Performance
I spent most of my time evaluating the Sony DVP-NS999ES's video performance, but many people buying this machine will also be interested in it as a CD and SACD player. In both cases, it was topnotch. When trying out a new player of this sort, I long ago learned to listen to a CD first; once I've listened to an SACD, I'm spoiled.

As a CD player, the NS999ES was a good performer. I listened to Michael Powers' Perpetual Motion (Nastymix Jazz NMR 70320-2) and found excellent imaging and depth, with characteristic Sony warmth. Bass was tight, and the overall sonic effect was quite pleasing.

Then I listened to a hybrid, 2-channel SACD disc, the Bob Mintzer Big Band's Homage to Count Basie (DMP SACD-12). On the CD layer the bass was well-defined, the cymbals clear and bright. The midrange is where I typically have trouble with CDs, and from the NS999ES it was sometimes a bit harsh and overbright. (The Pioneer DV-47A falls down here; as a CD player, its stridency stood out far more than the Sony.)

I then switched to the SACD layer of the disc (which took a couple of seconds). As always with SACDs, any hint of harshness or edginess was gone. The soundstage immediately grew more open, tones and textures more coherent. The clarity was superb, even thrilling. The bass, using the Sony's built-in bass manager, was tight and sharp, cleanly channeled to the two subwoofers of my Infinity Composition MTS speakers.

I made the same comparison with a new multichannel hybrid disc I recently received from a friend at Sony: Mahler's Symphony No.1, performed by the San Francisco Symphony conducted by Michael Tilson Thomas. This was recorded in concert in September 2001, so it is not a remastered work. Again, the 2-channel CD version sounded quite pleasant, but switching to the 5.1-channel SACD layer was transforming. Mercifully, most of the rear-channel information was ambience. (Some discs put instruments in the rear, making you feel as if you're on stage with the players.) The SACD version was not only clean, vibrant, smooth, and real; the multichannel effect was thrilling. If I closed my eyes, I could almost believe I was there.

Over the last few years, I've heard several top-of-the-line SACD players, from Sony and others, and although I've never had them in the house at the same time, I've always believed that the midpriced players weren't able to do everything with the format that the best players could. I was curious to see whether the NS999ES would better the S9000ES and come closer to the ideal I have in my head (at least on 2-channel material).

At the moment, I have two copies of only one SACD: Yo-Yo Ma's Solo (Sony Classical SS 64114), a superb 2-channel recording. I was able to perform a direct A/B comparison using my two copies played through different analog inputs of my Lexicon MC-12B processor. When I did this earlier this year, comparing the S9000ES with Sony's DVP-NS900V, I could detect no significant difference between the players. This time, comparing the S9000ES with the NS999ES, there were greater differences. The solo cello sounded a bit more open and clean, a little richer from the NS999ES. The difference was subtle, but it was there. When I compared the NS900V early in 2001 to the Pioneer DV-47A, I found the Pioneer's sound to be leaner than the Sony's and concluded that deciding which was "better” was a matter of taste. I came to a different conclusion with the NS999ES: It was clearly better. The Pioneer sounded not just lean in comparison, but almost hollow.

I was able to perform A/B comparisons on the video side as well. For this I used Sony's VPH-G90U projector, with 9-inch CRTs, and a Faroudja VP-5000 video processor. But when I first watched a disc with the NS999ES, I thought I wouldn't need to conduct an A/B test. Playing discs that I've used again and again in many reviews, I immediately saw a difference. The NS999ES seemed more vibrant, almost luminescent. I checked to see if all the picture adjustments were set to the factory standard, and they were. Sony players offer a characteristically warm picture, but the difference was more than that: The images seemed richer. This can be explained, perhaps, by the improved word length and sampling rate of the 14-bit/108MHz DAC.

In any case, when I did carry out an A/B test—using two copies of the Superbit version of The Fifth Element played through two inputs of the Lexicon—I saw that the disparity was not as marked as it had seemed. But there was a difference. In the opening Egyptian temple scenes, faces had a clarity and vibrancy that outdistanced the S9000ES—which was no slouch. I watched several discs, including Blade II and The Sopranos: The Complete Third Season, and found nothing to complain about. Time after time, the Sony was an outstanding performer.

Like all Sony DVD players, the DVP-NS999ES converts an anamorphic image to 4:3 letterbox by softening the image, not distorting it, as some other players do. That's preferable to the obtrusive artifacts many other players add when performing an anamorphic downconversion.

Sony says it has improved the performance of the progressive-scan output, but I could not practically test that with my VPH-G90U-and-Faroudja setup. In any case, no progressive-scan DVD player can convert interlaced to progressive as effectively as the Faroudja VP-5000, especially on a large screen with a high-resolution projector. In fact, when I turned the NS999ES's progressive scanning on, the picture immediately grew softer, as it does with every pro-scan DVD player I've reviewed.

I have a Hitachi 36SDX88B, an older 36-inch direct-view HDTV. Its line doubler is mediocre at best, and I tried both the S9000ES and the NS999ES with it. Viewed from their progressive-scan outputs, both units cleaned up the image to a great extent compared with the TV's internal doubler, but I couldn't say that the NS999ES's image was notably cleaner than the S9000ES's.

Conclusions
There's lots to like about the Sony DVP-NS999ES and very little to dislike. It offers significant new features, improved performance of several older features, outstanding video and audio performance, and a lower price. What more can you ask from a consumer-electronics company?