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Sony UBP-X700 Compact 4K Ultra HD Blu-Ray Player - $278 ($70 off) - @ JB Hi-Fi

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Sony UBP-X700 Compact 4K Ultra HD Blu-Ray Player - $278 ($70 off) - @ JB Hi-Fi
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MrFCBargain on 27/05/2018 - 01:24 jbhifi.com.au (315 clicks)
Last edited 27/05/2018 - 01:57 by 1 other user

I've been looking at purchasing a 4K player for all the JB Hifi 4K deals posted recently (Planet Earth II, Blue Planet II, 3 for $40 etc…). I was considering a number of players (X-Box, X800, X700, Oppo 205, Panasonic UB900, just noticed JB Hifi have put this model on discount, $278 is about the same or a tad cheaper than X-Box S.

However, I think if you don't game and prefer a dedicated player, this is better than the XBS, also cheaper than its previous model, X800 by a considerable margin (X800 doesn't support Dolby Vision).

Review from What Hifi is 5*, with Dolby Vision coming via a firmware update (said to be in August)
- https://www.whathifi.com/sony/ubp-x700/review

For:
Crisp, natural-looking picture
Excellent detail and colours
Great value
Dolby Vision support (pending)

Against:
Sound could be punchier and grander
Dolby Vision support is 'pending'

Electrical & Electronics Blu-Ray Player Sony

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closed Comments

  • alvian on 27/05/2018 - 02:19
    +7

    I don't understand how What Hi-Fi can criticise the sound. This player does not decode the sound stream but sends it digitally to the receiver. So it should be the receiver they are listening to, not the player.

    • MdMa7 on 27/05/2018 - 08:13

      All players have their own DAC.

      Manufacturers do not assume everyone has a receiver to decode audio.

      • alvian on 27/05/2018 - 08:18

        How did What Hi-Fi assess the performance of the DAC (digital to ANALOGUE converter) on this player? There aren't any analogue audio output connectors on the player; the sound remains in the digital domain as it leaves the player.

        • MdMa7 on 27/05/2018 - 19:52

          I would imagine by letting the player do the decoding and not bitstreaming it to a receiver.

        • alvian on 27/05/2018 - 22:11

          @MdMa7: But this player does not output analogue, unlike the DVD players of old where they have 5.1 RCA analogue sockets. The closest to analogue this player comes to is PCM over coaxial and HDMI which are still digital. The TV or AVR has to decode the PCM stream into actual sound via its DAC and its amplifier, and that is what you're listening to: the DAC/Amp in the TV/AVR.

      • solidussnake on 27/05/2018 - 08:29
        +1

        Yeah!! (Buys $400 4k Player to play through TV speakers lol)

        • MdMa7 on 27/05/2018 - 19:54

          As I mentioned above… you can have the 10K HiFi set-up but let the player do the decoding and pass the signal on to the receiver as PCM.

          You would imagine however that your AVR's DAC is superior than the one you get in this player, but for the purposes of review, this is what you would do.

        • alvian on 27/05/2018 - 21:59

          @MdMa7: Please tell which part of PCM is analogue, for which this "DAC" in the player converts to? What DAC chip is used in this player? It does not seem to have one.

          https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pulse-code_modulation

          Pulse-code modulation (PCM) is a method used to digitally represent sampled analog signals. It is the standard form of digital audio in computers, compact discs, digital telephony and other digital audio applications. In a PCM stream, the amplitude of the analog signal is sampled regularly at uniform intervals, and each sample is quantized to the nearest value within a range of digital steps.

        • MdMa7 on 28/05/2018 - 08:14

          @alvian:

          All the MediaTek chips used in BD players can decode audio, here's one:

          https://www.mediatek.com/products/bluRayAndDvd/mt8553

          Audio Decoding:
          AAC(+), Dolby TrueHD, DTS Master HD, MP3

        • alvian on 28/05/2018 - 11:47

          @MdMa7: You don't seem to understand the difference between a decoder and a DAC. These are not the same. Different functions, different chips, different places in the processing chain.

          This person had the same confusion.

          https://www.stereophile.com/content/dacs-vs-decoders-1

          A rant in 2010 about the emergence of players with no analogue outputs, of which this Sony is one. The author also noted that PCM is not analogue, which is another of your misunderstanding.

          https://www.stereophile.com/musicintheround/music_in_the_rou…

          An all-digital player, like this Sony, does not need, and has no use for a DAC. It does have, as you correctly pointed out, a decoder.

    • xenoic on 27/05/2018 - 11:41

      It’s strange but it’s true. I’m experiencing the same thing when I run my Xbox one X and my Oppo to my 7.2.2 set up.

      I can hear the difference from the two sources which Oppo has better dynamics. Again, you won’t know the difference unless you can compare both ‘side-by-side.’

      • MdMa7 on 27/05/2018 - 20:00

        Yes, just different DACs.

        Same thing goes for PCs.

        Why does a dedicated soundcard always produce better sound than the onboard sound?

        Many reasons but mostly because of the DAC.

    • tukanglistrik on 27/05/2018 - 12:19

      By that logic then all bluray players would display the same picture quality, which is not. I'm no expert but I think all players do some fine tuning digitally (both video and audio) before sending them through HDMI, although in case of audio the receiver's DAC should play a more important role.

      Reputable reviewers should have compared them apple to apple, which in this case the same TV, receiver, cables and speakers.

  • Elyxar on 27/05/2018 - 04:21
    +1

    I recently bought an Oppo 203 and absolutely love it. Upscaled DVD is nice enough even on a 65” (to my eyes). I eventually got sick of the Xbox S, the remote is just horrible to use compared to the PS4 when playing media.

    If anyone is in the market and is ok paying $850 for a 4K player then buy sooner rather than later as they no longer make them.

    • kml22 on 27/05/2018 - 08:06

      $800 for Oppo 4K? No thanks, my cheapo Xbox One S does the job. I can't justify that price for Oppo brand and especially they're being discontinued, and no support after some time.

    • Phreakuency on 27/05/2018 - 08:55
      -3

      Oppo players are the biggest scam out there. They flooded the Internet with their employees posting fake reviews about how audio and videophiles can ‘just tell the difference’ and somehow their bs caught on and now everyone wants to pay $800 for something that has cheap parts inside and does nothing a standard player can’t.

      • xenoic on 27/05/2018 - 11:27
        -2

        Lol what have you been smoking??

    • Dreamcazman on 27/05/2018 - 09:21
      -3

      Elyxar, not everyone appreciates quality…

      • solidussnake on 27/05/2018 - 09:36

        Yeah ok good justification:

        CNET review

        Image quality
        While you may expect a dedicated player to produce a better picture than a game console, that wasn't the case. The Xbox One S passed all of the tests I threw at it — whether DVD, Blu-ray or 4K disc. From everything I could see, it was just as good as the dedicated players. It was able to correctly replay film and video content from DVD and Blu-ray test discs well, without stuttering or leaving jaggies. And 4K high dynamic range (HDR) content popped in exactly the same way it did on the Samsung, Sony and Oppo players — whether via streaming services or discs.

        Be aware that if you want to stream HDR, only Netflix and Amazon are supported on the Xbox One S right now — no YouTube or Vudu yet. By comparison, the Samsung only does Amazon HDR, while the Sony only has YouTube HDR

        With similar speed and image quality across all of the players, why buy anything but the Xbox One S for 4K Blu-ray playback?

        The main reason is if you watch a lot of discs. The interface of the Xbox One S muddles things and makes the process of playing stuff more annoying than a dedicated player. The $18 Media Remote is also worth the investment if you don't want to use the Xbox's game controller.

        But that's pretty much it, and for most people the interface differences aren't worth paying extra to get a dedicated player. If you want to do any gaming at all (and even if you don't), the Xbox One S is worth buying over a dedicated player. It's capable, compact and comparatively fast. And until those other players go down in price, it's by far the best value in 4K Blu-ray playback.

        • Sammyboy on 27/05/2018 - 19:52
          +1

          I hardly use my xbox one s. Prob got turned on once a month. So the worst thing when you want to watch a bluray straightaway is when there's some massive firmware update. And then after that updates, there is an update for the bluray player software on it and more waiting. For some reason, the xbox also wasn't playing well with the receiver for some of the HD audio formats. Also xbox one cannot play 3d blurays. Yes, I'm probably one of the few who like watching movies in 3D at home. So bought a dedicated 4k bluray player and have had zero problems since.

    • xenoic on 27/05/2018 - 11:17
      -1

      I’ve also got an Oppo 203 and an Xbox One X.

      Oppo Wins on the following:
      - loading time
      - less noise on the drive
      - picture clarity
      - sound dynamics

      For those who thinks Oppo is a cheap Chinese mobile phone company, well, you’ve been living in a cave.

      • Phreakuency on 27/05/2018 - 11:50
        -4

        Lol, justifying your waste of money.

        There is no picture clarity difference at al on cheap Oppo crap. Scam scam scam and you fell for it.

  • solidussnake on 27/05/2018 - 07:51
    +4

    Im happy with my Xbox one S, I just turned on CEC control so my Samsung remote controls it (65Ks8000) Couldnt care about dolby vision..

  • aeon on 27/05/2018 - 10:07

    Has anyone got one of these and tested whether or not it's region free for DVD playback (yes, DVD - I've still got a heap of non R4 DVDs that occasionally get a play - my current Sony Blu-ray player does do region free DVD playback)

    • goober on 27/05/2018 - 11:23

      +1 - need region free too

    • flumpf on 27/05/2018 - 11:41

      The X800 is region locked, so I would bet that the X700 is too.

      To combat this, I picked up a $60 Laser Blu-ray/DVD player that's region free for both formats.

  • flumpf on 27/05/2018 - 10:11

    Isn't there an issue where Sony's pending implementation of Dolby Vision on the X700 may not work with other brands of TV? Or has this been disproven?

    I have the X800, and while it is built like an absolute tank, it has BIG problems with freezing on pretty much every second 4K disc thrown at it, requiring unplugging and then searching for where you were up to in the movie. Looking around variously online it seems to be a common - and really disappointing - fault with the player.

    Hopefully it's been addressed in the X700…

    • Jabba the Hutt on 27/05/2018 - 10:37
      +1

      Just watched this review by someone who began having freezing issues with the X700 a month in, while others (e.g. in that video's comments) report no such problems, so I guess the wise thing would be to take ease of returns into account when buying.

      • flumpf on 27/05/2018 - 11:44

        In other words, avoid Harvey Norman, as they'll want to send it away for over a month to get "assessed", then it will be returned with "no fault found" as it's an intermittent issue that cannot quickly be replicated, and then you're stuck with a dud machine - a dud machine with a much-publicised inherent fault that Sony won't acknowledge.

  • mathew42 on 27/05/2018 - 12:30
    +2

    Still lamenting that Sony didin't add 4K Blu-Ray support as an update to PS4.

  • CrazySurfaNZ on 27/05/2018 - 17:20

    Costco Docklands (Melbourne) had the LG UP970 for $279 when I was in there yesterday in case anyone is interested in that as an alternative. Includes dolby vision oob I believe.

    Deal expires 31 may

    • flumpf on 27/05/2018 - 22:57

      The UP970 is currently $238 at JB if you can find one (the player, not a JB store… ;)). Dolby Vision installs via a quick firmware update.

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