Is the A30 worth getting

[Billbofet]

Dudes,

I am thinking of getting an A30 for around $80-90.

Just from going through these threads there seem to be issues with that particular model. I currently have a 360 add-on and an A2, but I'm looking for both a backup player and 1080p for my eventual projector upgrade.

I also read reviews on it stating the 1080p/60 is weaksauce. Has this since been fixed with firmware updates? My 720p projector can accept 1080p/60, but not 1080p/24.

Thanks in advance.

[Simón Bolívar]

I love mine; but, I wouldn't pay too much.

[bettzysdaddy]

I had mine for 2 years and was a great player. I've never had a problem with 1080/60 as I've left that setting on regardless of which TV I used it on. DVD upconversion is good. The reason I sold mine was because I wanted something that could bitstream HD audio because I'm planning on getting an A/V receiver that decodes DTS HD and Dolby TrueHD.

Once I updated to firmware 3.0 it was able to do 1080/24, and 4.0 addressed some other things I never noticed.

[Rich86]

I have had and been using my A30 since December 2007. It has been excellent. I leave video set at "up to 1080p/24", but since my 46" Sharp 1080p LCD can't due 24fps, the player backs off to 1080P/60. I have never seen any video issues with that setting on my TV. I have had firmware 4.0 loaded ever since it came out. I experienced 1 problem with the title "Contract" where the menus would not work correctly fairly early on (firmware 1.3 as I recall). As I recall it was firmware version 3.0 that fixed that for me. I have had no problems with combo discs playing, with the exception of 1 title (I Am Legend) that was defective (the replacement Amazon sent me played perfectly).
All that being said - I would go for an A35 over the A30 if you come across one priced attractively (to get full bitstreaming and analog audio outputs). I actually have a brand new (opened, tested, and boxed back up) A35 stashed away for the future. Enjoy.

[Billbofet]

Thanks for the responses.

One more question: My receiver decodes True HD and DTS MA, etc.., so what is the advantage of wanting a player that bitstreams the high def audio? Is that just so the receiver decodes vs. the player doing the decoding and sending it as linear PCM? If so, is there really a huge difference? Just curious.

I've only had the new receiver about 2 months and I'm blown away by True HD and DTS MA so far. Can it sound even better?!!?

[The Logic]

Yes, bitstreaming allows your receiver to do the decoding instead of the player. As for an audible difference between which piece of equipment is doing the decoding, that's highly subjective. From what I understand, technically there should be no difference but trust me people will come out of the woodwork swearing up and down that there is one and that they can always tell the difference. However general rule of thumb is to let the receiver do the decoding if possible.

Having said that, I have an HD-A35 that bitsteams to my Yamaha receiver and a PS3 that decodes internally and sends a linear PCM signal to the same receiver. I honestly cannot tell a difference in sound quality. Granted I'm also not literally comparing apples to apples as I'm comparing two different formats, but I can at least tell you there isn't a drastic difference.

[bettzysdaddy]

How can you get DTS MA from the A30? From what I've researched, the A30 can't bit stream DTS MA because it's HDMI profile is v1.2

[Billbofet]

Originally Posted by bettzysdaddy

How can you get DTS MA from the A30? From what I've researched, the A30 can't bit stream DTS MA because it's HDMI profile is v1.2

I don't think there are any HD DVD's with DTS MA, are there?

[popmusikdaddy]

You do have only one USA Product "Pan's Labyrinth" and a lot of UK & European Imports like Terminator 2, Running Scared,1408 for example. But a large amount of of concert HD DVD's and Import HD DVD"S feature DTS High Resolution Audio soundtracks. Try setting your HDMI setting to auto on A-30 and see how your receiver decodes those soundtracks. But I would agree that the A-35 model is impressive with decoding Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby TrueHD, DTS Master Audio internally.

[Simón Bolívar]

thanks for the info on Pan's Labyrinth and DTS-MA; Top Gun has a 7 channel; not 7.1, but matrixed DTS-HD track...

[Simón Bolívar]

too bad you didn't point out that PL is in gibberish, er Spanish but, I like Letters from Iwo Jima and it's in Japanese

[JAC35]

I just picked up the A30 today for a hundred bucks no remote. Going to save the HD-A2 as a backup player now. Are saying is the HDA20 cannot stream DTS-HD MA?

[Lone_Gunmen]

Originally Posted by Simón Bolívar

too bad you didn't point out that PL is in gibberish, er Spanish but, I like Letters from Iwo Jima and it's in Japanese

So PL is bad because it's in spanish? wtf?

[Cochise]

Originally Posted by JAC35

I just picked up the A30 today for a hundred bucks no remote. Going to save the HD-A2 as a backup player now. Are saying is the HDA20 cannot stream DTS-HD MA?

No, only the A35, XA2 and Onkyo 805/Integra 8.8 can bitstream DTS Master AUdio & TrueHD. But the A30 is excellent. I've had one in the den as a backup player and moved it to the home theater room as I'm selling off the XA2. Last night I watched Le Pacte des Loups - Oops! Sorry for the "gibberish" (although that's what the cover of my French HD DVD calls the movie), I meant Brotherhood of the Wolf

Anyway, I started watching it on the XA2 for the DTS Master Audio bitstreaming, but one of the quirks of the XA2 is that it wants to feed my projector only 1080i, even with 24fps set to "on" - my pj is 720p native rez, but capable of accepting up to 1080p/24. So I popped it into the A30, which happily outputs 1080p/24 to the pj, and the PQ was noticeably richer and more detailed; the slight drop in audio quality with DTS core as PCM was worth it.

Originally Posted by Lone_Gunmen

So PL is bad because it's in spanish? wtf?

Yeah, Pan's Labyrinth is pure garbage, and I even watch the French Deluxe Edition with Spanish audio and French subtitles as I understand enough of both gibberishes to enjoy the movie.

[crazzeto]

Unless you feel like you want another backup I can't say it's a clearly worth buying an A30 in your situation. I will say the drive door/eject function on the A30's HD DVD drive does seem to be more solid than the A2's though, that's worth mentioning. Other than that you won't get a whole lot of benifit out of having an A30.

I don't think any FW/UP fixed or could fix (who knows) the issue with 1080P@60fps, but really there's no reason to throw your HD DVD into 1080 mode at all.