Originally Posted by VirusKiller
Originally Posted by Ian
Are you sure that the DVD-A encryption/watermark is not handled at the drive level?
I could be wrong, but my understanding is that the drive is only about getting bits off of the disc; the decoder takes over from there. I believe that Meridian's choice of MPEG chip (C-Cube Ziva) was down to that manufacturer's commitment to DVD-A. The 596 and early 800 (I think) used the Ziva 3. Their DVD-A players use the Ziva 5 which was the first MPEG decoder with DVD-A support.

I would also believe what VirusKiller says. The Drive is getting the bits and it's the chip that is doing the decoder job. Just like how computer works. The driver is a "reader".

Originally Posted by Barry.B
.....But I'm having to stick with it as I've spent my money and I haven't heard anything better at the price I paid for it - �1.4K second user.

I would be very upset if I purchased an 808 and it rattled as soon as I put in one of my favourite CD's (my old Arcam CD9 doesn't rattle or drop out with any of my CD's, but then it has a CD drive. It just can't match the G08 for sound reproduction!!)....

I do hope the 808.2 will improve over this, otherwise it means the money is not well (or worth) spent. This should be a very basic task. Isn't every manufactures trying to say they have the best reading mechanism? For example the VRDS-NEO mechanism from Esoteric, which claims vibration free, rigid disc clamping. If a player cannot hold a disc stable, how can u extract every bit out of it?

So far I have never experience any problem with my Toshiba SD-9200. It reads disc even with severe scratch on it. Bear in mind that Toshiba used to produce legendary PC DVD-ROM drive so I have no surprise my 9200 performs the "reading" job well.

Current System: Toshiba SD-9200 --> DSP-8000
Secondary System: Pioneer DV969 --> DSP-5200