Sony DVP-S7000 DVD Player Review

At a glance

• Product: Sony DVP-S7000
• Description: DVD player, evaluated primarily as a CD transport
• Dimensions (W × H × D): 17 × 4.4 × 8.4 inches
• Weight: 15.4 pounds

New state of the art

“Out of all the top-of-the-line transports I have auditioned and used in my reference system, right now, as of today, the Sony DVP-S7000 may very well be the best of the best.”

Bill “The Brass Ear” Brassington, The Audiophile Voice

“I think the Sony DVP-S7000 is amazing. Possibly the best drive out there at this time!”

Lars Fredell, Fi Magazine

“The Sony DVP-S7000 DVD player as a CD transport? That’s right, not only a CD transport but a high-end transport in an audiophile system. It doesn’t have all of the conveniences of an expensive transport but it challenges the sound of those I have heard. Modestly priced with the Meitner Bidat processor, it is part of my high-end system and one not likely to be replaced in the near future.”

Lewis Lanese, The Audiophile Voice

“Right now, based as a transport only, it performs as well, if not better, than anything I’ve owned. Used in conjunction with the Meitner BIDAT processor, it’s the best I’ve ever owned!”

Jim Aud, President, Purist Audio Design

“The Sony DVP-S7000 is a sure-fire exalted product. Abundant new information comes across to me in areas of spatiality, harmonic validity, etched localization and the recreation of the recording venue. Even though the DVP-S7000 was driving a system comprised of more expensive components, it acquitted itself in a remarkable manner. This is a CD transport of exceptional merit.”

Arnis Balgavis, President, N.Y. Audiophile Society

“Amen. Who would have thought that Sony Inc. would have surpassed the quality of high-end’s best transports?”

Dennis Parham, Audio Ideas

“Liquid and harmonically pure, a real revelation. Used with Ed Meitner’s BIDAT, it’s the closest I’ve heard to analog.”

James Dowd, The Audiophile Voice

“Silky smooth with beautiful highs and imaging. The roundness and three-dimensionality impressed me greatly. The Sony DVP-S7000 sounds reminiscent of analog—that’s saying a lot coming from a vinyl lover.”

Michael Levi, President and Chief Designer, Total Media Systems

The truth can really hurt!

What I am about to state is likely to start a war! A war of words on websites, in audiophile societies, among magazine reviewers and in other places where audiophiles frequent. Let’s cut to the chase: THE SONY DVP-S7000 IS THE MOST TRUTHFUL TRANSPORT YOU CAN OWN REGARDLESS OF PRICE. What am I possibly saying? Simple: the Sony DVP-S7000 is so REVEALING—as a transport only—it may bring out more problems in certain systems, particularly those that don’t want the truth. Despite the fact that it’s one grand to own, you’re unlikely to find a better-suited transport for the discerning audiophile who has a system up to the task. Don’t wait until a leading manufacturer gets hold of one of these transports, modifies it, sells it for five times the cost, and proclaims it as the new “state of the art” in performance when in fact it’s only a Sony unit all dressed up.

This news came about through my association with Bill “The Brass Ear” Brassington. Bill is a very good buddy of mine who’s an insightful, seasoned audiophile and a definite veteran of high-end audio, having amassed more than forty years in this hobby. This past March, he received a phone call from Ron Meyer of Encore Performance Recordings (EPR). Ron Meyer discovered long ago that gold CDs sound better than identically pressed aluminum CDs. He has been on a quest ever since to determine why this phenomenon exists and now believes he has discovered the reason. His reasons are quite unusual compared with other, more popular beliefs.

He informed “The Brass Ear” of his theory of what he describes as the phenomenon known as “pit-to-land and land-to-pit” transition. In a nutshell, this is the problem of the transport’s laser-pickup capabilities. These are problems that Meyer claims are inherent in all transports, but to the least degree in the Sony DVP-S7000. In addition, Meyer claims that severe inaccuracies occur with the servo mechanisms that are clearly audible through several transports immediately after recording live onto CD-R. See his white paper in the next edition of The Audiophile Voice, as well as Arnis Balgavis’s review of the Sony DVP-S7000 and The Brass Ear’s follow-up. Conventional transport designs cannot address these problems in a thorough manner.

It seems that Ron Meyer has refused to accept the standard approach to the vast audible differences associated with transports as being so clear-cut. He decidedly has taken a very new and provocative approach to what he describes as the “real culprit.” I had an interesting conversation with Ron Meyer and can say that it was a pleasure speaking with him. This guy is obviously quite knowledgeable about transport design. He designed digital satellites for the military before landing at Texas Instruments as a design engineer. Ron is also an avid music lover who happens to own a recording studio. This is where all his comparisons with the Sony DVP-S7000 were made against live recordings! I was really amazed by the quality of the recordings he sent me and hesitated no more in getting my grips on a Sony DVP-S7000.

God bless the child who got his S-OWN-Y

The Sony DVP-S7000 has already garnered reviews acknowledging it as the best DVD player available, outperforming the competition in most parameters. It seems that no one, not even Sony themselves, is aware of what they have created in this special DVD player when used as a stand-alone transport. Off I went to a local Sony dealer, which turned out to be the Wiz electronics store.

Before I go out on a limb and tell you of my observations, I want you to know that I HAVE NO AFFILIATION WITH SONY! I am therefore not going to hide the names of the components that were compared with the Sony. I will, however, keep the names of individuals who shared their experiences anonymous. Here is the list of transports that were compared with the Sony DVP-S7000: Altis Reference, Bow Technologies, Forsell Reference, Krell 20iL, Mark Levinson 31.5, 37, and 39 CD player, Accuphase DP-90, Meridian 508.20, and the Sonic Frontiers SFT-1. Since I owned the Sonic Frontiers, I shall explain what the differences were with it only.

Oh, in case you are wondering what associated equipment I used for this comparison: Theta Gen Va DAC; Theta Casablanca surround-sound processor; Ed Meitner’s new DAC (awesome, available soon); Balanced Audio Technology VK-3i preamp and VK-100 mono amplifiers; Von Schweikert VR-4 loudspeakers; Goertz Silver speaker cable and interconnects; Electra Glide power cords; Custom Connections interconnects and power cords for home theatre; Toshiba TW4070 widescreen television; and Illuminati digital cables.

Brass tactics

Bill Brassington would not tell me about this unit at all. Of course, he mentioned at every opportunity that something was coming down the pike that would eventually change my impressions of digital forever. He was sworn to secrecy not to reveal these two units until both he and Arnis Balgavis conducted their comparisons for The Audiophile Voice magazine. The other unit is Ed Meitner’s Bidat digital-to-analog converter. The unit comes equipped with its own internal volume control.

If you are using a digital-only system, I personally doubt that you would find a better combination than the Sony DVP-S7000 and the Bidat DAC. Since this review is about the Sony player, I’ll stay there, but don’t say that you weren’t told about this combo. I personally believe the Meitner BIDAT to be a monster digital-to-analog processor. So good is this unit that I’ll, without reservation, put it up against ANYTHING! I therefore give these guys all the credit for this information and, of course, they themselves have to thank Ron Meyer and Encore Performance Recordings.

Regrets, I’ve had a few

There are certainly issues with the Sony DVP-S7000 that are bothersome. My caveats are:

• To access program, shuffle or repeat modes, you must connect a video cable to a monitor.
• I could do without the image of a CD spinning on the face of the unit.
• The underside is not flat, creating havoc when placing tiptoes, spikes or cones.
• The power cord comes attached, rendering my Electra Glide power cord useless.
• The Sony DVP-S7000 ultimately lacks the feel of a true high-end product.

The way it sounds

The singer used as my reference was the Patricia Barber CD called Café Blue. Every one of my audiophile friends owns this CD. Every track on the CD is awesome, but number one is WOW!!! When I played this track on the Sony, something very strange occurred in my listening room that had never happened before. Bass became so solid and palpable; the ambience of the recording went to another height I didn’t believe possible. I thought, “I did not know that this song had so much more music on it.” I mean, I had only listened to it about 400 times.

The bass took on a personality I never before sensed it could in my system. It took over in a way that I would not consider intrusive, yet it was more there, or more present, than ever before. The top end is also something of wonder, praise and bewilderment. This unit gets the working of the hi-hat cymbal to a level that will sober you up quickly. How does a unit seem to get the cymbal right and alive and sound so analog at the same time? I am referring to the tonality of the cymbal that makes it beautiful, more so than my Sonic Frontiers, which seemed by comparison to make everything hard.

What was just as apparent and clearly mouthwatering was the information that the Sony was able to take off the CDs, good, bad or ugly. Layers upon layers of information were retrieved for the most musically satisfying experiences I have ever encountered. There is a sense of ease in my system I have never before noticed. There is no greater praise one can give than that. The problem is, when you achieve this level of performance, you do not believe it, so you continue the hunt for better and inevitably screw up. I believe my hunt is over.

Finally, something this affordable is here and, in my opinion, better than all of the competition. Its more musical, more palpable imagery and soundscape will startle even the staunchest of critics. It has a perspective of width that is so wide it will make you want to bring your speakers in some. The Sony DVP-S7000 is the best transport I have ever owned by a long shot. If you’re a videophile, it’s a no-brainer. It’s the best of both worlds.

And it comes with component-video inputs for the best picture you can own as well. Of course, your television has to have component-video inputs. I’m using the new Toshiba widescreen with component video! I’m telling you, it’s very dramatic compared with anything I’ve seen. I would go as far as to compare the quality of the picture with a movie theatre. As a matter of fact, there is nothing else to compare it with except film because the picture is definitely better than any consumer product available today. When was the last time you saw what was touted to be the best available for both AUDIO and VIDEO, regardless of price, for A THOUSAND BUCKS?

Follow-up: Sony DVP-S7000

By Ronald L. Meyer and Michael Tsecouras

Encore Performance Recording (EPR), during research into the art and science of digital recordings and mastering, has determined the reasons why audio CDs with identical data, but pressed at different plants, sound different. The audio CD standard enables both audio data and the clock signal used to reconstruct the music from the data to be extracted from the disc. Experiments done by EPR with an international CD manufacturer, and independent research by Fan and Yeung, Harmonic Hall Optical Disc, Ltd. of Hong Kong (One to One, March 1997), demonstrate how basic production processes associated with CD manufacturing affect the way the data is encoded and the shape of the pit-to-land transitions. This produces electrical noise, generated internally as a byproduct of the tracking process, that is electrically coupled to the output sections of the CD player. EPR believes the cause is dominated by timing-related errors and has an explanation for why this is the case.

The heart of the issue revolves around the CD playback tracking servo mechanisms’ insufficient ability to determine the exact edge of each data transition. Each CD factory uses many manufacturing processes that affect the shape of the data transitions on the disc. It is these transitions that determine how a disc will sound, given that all other elements in the playback chain are capable of revealing these differences. Recordings made with two microphones to accurately capture the recording environment—EPR uses this technique, as do several other small audiophile labels—seem susceptible to degradation. Playback equipment must also be up to the task of revealing everything in the music; every link in the chain is important.

The inaccuracies of the CD tracking process are reflected in an improperly recovered clock signal, which is then used in the digital-to-analog conversion process. The correct data patterns are available, but the music reproduced from the data is not right because the improperly recovered clock signal causes time errors in the converted analog music signal. The correct data converted to analog signals at the wrong time produces an analog signal that is not exactly like the original one. This situation is not unlike that of a musician who is generally OK, but not precise; the rhythm and timing will be lacking and subtle expressions will be lost.

The solution to this situation lies in the availability of CD transports that are able to more precisely determine the exact position of the data transitions on the disc. EPR postulated that a player with servo mechanisms able to track the DVD data structure—much smaller pits and lands than current audio CDs—but with optics optimized for audio CDs, would work significantly better than the current generation of transports and players. The new DVP-S7000 by Sony is the first CD transport to combine these characteristics.

“Listening tests conducted by EPR with master tapes and copies of our latest Gold CD release, EPR9714, Cello Sonatas by Franck & Rachmaninov (available from the Elusive Disc), have shown the Sony 7000, used as a transport, sets a new standard for high performance. Each recording tested, regardless of label, has shown significant (if subjective) improvement… EPR believes that the Sony reveals music much closer to the original than any other transport… Digital cabling has also shown to be of paramount importance; the signal must be maintained all the way to the DAC. When these conditions are met, the best only improves…”

However, certain artifacts in some recordings will now be more apparent. A more in-depth explanation will be available in a white paper in the audio press in the near future.