Denon DVD-A1XV universal player and jitter

Source: Hi-Fi News May 2005

For the readers of this blog it should be evident that I'm not a big fan of new, multimedia formats and universal players.

Hi-Fi News has, at least to my knowledge, performed the industry's first measurements of various digital links. Subject to review was praised Denon DVD-A1XV universal player connected to Denon AVC-A1XV AV-receiver - a combination of which multi-channel advocates have wet dreams. Check this out: Denon-to-Denon via HDMI incurs jitter at 4560psec; Firewire connection a whopping 275,600psec (!) and Denon-link delivers 1260psec of jitter.

Viewpoint: First, please, show me from any product category a universal, "convergence" product, which performs better than dedicated units. And second, cold shower for all those who claimed that HDMI connection will ridicule audiophiles by making investment in cables unnecessary.

UPDATE: In June 2005 issue Hi-Fi News returned to this issue. They tested Pioneer DV-868Ai universal player with Pioneer VSA-AX10Ai multichannel amplifier. Although CD and DVD-A jitter measurement were OK with both i.LINK and HDMI connections (some 250psec), transmitting audio from DVD video was another matter. They measured jitter of 25.000psec. Evidently the reason is that with video DVDs the sync-lock Pioneer is using is defeated. What to do? Transmit digital video by HDMI/DVI or FireWire but stick to S/PDIF for the bitstream audio.

For more information, visit Miller Audio Research Web site.