Apex Digital 600A DVD Player

$179 for a DVD player that can play MP3's? Whooda thunk?

Ok, I was intrigued by the ability to play MP3's on my stereo system. I was also surprised at the price for this unit. Granted, it's an off-brand unit likely manufactured in some taiwanese sweatshop, but for $179 I figured I couldn't go wrong. I also purchased it from Circuit City, and they're fairly good about returns.

For the most part, i'm impressed. I really am.

For what it's worth, my other DVD player is a Sony 600D 5 DVD Carousel.

THE UNIT
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The unit itself is standard fare. They seem to have taken the minimalist approach on the actual unit and left most of the functions on the remote. That's pretty typical. The innards of this unit actually sports an IDE DVD-ROM drive that you'd find in your PC, connected to a mainboard via a standard 40 pin cable. I suppose that'll make "user-servicing" easier should you feel the need. It also explains the low cost of the unit.

The back of the unit includes Composite, S-VIDEO and Component video outputs. Yes, Component video on a $179 unit. How about that :)

It also has your standard L/R stereo outputs, as well as Dolby Digital/DTS outputs. The unit does NOT have a built-in decoder, meaning you require a Dolby Digital or DTS-capable receiver in order to get that functionality out of this unit. Not a big deal for me, my receiver is Dolby Digital.

THE REMOTE
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Horrible. The worst i've seen. Cluttered with tiny buttons that are too tightly packed together, almost none of it makes sense. DO NOT buy this unit for the remote. Instead, find yourself a good learning remote somewhere and program the critical buttons into it. You'll be glad you did. I cannot stress how badly this remote control requires a redesign.

DVD PLAYBACK
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I have my unit plugged into my Mitsubishi DiamondVision 50" Rear Projection TV with an S-Video cable.

Video is surprisingly good, at least matching the color definition of my Sony 600D. Overall clarity seems to be *better* on the Apex, with good, solid edge definition. Definitely not what I expected for a $179 unit, particularly when it exceeds my Sony. Mpeg artefacts are virtually nonexistant except on some DVD's where it's a problem on ANY player (like Highlander: the director's cut).

The sound output is going to my Yamaha receiver, which is Dolby Digital. Since it's digital, you can't expect much of a difference between one DVD player to the next (at least, I haven't personally noticed much of a difference). Sound is exactly what I expected. My Sunfire sub sounding nice and tight, and my Polk RT's sounding balanced. I've spent quite a bit of time positioning my speakers, so my system is very "forgiving" of whatever sound source I throw at it.

One thing I *DID* notice, however, is a slight lip-sync issue during talking dialog. When viewing "Star Trek: First Contact", I noticed a VERY slight sync issue during dialog, but it was VERY slight. Less than 1/8th of a second to my estimate. This MUST be a DVD Mastering issue, since this is the only DVD I played that had this issue. I went back and forth on the Apex to my Sony, and saw that the Sony does NOT have this issue with that particular DVD.

All of the newer DVD's that i've tested though are just fine. These include The Princess Bride, Jaws, Resivoir Dogs, and Being John Malkovich. No sync issues at all with these.

MP3 PLAYBACK
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To all of you burning your CD's out there with gobs of MP3's, you might want to rethink the way you're burning them. One thing the Apex does NOT support is Long Filenames. The 8 character limitation is kinda stupid when you think about it, after all who saves an MP3 with only 8 characters? The BEST way i've found to make an MP3 CD for the Apex is to separate all your artists and directories, and then make a playlist for EACH ALBUM in the root directory, as well as a playlist for ALL SONGS on the disc (for parties or what not). Navigating the menus for MP3 playback is a lesson in futility. They need to rethink this one as well.

Sound quality itself is impressive. MP3's sound TERRIFIC on this unit. Easily matching CD quality when encoded at a bitrate of 160kbit. 128kbit sounds great too, albeit the highs are a little sparkly. One thing to note, you're using the ANALOG L/R outputs on the back of the unit when you're playing MP3's, you're not using the Dolby Digital output. That's a point they could improve upon.

VIDEO CD PLAYBACK
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Video CD Playback works. I've found that Video CD's vary greatly in quality depending on the source used to encode them, so it's hard to give an opinion on how good this portion performs. I'll leave it at this: It works. I can't give it merits or demerits on this, but I can say that the output and sound on the Apex is the same as my Sony 600D.

WHAT WOULD MAKE THIS A PERFECT 5 RATING
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1. Redesign the remote. It stinks. Case closed.

2. Get rid of that little sync issue with older DVD's. A note to new buyers though, don't let this little issue keep you from buying this player, the $179 pricetag is something i'd pay for the MP3 functionality alone. On newer DVD's, the playback has no sync issues.

3. Redesign the MP3 menuing system, and support long file names.

4. Have MP3's play back digitally rather than use the analog outputs. Dolby Digital does support 2 channel playback.

WHAT I DIDN'T GET TO TEST
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Audio CD Playback (though it supports it)
Multi-region DVD playback (I don't own anything outside Zone 1)

SUMMARY
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Well worth the money! $179 is a great price for a home MP3 deck alone! The fact that it sports excellent video quality with on-par audio quality (save for those older DVD's with sync issues) makes this player a winner. I've had mine for roughly 4 months now, and i'm certainly not displeased with this purchase at all. It has some design flaws, like the remote and the mp3 menu system, but for the price you've paid, you can easily live with them.

A solid 4 rating.