betty boop Posted September 30, 2018 Author Posted September 30, 2018 https://www.whathifi.com/reviews/panasonic-dp-ub9000-review what hifi review, as they call out a bit strange as what is touted as a universal disc player that it cant play sacd/dvd-a also truthfully it is same in capability as a disc player as the much cheaper 820 player, the 9000 just adding analog outputs at a premium and would be only reason to consider this player. 1
cwt Posted October 1, 2018 Posted October 1, 2018 (edited) Noticed that review awhile ago . What hifi always seems to leave out relevant facts from their reviews Al ; interesting read but prefer reviews that go to some trouble with actual measured specs like sound and vision . When you compare this 9000 to the pio 800 ; your paying double for sacd and dvd-a disc playback vs file playback of those codecs[ even double rate downloaded variants] . Build quality is strong in the pana too with double plate anti vibration ;centred drive ; separate audio psu ; and even one for the dac - nice ; though maybe not to the extent of the pio .. And pana hasn't put all its cards on the table according to this review . Quote However Panasonic’s engineers did cryptically allude to some exclusive video features being added to the UB900 before its launch in October. https://www.techradar.com/au/reviews/hands-on-panasonic-dp-ub9000-review I wonder if either of the pio's will get alexa or google home Edited October 1, 2018 by cwt 1
Peter_F Posted October 1, 2018 Posted October 1, 2018 Not sure if its been covered before but now that I'm too late to get in on an OPPO, how does the CAMBRIDGE AUDIO CXUHD UNIVERSAL DISC PLAYER rate? https://www.westcoasthifi.com.au/product/cambridge-audio-cxuhd-universal-disc-player/
betty boop Posted October 1, 2018 Author Posted October 1, 2018 38 minutes ago, Peter_F said: Not sure if its been covered before but now that I'm too late to get in on an OPPO, how does the CAMBRIDGE AUDIO CXUHD UNIVERSAL DISC PLAYER rate? https://www.westcoasthifi.com.au/product/cambridge-audio-cxuhd-universal-disc-player/ uses the same shared mediatek chipset the oppo used. my memories of cambridge and I owned 2 units buying them in preference to oppos and they were well supported. quality units. I remember reporting an issue and next morning there was a firmware update. cant ask for more... the cxuhd looks quite a swish machine, but lacks any sort of analog. its a purely hdmi based machine.
Peter_F Posted October 2, 2018 Posted October 2, 2018 13 hours ago, al said: uses the same shared mediatek chipset the oppo used. my memories of cambridge and I owned 2 units buying them in preference to oppos and they were well supported. quality units. I remember reporting an issue and next morning there was a firmware update. cant ask for more... the cxuhd looks quite a swish machine, but lacks any sort of analog. its a purely hdmi based machine. Thanks Al. It seems to be a bit pricey for just a purely HDMI based machine, making it quite limited.
betty boop Posted October 24, 2018 Author Posted October 24, 2018 it seems the 9000 gets a couple of projector owner specific options that dont come on the lower priced 820 model. not sure the ramifications, if anyone comes up with something be sure to post.
TP1 Posted October 24, 2018 Posted October 24, 2018 15 minutes ago, al said: t seems the 9000 gets a couple of projector owner specific options that dont come on the lower priced 820 model. not sure the ramifications, if anyone comes up with something be sure to post. Do you know what they are Al? The 820 has settings for projector which I presume are to calibrate the HDR tone-mapping more accurately 1
betty boop Posted October 24, 2018 Author Posted October 24, 2018 1 minute ago, Tasso said: Do you know what they are Al? The 820 has settings for projector which I presume are to calibrate the HDR tone-mapping more accurately no idea, not sure if the manuals for both are available so can be compared. it would be good to know one way or other...
Peter_F Posted October 24, 2018 Posted October 24, 2018 33 minutes ago, al said: it seems the 9000 gets a couple of projector owner specific options that dont come on the lower priced 820 model. not sure the ramifications, if anyone comes up with something be sure to post. Wow, $1050 price difference between the 9000 and the 820! With the 9000 priced at $1649 and the Pioneer at $1899, I find it quite staggering considering the Oppo UDP-203 was only $850. Maybe I'm missing something here?
betty boop Posted October 24, 2018 Author Posted October 24, 2018 43 minutes ago, Peter_F said: Wow, $1050 price difference between the 9000 and the 820! With the 9000 priced at $1649 and the Pioneer at $1899, I find it quite staggering considering the Oppo UDP-203 was only $850. Maybe I'm missing something here? the 203 wasnt aiming to be anything outstanding analog audio wise. it was a primarily hdmi machine. the others eg the 9000 has XLRs and such and build I am reading is better than the oppo. price is often also related to volume... its likely a LOT more 203s were aimed to be sold vs the 9000 for instance that wont even be sold in the US.
cwt Posted October 24, 2018 Posted October 24, 2018 1 hour ago, al said: no idea, not sure if the manuals for both are available so can be compared. it would be good to know one way or other... The 820 manual gives nothing away but I get the feeling the HCX processor in the 9000 has fancy Lumagen style look up tables Then again that requires differing HCX processor algorithms per model which have improved since the 900.. Quote Among the new developments in the HCX processor is the introduction of a “Dynamic LUT” (Look Up Table) system. The LUT technology is used extensively in professional post-production and broadcasting to ensure color accuracy. Until now, LUTs were fixed according to the color space used by the source; with this innovation, the HCX automatically monitors the average brightness level of a scene and uses picture analysis to dynamically load a LUT appropriate to that scene, Panasonic explained https://hdguru.com/panasonic-might-bring-new-flagship-4k-ultra-hd-blu-ray-player-here/ 2
Peter_F Posted October 24, 2018 Posted October 24, 2018 1 hour ago, al said: the 203 wasnt aiming to be anything outstanding analog audio wise. it was a primarily hdmi machine. the others eg the 9000 has XLRs and such and build I am reading is better than the oppo. price is often also related to volume... its likely a LOT more 203s were aimed to be sold vs the 9000 for instance that wont even be sold in the US. Okay that makes sense. Is the Panasonic UB820 considered to be at a similar level to of the Oppo 203? Do you know if any direct performance comparisons have been done between the Pioneer UDP-LX500 and the Panasonic UB9000? Both appear to have superb build quality, though the Pioneer is 2.5kg heavier and is $250 more.
betty boop Posted October 24, 2018 Author Posted October 24, 2018 13 minutes ago, Peter_F said: Okay that makes sense. Is the Panasonic UB820 considered to be at a similar level to of the Oppo 203? nope more yumcha box mover typical, I had the 900 model which was more substantial but no oppo 203 (that had as well) 13 minutes ago, Peter_F said: Do you know if any direct performance comparisons have been done between the Pioneer UDP-LX500 and the Panasonic UB9000? Both appear to have superb build quality, though the Pioneer is 2.5kg heavier and is $250 more. I read something somewhere saying in build both pio and pana 9000 boot the oppo 203. in performance portably be a while before we get direct comparisons .... since 9000 wont be going into us will limit what we get on it.
TP1 Posted October 24, 2018 Posted October 24, 2018 I've been playing with both Panasonic UB820 and Oppo 203 - Panasonic has an advantage over Oppo with its HDR management /Tone mapping. In fact it seems so effective and dead easy to use I can't see anyone not getting a great outcome from HDR. Next to the Oppo the Panasonic 820 feels a bit tinny but the 9000 should be better. PQ wise there is nothing too complain about with Panasonic although I did upgrade the Oppo power supply to linear which did improve Pq a bit. Need to do hard comparisons but first impressions with Panasonic 4K UHD is very impressive. I tested the up-conversion of the Panasonic with a 2k bluray allowing the 820 to output at 4k. Forcing it to output the native disc resolution (1080p) gave a noticeably better result where the Sony 760 electronics do a better job of up conversion - pretty similar with what happened with the Oppo. 1
Mobe1969 Posted October 24, 2018 Posted October 24, 2018 (edited) I'm pretty sure I'll get the 9000. I am considering the pioneer, especially as has a region mod, but the Panasonic 820 is probably superior tone mapping wise. So if the 9000 has additional projector options, even better. The 820 manual is pretty grud, and doesn't give a lot. The advanced HDMI settings do not show the options available for each menu item. Plus I love the subtitle luminance on the Panasonic... I am looking between this and the pioneer as I'm keenly interested in something with a heavy duty build and tougher optical drive. The pioneer elites are typically a player with no complaints that last a generation. The Panasonic premium is yet unknown. I don't care about the analog circuitry and frankly think it is a waste of space and money. It is one thing I really appreciate about the Cambridge. No analog, no stupid apps, just a transport. Edited October 24, 2018 by Mobe1969 1
wooferocau Posted October 24, 2018 Posted October 24, 2018 6 hours ago, Tasso said: I did upgrade the Oppo power supply to linear which did improve Pq a bit. Can you link to the power supply that you used... I have a couple of 203,s ....wouldnt mind trying this mod in one..
TP1 Posted October 25, 2018 Posted October 25, 2018 (edited) 21 hours ago, wooferocau said: Can you link to the power supply that you used... I have a couple of 203,s ....wouldnt mind trying this mod in one.. http://www.oppomod.com I bought the SE model with the Schottky diodes and Nichicon capacitors. There are cheaper ones on Ebay and Aliexpress . When switching between the Panasonic and Oppo on 1080p material, I noticed a slightly cleaner image with the Oppo which I put down to the linear PSU. I also use linear PSU to power Dune and Zappiti media players. For HTPC, I've noticed quite considerable gains in PQ with linear PSU including most recently with Mac Mini . But then there is Apple TV which seems to get it right without any assistance in that regard. Edited October 25, 2018 by Tasso 1
wooferocau Posted October 25, 2018 Posted October 25, 2018 2 hours ago, Tasso said: http://www.oppomod.com I bought the SE model with the Schottky diodes and Nichicon capacitors. There are cheaper ones on Ebay and Aliexpress . When switching between the Panasonic and Oppo on 1080p material, I noticed a slightly cleaner image with the Oppo which I put down to the linear PSU. I also use linear PSU to power Dune and Zappiti media players. For HTPC, I've noticed quite considerable gains in PQ with linear PSU including most recently with Mac Mini . But then there is Apple TV which seems to get it right without any assistance in that regard. Thanks...
betty boop Posted October 26, 2018 Author Posted October 26, 2018 https://www.avforums.com/review/panasonic-dp-ub9000-review.15435 review from, steve withers of avforums, I have so far not been able to identify any difference playback wise vs the 820 model. so unless have a shying to its basic box mover build there appears no reason to step upto the 9000. personally I do put some value to player build. and also the highlighted getting rid of that plastic front flap and touch sensitive buttons the 900 has is a massive bonus. he doesnt talk much of its analog capability and in anycase without sacd/dvda capability thats a massive miss and cant see many just getting this thing for CD. otherwise for most hooking up via hdmi there is no other reasons can be seen to get the 9000 over the much cheaper 820 ? interesting he highlights a couple of other things in the limited benefit of the tone mapping wiht a projector. and where preferring the tone mapping in his telly instead. wiht more display devices (tvs / projectors) coming with inbuilt tonemaping (and where it belongs in my opinion) not sure how much ongoing benefit there is for this. good to see streaming apps. though not sure we get those. I remember the pana 900 with very basic app capability and outputing at 60hz which was plain stupid for 24p material. i dont know if thats been sorted out or not. most will probably stick with apple tv which is lot more abundant and capable otherwise. 1
Mobe1969 Posted October 26, 2018 Posted October 26, 2018 Hmm. I wish there were good reviews on the pioneer 500. It does have i think some limited tone mapping, looking at the manual, but no one has really looked at it. Some people here have had test units. I really want something with rock solid optical. I am hoping the 9000 will be better than the 820 and older 900 (which I have had some Blu Ray problems on)
TP1 Posted October 28, 2018 Posted October 28, 2018 (edited) On 25/10/2018 at 4:16 AM, wooferocau said: Can you link to the power supply that you used... I have a couple of 203,s ....wouldnt mind trying this mod in one.. I have also ordered the disc stabilizer from Oppomod to see how far I can take the Oppo picture quality. Edited October 28, 2018 by Tasso 1
TP1 Posted October 28, 2018 Posted October 28, 2018 I can confirm that you can get full region free capability for UDP-9000/820 from https://www.regionfreedom.com. In addition, POU's and Cinevania can be disabled. I just installed the enhanced firmware onto the 820 and it works like charm. The firmware is made specifically for the Mac address for each individual player. I disabled firmware update notification on the unit and will need to download new firmware from the site if it needs upgrading in the future . They seem to be up to date. You have to apply to be a "contributor" to access the firmware and I made a 50 Euro contribution.
Vollans Posted October 28, 2018 Posted October 28, 2018 Or if you have a universal remote control you can make it region free for DVDs free of charge. Panasonic haven’t changed their remote codes for this in over a decade!
TP1 Posted October 28, 2018 Posted October 28, 2018 On 27/10/2018 at 4:53 AM, al said: interesting he highlights a couple of other things in the limited benefit of the tone mapping wiht a projector. How did you figure that Al? He states that he found the unit more effective with his JVC X7500
betty boop Posted October 28, 2018 Author Posted October 28, 2018 49 minutes ago, Tasso said: How did you figure that Al? He states that he found the unit more effective with his JVC X7500 It is limited in that he preferred the inbuilt in the telly, with the projector he found “more effective” but for “subtle improvements” quote unquote. And also talks of the “dilemma”. I also posted my own explanation in that I do believe tone mapping belongs in the display(as is happening) and for that reason not sure ongoing benefit of it ... But I already said all that and am just repeating myself now ....
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