- Connects to the internet to access the fun and informative features tha BD-Live provides
- For all HD formats
- 1080 playback for DVDs, photos and personal video data
- On-screen display GUI
- Extensive disc / format compatibility
Let me say at the outset that I own the Yamaha RX-V863BL A/V (home theatre) receiver ($600) and its an awesome unit! I also own a full line-up of Yamaha home theatre speakers including the Yamaha NS-C444 center speaker ($150), two Yamaha NS-B750 bookshelf speakers ($1200/pair), and a Yamaha YST-SW315 sub-woofer ($250), all of which operate flawlessly for me. So it seemed to make perfect sense to trust in the purchase of a new Yamaha BD-S1065 blu-ray player ($400) for our developing home theatre system. But unfortunately, that trust was completely shattered when I connected and evaluated the BD-S1065.
The first unit I received had more problems than I care to articulate (right out of the box), but the single most troublesome flaw was that it took the player "eons" to load a new (standard issue) blu-ray disc. I mean it took literally 4-5 continuous minutes of scanning the disc before anything at all appeared on the television screen, and even then, it would re-enter yet another secondary "reading" phase that made the unit completely unusable in practical terms. I tried it on multiple discs of variable manufacture, and it misbehaved the same on each and every one of them. However, it also had a grossly outdated version of firmware, so being the optimist that I am (i.e., thinking that this might be the source of the problems), I foolishly went to the trouble of downloading the newest version of firmware from the Yamaha website to a CD/R disc via home computer and then transferring the new firmware to the BD-1065. Unfortunately, despite the firmware update, the problems all continued. In fact, some additional issues arose after the update including completely random stoppage of blu-ray discs right smack in the middle of viewing a movie (almost like a screensaver event)! Weird! Very-very weird. And significantly, the faulty behavior could not be duplicated using the same discs with a PlayStation 3 (PS3) or other (Samsung) blu-ray player.
Fortunately, Amazon has always been great about returns, so I sent the unit back for a replacement. A week later, the second (new replacement) BD-S1065 arrived, so I plugged it in (just as before). To my utter dismay, all of the same issues or problems with the first unit were present with the 2nd (replacement) unit including protracted load times, excessive and multiple disc readings, random stoppage of the disc in the middle of playback, etc., etc. And believe me, the list of headaches goes on from there! In each instance, I used brand new blu-ray discs all of which played without incident on a blu-ray equipped PS3 and similar Samsung unit, and in each instance, I was able to repeat the problem by returning the disc to the Yamaha BD-S1065. End of story.
Bottom line? This unit is NOT worth considering for your blu-ray needs. Sorry Yamaha, but I'd recommend that people look elsewhere for their blu-ray needs.
Buy Yamaha BD-S1065BL Blu-Ray Disc Player Now
We all love a bargain and that's what this otherwise lofty-priced blu ray player appeared to be when its price recently dipped below two benjamins. In my ever-ending quest to test almost every blu ray player, I purchased one with reasonable hopes. Yamaha debuted this player at nearly $600 and thought it might be a capable performer with a bit too demanding a pricetag (a la the Denon DBP-2010CI). A few "professional" reviews had scored the player reasonably well in traditional AV quality, which led me to believe this player might be akin to the apparently higher end funai-built machines badged as Marantz, Onkyo, and Denon.Upon unboxing the player, my hopes were high in feeling the heft of the player. The player has an old-fashioned profile and weight similar to the larger Funai-built players. Connectivity on the rear panel is very good with Multi-Channel Analogue outputs, dedicated, down-mixed stereo outputs, usb hub, Ethernet connection and the usual video offerings. Upon powering up the player, I was astonished at how slow it was to boot. It dragged on for quite a while reaching the 30 second-ish purgatory of the Pioneer BDP-51FD's boot time. The flash menu was a partial image of an open piano showing its strings that added a nice, unique touch. Once the setup menus appeared, I began to get an eerie feeling as to some of the origin of this player. The menu's graphics and test is very simple and lacks the refinement of a Pioneer, Oppo, or even Sony frankly.
The quick start was the first worry that this was less of a Panasonic-based Funai player and something different. After configuring the internet connection, I was disappointed to realize that firmware can only be updated via the rear-mounted USB hub. This is as convenient as an ashtray on a Harley. After yanking out the player from my rack and downloading the firmware, I updated the player to the May firmware described to resolve playback issues with new discs including Avatar. The whole process took roughly five minutes. The lack of the ability to download firmware via the internet connection is really problematic considering most of us do not want to have yank out a player of the rack each time it needs a new firmware update.
The Sharp-esque quick start feature did have a significant impact in powered off eject time, dropping it to a reasonable 2 seconds. That said, I could hear the fan blow while this player was in its idle state and can only believe that the activation of quick start would release an innocuous electricity leech in your rack.
The configuration of the video and audio was relatively straight-forward, but disappointing in the utter lack of video adjustments. Outside of resolution, the image is effectively unalterable from the native state. There are no adjustments for colorspace, noise reduction, brightness, etc. You get what it puts out and that's it. While adjustments are not necessary, they seem nearly obligatory for a unit whose MSRP alone suggests a more refined AV experience. Image quality of blu ray is excellent, but not very different from any other blu ray player (including a $100 discount player) for 1080p 24fps sources. Colors seemed very accurate with skin tones avoiding warm or jaundiced looks. Motion was smooth and did not notice any unusual errors in depiction. DVD image quality was reasonable, but lacked the detail and subtle edge enhancement that could be found with a Pioneer BDP-320. While the image generally avoided deinterlacing errors and was moiré free, it was a bit less than convincing as a "well-upscaled" image to the naked eye. Synthetic tests showed it did well with 2:2 and 2:3:2:3 (PF-T) cadences, but was easily tripped up by the majority of other film cadences. This performance was consistent with Sharp-based players (ie Pioneer BDP-120 and BDP-330). As you may have inferred, I believe this player (and its big brother the BDP-1900) are based in part upon Sharp designs. I have no conclusive proof other than the menu layout and design, inclusion of a quick-start feature, firmware via usb, and video performance.
In regard to disc playback, I noticed a few gremlins that are sadly very Sharp-esque. During playback of a Netflix copy of "The Way of the Gun" audio began to drop-out and the video stuttered, ultimately locking up the player. I tested the same scene of the blemished disc on my Pioneer BDP-320 and Oppo BDP-80, which played it without even the slightest hesitation or interruption.
Analogue audio setup was relatively easy and I found the analogue output adequate, but far from arousing. I found analogue audio similar to the Sony 1000ES, but not nearly as rich as the Burr Browns in the Denon 2010 or the Pioneer BDP-320.
At the end of the day, the $200 player marketplace has gone from budget to rife with excellent performers that include streaming, wireless connectivity, and even 3D capability. This player's only merit is traditional AV playback, which candidly it fails to establish itself as an above average performer let alone near the highly discounted Pioneer BDP-320 or Sony BDP-S1000ES. Sadly, even at $200, there are a number of better options.
Read Best Reviews of Yamaha BD-S1065BL Blu-Ray Disc Player Here
The player works just fine after loading the free firmware update from Yamaha. Price has dropped considerably in the last several weeks. Shop Best Buy for open box specials which are going for as little as $90.00, however ignore Best Buy HDMI cable push. Way over priced. I got a 6 foot cable on Amazon for .98 cents. Avoid buying player on-line unless shipping is free. No flashing lights or pin wheel sparklers to entertain the kids but who cares. A little slow on startup so instant gratification doesn't apply. Excellent Blu-Ray player.Want Yamaha BD-S1065BL Blu-Ray Disc Player Discount?
I wanted a Blu Ray player that worked well and did not look like a toy pulled from a box of Cracker Jacks. Sony, Panasonic, LG, they all havethis cheap plastic lightweight look and feel. I also spent a lot of time on the web looking at reviews of Blu Players and found few that really held up under end user reviews. I was hesitant on this player because the reviews were fair on average with complaints of slow loading,etc. But I do not care about streaming off the web and my movie collection is all DVD so I cannot comment on Blu Ray. I do have a Sony Internet LED TV and wanted the quality of a player to match.First, it looks like a real fine piece of equipment and it has a smooth feel about the operation and it actually has some real weight to it indicating high end build quality that Yamaha has a reputation for in audio equipment. It is simple to use and it up-converts newer high end DVDs to 1080P extremely well and sound reproduction is tops, since I am hard of hearing due to Meniere's Disease sound output over headphones is critical. In short, I got what I wanted, a high end looking player that does the job very well for what I need from it. I will purchase a couple latest releases of Blu Ray movies "Stargate" and "Twelve Monkeys" to see how it performs on Blu Ray. As for today's computer graphic extravaganzas such as "Avatar," I have no interest so this player should serve me well for years to come.
The only complaint so far is Yamaha's rather crude means of updating firmware. Had to create three separate accounts before I could login and retrieve the updates. Once that was done, updating was quite easy via a USB Flash Drive.
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UPDATE #1: One week after owning this unit, I learned it doesn't play AVCHD encoded DVD's like the dead Panasonic unit did. The book says it will, it has the AVCHD logo on top of the unit, but it just complains it can't read the disk and then the disk ejects. I contacted Yamaha, who confirmed the firmware was current and then had to escalate to tier 2 support. Not liking my odds with this one at this point. Perhaps another Panasonic is in my future...
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I'm writing this as a real-time setup review. I unboxed the unit and placed in the footprint of a dead Panasonic BD player. This thing dwarfs it. It's several inches deeper that the newer "slim-line" models being produced by the bigger players. I, however, liked the larger appearance of the Yamaha... more substantial and not so toy-like looking.
I powered it up and went through the menu system briefly. It defaulted to the proper settings, 16:9, HDMI, etc. My daughter was awake, so first up: The Princess and the Frog. No trouble. Played properly. Next up: Toy Story 3. Never loaded, just sat a black screen. Firmware update I thought?
It's no secret that Yamaha (or whoever really makes this unit) makes it tougher than most to update. The LAN connection is strictly for BD-Live, and that's a real shame for those of us with a fully wired home. Yamaha should realize folks interested in overpaying for a BD player that does little more than play from disk just might like to download the updates via Ethernet. But whatever. I loaded up a USB drive with the update, which by the way, required registering an account with Yamaha. It's free, but what's the point? The update took about 10 minutes to complete. Afterward, I loaded up Toy Story 3 again, this time to different results.
It loaded, right up to the intro animation where you actually press play. The toys creeping from left to right in the intro were pixelated (more accurately, 2"x2" blocks of pixels) and hung repeatedly. I could hear the reader inside the unit hunting for the track, back and forth, over and over. So out came the disk, and what do you know? A single fingerprint. For the record, this disk had been in the old BD player for weeks, terminally on repeat before it croaked. That fingerprint never caused issue. Apparently this Yamaha is a tad more particular about cleanliness. (Save it A/V purists, I have a 2 year-old and yes, she gets her hands on everything. That's how the real world operates.) One wipe with a rag and presto! It works!
So far, here is my overall impression:
1. I'm glad I didn't pay Yamaha's MSRP of $600. Seriously, check it out.
2. You can get more features from Sony, Panasonic and LG for the same $$, if not less. Think 3D, Netflix, YouTube, Pandora, DLNA
3. The remote looks like it's from the late 80's
4. The unit loads a bit on the slower side, but it's not as bad as others have claimed
5. If you want anything mentioned in item 2, you don't want this unit
6. It's big, think it through. If space is tight then this isn't the model for you
7. The firmware updates require a PC, Internet, a blank CD or USB flash drive, a CD burner and registering at Yamaha's website
8. It includes the 7.1 analog outputs, a nice feature for those with older A/V gear
9. No SD Card slot. USB is on the back panel. It's difficult to reach in my setup
Bottom line for me, I'm not buying a 3D TV anytime soon, I have an Apple TV for YouTube, music and home movie playback so I'm fine without the streaming media capabilities of other similarly priced models from the big boys. This does what I wanted, for a decent price, and it does it pretty well. It's not perfect but face it people, it's a sub-$200 BD player... what do you expect from it?
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