Sonys new Blu-ray player BDP-S350

thescrounger · 07-08-2008, 22:07

http://whathifi.com/Review/Sony-BDP-S350/

I see Sony have a new budget Blu-ray player coming out next month. This review seems to suggest it's pretty good at upscaling the DVDs as well, something that other Blu-ray players have been criticised for not doing well recently.

Up for pre-order on Amazon for £192

I was tempted to get a second machine in the new samsung, but this looks like it might be more of a good deal.

chris21 · 07-08-2008, 22:39

Meant to be a good player. Researched this a lot and got it down to this and the Panasonic BD50. Went for the BD50 in the end.

I'm suprised at the price, I didn't know it was a budget player. First time I've heard praise about DVD upscaling too.

chris21 · 08-08-2008, 11:53

Actually, it's looking like I paid an extra £200 for DTS HD MA decoding.

Can't see any other differences!

Niceguygeoff · 08-08-2008, 13:58

Damn, that's a good price. I dont mind my Samsung but it screams cheapness, while the Sonys have been very solid machines so far. Still, if the Sammy gets the DTS MA decoding as rumoured then that'll appease me.

rwniel · 08-08-2008, 17:50

There is another Sony model due soonish; the BDP-S550 - it adds the DTS-MA in-built decoding lacking from the S350 model plus includes 7.1 multi-channel analogue output (- multi-channel analogue output is useful for those with older av amps/receivers or that have hdmi inputs purely for switching purposes). The BDP-S350 however, would be a good match with the Sony STR-DG820 av receiver for example as the BDP-S350 can bitstream all the surround formats for the receiver to decode (including DTS-MA).

Profile 2.0 support should be added to the BDP-S350; it lacks any form of additional storage, so will probably require something like a USB flash drive to make it compatible (but these are pretty inexpensive these days). The S550 should be natively profile 2.0 out of the box when it's released. Obviously there's no firm pricing on the BDP-S550, but based on the selling price of the S350 I would expect it to be around £300.

Robert

CLH · 08-08-2008, 20:10

Looking at the XMB interface of that 350 is there any reason why the firmware update won't add DTS HD?

rwniel · 09-08-2008, 17:07

Obviously I can't speak for Sony, but to me it looks like a conscious decision to leave out the DTS-MA decoding. Otherwise there would be little practical difference between the two models. The parallel with the PS3 and adding DTS-MA decoding with a later firmware is a bit different I think because the PS3 is effectively a programmable computer. That's not to say it can't/won't be added, just best to assume it won't be.

Robert

zantarous · 11-08-2008, 23:35

Would be nice if this one can be moded to be region free.

As for DTS MA, now if the player can not do this, can a amp that can decode DTS MA just take the signal via HDMI and out put it? Much like most people do with optical and DVD palyers and amps, where the amp does all the decoding?

chris21 · 11-08-2008, 23:42

Quote:

Originally Posted by zantarous

Would be nice if this one can be moded to be region free.

As for DTS MA, now if the player can not do this, can a amp that can decode DTS MA just take the signal via HDMI and out put it? Much like most people do with optical and DVD palyers and amps, where the amp does all the decoding?

I would think so, but I believe you must have an HDMI cable of the 1.3 specification to bitstream HD audio.

If the players decoding, any cable will do, as all HDMI cables can carry LPCM.

rwniel · 16-08-2008, 06:47

Quote:

Originally Posted by zantarous

As for DTS MA, now if the player can not do this, can a amp that can decode DTS MA just take the signal via HDMI and out put it? Much like most people do with optical and DVD palyers and amps, where the amp does all the decoding?

See post #5.

The S350 can send the audio bitstreamed over hdmi for the amp/receiver to decode (providing it has in-built decoding e.g. Onkyo SR605 models and upwards, Denon AVR1909 etc).

.....I've just read that Panasonic are bringing out two new blu ray players which supposed to be available in September/October (- DMP-BD35 and DMP-BD55). I can't believe they're replacing the BD30 and especially the BD50 so soon.

They both feature a new version of the UniPhier video processor, but other that that the focus mostly seems about tweaking audio performance (8 channel analogue rca output on the BD55, supposedly higher quality audio components and isolation feet to reduce the effects of vibration). There could well be a price premium over the older models though.

Robert

DaveH · 01-09-2008, 08:18

The price seems to have gone up to £230 now. Guess I missed out on the early adopter discount. It'll be interesting to see how it does in the forthcoming reviews soon.

thescrounger · 05-09-2008, 22:39

Stock problems at amazon apparently. This place are offering it multi-region, for the DVD part I guess, for £195 + £10 delivery. Never used them before myself though.

http://www.totaldigital.biz/index.ph...oducts_id=2773

AKPiggott · 18-09-2008, 08:52

Now in stock at Amazon. Anyone got one? Been tempted to upgrade to blu ray recently and this looks like it could be the machine for me...

rwniel · 18-09-2008, 23:03

A few places are starting to list the BDP-S550 (which adds Profile 2.0 out of the box, DTS-MA audio decoding and 7.1 analogue rca output sockets for use with older av amps/receivers) ~ £349 seems to be the S.S.P, with a few places listing it as sub £300 (although out of stock currently) which is what I was hoping for. If it can also be made multi-region at least for dvd, then I think I may have found my new player.

Robert

AKPiggott · 19-09-2008, 07:47

Is the S350 multi-region DVD out of the box?

rwniel · 19-09-2008, 12:11

Quote:

Originally Posted by AKPiggott

Is the S350 multi-region DVD out of the box?

No - though certain stores seem to be selling multi-region versions. It looks like it can be hacked at least via a pronto or oneforall style learning remote/PDA etc.

Robert

AKPiggott · 19-09-2008, 12:33

Quote:

Originally Posted by rwniel

No - though certain stores seem to be selling multi-region versions. My understanding is that it has to be chipped to make it play different region disks like the previous S300 model.

Ok, cheers Robert. Not sure if it matters much as after selling the bulk of my SD collection, I think the only non-R2 I have is Apocalypse Now: The Complete Dossier. Hopefully following on from the Godfather boxset, Coppola will do an HD release of that... which'll be splendid!

rwniel · 19-09-2008, 12:45

It looks like I amended my post after you viewed it; it doesn't seem to need to be 'chipped' as such. But it's a little more complicated than the standard player remote button presses you usually have to go through on most dvd players.

Robert

Niceguygeoff · 22-09-2008, 20:04

The MR hack looks to be the same one-for-all jobbie that works a treat on Sony's SD DVD range, and if that's the case (I'll try it out tomorrow) then I'm booting out the Sammy and getting one of these.

maddogsuk · 22-09-2008, 20:31

Well I ordered one today. Time to put my Tosh HD player to rest.

Just now hoping it will work ok with my Sanyo Z5 projector and aging 5.1 Sony Amp?