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Pioneer DVD-V7400 as a transport: INCREDIBLE

I have been on a search for a nice transport for a while now. I am a very picky person and it might take me months to come to a solid decision when it comes to new components. For a while we have been trying to find something to replace our classic Technics SL-P999 as a CD transport. We finally found one and are completely blown away by the sound quality. It is none other than the Pioneer DVD-V7400 Professional/Industrial DVD Player.

This little machine is not a consumer-grade toy but a solid piece of equipment designed for heavy duty usage and flawless reliability. To give you an idea how burly it is the transport is rated for 37,000 hours of usage before failure. The machine has no onboard display to muddy the sound so you must use an external display for setup and configuration. This is easy as ANY modern TV will work. Once set up you can forget about it and let it blend into the background.

This is a no-nonsense professional machine which is not only at home in a million dollar facility but in any hi-fi setup as well. For those of you who like to impress and one-up your friends you'll have a DVD/CD player which has features which simply NO consumer grade one has or possibly ever will have. I am focusing on the sound quality of this unit because the video features are so impressive that they are worthy of their own review.

How does it sound? Absolutely breathtaking. The soundstage is massive. I am hearing details in well known albums that simply were hidden under a veil before. I am hearing the music better than ever before and forgetting that there is even a CD playing. The DVD-V7400 does vocals, strings, and can relay a sense of emotion into the music. I feel confident saying that I would have to search far and wide to find another transport this nice.

If you're not seriously looking at adding one of these to your hi fi rig then that's fine. Just know that the next time you go out searching for a digital transport there's an absolute giant killer which you could have bought instead. After all not everyone needs the utmost detail and musicality in their stereo. Leave the Pioneer DVD-V7400 for those who do.
oandj
pixelphoto
70 posts
 
I received my V7400 this am. The power is now back on here in L. A. and I've just connected the unit via the Lt. and Rt. analog outputs. Their is also a mono and a digital out. I connected the video to setup the unit and found that you can display the use time. The unit is BRAND NEW! It measures about 8.25"w x 16"d x 4.5"h. It will also play 24/96 discs and record DVD. I'll be using it as a transport though. So at this point I'm going to let it do some transporting. I'll be back in a week or so-see ya.

Marvin
oandj OP
10 posts
 
I'm glad that you are as impressed with the V7400 as I am. I should have specified that the analog output is not "unusable" as in it won't work but rather it's not usable for high quality sound compared to just using this machine as a transport. Let us know what you think of the performance and the sound of this unit.
pixelphoto
70 posts
 
After approximately 120 hrs of burn-in I can say I made a great decision to buy this unit on eBay.My timing was perfect in reading the OP and going to eBay where I found a brand new unit and went for it. It has replaced my Oppo 980H for 2 ch playback. The Oppo will do duty as a SACD/5.1 HDMI source.
Presently I'm running the Pioneer V7400 via Morrow MA1 ic's. Next month I should have enough pennies saved to purchase a MF V-DAC MK2 and Black Cat Veloce coaxal cable.
The first thing I noticed on playing the Pioneer the first time was the soundstage was huge. Bigger, wider deeper and taller. Playing the Mercury Living Presence cd of Howard Hanson's "The Composer and His Orchestra" the instruments were more defined as to location, separation and clarity giving me more musical music. I also played a number of test tones and speaker set-up files resulting in my adjusting the speaker toe-in several degrees which resulted in even more focus to the music. Jazz music really love my Def Tech Mythos STS speakers or the other way round. Of all the kinds of music I play Jazz seem the most real. This is were I can feel the emotion from the music.
As to vocal music I know longer here the sibilance in Diana Krall's voice. Her and Frank Sinatra sound so much more real, clear, clean and present.
Oh, and I'm hearing more low level detail and dynamics. This probably is contributed by the Morrow MA1 ic's that just went over 500 hrs burn-in time.
So, I'm happy with my decision and looking forwards to the next step. The music just keeps getting better and better. What would we do if there were no audio forums?

Best regards,
Marvin

Keep going forwards.
branislav
405 posts
 
I have a regular Oppo dvd player used for transport and I've been thinking if it's perhaps a weaker link in my system. I might compare it to this Pioneer and see what happens. It would be nice to know you don't have to spend crazy money to get a good transport.
oandj OP
10 posts
 
Pixelphoto I'm so happy that you are enjoying the DVD-V7400! I've found myself re-discovering my CD collection and going back to listen to CDs I purchased a decade ago. The DVD-V7400 is such a great machine and you'll find that with a good DAC it simply comes alive. I'll often get spooked at how good this transport is at conveying the soul and essence of music.
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