Pioneer DV-563A firmware campaign

[KevinD9052]

Hey Kestral, I went through the same ordeal as you last May with an "authorized" Pioneer service center here in suburban NYC. Actually my ordeal was worse! Called the center and the taped announcement told me they were open on Saturdays. I go there and a sign says they are closed Saturdays since the previous January. "Sorry for the inconvenience". Change your godd***d message then! I take time off from work to drop it off the following week. Early May remember. I explain to the counter peson what needs to be done and explain it is an upgrade per Pioneer- not a repair. Two weeks later tech calls me to tell me there is nothing wrong with it. Duh! I explain it again. Bottom line: I call every week for 8 weeks and get the same crap as you. Finally, get a call in mid July telling me that there is no such upgrade technical advisory on the Pioneer site. At this point, it just was not worth the grief. I pick it up. A week later I buy a 578.

 

[bobou2]

Hey Kestral, I went through the same ordeal as you last May with an "authorized" Pioneer service center here in suburban NYC. Actually my ordeal was worse! Called the center and the taped announcement told me they were open on Saturdays. I go there and a sign says they are closed Saturdays since the previous January. "Sorry for the inconvenience". Change your godd***d message then! I take time off from work to drop it off the following week. Early May remember. I explain to the counter peson what needs to be done and explain it is an upgrade per Pioneer- not a repair. Two weeks later tech calls me to tell me there is nothing wrong with it. Duh! I explain it again. Bottom line: I call every week for 8 weeks and get the same crap as you. Finally, get a call in mid July telling me that there is no such upgrade technical advisory on the Pioneer site. At this point, it just was not worth the grief. I pick it up. A week later I buy a 578.

Hey Kevin
I thought you brought it to the service center on 231st

 

[kestral]

He doesn't work with a guy named "Tom" does he?

Yup, but the strong odor of litter box and ubiquitous mouse turds gives it away every time...

 

[ClarkNovak]

Well, I'm getting pretty PO'd here in San Diego. Finally took mine to the "Authorized Service Center" in Mira Mesa - a dirty little hole-in-the-wall with gear stacked around so high I could barely get to the front counter. Guy writes me a receipt and says it'll take about a week.

A week goes by... then two. I call, and after some rummaging round, the fellow says that the upgrade "didn't take", and that his tech "forgot to tell him so", and that he's got to send it to another provider...

I'm now into this for three weeks and I'm worried. I need the machine for an at-work project and time is getting slim. I may just have to go to Best Buy and pop for a 578

Clark

 

[kestral]

Well, I'm getting pretty PO'd here in San Diego. Finally took mine to the "Authorized Service Center" in Mira Mesa - a dirty little hole-in-the-wall with gear stacked around so high I could barely get to the front counter. Guy writes me a receipt and says it'll take about a week.

A week goes by... then two. I call, and after some rummaging round, the fellow says that the upgrade "didn't take", and that his tech "forgot to tell him so", and that he's got to send it to another provider...

I'm now into this for three weeks and I'm worried. I need the machine for an at-work project and time is getting slim. I may just have to go to Best Buy and pop for a 578

Clark

At this juncture (to paraphrase 41), it might be prudent to call Pioneer and have them assign a case number and a customer service rep, who will then call your ASC. :howl It seemed to work for me; and if that action in reality was nothing more than a placebo effect, I don't care; it made me feel better - like Sisyphus, who, having purchased a 563a, thus infuriating the gods, has a daydream in which he's granted a brief reprieve from eternal misery, during which someone else gets to roll the rock...

You can reach Pioneer at 310-952-2000 (hours: 7:30 am - 5 pm PST).

Good luck. :friday:

 

[timbre4]

Well, I'm getting pretty PO'd here in San Diego. Finally took mine to the "Authorized Service Center" in Mira Mesa - a dirty little hole-in-the-wall with gear stacked around so high I could barely get to the front counter.
Clark

That wouldn't be about Convoy & Kearney Mesa was it? 3 Techs I believe it was called and they were none too swift back in the day...

 

[ClarkNovak]

That wouldn't be about Convoy & Kearney Mesa was it? 3 Techs I believe it was called and they were none too swift back in the day...

They're on Black Mountain now, but probably the same rat-warren...

Clark

 

[mailguy]

I bought a 563a Feb '04 from pioneerelectronics on eBay; they sell refurb units. When I get a chance I will check the firmware version to see if it has been updated; I'd be willing to bet it's still the older version. I never played any of the affected titles. Anybody else get one of these refurbs?
BTW, theyre still selling 'em.

 

[timbre4]

Based on this thread, I've decided to put my unit on eBay this week.

Pissed that the firmware was needed and fell out of love with it. The Panasonic PA65 will resume the DVD-A duties alongside a Sony DVP-NS775V (DVD/SACD) I got yesterday.

 

[neil wilkes]

I also had the UK version, the 565A.
I found it to be a total dog in every way.
Got the firmware so-called "upgrade" to find that while it did fix the "problem discs" issue, it promptly broke a whole raft of other things that were not broken before.
Add to this the appalling 200Hz crossover point for DVD-A playback, and I felt I had a seriously second rate player here.
I looked at the 578 replacement.
This worked where the 565 did not, but oddly enough was broken in places the 565 was working well: Active menu overlays in DVD-A were just not displaying the entire overlay page. Nada, nothing - therefore no navigation at all.
I called Pioneer who told me that "the unit does not officially support DVD-R, DVD+R, DVD-RW, DVD+RW or CD-R and CD-RW, although it should be okay with most we cannot guarantee playback". I asked them why a feature that worked in the 565 did not work in the 578 and was told "We do not know anything about this. You'll have to sort it out with the retailer".
The retailer was Richer Sounds, who told me "We just sell them. It's nothing to do with us, you'll have to take it up with Pioneer".

Another oddity with the 563/565 is the way it will not skip forward on some discs but will happily skip backward.
It's a dog, and should never have been let out of it's kennel.

So - no more pioneers for me.

 

[Guy Robinson]

So - no more pioneers for me.

The Elite's are at a whole different level so don't lump all Pioneer Universals together.

 

[KevinD9052]

Hey Kestral, I went through the same ordeal as you last May with an "authorized" Pioneer service center here in suburban NYC. Actually my ordeal was worse! Called the center and the taped announcement told me they were open on Saturdays. I go there and a sign says they are closed Saturdays since the previous January. "Sorry for the inconvenience". Change your godd***d message then! I take time off from work to drop it off the following week. Early May remember. I explain to the counter peson what needs to be done and explain it is an upgrade per Pioneer- not a repair. Two weeks later tech calls me to tell me there is nothing wrong with it. Duh! I explain it again. Bottom line: I call every week for 8 weeks and get the same crap as you. Finally, get a call in mid July telling me that there is no such upgrade technical advisory on the Pioneer site. At this point, it just was not worth the grief. I pick it up. A week later I buy a 578.

PS: Prior to my ordeal, I called Pioneer and got a case # (or whatever the hell you call it). And I gave it to the jerks at Nu Sonic (the service center). Made sure it was written on the repair order form. All in all a bad experience. But the 578 works just great. And I don't blame Pioneer. After all, the player did play all existing disks when it was released. I blame the DVD-A people for constantly changing the code.

 

[Pat Gleeson]

I'm new to this list, and bobou2 kindly refered me to this thread.
You can add another disc to the list:

Simple Minds - New Gold Dream (EMI/DTS Signature Series),
just released in Ireland / UK.

Same problem - no sound on the Advanced Resolution Audio track.

Looking through this entire thread (no easy task, given it's length and depressing contents) I'll probably give up the ghost and get a new universal player.
We're getting a raw deal here, as the problems some people are experiencing even after a firmware upgrade are worrying.

 

[Hollow Man]

Add another disc to the list: the DualDisc of Nine Inch Nails - With Teeth. The DVD-A side's high resolution audio (both stereo and multi-channel) does not play through my speakers. The disc will play, just without sound. The DVD Video layer plays fine.

I've been following this thread for many months, but haven't opted for service because I only owned two DVD-As, neither with this problem. I figure I'd eventually have to get the thing serviced though. Guess my luck finally ran out.

So I called Pioneer, and they told me someone else had already called in with the problem. I'm waiting for the service center to contact me to green light the firmware upgrade (they refused to send me the disc).

-HM

 

[Pat Gleeson]

I've just bitten the bullet, and contacted my local dealer to see about the firmware upgrade. He was very interested in the workaround to display the firmware version on the player's menu.
(I told him you guys knew what you were talking about )

The e-tailer I originally got the player from is no longer trading.

If the upgrade messes up the region hack, I just get a stand alone DVD-Vidoe player for that purpose.

More info as I get it.

 

[Hollow Man]

I got the go-ahead and brought it into the service center. We'll see how many eons it takes. They didn't have the disc on-hand, so they have to get it from Pioneer.

-HM

 

[ClarkNovak]

You know, the number of tales like this, even at this late date, really shows just how much of a minority we MC aficionados still are. You'd think more people would "get it" by now.

- Clark

I got the go-ahead and brought it into the service center. We'll see how many eons it takes. They didn't have the disc on-hand, so they have to get it from Pioneer.

-HM

 

[Hollow Man]

The dude at the service center said he'd never seen this model before. Good grief. I guess the percentage of people actually getting this work done must be miniscule.

I can only imagine how long it'll take for him to get around to calling Pionner, then how long for Pioneer to send him the disc, then how long it takes before he does it, then how much more time it'll be before he calls to let me know it's ready.

-HM

 

[Hollow Man]

Well blow me down, my player was ready today (only 2 days since I brought it in!) and now back in my rack. Guess they had the disc in stock after all. And lo, my new nin "With Teeth" disc's high resolution tracks now work - how 'bout that!

-HM

 

[Pat Gleeson]

Nice one Hollow Man

Can't say I've had much luck though. I'm getting no joy from Pioneer here, and I'm sure they know much more than they're letting on.