I have a Sony X700. Initially, it had lots of disc skipping and not playing on certain discs. After following Cody's advice on changing the setting, the issues no longer present themselves as the problem.
Just a tip I got from another TH-camr to avoid skipping/freezing on this player. He advised to turn off the upscaling setting on the Sony UBP X700 and discs that had problems with skipping and freezing, started playing with no issues. Also make sure the discs are clean. I bought this player for $162 around Black Friday last year (2023), so I'm not sure why it would be going for $260, unless it's region free, which does cost quite a bit extra.
Hello. What was the advice? I have this freezing problem. I missed the advice in the video or the comments. How do you solve freezing or skipping on this 4k bluray player? Thanks.
I find it interesting that you mentioned Panasonic and their quality control. I have both the UB420 and the UB9000 players. Luckily no issues with the UB420. However with UB9000 I do have one odd problem. When I last looked into it thoroughly there was nothing on line about it. Here it is, when I stream with Netflix from the UB9000 to my Panasonic LED TV the picture is green (not green screen like some have encountered) but the reds and purples are green. The Netflix N is green instead of red when I start Netflix, really odd. I did trouble the shoot the Hell out of this; rebooting, changing settings, changing cables, changing ports and about a 100 other things. It comes down to this...if I have Dolby Vision turned ON on the UB9000 I have the green issue, if it's off no green. Of course I can stream Netflix directly through my TV and there is no issue but I just like to try every option a component has. I'd be interested to know if anyone else has this issue with a UB9000.
what receiver do you have? what TV do you have? are you connecting your player's HDMI output to the TV? or the Receiver??? the reason I ask is the green tint and flicker issues are notorious for certain TV/Receiver mixtures
I've been going through three bluray players I went from S-1700 to S-6700 and now I have the UB450. All players was bought used and all way under retail price. I upgraded fairly quickly, not because of that they stopped working. The price was so good to pass up on, in very good condition as well. Bought S-1700 for 20 dollar, the S-6700 for 36 and lastly the ub450 was around 89 dollar. So flipping both S-1700 and S-6700 essentially got me UB450 for free and some extra cash over. Now I'm in the process to acquire the UB820. So basically it isn't expensive to get a 4K player nowadays.
You missed talking about sound level of the players. Both the Xbox Series X and Playstation 5 sound like airplanes when reading and playing 4K discs, not at all like a regular 4K player. (Blu-Ray works fine, only 4K that makes both consoles extremely loud when reading and playing the discs)
@@monkeysa43 not many discs have hdr 10+ , its like a dolby vision without the licence, mainly used for samsung tvs. Anyway got rid of that sony pos , and now have a panasonic ub820, no problems, perfect.
Most of these standalone 4K models, even the Oppos and Magnetar (and Reavon), are based off the same MediaTek SoC found in the Panasonic UB150/54. Something to keep in mind. Panasonic's 420, 820, and 9000 have the brand's own superior HCX SoC.
I have had the Sony x700 for over a couple years and I have had almost no issues watching my blu rays and 4k blu rays on it. Maybe one movie froze or skipped but I didn’t even remember about it until I saw people saying they have had many issues with this model. I put a lot of work into my Sony x700 so I can say for certain that I have not had any of those issues that I have been reading or hearing of. I would recommend the Sony x700 to anyone that wants a really good 4k player and wants to save some money. It’s been really wonderful. I want to upgrade to a newer player and I was looking at the Sony x800m2, but I don’t really see it having a big difference from my x700 so I may just save a little more money and upgrade to the Panasonic ub820. Though it seems it also has all the reviews and Reddit posts saying it gives out after the warranty expires and all the same issues of skipping and freezing. It’s making me nervous about dropping such a large knot of money on a machine that may give out before a year or so.
I don’t usually update the firmware on my 4k player. But I did. It fixed the freezing part. After this, I disabled the auto update. The freezing started when my player started the “auto update”, which ruined my player. I think it has something to do with BD-100 disc type. There are BD-100 and BD-66 for 4k disc. The bigger the number, the chance your player will freeze.
The last player you mentioned here in the UK is £1500 damn that’s a lot of money 😮 , the 900 here is £2649😮 That’s the price of a very good television 4K oled
A good competitor to the Sony x700 is the LG UBK90. It is a solid no frills player that has fast load times and auto switching with Dolby Vision. It also has dual HDMI output for having the picture sent to your newer nicer TV and then sound to your older surround receiver that doesn't support the newest HDMI video features. The Panasonic 9000 is great for CD audio with it's DACs and analog outs but otherwise no different than the 820 when sending sound via HDMI. The HDR optimizer does have more options than the 820 geared for those that use projectors. In the same price range is Reavon. I personally have the x200 since Aug 2021. For me it has been a solid good player. It uses the same video processing as the famed Oppo and shown by Technodad to have the same picture. It plays SACD, DVDAudio and almost any other disc format out there. It also has great media file playback from USB or Network drives. The interface for USB or Network drive is slooooow though. Another downer is while mine is fine I have been seeing some quality control issues on the forums of late. Now to be truly top of the line is the Magnetar 900
I have the Sony UBP X700 , but mine is all region. Bought my X700 on Amazon. I haven't had any problems with mine. It plays a lot better then the Xbox series X. With regards with people having problems with the X700 I would just say its a roll of the dice.
The UB9000 is so much more expensive because it has a much better disc drive. It will most probably last longer than the cheaper UB820 mechanism. Just compare pictures of both players under the hood, the UB9000 is a very serious video AND audio player with dedicated audio section and an excellent DAC, separated power supplies for analog and digital section. It can even be a great CD player and bought by music enthusiasts with large CD collections, since dedicated CD players with such a build quality, high quality components, and sturdy disc drive would cost more than the UB9000.
One thing the Sony x700 is that it will play SACD’s. I bought one a few years ago because of that. I still have it just for that but have upgraded to the Panasonic UB9000. It has separate RCA outs for cds which is why I bought it. Thanks for the video.
If your receiver has HDMI, why not just use HDMI instead of RCA for SACDs? I played a standard CD with the Sony UBP X700m and it sounded like it should. It even has an HDMI for audio only out, so it can go to your receiver or soundbar while the main HDMI goes directly to the TV. I have it going directly to my AVR. Current setup is 5.1 but it's Dolby Atmos capable. I've watched Moana, Jurassic Park, Aliens in 4k with Atmos or DTS X and the sound was very good. I don't understand what sound issues others are having. I bought mine in Nov, 2023 and updated to latest firmware then and in April this year.
Edit: I did confirm on Sony 4k player, the sound is only doing Dolby TrueHD 7.1, not Dolby Atmos. Everything does sound excellent because I'm using 5.1 currently but when I add 2 height channels, I'll need to upgrade to a better player. I wished I had realized that when I bought it. Picture output has been flawless so far, though.
I have the Sony UBP X700 and since applying the correct settings its perfect. TH-cam has videos showing you which settings to turn off to stop the freezing problems.
Along with the Oppo 203 4K player i recently bought the Panasonic UB820 as a backup as I am going to get it modded after the warranty expires to make that Region free for Blu ray's as well
I have the UB-9000 and im extremely satisfied. I've had no issues, and build quality is certainly a step above normal consumer players. When you have a high end OLED tv and very expensive speakers like me, this player is definitely worth it. I've rewatched alot of my collection to see them in new light, literally. 1 issue that isn't necessarily Panasonic's fault - Here in Australia they sell a slightly different model that is region B locked for normal bluray. Its unclear about Gov regulations on this topic here, but manufacturers seem to release locked versions here almost exclusively.. I had to get mine multi-region unlocked with a physical mod, by a small business here in Aus. This guy mods multiple models of mainstream bluray/4k players. The issue is having to use this mod. When you turn it on, you have to use specific buttons on remote to turn it on in the region you will be watching. Eg- when i press no.1 the player starts up in USA region mode. Press no.2 and its starts up in region B etc. Seems to start up in the last region mode used. Issue is the player gets a headache if you put in the wrong region disc. So you try turn it off to restart in correct region mode, and it takes like 5min to think about shutting down. (Ps. this mod will allow region free DVD playback without switching modes, only bluray requires a region swap startup.) And 4k as we know is region free anyway. Now, i could have imported player off amazon US etc, to get a standard multi-region model, though it would have come with wrong power plug. Not the end of the world, but given the price and level of his equipment, i didn't want to casually change out the power cord it was designed/sold with. ( but i was willing to have it physically modded 🤣)
That’s why if you got an OPPO UDP203/205 in 2017/2018 you were ahead of the game. The Magnetar from What I see is just a rebadged version and of those OPPOs. The OPPO players support every single format, DV and HDR10+. And it’s 6.5 years old.
I'm still butthurt that Oppo got out of the game. The Magnetar and Reavon players are just chinese copies of OPPO, and while decent, are NOT worth their respective prices
If you can still find an Xbox One S that is a also a great budget option. It still gets software updates as well so it has all of the modern streaming options.
I just returned my sony m800m2, FREEZING on 100gb. Shame as I loved it. Years ago I had the m1 and had to return that aswell as it would lock up. Sony needs to sort out quality control.
A very big downside on using ps5 os xbox as your blu ray player, aside from the issues identified,is it's a very expensive way to watch discs. They are not particularly power efficient and consume way more power than a dedicated player.
I would consider the Pana UB820 except that it lacks the SPDIF coaxial digital audio output to use with my external DAC for playing CDs (a high priority for me) So that puts it between the Pana UB9000 and the Magnetar 800. I use Toslink from the TV. For playing CDs w/o using the TV regardless of price and for 4k blu-ray would you go Pana 9000 or Magnetar 800?
I think you are referring to the UB9000 as I am not aware of a UB6000. In any case I think the Magnetar is best if you can afford it as I think they have better build quality and quality control when being produced.
Would you recommend I get the Panasonic DP-UB150, the 420, or the Sony X700M? I also plan on getting the Ultimea Poseidon D60 soundbar system, which has virtual Dolby Atmos.
If your asking if the PS5 or UB820 is a better Blu-Ray player definitely the UB820 because of its upscaling. I have both and can notice the difference. You have a nice tv too where you would really be able to notice the difference. the UB820 is on sale right now too: amzn.to/4bBekai Hope this helps.
My first 4K player was the sony UBP-X800 and I ended up taking it back for a refund as the wife got the Harry potter 4K boxset for christmas and it wouldn't read half the disc's so I bought a Oppo 203 4K when they were still available in store and i have a plug in chip to make it region free for Blu ray's which i needed to buy Criterion Blu Ray movies
I’m a total novice to this stuff and wanted to know what the difference between playing a 4K blu ray vs playing a DVD that’s been ‘upscaled’ to 4K from one of these players?
Watching a upscaled dvd will look much better than the original dvd quality but watching a 4K blu-ray is on a whole new level because many times the studio will do some editing to make the 4K release look a lot better and then many times 4K blu-rays will have a Dolby Atmos audio track which is a drastic upgrade from the audio on the dvd. 4K discs can hold so much more data than dvd's so even with upscaling the dvd quality will never match the 4K disc quality.
I have minimal budget but wanted to get into 4K so I went for a second hand XBox One and downloaded the app. I’m wondering how much more of a step up it would be to get a dedicated player (even the entry level one?) and whether it’s worth me taking the plunge with another player? Many thanks for the video.
Thanks for the comment. Whether a better player is worth it is going to depend on your overall setup. For example if you have a tv that supports dolby vision you would need a standalone blu ray player to watch 4k blu rays with dolby vision. Also standalone players like the panasonic ub820 will have better upscaling of dvds and regular blu rays.
@@HomeVideoHangouts thanks so much for the great answer! I don’t have a great setup and my tv is hd but not 4k, so I might wait to dive into a stand alone when they come down a bit. I do have a LG Bluray player that upscales my dvds well, but in the future I will look into a Panasonic UB820 as that looks like the best allrounder. Thank you!
The PS5 isn’t a bad place to start. Its wont make movies look as good as a dedicated bluray player but its still a decent player overall especially if you use it for gaming too.
I bought the lg UBK90 player and man, do I regret it. Freezes on dual layer discs every time on first play through. For some reason once the disc is cached into memory it doesn’t happen again. Nevertheless, super disappointing. Really thought LG would update the firmware at some point to address but it never happened.
If you care about quality and bang for the buck, the UB820 is the go to, with a nod to UB450 as a great bargain buy. The Sony players don’t have the upscaling quality in comparison and can skip with triple layer UHD discs.
I currently play my 4K blu rays through my Xbox series X. Will even a budget entry level 4K blu ray player beat the quality from the series X or will there not be much difference?
With a budget player it probably wont be a big improvement. Higher end players will make a bigger difference with upscaling and dolby vision and atmos support.
I have a simple list of needs. All I need is to play dvd and Blu-ray, and I'd like to use TH-cam, but that isn't necessary. I don't need wifi. My router is close enough that I can run a cable. My budget isn't set. I have a large collection of dvds, but some videos are only available on Blu-ray now, so I am forced to upgrade.
Well getting a newer 4k player will upscale your DVDs and regular blu-rays to 4K. So if you have a 4K tv it could be worth it for that reason. Without a 4K tv I would say just stick with a regular blu-ray player which are pretty inexpensive now.
I don’t have one personally but in my experience you can typically buy a modified player from a reputable company online that will play multiple regions disc. Lots of modified ub820 players are out there.
Ok, I need help. I have a Vizio Smart Tv. A Sony Wi-Fi Surround Sound Model # HBD N 89OW. The DVD-cd part quit working. I have a Sony Wi-Fi DVD Player Model # BDP S580. I have the 5-color coded plug in's, Python Digital Video Link HDTV High nice ones, Model # 254-606lV. Can I hook up the DVD player with these alone to the tv?
I'm thinking about getting a 4k player but, my question is..do they require an internet connection just to play movies? If that is the case..I'm not getting one.
Hi, I'm looking for a bluray player under the $200 mark that can read all my video files like a PC player would, mainly respecting the custom subtitles that many have, like anime episodes and such, also I'd like it to read a REMUX rip direct from a bluray disc burned, also respecting the subs like a PC player would, I don't care much about HDR or 4K, is there such a thing? thanks
I have mixed feelings about Panasonic now that I've watched your video. It's ridiculous that someone should have to keep returning a model until they get one that works. This is absolutely unacceptable and I'm shocked that Panasonic allows this to go on; especially for a product costing more than $400.00. Home Theater is a serious hobby of mine. On a positive note though I purchased a UB9000 nearly 5 years ago and I haven't had any issues with it. Now that I've heard the ugly truth about the shady quality control standards Panasonic has I'm reluctant about whether or not to buy anything from them in the future. That's sad because the UB9000 is such a fantastic 4K player. Recently I've been entertaining the thought of getting another one to pair with a second OLED TV I have but now I'm uncertain. I'm totally aware of the fact that the UB820 model has been the primary focus of engineering defects but who's to say that something similar won't happen to future UB9000 units. Panasonic needs to step up to bat and address these concerns immediately to potential consumers.
I had the Panasonic ub820 for 3-4 years and it stopped reading my discs very disappointed with this player. Will never buy this player again $500 is alot of money!!
When you say some of these players have better audio quality, are you talking about an onboard DAC, or their digital out gets better results? I have a high end two channel system for music, hooked up to my TV. Obviously, I use a dedicated DAC..
@@HomeVideoHangouts Speedy reply! But that wasn't quite what I was asking. I'm using my own DAC, so is there much difference between their digital outputs? I'm not running surround sound, just 2 very good, full range speakers :)
In your case it probably wouldn't make much difference. With my last comment I was just clarifying what I meant in the video. What kind of Blu-Ray player do you use currently?
@@HomeVideoHangouts I have an old, pretty low end Sony. A gift from my techy friend. I believe it only does 1080p. I don't watch much on disc, but ironically, I'm getting more interested in Blue-Ray as the various streaming services keep switching around what content is available.. At the moment though, I just ordered the 4k remastered Hobbit and LotR sets as a birthday present for my GF. I'd like to see them in all their glory, so this is my excuse to update. She also owns a decent DVD collection, which would surely benefit from better up scaling. I'm probably leaning towards the Panasonic UB820 based on yours and others' reviews. I don't think I'm commited enough to go for a high end unit, unless it can act as an SACD transport, which almost nothing can for licensing reasons. (My same friend hooked me up with an old Marantz SACD player, so I'm not too worried about that feature.)
Ya based on what you said I would say the UB820 makes the most since. It's what I use personally and the upscaling of dvds and 1080p blu-rays is incredible. Amazon has a good discount on it right now too. Here is my affiliate link if you decide to purchase and want to support the channel: amzn.to/4aFXozD Either way I think you would have fun building up a blu-ray collection and trying out the 4k format.
I never got a 4K player because of expense. Some say that 4K discs have more playback issues than Blu-rays and DVDs, and that freezing and skipping is common. Is that true?
Some 4K players are known to have issues with skipping but it’s usually not the discs that are the problem. If you get a Panasonic UB820 with factory defects it shouldn’t have those issues.
I find Panasoics UB820 good enough for my requirements Yes i would prefer the build quality of the UB9000 but the price difference is too much to justify. I still have my OPPO 105D that for now is working, but no way am i going to have my fingers burned by investing in the new Magnetar models only to end up with no support in a few years.
@@HomeVideoHangouts I’m happy at the moment with my Sony UBP-X 800M2 . That retails here in the UK at £299 my new B&W 3 front speakers which I only purchased the other day were pretty expensive £2700 for all 3 the rear speakers are also very good B&W , tv is 65 inch 4K Lg oled gen 3 with my new mid range Denon amp . It’s a pretty good set up just for me. I’ve only just started getting into 4K movies purchased about 15 so far. Very happy here in the uk 🇬🇧 ☺️
Your player is very good as it’s multiregional was a little bit higher budget for me , because I purchased some expensive leather sofas 😮 give and take . In the world of home cinema in the UK you can spend 10,000 if you’re rich enough as you well know. I just need to win the lottery. lol
a 4K player (or any blu-ray player really) won't have ANY effect on sound unless you're outputting via analog outs. outputting via HDMI you're outputting digital pass through to your receiver which does all the decoding. but on a less nerdy point, if you're asking whether a 4K UHD disc sounds better than streaming? absofuckinglutely. Audio is horribly anemic via streaming than a full bandwidth Atmos or DTS-HD MA lossless track on disc.
Thank you to Panasonic and Sony for still releasing these products.
I have a Sony X700. Initially, it had lots of disc skipping and not playing on certain discs. After following Cody's advice on changing the setting, the issues no longer present themselves as the problem.
Glad it's working for you!
Just a tip I got from another TH-camr to avoid skipping/freezing on this player.
He advised to turn off the upscaling setting on the Sony UBP X700 and discs that had problems with skipping and freezing, started playing with no issues. Also make sure the discs are clean.
I bought this player for $162 around Black Friday last year (2023), so I'm not sure why it would be going for $260, unless it's region free, which does cost quite a bit extra.
Hello. What was the advice? I have this freezing problem. I missed the advice in the video or the comments.
How do you solve freezing or skipping on this 4k bluray player? Thanks.
I find it interesting that you mentioned Panasonic and their quality control. I have both the UB420 and the UB9000 players. Luckily no issues with the UB420. However with UB9000 I do have one odd problem. When I last looked into it thoroughly there was nothing on line about it. Here it is, when I stream with Netflix from the UB9000 to my Panasonic LED TV the picture is green (not green screen like some have encountered) but the reds and purples are green. The Netflix N is green instead of red when I start Netflix, really odd. I did trouble the shoot the Hell out of this; rebooting, changing settings, changing cables, changing ports and about a 100 other things. It comes down to this...if I have Dolby Vision turned ON on the UB9000 I have the green issue, if it's off no green. Of course I can stream Netflix directly through my TV and there is no issue but I just like to try every option a component has. I'd be interested to know if anyone else has this issue with a UB9000.
what receiver do you have? what TV do you have? are you connecting your player's HDMI output to the TV? or the Receiver???
the reason I ask is the green tint and flicker issues are notorious for certain TV/Receiver mixtures
I've been going through three bluray players I went from S-1700 to S-6700 and now I have the UB450. All players was bought used and all way under retail price. I upgraded fairly quickly, not because of that they stopped working. The price was so good to pass up on, in very good condition as well. Bought S-1700 for 20 dollar, the S-6700 for 36 and lastly the ub450 was around 89 dollar. So flipping both S-1700 and S-6700 essentially got me UB450 for free and some extra cash over. Now I'm in the process to acquire the UB820.
So basically it isn't expensive to get a 4K player nowadays.
Nice! Great job man!
How did you get them?
You missed talking about sound level of the players. Both the Xbox Series X and Playstation 5 sound like airplanes when reading and playing 4K discs, not at all like a regular 4K player. (Blu-Ray works fine, only 4K that makes both consoles extremely loud when reading and playing the discs)
Thats true. The Ps5 is especially loud. Luckily my sound system is much louder haha.
I have the Sony UBP-X800M2, only thing it's really missing is HDR10+ support
Mine was terrible, freezing - skipping on 100gb discs.
Hi I have the same as you ☺️ . What is HDR 10+ support ?
@@monkeysa43 not many discs have hdr 10+ , its like a dolby vision without the licence, mainly used for samsung tvs. Anyway got rid of that sony pos , and now have a panasonic ub820, no problems, perfect.
Basically a mode that enhances colors and overall fidelity @monkeysa43
@@monkeysa43hdr 10+ is an advanced hdr format like Dolby Vision, that is only used on Samsung TV’s… so its support is kind of hit or miss…
Most of these standalone 4K models, even the Oppos and Magnetar (and Reavon), are based off the same MediaTek SoC found in the Panasonic UB150/54. Something to keep in mind. Panasonic's 420, 820, and 9000 have the brand's own superior HCX SoC.
Also all these are aging out. Hopefully Sony or Panasonic debut new models.
I have had the Sony x700 for over a couple years and I have had almost no issues watching my blu rays and 4k blu rays on it. Maybe one movie froze or skipped but I didn’t even remember about it until I saw people saying they have had many issues with this model. I put a lot of work into my Sony x700 so I can say for certain that I have not had any of those issues that I have been reading or hearing of. I would recommend the Sony x700 to anyone that wants a really good 4k player and wants to save some money. It’s been really wonderful. I want to upgrade to a newer player and I was looking at the Sony x800m2, but I don’t really see it having a big difference from my x700 so I may just save a little more money and upgrade to the Panasonic ub820. Though it seems it also has all the reviews and Reddit posts saying it gives out after the warranty expires and all the same issues of skipping and freezing. It’s making me nervous about dropping such a large knot of money on a machine that may give out before a year or so.
Thanks for sharing!
I don’t usually update the firmware on my 4k player. But I did. It fixed the freezing part. After this, I disabled the auto update. The freezing started when my player started the “auto update”, which ruined my player. I think it has something to do with BD-100 disc type. There are BD-100 and BD-66 for 4k disc. The bigger the number, the chance your player will freeze.
I still have my OPPO UDP 203...I had 2 and sold one for stupid money.... They are awesome.
Thanks for sharing!
The last player you mentioned here in the UK is £1500 damn that’s a lot of money 😮 , the 900 here is £2649😮 That’s the price of a very good television 4K oled
Rip Off UK is alive and kicking us where it hurts.
Stick with Panasonic, these Chinese makers won't be here in a few years time.
A good competitor to the Sony x700 is the LG UBK90. It is a solid no frills player that has fast load times and auto switching with Dolby Vision. It also has dual HDMI output for having the picture sent to your newer nicer TV and then sound to your older surround receiver that doesn't support the newest HDMI video features. The Panasonic 9000 is great for CD audio with it's DACs and analog outs but otherwise no different than the 820 when sending sound via HDMI. The HDR optimizer does have more options than the 820 geared for those that use projectors. In the same price range is Reavon. I personally have the x200 since Aug 2021. For me it has been a solid good player. It uses the same video processing as the famed Oppo and shown by Technodad to have the same picture. It plays SACD, DVDAudio and almost any other disc format out there. It also has great media file playback from USB or Network drives. The interface for USB or Network drive is slooooow though. Another downer is while mine is fine I have been seeing some quality control issues on the forums of late. Now to be truly top of the line is the Magnetar 900
All true!
not anymore. LG announced a few months back befoe this video that they were discontinuing all their 4K players
My Panasonic UB820, is Awesome with it's HDR 10, 10+ & Dolby Vision!
Same!
Even the high end Panasonic 4K players don’t have Dolby Atmos support (I may be wrong)? This made me choose Sony
@@shashu1984 everyone of the 4K players listed support dolby Atmos
I have the Sony UBP X700 , but mine is all region. Bought my X700 on Amazon. I haven't had any problems with mine. It plays a lot better then the Xbox series X. With regards with people having problems with the X700 I would just say its a roll of the dice.
Ya I think all of these players need better quality control during production.
The UB9000 is so much more expensive because it has a much better disc drive. It will most probably last longer than the cheaper UB820 mechanism. Just compare pictures of both players under the hood, the UB9000 is a very serious video AND audio player with dedicated audio section and an excellent DAC, separated power supplies for analog and digital section. It can even be a great CD player and bought by music enthusiasts with large CD collections, since dedicated CD players with such a build quality, high quality components, and sturdy disc drive would cost more than the UB9000.
Sony X800. Get it for 250 on sale.
I don’t think 250 is a lot to pay if interested in getting into 4k
Yes, not a bad option to start with.
The Panasonic UB820 is amazing. I love it!
Awesome!
One thing the Sony x700 is that it will play SACD’s. I bought one a few years ago because of that. I still have it just for that but have upgraded to the Panasonic UB9000. It has separate RCA outs for cds which is why I bought it. Thanks for the video.
Yes! Those are both great features. Sometimes having multiple players makes sense as well.
Agreed on the separate RCA outputs. That was the deciding factor that made me spend the extra money for the UB9000.
If your receiver has HDMI, why not just use HDMI instead of RCA for SACDs?
I played a standard CD with the Sony UBP X700m and it sounded like it should. It even has an HDMI for audio only out, so it can go to your receiver or soundbar while the main HDMI goes directly to the TV. I have it going directly to my AVR. Current setup is 5.1 but it's Dolby Atmos capable.
I've watched Moana, Jurassic Park, Aliens in 4k with Atmos or DTS X and the sound was very good. I don't understand what sound issues others are having. I bought mine in Nov, 2023 and updated to latest firmware then and in April this year.
Edit: I did confirm on Sony 4k player, the sound is only doing Dolby TrueHD 7.1, not Dolby Atmos. Everything does sound excellent because I'm using 5.1 currently but when I add 2 height channels, I'll need to upgrade to a better player. I wished I had realized that when I bought it. Picture output has been flawless so far, though.
Love the entry level Sony X700 got it on sale 160, as main concern is picture, only got a like 5 4K discs just getting started!
Nice! Sounds like a great start!
I have the Sony UBP X700 and since applying the correct settings its perfect. TH-cam has videos showing you which settings to turn off to stop the freezing problems.
Thats great to hear!
Along with the Oppo 203 4K player i recently bought the Panasonic UB820 as a backup as I am going to get it modded after the warranty expires to make that Region free for Blu ray's as well
Sweet
I have the UB-9000 and im extremely satisfied. I've had no issues, and build quality is certainly a step above normal consumer players.
When you have a high end OLED tv and very expensive speakers like me, this player is definitely worth it. I've rewatched alot of my collection to see them in new light, literally.
1 issue that isn't necessarily Panasonic's fault -
Here in Australia they sell a slightly different model that is region B locked for normal bluray. Its unclear about Gov regulations on this topic here, but manufacturers seem to release locked versions here almost exclusively..
I had to get mine multi-region unlocked with a physical mod, by a small business here in Aus. This guy mods multiple models of mainstream bluray/4k players.
The issue is having to use this mod.
When you turn it on, you have to use specific buttons on remote to turn it on in the region you will be watching.
Eg- when i press no.1 the player starts up in USA region mode. Press no.2 and its starts up in region B etc. Seems to start up in the last region mode used.
Issue is the player gets a headache if you put in the wrong region disc. So you try turn it off to restart in correct region mode, and it takes like 5min to think about shutting down.
(Ps. this mod will allow region free DVD playback without switching modes, only bluray requires a region swap startup.) And 4k as we know is region free anyway.
Now, i could have imported player off amazon US etc, to get a standard multi-region model, though it would have come with wrong power plug. Not the end of the world, but given the price and level of his equipment, i didn't want to casually change out the power cord it was designed/sold with. ( but i was willing to have it physically modded 🤣)
Nice! Thanks for sharing! Im glad you have a region free option that works for you!
The Panasonic DP-UB820 is the best especially for the price. £300 in Britain. Not bad at all.
Ya I am happy with mine!
Magnetar UDP 900 is the best I’ve seen. Paired up with an 88 oled lg 8k (upscaling obviously) and Dolby atmos system.
That would be awesome!
I have the Panasonic UB450 and I love it.
Awesome! Glad to hear that!
That’s why if you got an OPPO UDP203/205 in 2017/2018 you were ahead of the game. The Magnetar from What I see is just a rebadged version and of those OPPOs. The OPPO players support every single format, DV and HDR10+. And it’s 6.5 years old.
Yes the Oppo's can be great players. It's too bad they aren't produced anymore.
I'm still butthurt that Oppo got out of the game. The Magnetar and Reavon players are just chinese copies of OPPO, and while decent, are NOT worth their respective prices
If you can still find an Xbox One S that is a also a great budget option. It still gets software updates as well so it has all of the modern streaming options.
Yes! Not a bad option!
Correct, yes the UB9000. Thank is really helpful. Thank you so much! Mahalo!
You're welcome!
I would love to see a Panasonic UB820 vs PS5 and Xbox series X
I do have all 3 to compare
I just returned my sony m800m2, FREEZING on 100gb. Shame as I loved it. Years ago I had the m1 and had to return that aswell as it would lock up. Sony needs to sort out quality control.
Agreed!
A very big downside on using ps5 os xbox as your blu ray player, aside from the issues identified,is it's a very expensive way to watch discs. They are not particularly power efficient and consume way more power than a dedicated player.
Thats a good point
Small detail worth mentioning, the Magnetar doesn’t do tone mapping.
Thanks for sharing
I would consider the Pana UB820 except that it lacks the SPDIF coaxial digital audio output to use with my external DAC for playing CDs (a high priority for me) So that puts it between the Pana UB9000 and the Magnetar 800. I use Toslink from the TV. For playing CDs w/o using the TV regardless of price and for 4k blu-ray would you go Pana 9000 or Magnetar 800?
I think you are referring to the UB9000 as I am not aware of a UB6000. In any case I think the Magnetar is best if you can afford it as I think they have better build quality and quality control when being produced.
You should consider a separate higher quality CD player.
Would you recommend I get the Panasonic DP-UB150, the 420, or the Sony X700M? I also plan on getting the Ultimea Poseidon D60 soundbar system, which has virtual Dolby Atmos.
I think the UB820 is the player to go with but out of what you mentioned maybe the x700m. It all depends on your setup and needs.
Yes I'm a novice...PS5 Pro or UB820...I have LG G4 77-INCH and Nvidia Shield Pro
If your asking if the PS5 or UB820 is a better Blu-Ray player definitely the UB820 because of its upscaling. I have both and can notice the difference. You have a nice tv too where you would really be able to notice the difference.
the UB820 is on sale right now too: amzn.to/4bBekai
Hope this helps.
@@HomeVideoHangouts Thanks, BTW your content is always on point!
Thanks! I really appreciate it!
My first 4K player was the sony UBP-X800 and I ended up taking it back for a refund as the wife got the Harry potter 4K boxset for christmas and it wouldn't read half the disc's so I bought a Oppo 203 4K when they were still available in store and i have a plug in chip to make it region free for Blu ray's which i needed to buy Criterion Blu Ray movies
Nice! Ya I have considered going region free as well.
Good informative, straight to the point video. Cheers.
Thanks! Glad you enjoyed it!
When you say the Panasonic 820 has no advanced audio support , what does that mean ?
The 9000 has an internal DAC for music output through the RCA ports for one which the 820 doesn't. Also the 820 doesn't have support for SACD.
@@HomeVideoHangouts The UB9000 doesn't have support for SACDs either, a real downer. :(
I’m a total novice to this stuff and wanted to know what the difference between playing a 4K blu ray vs playing a DVD that’s been ‘upscaled’ to 4K from one of these players?
Watching a upscaled dvd will look much better than the original dvd quality but watching a 4K blu-ray is on a whole new level because many times the studio will do some editing to make the 4K release look a lot better and then many times 4K blu-rays will have a Dolby Atmos audio track which is a drastic upgrade from the audio on the dvd. 4K discs can hold so much more data than dvd's so even with upscaling the dvd quality will never match the 4K disc quality.
I have minimal budget but wanted to get into 4K so I went for a second hand XBox One and downloaded the app. I’m wondering how much more of a step up it would be to get a dedicated player (even the entry level one?) and whether it’s worth me taking the plunge with another player? Many thanks for the video.
Thanks for the comment. Whether a better player is worth it is going to depend on your overall setup. For example if you have a tv that supports dolby vision you would need a standalone blu ray player to watch 4k blu rays with dolby vision. Also standalone players like the panasonic ub820 will have better upscaling of dvds and regular blu rays.
@@HomeVideoHangouts thanks so much for the great answer! I don’t have a great setup and my tv is hd but not 4k, so I might wait to dive into a stand alone when they come down a bit. I do have a LG Bluray player that upscales my dvds well, but in the future I will look into a Panasonic UB820 as that looks like the best allrounder. Thank you!
No problem!
I have a PlayStation 5 that plays 4k movies on it as well. Do you have any takes on that ?
The PS5 isn’t a bad place to start. Its wont make movies look as good as a dedicated bluray player but its still a decent player overall especially if you use it for gaming too.
I bought the lg UBK90 player and man, do I regret it. Freezes on dual layer discs every time on first play through. For some reason once the disc is cached into memory it doesn’t happen again. Nevertheless, super disappointing. Really thought LG would update the firmware at some point to address but it never happened.
Yes it’s too bad they don’t resolve the issue.
If you care about quality and bang for the buck, the UB820 is the go to, with a nod to UB450 as a great bargain buy. The Sony players don’t have the upscaling quality in comparison and can skip with triple layer UHD discs.
Why no one talk about samsung UBD M9500 ? This is a great bluray player tooo.
Are any of these capable of playing any region for normal blu-rays?
You can buy modified versions that are region free.
I currently play my 4K blu rays through my Xbox series X. Will even a budget entry level 4K blu ray player beat the quality from the series X or will there not be much difference?
With a budget player it probably wont be a big improvement. Higher end players will make a bigger difference with upscaling and dolby vision and atmos support.
I have a simple list of needs. All I need is to play dvd and Blu-ray, and I'd like to use TH-cam, but that isn't necessary. I don't need wifi. My router is close enough that I can run a cable. My budget isn't set. I have a large collection of dvds, but some videos are only available on Blu-ray now, so I am forced to upgrade.
Well getting a newer 4k player will upscale your DVDs and regular blu-rays to 4K. So if you have a 4K tv it could be worth it for that reason. Without a 4K tv I would say just stick with a regular blu-ray player which are pretty inexpensive now.
Anyone have any thoughts on multi-region 4K players? Or is that even a thing?
I don’t have one personally but in my experience you can typically buy a modified player from a reputable company online that will play multiple regions disc. Lots of modified ub820 players are out there.
Hey bro, unrelated to the video but where did you get the shirt you were wearing in the video? I like it!
Thanks! I actually got a few movie shirts at Walmart recently. They were under $10 too. Not a bad deal.
That shirt is awesome. Loved the video btw, you earned a new subscriber
Thank you very much! Ill keep the videos and movie shirts coming.
Ok, I need help. I have a Vizio Smart Tv. A Sony Wi-Fi Surround Sound Model # HBD N 89OW. The DVD-cd part quit working. I have a Sony Wi-Fi DVD Player Model # BDP S580. I have the 5-color coded plug in's, Python Digital Video Link HDTV High nice ones, Model # 254-606lV. Can I hook up the DVD player with these alone to the tv?
Where is Sony UBP-X800M2 4K Blu-ray?
Thats not a bad option as well.
Hopefully sooner or later, I'd like to order an LG UBK M9 4K player that's multi region for $319.00 from 220 Electronics
Nice!
Hi, does LG UBK M9 support Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos?
I don't know why you featured so many Panasonic players. The LG UBK90 is a great player that plays HDR 10+ and Dolby Vision, plus SACD discs.
LG discontinued it about 5 months ago.
So what’s the point of the internet port on the last one if you can’t even stream shows or movies to it?
I'm thinking about getting a 4k player but, my question is..do they require an internet connection just to play movies? If that is the case..I'm not getting one.
no you don't have to have internet at all.
You for got the Magnetar UDP900 $3,000
Hi, I'm looking for a bluray player under the $200 mark that can read all my video files like a PC player would, mainly respecting the custom subtitles that many have, like anime episodes and such, also I'd like it to read a REMUX rip direct from a bluray disc burned, also respecting the subs like a PC player would, I don't care much about HDR or 4K, is there such a thing? thanks
with smart tvs do i really need a player that has streaming?
I wouldn’t say you need a blu ray player specifically for streaming.
I have mixed feelings about Panasonic now that I've watched your video. It's ridiculous that someone should have to keep returning a model until they get one that works. This is absolutely unacceptable and I'm shocked that Panasonic allows this to go on; especially for a product costing more than $400.00. Home Theater is a serious hobby of mine. On a positive note though I purchased a UB9000 nearly 5 years ago and I haven't had any issues with it. Now that I've heard the ugly truth about the shady quality control standards Panasonic has I'm reluctant about whether or not to buy anything from them in the future. That's sad because the UB9000 is such a fantastic 4K player. Recently I've been entertaining the thought of getting another one to pair with a second OLED TV I have but now I'm uncertain. I'm totally aware of the fact that the UB820 model has been the primary focus of engineering defects but who's to say that something similar won't happen to future UB9000 units. Panasonic needs to step up to bat and address these concerns immediately to potential consumers.
I had the Panasonic ub820 for 3-4 years and it stopped reading my discs very disappointed with this player. Will never buy this player again $500 is alot of money!!
When you say some of these players have better audio quality, are you talking about an onboard DAC, or their digital out gets better results? I have a high end two channel system for music, hooked up to my TV. Obviously, I use a dedicated DAC..
The DAC is a benefit of some of the higher end players as well as separate RCA outputs. Also some players have support for SACD.
@@HomeVideoHangouts Speedy reply! But that wasn't quite what I was asking. I'm using my own DAC, so is there much difference between their digital outputs? I'm not running surround sound, just 2 very good, full range speakers :)
In your case it probably wouldn't make much difference. With my last comment I was just clarifying what I meant in the video. What kind of Blu-Ray player do you use currently?
@@HomeVideoHangouts I have an old, pretty low end Sony. A gift from my techy friend. I believe it only does 1080p. I don't watch much on disc, but ironically, I'm getting more interested in Blue-Ray as the various streaming services keep switching around what content is available.. At the moment though, I just ordered the 4k remastered Hobbit and LotR sets as a birthday present for my GF. I'd like to see them in all their glory, so this is my excuse to update. She also owns a decent DVD collection, which would surely benefit from better up scaling.
I'm probably leaning towards the Panasonic UB820 based on yours and others' reviews. I don't think I'm commited enough to go for a high end unit, unless it can act as an SACD transport, which almost nothing can for licensing reasons. (My same friend hooked me up with an old Marantz SACD player, so I'm not too worried about that feature.)
Ya based on what you said I would say the UB820 makes the most since. It's what I use personally and the upscaling of dvds and 1080p blu-rays is incredible. Amazon has a good discount on it right now too. Here is my affiliate link if you decide to purchase and want to support the channel: amzn.to/4aFXozD
Either way I think you would have fun building up a blu-ray collection and trying out the 4k format.
I have lg ubk 90
Nice player
Thanks for sharing
Thanks!
Thanks so much for supporting the channel!
I am so shook. I thought 4K meant 4K. Time to break the piggy bank 💀
Yes the right player makes a big difference!
They can cost upwards of $5000-7000 as well
I never got a 4K player because of expense. Some say that 4K discs have more playback issues than Blu-rays and DVDs, and that freezing and skipping is common. Is that true?
Some 4K players are known to have issues with skipping but it’s usually not the discs that are the problem. If you get a Panasonic UB820 with factory defects it shouldn’t have those issues.
@@HomeVideoHangouts Are there reliable 4K players for under $200?
I find Panasoics UB820 good enough for my requirements
Yes i would prefer the build quality of the UB9000 but the price difference is too much to justify.
I still have my OPPO 105D that for now is working, but no way am i going to have my fingers burned by
investing in the new Magnetar models only to end up with no support in a few years.
I agree the UB820 is good enough when the other options are so expensive.
i just want a player with dolby atmos
Well there are a few options
What player do you have ?
I have the Panasonic UB820
@@HomeVideoHangouts I’m happy at the moment with my Sony UBP-X 800M2 . That retails here in the UK at £299 my new B&W 3 front speakers which I only purchased the other day were pretty expensive £2700 for all 3 the rear speakers are also very good B&W , tv is 65 inch 4K Lg oled gen 3 with my new mid range Denon amp . It’s a pretty good set up just for me. I’ve only just started getting into 4K movies purchased about 15 so far. Very happy here in the uk 🇬🇧 ☺️
Your player is very good as it’s multiregional was a little bit higher budget for me , because I purchased some expensive leather sofas 😮 give and take . In the world of home cinema in the UK you can spend 10,000 if you’re rich enough as you well know. I just need to win the lottery. lol
It always nice to have some quality leather sofas too though. Mine are one of my favorite parts of my home theatre!
Great. 👍
Thanks 👍
But does it have better sound then streamed stuff
a 4K player (or any blu-ray player really) won't have ANY effect on sound unless you're outputting via analog outs. outputting via HDMI you're outputting digital pass through to your receiver which does all the decoding.
but on a less nerdy point, if you're asking whether a 4K UHD disc sounds better than streaming? absofuckinglutely. Audio is horribly anemic via streaming than a full bandwidth Atmos or DTS-HD MA lossless track on disc.
PS5 works great for me…
Nice! Its definitely an affordable option I like mine for gaming and as a backup Blu-Ray player.
Why does a person need that on a bluray player you want to stream 4K only
If a person streams from her or his 4K tv with streaming device or all ready
built in tv why bother with streaming from bluray player.
A $1000 4K Blu-ray player.How old is blue right now?You got to be kidding
I saw another Yutube channel the guy said to go to setting which you have
turn off the 4K off on bluray player and on video setting.
What are you talking about????
1 grand for a player and no blu ray to buy in store...
There still plenty of Blu-Rays to buy online and on the used market