Apex AD-7701 Progressive-Scan DVD Player

The Apex AD-7701 was the first optical-media player to offer ultimate audio-format compatibility--namely, compatibility with both DVD-Audio and SACD software--at an affordable price. The karaoke-compatible player also lets you enjoy your MP3 music CDs and it offers a progressive-scan video output for seamless, flicker-free images on high-definition and HD-ready TVs. The AD-7701 also offers support both NTSC (North American) and PAL (European) video formats, so long as the region encoding allows (discs must be encoded for Region 1 or "all regions").

DVD-Audio and SACD media both offer super-high-fidelity sound. DVD-Audio discs provide 192 kHz/24-bit multichannel and stereo sound, high storage capacity, and unique bonus materials not available on regular audio CDs. DVD-A discs often have compressed Dolby Digital soundtracks for listening on standard DVD players, but true DVD-A decoding is required for full sonic appreciation. Depending on the disc, Sony's proprietary SACD format provides extended-bandwidth multichannel and/or stereo sound, often presented in a dual-layer format compatible with both standard CD players (at standard resolution) and SACD-equipped players like the AD-7701 (for full-resolution playback).

As an anti-piracy measure, the player performs its own decoding of both DVD-Audio and SACD signals, passing high-resolution analog, not digital, audio to your integrated amplifier or surround receiver. This means you'll need an audio/video receiver with multichannel analog-audio inputs to fully appreciate multichannel DVD-A and SACD releases.

Both Dolby Digital and DTS 5.1-channel surround-sound signals can be routed through the player's optical digital-audio outputs for a direct connection with your receiver; unlike most DVD-A/SACD players, this one will not decode the Dolby and DTS signals. A 96 kHz/24-bit digital-to-analog converter ensures optimum decoding of all disc formats, including HDCD (High-Definition Compatible Digital), a 20-bit encoding method used on many commercial CDs to deliver better sound than is possible through standard CDs.

Progressive scanning, referred to as 480p for the number of horizontal lines that compose the video image, creates a picture using twice the scan lines of a conventional DVD picture, giving you higher resolution and sharper images while eliminating nearly all motion artifacts.

Top-of-the-line component-video outputs (switchable between 480i and 480p) help minimize digital and line-scan artifacts on compatible advanced televisions, while composite- and S-video outputs bring compatibility with nearly any television.

Karaoke features include echo control, pitch control, vocal assist, a microphone volume control, and 2 microphone inputs in case you want to sing a duet.

What's in the Box
DVD player, remote control, remote batteries, a user's manual, and a stereo analog audio interconnect/composite-video cable.