Denon prices DVD-A1UDCI universal Blu-ray player for US market: $3,800

by Darren Murph posted Dec 5th 2008 at 3:11PM

So, there's good news and bad news. The good? Denon's US version of the DVD-A1UD (coined the DVD-A1UDCI) is priced considerably lower than the yen-to-dollar conversion led us to believe. The bad news? It's still $3,800. For those that that missed it, Denon's calling this the world's first universal Blu-ray player, and folks looking for a premiere unit to handle Blu-ray, DVD, SACD and DVD-Audio can satisfy their every desire in February 2009. Better hope that Christmas bonus comes through.

Filed under: Blu-ray, Players, Others

Tags: audiophile, blu-ray player, Blu-rayPlayer, Denon, denon link, DenonLink, dvd-a, DVD-A1UD, DVD-A1UDCI, price, pricing, sacd, universal, universal blu-ray, universal player, UniversalBlu-ray, UniversalPlayer, us, usa

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Neutral

citykids @ Dec 5th 2008 5:01PM

$3,800? I think I'll hold out and wait to see what Oppo has coming!

Highest Ranked

Galley @ Dec 5th 2008 5:37PM

Good news, everyone! The asking price for my spleen has dropped to $3,800.

(Buyer still responsible for organ removal costs)

Neutral

dj496 @ Dec 5th 2008 5:45PM

Can you knock a couple of zeros off that, please?

Neutral

Spanky @ Dec 31st 2008 10:51AM

$3,8 ?

Neutral

Woody @ Dec 7th 2008 9:57PM

Wow, what kind of IDIOTS are buying crap like this. I seriously doubt it's noticeably better performance wise than the PS3 for blu ray playback. I guess douchbags have to throw away their money somewhere.

Neutral

HD_Theater @ Dec 9th 2008 11:30PM

Woody,
[Wow, what kind of IDIOTS are buying crap like this. I seriously doubt it's noticeably better performance wise than the PS3 for blu ray playback. I guess douchbags have to throw away their money somewhere.]

Only a deaf and/or blind douchebag/gamer would use a PS3 (Piece of Shit 3) instead of a quality stand alone BR player, not to mention that doesn't have anything to do with this piece of equipment. Does a PS3 or any other BR player play SACD/DVD-A the answer is NO!!! (down converting SACD to PCM doesn't count), does the PS-3 have 7.1 analog outputs so it can be used w/ high-end equipment - NO!!! So keep your comparisons fair, BTW if you can't hear the difference why don't you return that Sony HTIB you got w/ your PS3 and listen to a decent system $5000+, there are HUGE audible differences, the better the system the BIGGER the difference on a $100k system YOU could hear the difference w/ an ear infection. Don't criticize what you've never experienced.
Bottom line $3800 is expensive to most people including me, but how about $30k for a DVD player that will make standard DVD's sound as good as 5-Ch SACD and SACD's sound unbelievable. I will not be purchasing this unit though, I will wait for the next one as I'm told by Denon that my Denon DVD-5900 $2000 has better is isolation and should still sound slightly better.

Neutral

HD_Theater @ Dec 11th 2008 12:05AM

After reading :

http://news.ecoustics.com/bbs/messages/10381/533731.html

I think my Denon representative was clearly not fully informed, I will be buying this unit & the AVP-A1HDCI (which I already wanted), as soon as I can unload my DVD-5900 and Yamaha RXZ-9. The Oppo does look like a nice entry level combo player but will not play DVD-A and I'm sure it can't output DSD through HDMI like the Denon & the $1500 Sony SCD-XA5400ES. As I do the math the DVD-A1UDCI is actually cheaper than a top notch Blu-Ray / DVD-A / SACD bought seperately. Not to mention it does everything better than everything else. I wish I could afford it when it first comes out.

Highly Ranked

Lo Toney @ Dec 11th 2008 6:11PM

Good news on the Oppo front for those that have lower budget requirements. Oppo emailed out specs to customers that signed up for updates on the Oppo BDP-83 player. To sum:

- Source Direct for DVD and Blu-ray
- VRS by Anchor Bay video processing solution
- SACD playback, the BDP-83 supports direct DSD over HDMI and DSD-to-analog without any PCM conversion
- Supports BD Profile 2.0 (BD-Live), DVD, SACD, DVD-Audio, Dolby TrueHD, and DTS-HD Master Audio
- Estimated price for the BDP-83 is around $499 to $599

Full details are available at the post (including the actual email mailed to Oppo customers)

http://www.engadgethd.com/2008/12/11/oppo-coughs-up-bdp-83-universal-blu-ray-player-details/

Neutral

Roland @ Dec 11th 2008 9:21PM

For SD DVD players, does anyone know if Oppo players have better video quality than Denon players (with or without the HQV chips).
I know that Denon's picture has more depth than the other brands (e.g. Sony, Pioneer) but I've never tried an Oppo before. Does an Oppo have the same picture depth as a Denon?

Neutral

MS4 @ Dec 21st 2008 2:38AM

The Oppo 983HD is the best DVD player out there as far as the video portion is concerned, period. It's video performance was universally lauded and you should check out the various reviews that were published at the end of last year and the beginning of this year.

If you are in the market for a DVD/Blu-Ray player, I suggest you wait for the BDP-83 to make it's debut as it sounds very promising. It retains all the video processing prowess of the 983HD while adding the Blu-Ray capabilities.

Neutral

Peter @ Dec 24th 2008 9:49AM

Sell the silver version here in the US and I will buy it!

I just can't understand why all the Blu Ray players on the US markets are black regardless of make. Denon makes both black and silver versions, but only the black version issold here in the US... arrrgh!

Neutral

George @ Jan 1st 2009 3:35AM

Hey guys, I DON'T have SACD's, or equipment to play these discs back on (although I am a Denon fan, and have Denon equipment) but a year or so ago when I went looking for HiFi places to persuade me on SACD, I couldn't find many that even had the whole setup going for me to compare the difference. (i.e. I wanted to hear the difference between a setup with a an SADC player and one without, all other components being the same). I wasn't too happy in putting $$$$ on the table without this difference being proven to me (or at least to know my ears were able to differentiate the difference).

That being said, I an NOT knocking SACD (after all I can’t make that judgment), just making an observation that it is not something easily demonstrated by most HiFi stores.

At the time I also read in the Journal of Audio Eng Society that the differences were not easily discernable. From the Sep issue:

"Conventional wisdom asserts that the wider bandwidth and dynamic range of SACD and DVD-A make them of audibly higher quality than the CD format. A carefully controlled double-blind test with many experienced listeners showed no ability to hear any differences between formats. High-resolution audio discs were still judged to be of superior quality because sound engineers have more freedom to make them that way. There is no evidence that perceived quality has anything to do with additional resolution or bandwidth."

The title of the journal entry was "Audibility of a CD-Standard A/D/A Loop Inserted into High-Resolution Audio Playback".

There's some feedback/follow-up in subsequent issues.

At the end of the day what I would love to "see" (hear) is to be able to go into a HiFi store and say: "please setup an amplifier, speakers, cables of your choice (without fear of cost) and the above Denon and play me a CD version and SACD version of the same track so I can judge the differences”. I might be blown away and slap down the platinum Amex, or I might feel that my ears can’t hear the difference.

Neutral

Brad @ Feb 27th 2009 2:04PM

We run a Denon 3800 BDCI currently and plan on adding this one its slated at $4500 not $3800 though... if you wanna hear SACD vs. CD check out our show room in Nashville. We i heard and saw the Oppo at a friends house... i was not impressed is all i can say...

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