I've been using mega changers for my CD collection for some time now. Been thinking of doing the same thing for my DVD's. I have Sony mega changes, 400 disk and a 200 disk, that are controlled by a computer via CDJ and Slink-e. I’ve been researching both the Sony (300 disks) and Kenwood (400 disk) DVD changers. Are these my only options? 480P is required, computer control is a plus.

I'm interested in adding both CD and DVD cahngers to my system, but I heard/read that the Slink-e cannot control the Sony DVD players, only the CD players. Be nice if all the manufacturers would put a NIC in their components so there could be universal computer control of their compnents instead of having to find so many backdoor (and expensive, like the Slink-e) solutions.

I don't know how the output quality of these changers are, however. If you search the forums, you should find a link to a website that has practically every DVD player ever made (or atleast curently on the market) rated.

The Slink-e will control the DVD player, you just need to find a program that will run it. It is just their program "CDJ" that doesn't work with the DVD players. I Thought I saw one for DVD players but can't recall what it was.

Here it is:
[Link: webpromotion.com]

In the September Sound & Vision there is an article about Sony’s new 400 disc DVD/SACD changer. The article doesn’t mention the control system but if it is included, most Sony stuff it is, it look like a good match with DVDLobby Pro 2.0.
Has any one used DVDLobby Pro 2.0. ? Can you mix CDJ and DVDLobby Pro 2.0. On the same slink-e? I do have 2 open ports.

Hi Chris,

Yes you can connect to CDJ and still have your Changer connected to the Control-S port of the Slinke.
You could actually connect a y-cable and connect up to 3 DVD changers in addition to your CD Changers. DVDLobby Pro 2 has a popup remote control panel that allows you to also control all 3 DVD Mega Changers once the movie starts playing.

I have a Pioneer DV-F727 300 DVD changer. I like it very much and picture and audio are excellent. I'm currently loading it up with CDs and Concert DVDs. I also have the Pioneer 300 CD changer as well.

what I like about these is you can load them up and start a movie or listen to music without having to find the box there in, in the cabinet. It is all there.

Riche_guy

That new Sony DOES NOT have the S-link control. However, Sony also has a new ES series 400 DVD changer that does have the S-link as well as upgraded audio and video. The SRP for the ES model is only $799, so it's the way to go.

Steve it look like the S-link of the DVP-CX777ES is output only. There is a RS-232C Control Port but I'm not sure how slink-e would work with it.

Have the rs232 protocol manual for this unit if anyone is interested.
It is in PDF format

I'm the proud owner of two sony CD jukeboxes, several years old, and I love them: They contain my CDs and save the space and aggravation of dealing with hundreds of jewel boxes, finding one, opening it, loading it, etc. every time I want to play music.

But what drives me nuts is the Flintstonian interface; you load 200, 300, or 400 disks, and the thing doesn't have the brains to get on the net and retrieve their titles. Last I heard, the MOST advanced way to get the information in was a KEYBOARD, in the top-of-the-line models, to manually type in 400 titles.

My earlier models are even less sophisticated, providing a wheel that changes one letter up and down the alphabet each notch I turn it, and a button to push to confirm each letter and move on to the next letter, rinse, repeat, for every letter of every title of every single disk, ARGH. I only THOUGHT I knew tedium.

When I insert a music CD into my PC, where it's a brief guest, the PC fetches extensive CDDB/Gracenote data: Album title, artist, year, genre, names and lengths of each song, etc. For DVDs there's "DVD Profiler" that grabs the info on the movie. But when I put a disk into a 200-disk jukebox intended to contain it forever, the box sits there, dumb, clueless, with no idea what disk is in it and no way to find out until I tell it, in the most rudimentary, cumbersome way imaginable, a fraction of the data that sits, inaccessible, in huge databases?

Has any company yet had the divine inspiration to put a blinkin' chip and a phone jack, or an ethernet connection, or wi-fi, or even a bloody serial cable to attach to a laptop, or ANYTHING into one of these beasts so it can find out for itself what disks are loaded into it? Or are they still sticking us with a 1950s interface?

And are the newer hard-drive-based units any smarter, presenting a Faustian bargain of trading fidelity -- the inferior sound of those poor squeezed MP3s -- for convenience?

End of rant, thanks for everything.

Grinningmadman,
The AudioReQuest Fusion music server will play cd "Full fidelity" quality, and looks up the disc info online for you. It will also provide cover art and "interesting facts" about the artist.

Hi Guys,

We'll be releasing support for control over the Sony CX777ES changer from within DVDLobby via Serial cable. One nice feature is that you can actually skip the menu system and trailers for most movies now. We'll also be introducing a new product specifically for the Sony CX777ES which will do exactly what grinningmadman is referring to. Acknowledging the disc's within your changer - on top of that - provide a much more user friendly interface than Sony's hysterical blue screen of death for an interface.

The DVP-CX777ES just had a price drop. $550 on CDW.com That's a pretty big drop from $800. Anyone using this one yet? Happy with it? For an extra $150, I would rather have the ES over the 975.

I agree. Now just show me one in black. I'm on the verge of getting a 975, unless someone knows of any other mega-changers about to hit the market.

Larry
www.fineelectricco.com