Pioneer Elite BDP-LX500

[sfmarine]

Originally Posted by danny24

Sweet! enjoy her.

I don't really have any tips it's ready to go out of the box pretty much.

Seems to be that way for the most part. I figured I would provide a little update along with my specs.

Only issue I encountered was when I put a DVD in. The player was set to: 16:9 normal which basically squeezed the 4:3 picture so it looked all crazy and compacted. I switched the setting to 16:9 full and all is well.

My resolution is set to: Source Direct
HDR/DV: Auto
Digital Audio Output: Bitstream
DRCL: Off
HDMI: Single Mode
Color Space: YCbCr 4:4:4
Deep Color: Auto

To my surprise, the player did not have the latest firmware. So I updated it to: V01.17 which became available in May of '21


I love the little thumbnail image you get as the disc is loading. It's a nice touch even though the GUI is severely outdated.


I've thrown every disc (SACD, CD, 4K, BR, DVD, PAL) I could at the player and it has worked flawlessly with fast loading times.

Only thing strange (which I already knew), is the dimmer setting. The entire display goes dark except for the blue illuminated power light. Not sure how Pioneer forgot this as the Elite receivers completely dim. It could have easily been fixed with a firmware update but still...minor issue as far as I'm concerned.

This player is quite the unicorn and it's a shame Pioneer discontinued them so quickly. All in all, very pleased with my purchase and the almost three year wait was totally worth it!

[danny24]

Yeah the thumbnail image that comes up with BD/UHD's loading is pretty sweet. It's one of the best UHD players ever made imo.

It is to bad they discontinued them and they are even having problems servicing them now. I hope they aren't out of making disc players for good because they are great at it. IMO I think they likely won't make anymore but I would love to be wrong on that one.

[sfmarine]

I have seen rumors that it was coming back but nothing ever happens and I doubt Pioneer will resume player production. I reached out to Pioneer over a year ago and they confirmed that it was discontinued.

I completely agree that it is one of the best UHD players ever made and it is truly built like a tank. The OPPO 203 was the best value, IMO. The LX500 is in the OPPO 205 league as far as I'm concerned. However, The 205 has a slight edge due to the balanced XLR outputs.

It's hard to pick a favorite but I am absolutely loving the LX500 right now! Even the remote has a premium feel to it. The player is a Rolls Royce.

NOTE: I just discovered the LX500 can also play PAL/25FPS discs!!

The Panasonic UB9000 doesn't do that!

[Wendell R. Breland]

Originally Posted by danny24

Looks like my only option is to swap HDMI ports on the main board. No one knows where to buy a replacement HDMI port? It would be way easier.

That port is most likely a SMT device with very close pin spacing for the traces. Do you have the specialty tools needed for replacing SMT devices?

Amazon sells HDMI port sockets here, Digikey here.

[danny24]

Originally Posted by Wendell R. Breland

That port is most likely a SMT device with very close pin spacing for the traces. Do you have the specialty tools needed for replacing SMT devices?

Amazon sells HDMI port sockets here, Digikey here.

Yes but it's not without risk which is why buying a new port would be way easier than a swap. Thanks for the link to the Digikey site maybe I will find something there to work.

[sfmarine]

Found a hiccup with Dolby Vision. I got sound but no picture. Worked fine on the OPPO so a little troubleshooting in the morning.

[BijouMan]

Originally Posted by danny24

Yeah the thumbnail image that comes up with BD/UHD's loading is pretty sweet. It's one of the best UHD players ever made imo.

It is to bad they discontinued them and they are even having problems servicing them now. I hope they aren't out of making disc players for good because they are great at it. IMO I think they likely won't make anymore but I would love to be wrong on that one.

I think the demand was there back when I was trying to get one of these two years ago, but everyone seems to have forgotten about it at this point so I don't know if Pioneer would feel it worth it to make another one of these machines. Besides, my preamplifier processor is a late 90s Meridian 561 Surround Controller and I wouldn't be able to play Super Audio CDs or DVD-Audio discs (other than the stereo portions if connecting via analog) in that room anyway until I get a new preamplifier processor. My projector room has a preamplifier processor that can play them (a Rotel RSP-1570 to be specific, which sadly doesn't take DSD directly) and I already have an SACD/DVD-A machine there (a Pioneer DV-48AV.)

Basically, Pioneer had introduced the UDP-LX500 and UDP-LX800 thinking they would do well, but then after the chip shortage happened they pretty much forgot about it. There are many things that simply can't be made because of this chip shortage which for some reason just isn't going away. Take for example Analogue's fully functional retro consoles or Radenso's Theia radar detector, both of which use FPGA chips which they somehow can't make right now.

This make Pioneer's UHD-capable machine very much the Saab 9-4X of disc players.

[danny24]

Originally Posted by BijouMan

I think the demand was there back when I was trying to get one of these two years ago, but everyone seems to have forgotten about it at this point so I don't know if Pioneer would feel it worth it to make another one of these machines. Besides, my preamplifier processor is a late 90s Meridian 561 Surround Controller and I wouldn't be able to play Super Audio CDs or DVD-Audio discs (other than the stereo portions if connecting via analog) in that room anyway until I get a new preamplifier processor. My projector room has a preamplifier processor that can play them (a Rotel RSP-1570 to be specific, which sadly doesn't take DSD directly) and I already have an SACD/DVD-A machine there (a Pioneer DV-48AV.)

Basically, Pioneer had introduced the UDP-LX500 and UDP-LX800 thinking they would do well, but then after the chip shortage happened they pretty much forgot about it. There are many things that simply can't be made because of this chip shortage which for some reason just isn't going away. Take for example Analogue's fully functional retro consoles or Radenso's Theia radar detector, both of which use FPGA chips which they somehow can't make right now.

This make Pioneer's UHD-capable machine very much the Saab 9-4X of disc players.

Yeah I hear you. The chip shortage pretty much may have ended Pioneer disc players for good. Did you read they couldn't even fix a disc loading mechanism issue with a customer. They didn't have the parts and reimbursed them for the player and kept it for weeks and weeks. Definitely sounds like they are out of making disc players for good. Kind of reminds me what happened with Oppo getting out of making disc players. They went out on a high note with the 203 and 205 models. Same with Pioneer if they don't make anymore UHD players. The LX500 and LX800 amazing UHD players like the Oppo's they will go out on a high note as well. They just can't compete with Oppo's repair department.

Originally Posted by sfmarine

Found a hiccup with Dolby Vision. I got sound but no picture. Worked fine on the OPPO so a little troubleshooting in the morning.

I haven't had one issue yet. Do you have it connected to a receiver?

[sfmarine]

Originally Posted by danny24

I haven't had one issue yet. Do you have it connected to a receiver?

Yeah it was connected to my AVR. Just a weird handshake issue. Of course it just did it again after working great all day. Only audio and a black screen. Strange..

If I do a power cycle it seems to get the signal.

[danny24]

Originally Posted by sfmarine

Yeah it was connected to my AVR. Just a weird handshake issue. Of course it just did it again after working great all day. Only audio and a black screen. Strange..

If I do a power cycle it seems to get the signal.

Is your firmware current on your Integra AVR?

[sfmarine]

Originally Posted by danny24

Is your firmware current on your Integra AVR?

Yeah everything is updated to the latest firmware--including the TV. Watching Directv at the moment and just had the same thing happen. Black screen with audio. Power cycle brings it back so it's definitely TV-related.

Glad I can rule out the Pioneer. Such a beast! If I find another one I'm buying it up.

[danny24]

Originally Posted by sfmarine

Yeah everything is updated to the latest firmware--including the TV. Watching Directv at the moment and just had the same thing happen. Black screen with audio. Power cycle brings it back so it's definitely TV-related.

Glad I can rule out the Pioneer. Such a beast! If I find another one I'm buying it up.

I agree it's a beast of a player. The fact that it happened watching another channel rules out the Pioneer definitely.

Maybe unplug the set from the wall and leave it off overnight and see if that changes anything. Basically drains the power from the TV. If it keeps happening your mainboard on your TV might be starting to fail which I hope isn't the case.

[RalphoR]

Originally Posted by danny24

I agree it's a beast of a player. The fact that it happened watching another channel rules out the Pioneer definitely.

Maybe unplug the set from the wall and leave it off overnight and see if that changes anything. Basically drains the power from the TV. If it keeps happening your mainboard on your TV might be starting to fail which I hope isn't the case.

This is a good idea. Makes the TV refresh itself and could potentially resolve some issues. My LX500 is still going strong although I haven't fired it up in a while. I've been using my Cambridge in the family room. The Pioneer is waiting in the theater room until I upgrade my projector to 4k.

[danny24]

Originally Posted by RalphoR

This is a good idea. Makes the TV refresh itself and could potentially resolve some issues. My LX500 is still going strong although I haven't fired it up in a while. I've been using my Cambridge in the family room. The Pioneer is waiting in the theater room until I upgrade my projector to 4k.

It worked for me one time in 2016 had a Sony 4K TV that was having HDMI handshake issues. Exactly what he described the picture going black no audio. Gave it a power drain overnight and it worked fine for awhile but it came back so I replaced the TV. When the mainboards start acting up on TV's unless you replace the part it usually gets worse instead of better. His OLED is around 6 years old now so it's possible it's the mainboard acting up. It's usually cheaper to swap the mainboard instead of buying a new TV if you can do that kind of repair. Also a good idea to replace the power supply to if you swap the mainboard to rule out a PSU issue. Tons of TV parts on eBay.

He hasn't responded so I hope the problem went away on it's own. The TV he has is 6 years old it should still be working fine. Maybe do a panel refresh since it's an LG OLED.

[sfmarine]

Originally Posted by danny24

I agree it's a beast of a player. The fact that it happened watching another channel rules out the Pioneer definitely.

Maybe unplug the set from the wall and leave it off overnight and see if that changes anything. Basically drains the power from the TV. If it keeps happening your mainboard on your TV might be starting to fail which I hope isn't the case.

My OLED actually crapped out a while back. Got the red standby light and no power. I just got around to locating a used main board and getting it installed so it's working again which is great...I hope it isn't going to fail though if that's a sign it's starting to go.

[danny24]

Originally Posted by sfmarine

My OLED actually crapped out a while back. Got the red standby light and no power. I just got around to locating a used main board and getting it installed so it's working again which is great...I hope it isn't going to fail though if that's a sign it's starting to go.

The good news is OLED's are more affordable than ever and there is plenty of good models out there (the LG C1 is great since you like LG) if your LG decides to kick the bucket again and you don't feel like messing with it anymore. If your like me though you will feel like messing with it again.

[slimdude]

Originally Posted by sfmarine

Seems to be that way for the most part. I figured I would provide a little update along with my specs.

Only issue I encountered was when I put a DVD in. The player was set to: 16:9 normal which basically squeezed the 4:3 picture so it looked all crazy and compacted. I switched the setting to 16:9 full and all is well.

My resolution is set to: Source Direct
HDR/DV: Auto
Digital Audio Output: Bitstream
DRCL: Off
HDMI: Single Mode
Color Space: YCbCr 4:4:4
Deep Color: Auto

To my surprise, the player did not have the latest firmware. So I updated it to: V01.17 which became available in May of '21


I love the little thumbnail image you get as the disc is loading. It's a nice touch even though the GUI is severely outdated.


I've thrown every disc (SACD, CD, 4K, BR, DVD, PAL) I could at the player and it has worked flawlessly with fast loading times.

Only thing strange (which I already knew), is the dimmer setting. The entire display goes dark except for the blue illuminated power light. Not sure how Pioneer forgot this as the Elite receivers completely dim. It could have easily been fixed with a firmware update but still...minor issue as far as I'm concerned.

This player is quite the unicorn and it's a shame Pioneer discontinued them so quickly. All in all, very pleased with my purchase and the almost three year wait was totally worth it!

Maybe it's the manufacturer's default. You should be able to change the dimmer light setting in the general setup.

[chip75]

Originally Posted by slimdude

Maybe it's the manufacturer's default. You should be able to change the dimmer light setting in the general setup.

Under the OPTIONS tab there's the default NORMAL for the FL DIMMER, as well as SLIGHTLY DIMMED, DIMMED and OFF.

[sfmarine]

Originally Posted by chip75

Under the OPTIONS tab there's the default NORMAL for the FL DIMMER, as well as SLIGHTLY DIMMED, DIMMED and OFF.

Correct. I just thought it was strange how some Elite AVR receivers have the ability to dim the blue power button completely. When you select the dimmer option to completely off on the 500, the illuminated blue circle does get a little dimmer but it is still there producing some light.

[chip75]

Originally Posted by sfmarine

Correct. I just thought it was strange how some Elite AVR receivers have the ability to dim the blue power button completely. When you select the dimmer option to completely off on the 500, the illuminated blue circle does get a little dimmer but it is still there producing some light.

I get you, I misread the first post, the power light doesn't go off completely, but the display does. I guess Pioneer thought it might be out of sight, but that doesn't explain why the AVR does go out.