Pioneer DV717
Review written by Steve Ulrich on 13-Dec-1999

Well after some research and advice I decided to go for the flagship of the Pioneer DVD player range, the 717. Im not going to bore you with too many specs - you can check them out yourself on the Pioneer site. What I will provide is my opinion of this machine.

Appearance/Style
Its a nice looking unit in a champagne gold/silvery colour (I have heard of some in black), although appearing slightly 'boxy', it doesnt look too terrible. Iit has limited buttons on the front, and a quite solid construction when you pick the unit up. There is very little noise coming from the player at all during playback, as a noise-dampending tray has been fitted to this model.

Audio
The audio quality, with the Pioneer 'legato link conversion' is supurb and through my Sony 835 Amp and JBL Speakers I really cant fault it (I know its not a high perf. setup but its all I could afford). The frequency response is excellent, and really provides an illusion of 'being there'. CD-R, DD and DTS DVD's play with no problems with excellent reproduction. There is a problem with 'lip sync' on all pioneer players but I think the latest firmware addresses most of these issues (see further on).

Video
This is where the unit really excels. A very sharp picture is rendered, with incredible detail, an artifacts appear only if you set your tv up wrongly or watch it from a very close distance. I believe it is up the with the Sony 7700 (priced at $2000) however the Sony has a slightly softer image (and slightly less artifacts) so I suppose its a matter of taste. The colours are vibrant and coupled with the detailed image, the picture jumps out of the screen (on a Sony 68cm wega calibrated with video essentials). I believe the 717 was going to get THX certification but they had a problem with the audio component of the player. I think you could safely say that the image section is THX certified (without the badge on the front!).

The GUI
Im sorry, I dont like it. Its a bit fiddly and cumbersome, and to top it off the remote control isnt that intuitive either. The jog/shuttle dial on the remote also feels a bit dodgy as well. A universal remote may be the answer for this one. One thing to consider though is you dont really use the setup that often I dont think so at the end of the day it isnt going to bother you that much. The remote control may irritate if you dont get used to it however.

Outputs
RGB, s-video and composite outputs are provided (gold plated) though one thing I have to say is the composite output is very impressive indeed - its hard to tell the difference between s-video and composite on this player, its that good (though some DVD test patterns do introduce dot crawl on composite, but I have never seen it in a DVD). Its a shame this unit doesnt have component output as well (as RGB) - buyers really have to look carefully as to what tv they purchase to ensure they get the best video reproduction. 2 analog audio outputs and a digital optical and coaxial connectors are included, gold plated of course.

In General
The machine has a 3 year warranty, with a 1 year warranty on the laser. The advice to consumers here is, use only clean dvd's and dont knock the unit around - as a laser is very expensive to replace. I have had mine for a few months now and havent noticed any problems.

There are no 'problem' disks that I know of except for ones with audio sync (mastering) problems (wedding singer, lost in space etc.). The audio sync problem I havent really noticed, probably becuase I have the 2.274/4 firmware. Beware any machines which have older version than this otherwise you may need an upgrade. An excellent site is (www.michaeldvd.melb.net/DV505/PioneerAudioSync.html) which explains everything very clearly. Hats off to Michael for this one.

Conclusion
My advice, if you want a player that plays cd-r's, audio cd's (inc. DTS) with great sound quality and a superb, sharp picture then go for this as Im sure you wont be dissappointed. But with the release of the Pioneer 626 player it may be worth your while to make a comparison of which model you prefer (I personally don't think paying for the inclusion of a dd/dts processing is worth it if you have a DD/DTS amp).

Pioneer DV717 DVD/VIDEO CD/CD Player Features
Video output:	PAL 625/50, NTSC 525/60
	RGB, s-video and composite outputs
Audio output:	Dolby Digital, MPEG Audio & DTS (digital output)
Other notable features:	Accurate Digital Servo with Automatic Jitter Adjustment
	Video DNR (Digital Noise Reduction)
	Virtual Dolby Surround