HD A1 or HD A35?

[Barricade]

I found an HD A1 at a thrift shop for $90, should I get it or should I save up and get an HD A35?

[Centauri]

$90 is way too much for an A1.

[Barricade]

Originally Posted by Centauri

$90 is way too much for an A1.

What is an appropriate price for an A1?

[AOD]

Honestly.....nothing compared to the A35. Get the A35 (IMHO). A1 is slow, clunky, slow, huge, slow, buggy BUT has good DACs.

[chris gerhard]

Definitely get the HD-A35, it will bitstream the advanced audio codecs and outputs 1080/24p. I have had great luck with my HD-A1 and think it was a nice player but it is really slow and very limited.

Chris

[kdigit0l]

I have an A1 and love it - but it's slow, it's clunky, it does not bitstream advanced codecs (but it will decode DD+ and TrueHD internally and output them via 5.1 analog and it sounds glorious), and it has no 1080p output 24 or 60. I'm told that the A35 has a better video processor too, but I can't confirm that. Oh, and the A1 remote is aweful. But an A1 is also a lot cheaper than an A35. You could buy several A1s for the price of 1 A35. If I was shopping for an A1, I would pay $45 - $60 for a mint A1, XA1, or HDV5000.

The A1 fills a nice gap for users (like me) who don't have HDMI on their receivers (or at least HDMI audio capabilities), but want to take advantage of DD+ and TrueHD without buying a new receiver, or sepending a lot on an A35 (or pricier model) that also has 5.1 analog outputs.

In my mind the only A1 shortcoming that I'm upset about that makes me wish for a more capable player is the lack of internal DTS-MA or DTS-HR decoding. Lots of import HD DVDs utilize the advanced DTS codecs. I can only think of 1 domestic HD DVD that uses advance DTS codecs (Pan's Labyrinth - though there are probably a few more), so if your collection is primarily domestic titles, the DTS thing might not be an issue for you. My TV can't handle a 1080p signal, so I don't really care about that. I' ve got a nice universal remote, so I can forgive the aweful remote too. I really don't care about how fast the player boots up, and I rather enjoy the fact that it's built like a tank. The analog audio sounds great.

If money's no object, go for the A35 (or better, XA2, 805, or 8.8). Maybe also consider a BH200, or BD-UP5000).

If you can live with the shortcomings, and are looking for a great bargain, pick up an A1, but don't pay $90 for it. You will find one for less.

[Centauri]

Originally Posted by kdigit0l

In my mind the only A1 shortcoming that I'm upset about that makes me wish for a more capable player is the lack of internal DTS-MA or DTS-HR decoding.

I thought the A1 was upgraded with internal DTS-HD/HR (but not HD/MA) decoding ability in a firmware update? The Wiki was even updated months ago to reflect it.

The DTS HD I get out of titles like T2: Ultimate via analog sure as hell sounds like HD to me...

Originally Posted by AOD

A1 is slow, clunky, slow, huge, slow, buggy BUT has good DACs.

Buggy? In what way?

[GizmoDVD]

Grab an XA1 if you can - they go for about $80ish on eBay. I love mine (it does make a clicking noise though...gotta open it up and take a look).

[kdigit0l]

I thought the A1 was upgraded with internal DTS-HD/HR (but not HD/MA) decoding ability in a firmware update?

The original Spec Sheet for the HD-A1 stated that it would decode DTS-HD (I posted the spec sheet over at TBS in the files section). The spec sheet reads just like the Wiki, but to my knowledge it just reads the core DTS. I think they just forgot the "(core only)" verbage. Maybe I'm wrong. The manufacturer's website (Toshiba) states the "(core only)" verbage:

Click Here

Here's my understanding:
There are 2 distictions in the DTS-HD format. There is DTS-HD Master Audio, and DTS-HD High Resolution Audio. Both of which can contain the core DTS Audio, output at 1.509Mbs when an HD decoder is not available -- most DD+ is lower bitrate than core DTS, which explains why DTS sounds good! There is no plain ol' DTS-HD, though a lot of people seem to refer to it that way.

Somebody feel free to correct me if I'm mistaken.

[Centauri]

Yeah, I'm genuinely curious now. Because I'd been under the impression that DTS-HD/HR was brought to the table eventually.

Can anybody shed some light on this?

[AOD]

Originally Posted by Centauri

I thought the A1 was upgraded with internal DTS-HD/HR (but not HD/MA) decoding ability in a firmware update? The Wiki was even updated months ago to reflect it.

The DTS HD I get out of titles like T2: Ultimate via analog sure as hell sounds like HD to me...



Buggy? In what way?

There have been numerous posts about the A1 not wanting to play certain discs, espcially newer ones or imports, the HDMI port is extrememly finicky and susceptible to errors and handshake issues, etc. None of this comes up because, well, it's an older player and has not been reveiwed in quite some time. If you aren't having any of these problems, then you got a good one. Given the choice, the A35 is leaps above the A1. I would never buy a new model car until all the bugs are worked out and to me the A1 is no different. It does do some things well and has improved with firmware upgrades, but not as well overall as the A35. As others have said, if you have the money get an XA2. I, as well as others, think it's the best HD DVD player ever made and also does double duty as a premium upconverting standard DVD player. Just my 2 cents and not written in stone.

[SlaughterX]

What's up AOD!

But yeah, this is an easy question... compared a first gen HD-DVD player to one of the best last gen ones to come out. I still hear that the X2 is better for upconversion that to the Reon chip though.

[AOD]

Hey hey! Funny meeting you here. Yes, the Silicon Optix Reon chip in the XA2 is worth every penny if you have a decent SD DVD collection. It's the little brother to the Realta, which is top shelf.

[kdigit0l]

Originally Posted by Centauri

Yeah, I'm genuinely curious now. Because I'd been under the impression that DTS-HD/HR was brought to the table eventually.

Can anybody shed some light on this?

Hmmm, anybody know?

The only audio firmware update I can recall is the one that allowed the A1 to output TrueHD in 5.1 channels. It originally shipped outputting TrueHD in stereo only.

I haven't heard anything about DTS firmware upgrades for the A1, but I can't say for sure one way or the other.

[chris gerhard]

Originally Posted by Centauri

Yeah, I'm genuinely curious now. Because I'd been under the impression that DTS-HD/HR was brought to the table eventually.

Can anybody shed some light on this?

Originally Posted by kdigit0l

Hmmm, anybody know?

The only audio firmware update I can recall is the one that allowed the A1 to output TrueHD in 5.1 channels. It originally shipped outputting TrueHD in stereo only.

I haven't heard anything about DTS firmware upgrades for the A1, but I can't say for sure one way or the other.

I guess I am not sure what you are asking here but if somebody will provide a list of HD DVD's that use DTS-HD High Resolution Audio, I will see if I have one to check. If there are no US releases that used it, I doubt if I have one. I have several HD DVD's that have DTS-HD MA and I can confirm the HD-A1 will not decode or bitstream that.

Chris