Panasonic DP-UB9000 UHD Player Review

[ivanfraser]

The only way to trace down some of these tricky issues is to take your own measurements

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Weird interactions can happen, including physical positioning of cables/devices which are classically going to be measurable but not audible, but you may have some perfect storm. If you get different measurements when physically grounding the chassis by touching it, for example, then you would know that the unused earth pin is affecting the playback somehow.

A UMIK-1/UMIK-2 or similarly accurate calibrated microphone can help too. @jhaider has identified issues with a JBL 705p where either the firmware was incorrectly loaded or there was a bum compression driver. If you have a speaker that has always worked and now it sounds distorted a bit, it may be something like the ferrofluid drying out, a crossover capacitor failing, or you have an active speaker where something glitched the firmware you might be able to measure a difference that may not have existed before, etc.

That's the best way to troubleshoot and find the needle-in-the-haystack.

Great advice from you guys thanks.

I've been doing a lot of swapping out cables etc. but am fully disassembling tomorrow.

The hum was cured by removing the coax to dac from the Panny, and there was a buzz from the pc solved by changing usb port. (I think the ports might still be an issue but not sure).

I went the expensive route though. Bought new speakers - same issue, then a new dac - same. Now the kit for stereo is all brand new with the 9000A amp/dac. Improved but still a high end prob.

So I have eliminated the hardware - at least the cd to speakers. Now it's seeking out what darned combination of wiring (pc via ethernet - tv - uhd player, and bluray player - and poss the ethernet siwtcher). I really have been doing months of tweeking and am getting somewhere now. But not fully satisfied unless I know the exact cause.

All was perfect prior to the 9000, and thet just replaced the 900. Added a a90D and cdt, and had a moment when removing a trigger cable that I thought had made a temporary pop that may have caused 'damage'.

This is obviously multifactorial, and complex, so I appreciate your considering looking at this. It's not easy picking through so many elements when troubleshooting, I know.

So I'll persevere.

However, still wondering why the Panny sends a 3 pin cable for a 2 pin player. Is that normal. I have never noticed that before.

 

[Bob from Florida]

Great advice from you guys thanks.

I've been doing a lot of swapping out cables etc. but am fully disassembling tomorrow.

The hum was cured by removing the coax to dac from the Panny, and there was a buzz from the pc solved by changing usb port. (I think the ports might still be an issue but not sure).

I went the expensive route though. Bought new speakers - same issue, then a new dac - same. Now the kit for stereo is all brand new with the 9000A amp/dac. Improved but still a high end prob.

So I have eliminated the hardware - at least the cd to speakers. Now it's seeking out what darned combination of wiring (pc via ethernet - tv - uhd player, and bluray player - and poss the ethernet siwtcher). I really have been doing months of tweeking and am getting somewhere now. But not fully satisfied unless I know the exact cause.

All was perfect prior to the 9000, and thet just replaced the 900. Added a a90D and cdt, and had a moment when removing a trigger cable that I thought had made a temporary pop that may have caused 'damage'.

This is obviously multifactorial, and complex, so I appreciate your considering looking at this. It's not easy picking through so many elements when troubleshooting, I know.

So I'll persevere.

However, still wondering why the Panny sends a 3 pin cable for a 2 pin player. Is that normal. I have never noticed that before.

The internal DAC is a 9038 IIRC which should be good enough. If not, using the optical cable will prevent ground loops with the DAC.
Good luck.

 

[Orion76]

Back in 2018, before the prices went nuts, I grabbed an Oppo 205. After five years of faithful service watching at least 6 or 7 movies per week, it is starting to get fussy about what 4k discs it will play. DVDs and 1080 Blu-rays are fine, but for the past month various 4k discs read as "unknown disc" and won't play, or it will play and then freeze up at random spots.

So after reading this review I ordered a Panasonic DP-UB9000 from Value Electronics. Ordered it on 12/26 and it showed up two days later. Set up was easy- power, HDMI, left and right RCA cables, then did the firmware upgrade, and here I am watching Oppenheimer on 4k.

I am that oddball that these units were made for. I have a nice 2.1 stereo system that I have been upgrading for years. I put the system together for music, but when I got a 4k TV I combined things.

Eventually I'll do an Atmos 5.1.2 system based on an A/V receiver in my spare room, but for now 2.1 it is.

So thanks for the review. I was really stuck on where to go once my Oppo started to die. A lot of 4k players I looked at don't even have RCA outputs. For a while I was going to go with the Panasonic DP-UB820 but that one did not measure well here on ASR.

​

 

[gvl]

I thought Oppo was committed to support their customers. Did you try to get it serviced through official channels?

 

[Chrise36]

Back in 2018, before the prices went nuts, I grabbed an Oppo 205. After five years of faithful service watching at least 6 or 7 movies per week, it is starting to get fussy about what 4k discs it will play. DVDs and 1080 Blu-rays are fine, but for the past month various 4k discs read as "unknown disc" and won't play, or it will play and then freeze up at random spots.

So after reading this review I ordered a Panasonic DP-UB9000 from Value Electronics. Ordered it on 12/26 and it showed up two days later. Set up was easy- power, HDMI, left and right RCA cables, then did the firmware upgrade, and here I am watching Oppenheimer on 4k.

I am that oddball that these units were made for. I have a nice 2.1 stereo system that I have been upgrading for years. I put the system together for music, but when I got a 4k TV I combined things.

Eventually I'll do an Atmos 5.1.2 system based on an A/V receiver in my spare room, but for now 2.1 it is.

So thanks for the review. I was really stuck on where to go once my Oppo started to die. A lot of 4k players I looked at don't even have RCA outputs. For a while I was going to go with the Panasonic DP-UB820 but that one did not measure well here on ASR.

​

How is the picture compared to the Oppo?

 

[Descartes]

Too bad it won’t play SACDs

 

[chelgrian]

Too bad it won’t play SACDs

The only reasonable cost way of doing so is a Sony UBP-X800M2 which has other failings.

SACD was hampered by tying DSD to the disk format and preventing non-encrypted output of the DSD. There are some downloads now from https://www.nativedsd.com/ and the like but the majority of releases are stranded on the physical disks many of which are out of print.

 

[chelgrian]

I thought Oppo was committed to support their customers. Did you try to get it serviced through official channels?

I've read elsewhere on this forum of people who have tried but have been told that parts are no longer available.

 

[gvl]

I've read elsewhere on this forum of people who have tried but have been told that parts are no longer available.

That blows, considering they are still selling out of warranty repair service package on the website:

OPPO Digital Products

 

[GXAlan]

Agreed about the SACDs. I bought a Sony X800M2 just for my SACDs. That said, with today's latest AV processors (HTP-1, AV10) I feel as if the sound quality is good enough and the drive is quiet enough. I'm surprised that Sony never released an auto-Dolby Vision vs. HDR10 setting for the X800M2.

 

[Orion76]

I thought Oppo was committed to support their customers. Did you try to get it serviced through official channels?

Oppo said there is a $300 flat fee plus shipping and insurance. Three day turn around time. I will be getting it fixed, since it is such a unicorn these days.

 

[Cooper]

I was looking at this unit and was surprised that it has XLR output.. I have a wild idea..
does it make sense to connect ub9000 to a power amp using XLR cales and have a decent sound? (Better than an average integrated amp, maybe?)

would love to know if anybody had similar experience..

My experience: compared the XLR and 2 channel analog from the UB9000 into a Luxman L-550AXII integrated, preferred the analog, the sound opened up, more clarity, a better presentation.

 

[Cooper]

While i feed the UB9000 into a multichannel prepro for movies, also feed the analog to the Luxman for 2 channel playback of CD's with bookshelves, a totally independent setup.

Also have a Marantz SA-14S1 and thinking about removing it from its current setup and trying with the Luxman - just basic CD playback, analog out from the Marantz vs the analog out from the UB9000, curious how the presentation would sound different and which i would prefer. Comments are welcome as i summon my energy.

 

[seanhyatt]

3D problem with UB9000

When I watch 3D movies it is very blurry. There does not seem to be a way to adjust the depth to stop ghosting. My previous budget Sony had a depth setting that allowed you to calibrate the image and screen size to achieve an extremely clear image. What am I doing wrong?

At this point with no sacd and 3D issues I may have to keep a Sony on hand even if the sound is not nearly as good on the units I have compared the UB9000 to. Also have a oppo 103 on its way to compare SQ. HD and UHD video quality seems to be settled for the Panasonic as the best.

 

[GXAlan]

3D problem with UB9000

When I watch 3D movies it is very blurry. There does not seem to be a way to adjust the depth to stop ghosting. My previous budget Sony had a depth setting that allowed you to calibrate the image and screen size to achieve an extremely clear image. What am I doing wrong?

At this point with no sacd and 3D issues I may have to keep a Sony on hand even if the sound is not nearly as good on the units I have compared the UB9000 to. Also have a oppo 103 on its way to compare SQ. HD and UHD video quality seems to be settled for the Panasonic as the best.

That’s interesting. I no longer have my 3D display but when I did, the display also had the ability to tune the depth setting.

I keep a Sony on hand for SACD support. it’s a shame that Oppo exited the industry. Reavon is the only company with a “do everything” player but is pretty pricey and I am not sure about their long term reliability.

I wish UHD Blu-Ray had provisions for 3D, but it doesn’t and I doubt streaming offers any 3D support either. At this point in 2024 though, I just want UHD physical media to stay alive.

 

[Descartes]

That’s interesting. I no longer have my 3D display but when I did, the display also had the ability to tune the depth setting.

I keep a Sony on hand for SACD support. it’s a shame that Oppo exited the industry. Reavon is the only company with a “do everything” player but is pretty pricey and I am not sure about their long term reliability.

I wish UHD Blu-Ray had provisions for 3D, but it doesn’t and I doubt streaming offers any 3D support either. At this point in 2024 though, I just want UHD physical media to stay alive.

Magnetar also plays SACDs

Magnetar Audio - 4K UHD Blu-ray player

Magnetar Audio models bring you the best in high-end home entertainment.

magnetar-audio.com

$2999 pricey but looks cool, replacement for OPPO BDP-205?

MAGNETAR UDP900 | Magnetar Store US

Equipped with the latest designed 6-layer gold immersion main PCB circuit with a high precision power supply, the UDP-900 comes with Murata multilayer ceramic capacitor TDK magnetic devices and 30 NCC electrolytic capacitors which further improve audio and video quality. Both audio boards use...

www.magnetar-audio-us.store

 

[GXAlan]

Magnetar also plays SACDs

Magnetar Audio - 4K UHD Blu-ray player

Magnetar Audio models bring you the best in high-end home entertainment.

magnetar-audio.com

$2999 pricey but looks cool, replacement for OPPO BDP-205?

MAGNETAR UDP900 | Magnetar Store US

Equipped with the latest designed 6-layer gold immersion main PCB circuit with a high precision power supply, the UDP-900 comes with Murata multilayer ceramic capacitor TDK magnetic devices and 30 NCC electrolytic capacitors which further improve audio and video quality. Both audio boards use...

www.magnetar-audio-us.store

It's pretty pricey. In a way, the combo of a Sony X800 and UB9000/UB820 is the most cost effective way for hobbyists today. The Oppo was relatively cheap for its performance and I think many people regret not buying it earlier.

At some point, I wonder why Oppo does not just sell the tooling/intellectual property to someone else given that the true high volume market price is somewhere in between the original $1299 price and the $3K+ it goes on the used market. If the HDMI input was upgraded with eARC, it would be an interesting product for many people even as a mini-AVR. Bonus points if they added PEQ.

The only reason it wouldn't be good is if there are components that are EOL'd and there is no drop-in replacement and so you'd need a decent amount of development to bring a true replica to market.

 

[tmtomh]

I picked up two Oppo UDP-205s, one for the $1299 MSRP and one as a showroom/demo model for $999, back in 2018 when Oppo announced they were going to cease production. My plan was to hold on to both of them more or less forever, keeping one in active use and the other as a backup.

However, after a few years it became clear to me that aside from its steller performance and design, the only unique feature for my purposes was its SACD capability. And as soon as I switched from passive speakers to active speakers with built-in DSP (Genelec 8351b), I reluctantly concluded that it no longer made any sense for the Oppo to be in my equipment chain. Using the Genelecs, any SACD source would have to be either (1) converted to PCM before being sent to the Genelecs digitally, or (2) sent to the Genelecs in analogue form, where it would then be digitized into PCM. Either way, there was no point sonically in playing a physical SACD - or a DSD file, for that matter - with that setup.

Since I own only about 50 SACDs and had previously ripped most of them to ISOs for archival purposes, I just ripped the remaining few, converted everything to 24/88.2 PCM, and loaded the files onto my computer music server, which was already set up to feed the Genelecs digitally. Super-easy. I sold one of the 205s for $2250, recouping virtually my entire initial outlay for both. I still have the other one, as I can't seem to bear to part with it.

I mention all this because these kinds of universal disc players are wonderful units - but as a potential new purchase to make in 2024 and beyond, there just aren't that many remaining use cases that would justify their cost, size, mechanical components, and so on.

 

[GXAlan]

I mention all this because these kinds of universal disc players are wonderful units - but as a potential new purchase to make in 2024 and beyond, there just aren't that many remaining use cases that would justify their cost, size, mechanical components, and so on.

Agree. The Sony X800M2 is probably the best bang for the buck as today's HDR displays have improved tone mapping and improved brightness reducing the benefits that the UB9000 originally brought. Its main weakness is not doing automatic HDR10/Dolby Vision switching which other players easily can do. I think I would gladly play $500+ for a Sony X810 even if the only benefit is auto-switching DV/HDR10.

 

[tmtomh]

Agree. The Sony X800M2 is probably the best bang for the buck as today's HDR displays have improved tone mapping and improved brightness reducing the benefits that the UB9000 originally brought. Its main weakness is not doing automatic HDR10/Dolby Vision switching which other players easily can do. I think I would gladly play $500+ for a Sony X810 even if the only benefit is auto-switching DV/HDR10.

Great points. Strangely, I've only ever used universal players in audio-only setups, but I do remember reading about that HDR10/Dolby Vision issue with the Sony - when I was doing pre-purchase research on it. I actually have an X800M2 in my audio setup now, because after removing the Oppo from my setup I still wanted a way to occasionally play physical CDs, and the Sony ticked all the boxes for my preferences: super low-profile, well-built, extremely quiet mechanically, digital output, and relatively inexpensive ($250 or less if memory serves).