Firewire for RDC-7

[pepar]

As you may or may not know, some of us RDC-7 owners have been emailing Onkyo expressing concerns that there will be no more upgrades for the 7 now that the 7.1 has been announced. In my last exchange I was assured that the Firewire/IEEE1394 is happening. They are projecting May - June. At this time, nothing else has been decided.




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"The future is already here, it's just not evenly distributed." - William Gibson

"I like the future; I'm in it." - Firesign Theater

[Burke Strickland]

In my last exchange I was assured that the Firewire/IEEE1394 is happening.

Thanks for the update. It is good to know that RDC-7 owners are going to be offered at least that. Did they say what the IEEE 1394 connection would actually do? (Like DVD-A and SACD or just DVD-A?) Any hint as to cost?

At this time, nothing else has been decided.

Or is what-it-will-do and what-it-will-cost still part of the "nothing else has been decided"? Of course, many current owners are hoping that Integra Research will offer a reasonable trade-up program from the RDC-7 to the RDC-7.1 and presumably that is still up in the air, too.

Burke

[pepar]

The Firewire interface will be compliant with the industry standard encryption - 5C I think - and will allow the RDC-7 to decode DVD-A and SACD on players which also follow the Firewire and industry standard. There was no mention of whether it would handle SACD's DSD natively or converted to PCM. The RDV-1 is also getting the Firewire upgrade. There was no price mentioned.

In my last exchange I was assured that the Firewire/IEEE1394 is happening.

Thanks for the update. It is good to know that RDC-7 owners are going to be offered at least that. Did they say what the IEEE 1394 connection would actually do? (Like DVD-A and SACD or just DVD-A?) Any hint as to cost?

At this time, nothing else has been decided.

Or is what-it-will-do and what-it-will-cost still part of the "nothing else has been decided"? Of course, many current owners are hoping that Integra Research will offer a reasonable trade-up program from the RDC-7 to the RDC-7.1 and presumably that is still up in the air, too.

Burke

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"The future is already here, it's just not evenly distributed." - William Gibson

"I like the future; I'm in it." - Firesign Theater

[Steve Goff]

The Firewire interface will be compliant with the industry standard encryption - 5C I think - and will allow the RDC-7 to decode DVD-A and SACD on players which also follow the Firewire and industry standard. There was no mention of whether it would handle SACD's DSD natively or converted to PCM. The RDV-1 is also getting the Firewire upgrade. There was no price mentioned.

The RDC-7 will not be able to handle DSD natively, because its DACs cannot do so. One IR rep at CES told me that the DVD player would convert DSD to PCM. And for those who own the RDV-1, and await its upgrade, it will not handle SACD in any form, since it cannot read SACD discs and does not have a DSD decoder.




Steve Goff

[pepar]

RDC-7 Firewire revisited

Has anyone heard anything more about this? I just emailed O/I/IR from their website.

[Burke Strickland]

I hope you get an answer from them.

Based on my recent experience, it seems that Integra Research must send its customer inquiries to the "big bit-bucket in the sky". My last two attempts to get an update on this and other issues, posted from their site, have yielded zero responses -- not even an acknowledgement of receipt beyond the screen that comes back when you submit the form. I'm glad my RDC-7 has been trouble-free; I'd hate to think what kind of response I'd get if I actually needed service.

Burke

[Frank]

I really don't know why Onkyo is bothering to release the RDC-7.1 under the Intergra Research name. The IR web site is embarassing and customer support is non existence. Most dealers do not even have units in stock. I am still happy with my RDC-7 and hope they do have a trade-up program, however, Onkyo would be better off releasing it under the Integra name and phasing out IR. Onkyo is not giving their all to high end and the best engineers are not going to help if marketing and customer support is lousy. On a side note Lexicon is producing a receiver which means they are not worried it will "downgrade" the Lexicon name. Stamping the Intergra name on the RDC-7.1 will not downgrade it either.

[Steve Goff]

I've gotten no replies to recent website inquiries, and have not been able to get through on the phone. Discouraging.

[Razvan]

Wow, so the Integra Research customer service got even worse after Lincoln Palmer left ( or was fired). Try contacting these guys instead:

Don Milks, the Onkyo National Product and Marketing Manager, e-mail: dmilks@onkyousa.com

Eric Harper, the Integra and Custom Installation Product Manager, e-mail: eharper@onkyousa.com

Don't forget to ask about the trade-in program, make sure that they know that you're still expecting them to offer one.

Good luck and if you ever need my help please don't hesitate to ask.

R

[pepar]

I'm beginning to suspect that they outsource their CS (in Lincoln's apparent absence) to the far side of the moon. Frank's right about IR's website; it's embarassing for a world-class company - a technology company at that - to have such a haltingly crude site. Nonetheless, I sought out the RDC-7 after reading two rounds of reviews. Even after 2 - 3 years, it still claimed the top spot on my pre/pro list. I am not disappointed with it one iota. I AM disappointed with their lack of response. There is no excuse for not responding. None.

I'll try the Onkyo National Product and Marketing Manager's email address (thank you Razvanel!) and some phone numbers as well.

I'll post any replies here (and on AVS).