questions about particularly the S550:
ÿ
1. Does it play back DVD+R Dual Layer? I can't find a definite answer in the specs, has anyone tried?
2. When stopping DVD-playback and pressing play again, does it resume the DVD? I know it's not possible to resume Blu-Ray discs but am wondering about DVDs.ÿ
ÿ
1. Does it play back DVD+R Dual Layer? I can't find a definite answer in the specs, has anyone tried?
2. When stopping DVD-playback and pressing play again, does it resume the DVD? I know it's not possible to resume Blu-Ray discs but am wondering about DVDs.ÿ
Gerrardasnails
Well-known member
Mattie:
I have two questions about particularly the S550:
ÿ
1. Does it play back DVD+R Dual Layer? I can't find a definite answer in the specs, has anyone tried?
2. When stopping DVD-playback and pressing play again, does it resume the DVD? I know it's not possible to resume Blu-Ray discs but am wondering about DVDs.ÿ
DL - yes for sure - I have.
I'm pretty sure your other question is a yes too.
I have two questions about particularly the S550:
ÿ
1. Does it play back DVD+R Dual Layer? I can't find a definite answer in the specs, has anyone tried?
2. When stopping DVD-playback and pressing play again, does it resume the DVD? I know it's not possible to resume Blu-Ray discs but am wondering about DVDs.ÿ
DL - yes for sure - I have.
I'm pretty sure your other question is a yes too.
Hmm, as I keep on reading about this player (S550) questions are coming in. American users are reporting that the player will not play PAL DVDs regardless of the region code issue. Does that mean that European players will not play NTSC DVDs even if they are Region 0?
Good to hear, that did sound strange. Did you have to get it hacked in order to work with region 1 DVDs?
I hacked it myself with a remote hack, Its a bit of a pain to do as you need a kameloen allforone remote + the sony one! But it works ;-)
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