Price: £600
Website: www.denon.co.uk
Size (WxHxD): 43x10x32cm
Weight: 5.5kg
Format compatibility: DVD Audio, DVD Video, DVD-R/RW, Super Audio CD, Video CD, CD-R/RW (MP3/WMA/JPEG), Picture CD
Technology: HDMI and DVI digital outputs, noise shaping video circuitry, 24-bit/192kHz audio DACS, dual 12-bit/216MHz video DACs, progressive scan
Outputs: HDMI and DVI digital outputs, S-Video, composite, Scart, component, DVI, HDMI, RCA (phono), digital optical and coaxial
Control: Remote control, display off, proprietary GUI
Plus points:
State-of-the-art digital connections, class leading video and universal playback
Minus points:
Little to criticise, except the price jump from its effective predecessor
|
|
Only a few months ago you could've come away from a dealer with Denon's entry-level universal disc player, the DVD-1400 for a not unreasonable £400. Yet with its latest generation of DVD players, Denon has hiked up the price of its entry point model by 50 percent. Why? Well, it says that there was no demand for universal disc playback from a machine costing so little - the market simply didn't want it. So it decided to build a better machine, an audiophile machine, something that could do justice to all the music formats and video quality. And so the DVD-2910 was born.
The story doesn't stop here. The Denon has a bigger brother the DVD-3910 (also reviewed on this website) which is an up-specced, high-flyer for those with deeper pockets and more discerning tastes. So in many ways this is the 'stripped down' version of the meatier brother.
A key feature of both players is the high definition multichannel interface (HDMI) connection - a digital, high resolution, multichannel connection capable of passing video (and shortly audio) to a compatible display or amplifier. Described as the next generation Scart, HDMI is widely anticipated to dominate as the standard digital AV link. This player also boasts another acronym, DVI (Digital Video Interface) which allows digital signals to be passed between analogue stages for the best quality image.
If you don't have a screen with DVI, you can benefit from progressive scan on the component outputs or RGB on Scart. Its video prowess is easily attributed to the high speed dual 12-bit/216MHz video DACs that employ oversampling to extract maximum detail from images, there's further noise shaping (elimination) for video too for added measure.
Shifting towards audio, the 2910 uses separate circuit boards for the audio processing, all fed by isolated power supplies. In amongst this lies a high end 24-bit/192kHz DAC as you might expect for the DVD-A/SACD data, plus users can select a 'pure direct' mode which switches off all the video circuits and unnecessary components when delivering music. As if high resolution music wasn't enough, the player will also entertain HDCD discs and those encoded with Mp3 and WMA files. A novelty feature also provides 'pseudo' 5.1 surround from stereo signals for a bit of fun.
Sound and picture
Hook the player to a screen and the user interface is simple and intuitive. The range of picture adjustments available to the user are quite exceptional and reek of class, but fiddle with these only if you know what you're doing. Whilst the front panel is kept fairly clean the remote is more of a button jungle. It's not backlit but the keys glow which is handy for late night viewing.
Images even without using the DVI output are exceptional. Colour depth is superbly resolved and images are pin sharp and admirably noise-free even when the going gets tough. Busy films sequences that can trouble DVD players such as the epic battle scenes in Troy show no signs of a struggle, even when the visuals are almost exclusively computer generated.
It's not as if music replay has been sacrificed to provide such stunning video images. CD playback is solid and well composed despite being a mere single aspect of this player's musical repertoire. Spin up contemporary dance/funksters Dzihan and Kamien and the Denon delivers plenty of the detail and a good dose of drama. It may lack the presence and scale of similarly priced CD player, but for what this machine is, the quality is remarkable.
Move up a gear to SACD and Eric Clapton's Slowhand and the 2910's cutting edge DACs ignite transporting the listener into the studio with a high quality wraparound sound that fires on all cylinders. Crisp detail, combines with easily decipherable layers and rich tonal information. Switching to DVD-Audio rewards the senses further with the formats' embedded video content bringing the Denon's superb contrast and lifelike tonality back into party.
If anything this machine errs on the side of smooth, the safe unfatiguing sound that is more akin to UK-bred kit. This is in no way a criticism - more of a surprise and one which extends the likehood of love at first look/listen to a far wider audience than just the audio/videophiles. For anyone with £600 to spend on a DVD player, it's hard to think of anything better endowed or more capable.
|
A future-proof solution to playing all types of video and audio. Stunning pictures using the digital connections and a big thumbs up for all of the audio formats it embraces. This is the machine to beat for 2005.
What do you think of the Denon 2910? Have you got any Denon kit already? Tell us about it in our forum.
|
