Sony DVP-NC600 DVD Changer

OK, it might not be the choice of the gadget or Hi-Fi enthusiast, but this baby packs enough punch and has enough features to keep the rest of us happy. And when it comes in a box labelled Sony, at a great price from a supplier you can trust ... snap it up!

Set up in my living room with a 12yr old Sony Triniton, the picture and sound quality is fantastic. I've even moved my Pioneer stereo unit out and use the DVP-NC600 to play my CD's as well.

Setting the unit up was a piece of cake and the smart little speakers were easily housed without creating an eyesore and I simply had to connect it to the TV. I guess the manual would benefit from some work (it's in English, but I'm not convinced the person that wrote it was). It didn't take long to get used to the basic controls though.

All in all, a great package! All I need now is to save my pennies for a big widescreen TV and I'll be all set! (It'll be a Sony of course!)

I imagine, however, that the two players are probably very similar in most respects. I use an optical link to connect to my amplifier, and it produces very good quality sound. The multi-disc resume feature is very handy, as it will remember where you are on the 6 most recently used discs and is able to pick up where you left off on any of them in spite of using others inbetween. The image quality of DVD I suspect could be better. I am using an RGB connection, so should have the best it can produce, but despite block noise reduction and other sharpening enhancements, you can still make out jaggies and blurring in places and around edges. Certainly not to the point that would make any DVD less than enjoyable, so don't get me wrong! I just feel that a quality dedicated single-disc DVD player would produce a better picture.

Looking at the specs of the 600, my fears may also be elayed by the fact that this model might have a better DAC anyway, and generally better componentry, so the slight shortcomings of my model might not apply here.

Other down-sides.... When you play a disk, it automatically takes control of the TV through a SCART link. Which is fine in the case of a DVD, as if you are playing it, you are likely to want to be watching it as well. But for CDs, you end up with the Sony backdrop on your TV screen. The only way to go back to a broadcast is to hunt out the remote and press the little TV/DVD button. This button doesn't appear on my amplifier's DVD controls, so I have to keep the DVD control in a nearby drawer for this sole purpose, which is kinda annoying.

The menus are rather clunky, relying on small pictograms to describe the function. But they work, and that's what matters.

The disc navigation is good, although the carousel only spins in one direction, so if you go past the disc you want, you have to go round again. But the mechanics are fairly quiet.

I have not tested it with an MP3 disc so cannot comment on what it is like with these sorts of files. Neither have I tested it's virtual surround modes, as I am hooked up to a surround receiver.

As I needed a multi-disc player to replace my old hi-fi as I was going down the route of a "separates" system, there were so few on the market. At the time, it was this or a rather ugly Kenwood system.

The Sony was a good choice.