Panasonic UB820/UB9000 4K UHD Blu-ray player

[Badas]

Originally Posted by FilmFreakosaurus

Sure, the Panny is more sophisticated and produces better sound, but the circuit boards and moving parts (the guts) are nowhere near the robustness of what gear was like in the past.

So are you saying that my UB9000 is going to blow up soon?



All my Oppo players have been robust.
We still have a BDP80, BDP83 and two BDP103's in use regularly.

By the way I had some Denon DVD players that were built like tanks in the early 2000's. They were extremely unreliable.

[martydmc12]

Originally Posted by Badas

So are you saying that my UB9000 is going to blow up

Think what he's saying is that for what's currently available on the market, this is the best we're going to get, at least in terms of build quality.

[Badas]

Originally Posted by martydmc12

Think what he's saying is that for what's currently available on the market, this is the best we're going to get, at least in terms of build quality.

I was impressed when I unboxed.

Panny is very serious with the UB9000. It has a tank like build quality.
It didn't need to be so heavy and I was impressed with the aluminium side panels and top construction. Panny are not joking.

[JWgrayhawk]

Originally Posted by NeilZ

The 820 is already capable of everything any disc user would need.

There is a small but not negligible group of surround music lovers who would disagree. Lack of dvd-a and sacd compatibility means it doesn't cover every need. An even smaller group would also want HDCD.

That's why many who might want the Panny are forced to get a Sony- it's as close to a universal player as there is today. Also one reason why used Oppos command such high prices.

[JWgrayhawk]

Originally Posted by Badas

By the way I had some Denon DVD players that were built like tanks in the early 2000's. They were extremely unreliable.

I thought I was making a good long-term investment on a Denon DVD player- for great DVD performance, but also for dvd-a and sacd. But the laser went bad after only 3-4 years, a problem I then found was rampant with Denons. It was well-built, but then they skimp on a crucial part of the player- the optical drive? Very disappointed. But that seems to be more and more the way of modern manufacturing- as mentioned above, throwaway commodities...

[Badas]

Originally Posted by JWgrayhawk

I thought I was making a good long-term investment on a Denon DVD player- for great DVD performance, but also for dvd-a and sacd. But the laser went bad after only 3-4 years, a problem I then found was rampant with Denons. It was well-built, but then they skimp on a crucial part of the player- the optical drive? Very disappointed. But that seems to be more and more the way of modern manufacturing- as mentioned above, throwaway commodities...

I had two. One didn't work in the optical drive. Sometimes worked. Sometimes didn't.
The other did me a favor and blew up with smoke and everything pouring out. Best thing that could happen to Denon DVD. They were crap but with a well built box.

[NeilZ]

Originally Posted by JWgrayhawk

There is a small but not negligible group of surround music lovers who would disagree. Lack of dvd-a and sacd compatibility means it doesn't cover every need. An even smaller group would also want HDCD.

That's why many who might want the Panny are forced to get a Sony- it's as close to a universal player as there is today. Also one reason why used Oppos command such high prices.

Hadn't thought about that. Problem with going with Sony is you miss out on the hdr optimizer, and you end up having to manually change from dolby vision to hdr10 and back. I guess the perfect player for everyone isn't fully a thing after all.

[JWgrayhawk]

Originally Posted by NeilZ

Hadn't thought about that. Problem with going with Sony is you miss out on the hdr optimizer, and you end up having to manually change from dolby vision to hdr10 and back. I guess the perfect player for everyone isn't fully a thing after all.

I can get by without the optimizer. Manual DV switching isn't a deal breaker, but it is a PITA- esp considering how easily it could be included.

Originally Posted by NeilZ

I guess the perfect player for everyone isn't fully a thing after all.

Not since Oppo stopped manufacturing them.

I hold out hope that Sony can get the few small niggling problems right on an 800 M3 or a 900, whatever they call it. The 800 was a big step up from the problematic 700 and the M2 was a step up from the 800. One more update should do it!

I think the M2 is a great machine which can often be found for $200. But I'd be happy if Panny tried their hand at a universal player.

[sapiendut]

Originally Posted by Badas

I had two. One didn't work in the optical drive. Sometimes worked. Sometimes didn't.
The other did me a favor and blew up with smoke and everything pouring out. Best thing that could happen to Denon DVD. They were crap but with a well built box.

They were made by Funai at the time.

[FilmFreakosaurus]

Originally Posted by sapiendut

They were made by Funai at the time.

When I was making a quality comparison, I was talking about Denon of the 80's. They made pretty high end stuff for the time. They made their own products too.


What everyone is getting at is that manufacturers build stuff to break rather than last nowadays.

[sapiendut]

Originally Posted by FilmFreakosaurus

When I was making a quality comparison, I was talking about Denon of the 80's. They made pretty high end stuff for the time. They made their own products too.


What everyone is getting at is that manufacturers build stuff to break rather than last nowadays.

I still have a couple of Denon CD player from the late 80s. They still work well even with CD-R media.

I agree that today’s electronics seem to be designed for 3-year lifespan. Plus nearly anything can not be fixed anymore. Either they have to change a module (or daughter board) or completely replaced the entire main board (or throw the u it into a garbage can).

It is a sad state of being, really, we produce so much electronics garbage as virtually everything can’t be fixed.

[JackTwist]

Originally Posted by Geoff D

Depends on whether it likes the stand it's put on. My 820 sounds like it's about to take off if I put it directly onto my glass TV shelf, it seems to harmonise with it and the vibration of the drive passes right into the glass, it rattles like mad. Needed an 'isolation platform' to sort it out.

If you don't mind my asking, what did you use for isolation? Or did you just place it on different shelving?

[HeavyHitter]

Originally Posted by HeavyHitter

I had no issues with any of the Star Wars discs.

I'm hoping to finally get to the Indy boxset starting tonight...with Raiders. Once I get to The Last Crusade, I will report back.

Originally Posted by Oscarilbo

My 2 Phatom Menace and Last Crusade discs have been perfect physically and absolutely clean. I just read someone had the exact same issue with Last Crusade with its 420 and even tried a second copy and same thing.

Maybe there’s actually a step down in playback quality from the 9000 and 820 to the 420?

Just an update: my 820 had issues with The Last Crusade.

[Badas]

Originally Posted by HeavyHitter

Just an update: my 820 had issues with The Last Crusade.

All 4 were perfect on my 9000.
I haven't had a single disc issue yet. Just one faulty disc that got replaced.

[Geoff D]

Originally Posted by JackTwist

If you don't mind my asking, what did you use for isolation? Or did you just place it on different shelving?

I found said ‘isolation platform’ on fleabay, basically a piece of wood with three bits of rubber underneath. Did wonders for quieting it down.

[enricoclaudio]

Hi guys. Hope I can get some clarification. Sorry to bring this old topic up again but I just got a UB9000 on the way and been reading contradictory information regarding no simultaneous audio from analog outs and HDMI Out. If I’m reading the manual properly, what can’t be done is having simultaneous audio output from Analog/Digital Outs and HDMI (Audio) Out socket but if you don’t have anything plug into HDMI (Audio) Out socket and use HDMI (Video) Out to send video + audio signal to the receiver and also Analog audio to a stereo pre amp, then that can be done without needing to turn HDMI Audio Off, correct? At least that’s the way I used to do with my UB820 and I don’t honestly remember turning anything on or off.

[MisterXDTV]

Originally Posted by NeilZ

Hadn't thought about that. Problem with going with Sony is you miss out on the hdr optimizer, and you end up having to manually change from dolby vision to hdr10 and back. I guess the perfect player for everyone isn't fully a thing after all.

I created my perfect player: I stacked a Sony X700 on a Panasonic UB420: best of both worlds

[LordoftheRings]

Originally Posted by enricoclaudio

Hi guys. Hope I can get some clarification. Sorry to bring this old topic up again but I just got a UB9000 on the way and been reading contradictory information regarding no simultaneous audio from analog outs and HDMI Out. If I’m reading the manual properly, what can’t be done is having simultaneous audio output from Analog/Digital Outs and HDMI (Audio) Out socket but if you don’t have anything plug into HDMI (Audio) Out socket and use HDMI (Video) Out to send video + audio signal to the receiver and also Analog audio to a stereo pre amp, then that can be done without needing to turn HDMI Audio Off, correct? At least that’s the way I used to do with my UB820 and I don’t honestly remember turning anything on or off.

Here ...

"Be fully aware that there is one major quirk in the design of the 9000 that is unusual, inconvenient and extremely counterproductive... The analog audio outputs (including the multi-channel outputs) as well as the digital outputs do NOT operate concurrently with HDMI audio output. In order for those outputs to work (analog or SPIDF), you must go into the player’s setup menu and turn off HDMI audio.

Once you’re finished your CD listening session, you then must go back into the settings and turn HDMI audio back on. If you fail to do that, you’ll get no bitstreamed audio from your Blu-ray discs over HDMI."

[HDTV1080P]

A family member that I know has a year 2016 OPPO UDP-203 and they can use both HDMI and the analog audio outputs at the exact same time. When listening to a audio CD it is a very common practice to use HDMI audio for the main home theater setup and then to use two stereo analog audio outputs to feed to zone two feature to listen to stereo from a CD on outdoor speakers and or second room. All modern Pioneer A/V receivers and most other A/V receivers on the market that offer the zone two and zone three feature, require two stereo analog audio RCA input jacks from a Blu-ray player when the CD is playing then at the same time the Blu-ray player feeds audio over HDMI.

In the future when Panasonic gets around to releasing a new model of 4K Blu-ray players, they should fix this issue so analog audio outputs, digital audio outputs, and HDMI all 3 can be used at the exact same time. When one has zone 2 and zone 3 setups on their A/V receiver this becomes a important issue to have on a Blu-ray player. HD satellite receivers and HD cable boxes offer both HDMI and analog audio outputs active at the same time.

[enricoclaudio]

Originally Posted by LordoftheRings

Here ...

I get that. That's is not what I want to do. I think some of you guys are confusing HDMI (AUDIO) OUT with HDMI (VIDEO) OUT which carries video + audio. What you can not use simultaneously is HDMI (AUDIO) OUT and Analog/Digital outs. You can use HDMI (VIDEO) OUT which sends video + audio and also use Analog/Digital outs without turning OFF HDMI (Audio). I guess most UB9000 owners are bypassing their processors/receivers video and use both HDMI outputs: HDMI (VIDEO) OUT from UB9000 to the TV or projector and HDMI (AUDIO) OUT from UB9000 to the Processor which in this case will turn OFF the Analog/Digital outs but if you don't bypass your processor or receiver and send signal to the processor from UB9000 HDMI (VIDEO) OUT and from the processor to your TV or Projector then you will have video and audio over HDMI (HDMI VIDEO OUT) and also audio over analog/digital outs. I get that if your processor or receiver is not HDMI 2.0a then you have to use both HDMI outs and bypass your receiver/processor and in this case you won't get simultaneous sound from HDMI Audio OUT and analog/digital outs. In any case, tomorrow as soon I get the UB9000 I will test everything and post my findings.