CurtPalme.com Home Theater Forum

[draganm]

I have been waiting for the new crop of HD-DVD players to come out and I have not been disappointed. The new top of the line HD-A35 with 1080P, 6-channel Analog out, built in Ethernet port, and every other bell and whistle is already listing for only $445. Wait a few few eeeks for Thanksgiving and I bet it pops up for $399.

http://www.compsource.com/ttechnote.asp?part_no=HDA35&vid=446&src=F

[paw]

Dragan
I've been meaning to call you on this. The A35 is using a scaling chip from DVDO (Anchor Bay). From talking to one Toshiba rep, the HD XA2 is still the flagship model. I've seen the XA2 for $550 on One Call and a few other places. The XA2 uses the Silicon Optix Reon-VX HQV chip. Is this better, worst or the same as the DVDO chip in the A35? I don't know.

When reading older reviews on the XA2 I did find that it downconverts normal Dolby Digital to a 640kbs. I don't know if this has been resolved with a firmware upgrade. This wouldn't be an issue with Dolby TrueHD via the analog outputs.

Here's some info from Josh@DVDO on AVS

"To be perfectly clear, the Oppo DV-983H uses Anchor Bay for deinterlacing (ABT102) and scaling (ABT1018). There are devices like the Toshiba HD-A20/A30/A35 that use Anchor Bay for scaling only. The main reason that more manufacturers don't uses Anchor Bay's deinterlacing is that the ABT102 is an FPGA implementation of these algorithms (versus an ASIC) which costs more than most manufacturers want to spend."

Here's a tidbit from Mark Seaton on AV123 about Dolby TrueHD

"I've been getting a little deeper into this with Art Sonneborn's system. My initial impressions are that the differences are akin to another step of what I've observed in standard DVD releases vs. SuperBit versions. Basically the compression gets out of the way a little better. That said, the higher res audio formats are NOT the bottleneck in most home theater systems. The setup and EQ changes I recently made to Art's system when adding the Dolby Lake Processor make about 10-100x more significant an improvement to the sonic experience.

Personally I hate using the analog outputs from the players. The outputs have been way out of wack on some players with test tones not going to the right speakers and levels all out of whack with very limited bass management and speaker level & distance settings. More importantly, I loath the idea of having to optimize the system in more than one location!"

I've heard conflicting info on the continued availability of the XA2. One Toshiba person said it's still the flagship and will be continued. Another said it will likely be replaced with the A35.

[WTS]

I have a XA2, I find it to be a great machine in every respect. And it seems to be built very well. I've heard the same that's it the flagship of the lineup and will be for some time, but who knows that could change overnight.

[draganm]

Aubrey just had to burst my bubble It seems like the more you learn about a new technology the less happy you're bound to be.
I was not aware of problems with the analog outs, I thought it sounded really good from the HD-D1 and my only complaint was the center channel was not as loud as the mains but that wasn't too suprising as all the levels were dialed in to the old digital co-ax input from my HTPC Audio card. I am surprised to hear of test tones going to the wrong speaker but that sounds like a warranty issue.
I also don't know what to think about Anchor Bay versus Silicon Optix processing? I guess we'll have to wait and see for a professional review from a reputable hi-fi rag to find out. Hopefully, I can find a review on a magazine rack somewhere before plopping down my hard earned dough. To me though, the clincher is price especially since whatever player I buy will not play the other 120 movies out there from Sony. I want to spend less than $400. at this time and only more than that if it's a universal player.

[draganm]

well I just googled the new HD-A35 1080p player and it's already showing up for $429., anyone tried this puppy yet? If so, please tell me how it's the gretaest thing since sliced bread.