SONY UBP-X800 universal player

Discussion in 'Audio Hardware' started by High Fidelity, Mar 23, 2017.

  1. Brother_Rael

    Brother_Rael Senior Member

    At the time, the 137 and 139 were I think two of a handful of models from manufacturers that were (then) true universal players, all the major disc formats and including HDCD. NAD and one other that I can't recall offhand.
     
  2. High Fidelity

    High Fidelity Well-Known Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    London
    \As this is a very cheap player in the US but £400 in the UK I suspect the SACD & CD audio SQ will not be as good as from Sony ES models, however no doubt Video will be very good despite no SuperBit Mapping on the X800. As I am not interested in 4K I shall not be buying.
     
  3. DrZhivago

    DrZhivago Hedonist

    Location:
    Brisbane Australia
    What Sony ES models? :) I don't see any Sony ES models :cool:
     
  4. High Fidelity

    High Fidelity Well-Known Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    London
    Sony DA5400Es player for mch SACD can be used with latest Sony ES receivers
     
  5. DrZhivago

    DrZhivago Hedonist

    Location:
    Brisbane Australia
    Hi,

    I was just alluding to the fact that Sony doesn't make ES SACD gear anymore. The above model is no longer in production and 2nd hand prices were just too high (last time I checked). Given that X800 doesn't have any analog outs, perhaps good results can be achieved simply by hooking it up to a pure DSD compatible receiver. I would strongly consider X800 for multichannel SACD's.

    Regards
     
    Bill Mac likes this.
  6. High Fidelity

    High Fidelity Well-Known Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    London
    Why would you consider X800 for mch SACD's without having an audition. or even reading a review ?
     
  7. Bill Mac

    Bill Mac Forum Resident

    Location:
    USA
    The 5400ES will do multichannel via HDMI only as it doesn't have a 7.1 analog output. Why would the 5400ES sound any better than lesser cost SACD players when playing multichannel SACDs via HDMI?
    Why do you think the X800 doesn't have excellent SQ when playing multichannel SACDs? Have you any actual experience with the X800? It works both ways wouldn't you think?
     
    DrZhivago likes this.
  8. High Fidelity

    High Fidelity Well-Known Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    London
    Having tried Sony BD players that also support SACD, I find they are very inferior to my DA5400ES .I have no experience with the X800 not released in UK yet, the specification looks far too good to be true especially for £400 which is considerably more expensive than the US price.
     
  9. High Fidelity

    High Fidelity Well-Known Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    London
    Has any audiophile auditioned the Sony UBP-X800 have read the video is excellent as expected but no comments on SQ especially SACD/CD, quite frankly the specification looks far too good to be true especially at its cheap price.
     
  10. norliss

    norliss Forum Resident

    Location:
    Cardiff, Wales
    I'm afraid I can't really chime in on the quality as I don't own one but as to sound quality, given it has only digital outputs and is therefore effectively a transport, it should be pretty much the same as anything else...?
     
    Funky54, timind, Bill Mac and 2 others like this.
  11. High Fidelity

    High Fidelity Well-Known Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    London
    Transports do sound different , seems I will have to buy the X800 to find out for myself, however would like to read a review.
     
  12. Bill Mac

    Bill Mac Forum Resident

    Location:
    USA
    I agree 100%!
    In what way does a digital transport sound differently than others? I don't expect an answer to this question as you seem very evasive when questions are asked about your posts. When I asked a similar question earlier in this thread you posted......
    Not sure what SQ differences you expect to hear between digital transports in this price range no matter what the "new features" are. I have an Oppo 103 and 105D in the same system and when used as a transport (HDMI) there is absolutely no SQ differences.
     
    jeffreybh and quicksrt like this.
  13. jfbar167

    jfbar167 Forum Resident

    Location:
    SW Florida

    While I don't consider myself an expert on audio engineering, I DO have a lot of experience on Sony SACD players (currently have 5 different models). After "testing" several different brands (Denon, Onkyo, OPPO, and Samsung), I found the Sony players sound the BEST with pure DSD. The reason I believe is the "Decoder" chip. The Denon and Onkyo also use the Sony decoder. The OPPO (as much as I LOVE both my 83 and 103), does NOT have the same clean, accurate sound (both analog MCH, and digital HDMI) as the Sonys. At first listen is IS louder and more powerful sounding, then I realized I can bring the volume up quite a bit on the Sony without overpowering and fatiguing the music.


    My Sony blu ray (BD-S770) I would think would have similar performance (with DSD) as the X800.
     
    PhantomStranger likes this.
  14. High Fidelity

    High Fidelity Well-Known Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    London
    You are correct re the Oppo transports they both sound the same I had a 103 and found it very inferior to my Sony player transports all HDMI connected. The Oppos are far more expensive than Sony BD players .
     
  15. Bill Mac

    Bill Mac Forum Resident

    Location:
    USA
    If you're not volume level matching the comparisons are not very accurate IMO. If the Sony players "IS louder" then chances are you'll think it sounds "more powerful sounding" and that in itself will lead you to believe the SQ is better.
     
  16. Bill Mac

    Bill Mac Forum Resident

    Location:
    USA
    Well if you agree that the Oppo 103 and 105D sound the same using HDMI then why do you think recent Sony players will sound any different from each other when HDMI is used? In what way did the Oppo 103 sound inferior to your Sony players? Did you do a direct volume level matched A to B comparison? If not then your bias towards Sony players comes into play rendering your findings totally inaccurate IMO.
     
    Last edited: Apr 8, 2017
  17. John1026

    John1026 Member

    Location:
    Valencia
    No differences. Digital is digital. They all come out as 1s and 0s. No internal transport can make the 1s or 0s sound better.
     
    luiscardoso88 likes this.
  18. Bill Mac

    Bill Mac Forum Resident

    Location:
    USA
    I agree especially when the transports are in the low to mid level price ranges. But apparently some in this thread find that there are SQ differences between transports. I haven't found it to be true but that's just my experience.
     
  19. Lonson

    Lonson I'm in the kitchen with the Tombstone Blues

    I'm pretty sure he was indicating the Oppo sounded louder than the Sony. . . .
     
  20. Bill Mac

    Bill Mac Forum Resident

    Location:
    USA
    Could be but the way the post is worded it is a bit confusing. But still without volume level matching and comparing directly the comparisons are not very accurate IMO.
     
  21. Lonson

    Lonson I'm in the kitchen with the Tombstone Blues

    Reading the post it appears to me that he did match volumes (his last sentence of the first paragraph).

    I have heard differences in transports, and decoding chips as well. There is a lot more going on than digital 1s and 0s. But I'm not going to argue with anyone about it, life is too short.
     
    showtaper and jfbar167 like this.
  22. John1026

    John1026 Member

    Location:
    Valencia
    That's because it's not true. It's all marketing gimmicks from the manufacturers. They are trying to get you to treat digital sound as if it were analog. With analog, there are many factors that will affect sound quality. It's not the same with digital. 1s and 0s remain the same no matter what transport is used. Sony was great at marketing gimmicks. They added the letters "ES" to their products to make you think you were getting something special for more money.
     
  23. Bill Mac

    Bill Mac Forum Resident

    Location:
    USA
    I read it as he increased the volume of the Sony. I don't see that as level matching or does he mention how the comparisons were done but I could be wrong.

    I have no doubt you've heard differences with transports and respect your opinion very much. No arguments from me :).
     
  24. High Fidelity

    High Fidelity Well-Known Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    London
    I agree
     
  25. High Fidelity

    High Fidelity Well-Known Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    London
    Nonsense ES products are superior and the best value in high end audio;
     

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