Sony BDP-S550 BD Player
 

This one has always been a bit persnickety, rejecting disks that other
players including my other Sony handle but now it is rejecting everything
including DVD's and CD's. The display says NO DISK.

I'm guessing that the laser has gotten weak.

Is there any point in trying to fix it or getting it fixed?

My interest in this player is two-fold:

It has built in 5.1/7.1 decoding which is useful in my situation.
It can suppress on-screen symbols which is also useful in my situation.

Drives for this model can be had for $110. I might be willing to take the
chance if the odds are in my favor that it would fix it. I realize no one
is going to know for sure but one thing I hope someone may know is this:
If you replace the drive, is there any sort of electronic alignment that is
needed to make the new drive work? Something that I cannot do. Or is it
just pull one out and put in the other, plug in the cables and away you go?

Sony BDP-S550 BD Player
 

"Steve Kraus" wrote in message
m...

I've owned the same player for more than five years and have had no trouble.
NO DISK suggests a weak laser. It's also possible you're inserting the disks
"crookedly" (though I doubt it). $110 is less than a repair, but I leave it to
others to decide whether the odds are in your favor.

One of this player's strong points is that it outputs lossless Dolby True HD
and DTS Master Audio as analog. It was one of the last players from any
company to do this. Most later players depend on the system controller to
handle these formats via HDMI, eliminating one or two expensive chips from the
player. /This alone/ is justification for fixing it -- unless you're about to
buy an OPPO.

By the way... Be sure the External Memory stick supplied with the player is
installed. Some disks (such as "Starship Troopers" and "LotR:Fellowship")
won't play without it. And if you have a 6- or 7-channel setup, and don't hear
the two extra channels, look at p49. Change BD Audio Setting from Mix to
Direct.

Sony BDP-S550 BD Player
 

I was using it at my business (a screening room) and I would definitely
pop for an Oppo for this important use but it's annoying that Oppo will
not let one suppress on-screen nonsense. There's been much discussion
among technicians and several of us have even contacted them about
including this on a firmware update but they have told us all that they
will not. I don't want to spend that much on something that gives an
inferior presentation which it will if there is on-screen BS. They've
lost a number of sales over this issue.

I haven't decided if I should get a better model player (stopping short
of the Oppo as noted) for the business or just leave my other (lesser)
Sony there (along with a super cheapo "Digix" as backup) and get a low
end machine for home. I did in fact bring home the cheapest Sony from
Sam's Club (1100 or something like that) the other day but returned it as
the blacks were more milky gray.

If I do go the cheap home player route I will still want it to have an
audio out of some sort, not just via HDMI as I still want to be able to
use it at the business in an emergency and I've got no way to pick off
audio out of the HDMI which goes right into the the digital cinema
projector via an HDMI to DVI cable. I'm sure there's a pass-through box
that can do that but it's simpler just to get a better player with a coax
or optical out.

William Sommerwerck wrote:

"Steve Kraus" wrote in message
m...

I've owned the same player for more than five years and have had no
trouble. NO DISK suggests a weak laser. It's also possible you're
inserting the disks "crookedly" (though I doubt it). $110 is less than
a repair, but I leave it to others to decide whether the odds are in
your favor.

One of this player's strong points is that it outputs lossless Dolby
True HD and DTS Master Audio as analog. It was one of the last players
from any company to do this. Most later players depend on the system
controller to handle these formats via HDMI, eliminating one or two
expensive chips from the player. /This alone/ is justification for
fixing it -- unless you're about to buy an OPPO.

By the way... Be sure the External Memory stick supplied with the
player is installed. Some disks (such as "Starship Troopers" and
"LotR:Fellowship") won't play without it. And if you have a 6- or
7-channel setup, and don't hear the two extra channels, look at p49.
Change BD Audio Setting from Mix to Direct.

Sony BDP-S550 BD Player
 

"Steve Kraus" wrote in message
m...

If I do go the cheap home player route I will still want it to have
an audio out of some sort

"Cheap home player" and "analog audio output" (presumably of the lossless HD
formats) are mutually exclusive. Getting the latter requires specialized
chips, which you won't find in cheap players.

Sony BDP-S550 BD Player
 

William Sommerwerck wrote:

"Steve Kraus" wrote in message
m...

If I do go the cheap home player route I will still want it to have
an audio out of some sort

"Cheap home player" and "analog audio output" (presumably of the
lossless HD formats) are mutually exclusive. Getting the latter
requires specialized chips, which you won't find in cheap players.

No, the minimal requirement would be a digital coax or optical connector
not analog. Even the cheapie Sony I tried had a digital coax connector but
that's the exception. Many have nothing on the back but the HDMI connector
so I can't go quite that low if the player is to be useable in an emergency
at my business. (At home that's fine as I don't do fancy sound at home --
just the tv sound.)

Sony BDP-S550 BD Player
 

"Steve Kraus" wrote in message
m...
William Sommerwerck wrote:

"Cheap home player" and "analog audio output" (presumably of the
lossless HD formats) are mutually exclusive. Getting the latter
requires specialized chips, which you won't find in cheap players.

No, the minimal requirement would be a digital coax or optical connector
not analog. Even the cheapie Sony I tried had a digital coax connector but
that's the exception. Many have nothing on the back but the HDMI connector
so I can't go quite that low if the player is to be useable in an emergency
at my business. (At home that's fine as I don't do fancy sound at home --
just the tv sound.)

To the best of my knowledge, you can't get 5.1 or 7.1 HD audio through a coax
or optical connector. My understanding is that that is what you wanted.

Sony BDP-S550 BD Player
 

"William Sommerwerck" wrote in message
...
"Steve Kraus" wrote in message
m...
William Sommerwerck wrote:

"Cheap home player" and "analog audio output" (presumably of the
lossless HD formats) are mutually exclusive. Getting the latter
requires specialized chips, which you won't find in cheap players.

No, the minimal requirement would be a digital coax or optical connector
not analog. Even the cheapie Sony I tried had a digital coax connector
but
that's the exception. Many have nothing on the back but the HDMI
connector
so I can't go quite that low if the player is to be useable in an
emergency
at my business. (At home that's fine as I don't do fancy sound at
home --
just the tv sound.)

To the best of my knowledge, you can't get 5.1 or 7.1 HD audio through a
coax or optical connector. My understanding is that that is what you
wanted.




Sure you can. I get Dolby Digital etc for optical and coaxial digital
outputs all the time at work.

(I work on surround receivers etc.)

Mark Z.

Sony BDP-S550 BD Player
 

"Mark Zacharias" wrote in message
...
"William Sommerwerck" wrote in message
...

To the best of my knowledge, you can't get 5.1 or 7.1 HD audio through
a coax or optical connector. My understanding is that that is what you
wanted.

Sure you can. I get Dolby Digital etc for optical and coaxial digital
outputs all the time at work.

Note that I said (see above) HD Audio.

I checked this in my Sony user manual before posting, and I believe it's
correct. (You'd never know from the manuals, as they tell you next to
nothing.)

Sony BDP-S550 BD Player
 

Følgende er skrevet af William Sommerwerck:
"Mark Zacharias" wrote in message
...
"William Sommerwerck" wrote in message
...

To the best of my knowledge, you can't get 5.1 or 7.1 HD audio through
a coax or optical connector. My understanding is that that is what you
wanted.

Sure you can. I get Dolby Digital etc for optical and coaxial digital
outputs all the time at work.

Note that I said (see above) HD Audio.

I checked this in my Sony user manual before posting, and I believe it's
correct. (You'd never know from the manuals, as they tell you next to
nothing.)

Isn't the correct answer "Yes you can, from some units, but not from
the mentioned Sony player." ?

Leif

--
Husk kørelys bagpå, hvis din bilfabrikant har taget den idiotiske
beslutning at undlade det.

Sony BDP-S550 BD Player
 

"Leif Neland" wrote in message ...
Følgende er skrevet af William Sommerwerck:
"Mark Zacharias" wrote in message
...
"William Sommerwerck" wrote in message
...

I checked this in my Sony user manual before posting, and I believe
it's correct. (You'd never know from the manuals, as they tell you
next to nothing.)

Isn't the correct answer "Yes you can, from some units, but not from the
mentioned Sony player." ?

I'm not sure. My understanding is that HD Audio //is not// available from the
coax or optical outputs of any player. HDMI is the only source.

Sony BDP-S550 BD Player
 

I should have been more specific. On page 21, we read...

"If your AV amplifier (receiver) has a Dolby Digital, Dolby Pro Logic, or DTS
decoder and a digital input jack, you can enjoy Dolby Digital (5.1ch), Dolby
Pro Logic (4.0ch) or DTS (5.1ch) surround effects."

Note that the HD formats -- Dolby True HD and DTS Master Audio -- are not
mentioned.

Sony BDP-S550 BD Player
 

"William Sommerwerck" wrote in message
...
"Mark Zacharias" wrote in message
...
"William Sommerwerck" wrote in message
...

To the best of my knowledge, you can't get 5.1 or 7.1 HD audio through
a coax or optical connector. My understanding is that that is what you
wanted.

Sure you can. I get Dolby Digital etc for optical and coaxial digital
outputs all the time at work.

Note that I said (see above) HD Audio.

I checked this in my Sony user manual before posting, and I believe it's
correct. (You'd never know from the manuals, as they tell you next to
nothing.)


Ignorant of "HD" audio apparently.

Apologies.


mz