Hi-Rez Highway: REVIEW: Arcam DV79 DVD Players by racerguy

Model:	DV79
Category:	DVD Players
Suggested Retail Price:	$1799
Description:	DVD-Video/DVD-Audio Player
Manufacturer URL:	Arcam
Model Picture:	View

Review by racerguy ( A ) on August 17, 2005 at 13:28:06
IP Address: 65.184.71.10

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The Arcam DV79 is a DVD player that is part of Arcam's "DiVA" range of products, which is not as exalted as the top of the range FMJ line. The DV79 is Arcam's latest DVD-Audio player in the DiVA range.
I purchased the DV79 primarily to play DVD-Audio disks in my big 2-channel system. The DV79 doesn't directly replace anything, but it is one of several DVD-Audio-capable players I've had in this system in an attempt to find a player that is easily usable in a 2-channel system without a video monitor.
CONSTRUCTION: The DV79 is a relatively lightweight unit - it weighs just a little over 11 lbs. Build quality is reasonable; it looks and feels like a typical midrange-level component. The front-panel is utilitarian, with simple button controls and a fluorescent display that does little more than show track, time, and other very basic info. Buttons have word labels printed on the front panel in a small font that is difficult to read from more than a few inches away. The remote control is a nightmare of tiny buttons laid out in a very unintuitive manner, and there is no backlight, so the remote is very challenging to use in dim lighting.
There are plenty of connection jacks on the back - 2-channel RCA, multi-channel RCA, S/PDIF RCA, Toslink, and various analog and digital video ports. The back panel is very uncrowded, so plugging things in by feel is not difficult. Power is furnished through a 3-prong IEC jack, so you can use any power cord you want. Voltage is switchable on the back panel.
EASE OF USE - 2-CHANNEL: I was really hoping this player, with its simple controls, would be easy to use in my no-video 2-ch system. It's not. First of all, the player comes from the factory set to DVD-Video mode, and the only way to change it to DVD-Audio mode is to connect it to a video monitor and make the change via the On-Screen Display (OSD).
There is an "Audio" button on the remote control, but its function changes (or disappears) depending on the disc played. There is no "Group" button on the remote control or on the front panel, so switching between groups on a DVD-Audio disc cannot be done blind. You can change groups with the SRCH function on the remote, but it's nearly impossible to do without using the player's OSD via a video monitor. Other functions such as Program Mode require the OSD as well.
As mentioned above, the remote control is a real pain.
If the disc allows it, the player will output a full 24/96 LPCM signal from the digital outs. As noted below, I found this to be very useful.
EASE OF USE - MULTICHANNEL: I tried out the player in my multi-channel Home Theater system. Again, setup via the OSD must be performed before the player can be used, and there are functions that really require the video monitor/projector to be available. The OSD is, in contrast to the OSD on many Asian-made players, very simple and straightforward to use. In a multi-channel environment, the "tray and play" concept is a bit closer to reality, but still not all the way there.
In multi-channel mode (using the analog outputs) the DV79 has versatile speaker set-up. You can configure your speakers to be large or small (or a combination), declare whether you do or don't have various speakers, set speaker distances, trim individual speaker levels via generated pink noise, and engage bass management. The crossover frequency for bass management has selectable values, instead of being fixed-frequency like some budget players. In short, it's easy to tailor the player to your individual system via the OSD.
This isn't a review of the DV79 as a DVD-Video player, but suffice to say that the picture produced by the DV79 is absolutely fantastic; plus, it has the benefit of being able to convert PAL-encoded DVDs to NTSC output inside the player, allowing US residents to play European DVDs.
I don't really understand why, but my HT's learning remote didn't seem to be able to capture what the Arcam's remote sends out, making it necessary to use the abominable Arcam remote.
SOUND QUALITY 2-CHANNEL: Arcam gets very good reviews for sound quality, and I agree, with some important caveats. I have auditioned other Arcam DVD-Audio players (the previous DiVA DV89 and the FMJ DV27), and there is a "house sound" similarity, but the DV79 sounds a bit different. The British players have always sounded smooth and midrangy to me, and this one is also smooth, but the top end sounds a bit more extended than the DV89. The biggest caveat is the DV79's bass performance. In his recent Stereophile review, Kal Rubinson characterized the sound as, "light and diaphanous." I'm going to be a bit more brutal and say that the player is weak in the bass. The Arcams have always been a bit bass-shy to my ears, but this one is lacking.
I cannot pinpoint what the culprit might be; perhaps it's a combination of several facets of the player's engineering. When playing bass-shy discs through the built-in DACs, the player is anemic, indicating the Wolfson DACs may be to blame. If the discs allow it, I send a bitstream to my Levinson DAC, and the bass improves, but not to the level of my other sources, indicating that the transport/digital components may be a factor. Whatever it is, I find that when I can output hi-rez to my DAC, I prefer it to the output of the Wolfson DACs. 24/96 LPCM sounds much better via the Levinson DAC than 24/192 MLP via the player's Wolfson DACs.
SOUND QUALITY MULTI-CHANNEL: It sounds as good as it can on my multi-channel system, which is totally optimized for big, rumbly, house-shaking home theater. Given that the HT system is compromised for serious music listening, it's hard for me to give a serious critique in this area.
CONCLUSION: This player got a pretty high rating from Stereophile . In some respects, it deserves a good rating. It worked fine in my home theater system, complete with big, boomy subwoofer and other bass enhancements. It does not fit in well with my music-only 2-channel system, being difficult to use without a monitor, and being light in the bass. This unfortunately leaves me the choice of continuing the search for a DVD-Audio-capable player that will fit in with this system, or chucking DVD-Audio completely, which I'd rather not do since there are a few gems in the DVD-Audio catalog that I want to be able to play.

Product Weakness: Weak bass, difficult to use without a video monitor, absolutely awful remote control.
Product Strengths: Excellent DVD-Video player, good build quality, simple On Screen Display menus, uncluttered back panel, good versatility in a multi-channel system.

Associated Equipment for this Review:
Amplifier:	Mark Levinson No. 335
Preamplifier (or None if Integrated):	Audio Research LS25mkII
Sources (CDP/Turntable):	Mark Levinson No. 360S DAC
Speakers:	Vandersteen 5A
Cables/Interconnects:	Transparent Reference/Ultra/Super
Music Used (Genre/Selections):	Classical/Jazz/Pop/Rock/World
Room Size (LxWxH):	23 x 17 x 13
Time Period/Length of Audition:	3 months
Type of Audition/Review:	Product Owner

Product Weakness:	Weak bass, difficult to use without a video monitor, absolutely awful remote control.
Product Strengths:	Excellent DVD-Video player, good build quality, simple On Screen Display menus, uncluttered back panel, good versatility in a multi-channel system.