Panasonic DP-UB9000 Question

Does anyone have any experience with this unit? Especially how is the sound quality compared to an Oppo 95, 105 or 205. Same question re: video quality. This appears to be the closest in features that I've found & is region free modded for both blu & dvd. It says it plays dsd burned on a dvd-r; but isn't clear about an SACD iso.

Edit: I just noticed no SACD or DVD-A. Sigh..................

Panasonic DP-UB9000 Region Free Blu-ray Player UHD 4K Ultra HD 3D Wifi

 

I never had an Oppo so can’t compare. My UB9000 has been flawless. It has incredible audio playback of CDs - far better than my UB820 or my Denon and Marantz players. Video playback is superb. Has never malfunctioned. Absolutely love this unit.

 

Ditto….

 

No SACD or DVD-A playback is absolutely idiotic for what Panasonic calls an audiophile player.

FWIW, every review I read mentioned it tended to be bright sounding through the analog outs.

 

Thank you.

I can't believe with what the used 203 & 205's are selling for, that no one has duplicated the 205 at twice the price yet. I've seen used 203's selling for more than the new price of a 205.

 

My UB 9000 plays stereo and multichannel dvd-A and blue ray flac files (from a flash drive). I havent tried doing dts flac files yet but it is supposed to be able to play them. I read that it can also play sacd iso files from a flash drive. I have lots of sacd's but don't have any sacd files because there are only a few sacd players that allow you to make them. The quadraphonicquad site has info on which players work for making sacd iso files.

 

You're confusing "audiophile player" with "universal player". Panasonic makes no claims the unit is a universal audio player.

From the company's site: "This combined with a structure and components that pursue the highest possible audio quality". Which of course they can be called out for ["highest possible" specifically].

Which units are the reviewers comparing the Panasonic to, to arrive at the conclusion the analog output is "bright"?

If indeed [wouldn't be at all surprised versus another HiFi DAC] the Panasonic analog output is 'bright', would suggest using the digital output instead.

 

Years ago, I briefly had a Panasonic DVD recorder. It was junk. The RCA jacks weren't strong enough to hold audiophile canbles.

 

After owning more than a dozen universal players I know the difference. It looks like Panny doesn’t know or care.

Other than the metal chassis, upgraded remote -that you can buy on eBay for $10- and a few more adjustments for projectors, they’ve marketed it as an audiophile player. It has the same SoC as the UB820 and UB420. The biggest request Panny got was to upgrade it to play hi-res discs and they refused because they’re dopes.

I don’t know what players the reviewers compared it to and frankly that doesn’t matter. If it sounds bright, it sounds bright on it’s own.

The fact that it’s not a universal player for $1000 makes it a joke for audiophiles and pretty much dead meat around here.

 

WoW

OK

What Hi*Fi? review [UK]:
Panasonic DP-UB9000 review
+
"The UB9000 opts for a fuller, richer sound that is appealing in its own right."

The company never promoted the unit as a universal player, so any questions as to why it's not a universal player are moot.

The build quality of this unit is on par with the best current major manufacturers of Blu-ray players.

Again, if any audiophile is not satisfied with the SQ of the analog outputs, any audiophile purchasing a product at this price point will most likely have options to best suit their personal preference for digital audio playback SQ.

Since this is the Hardware Forum for SHMF there are videophiles here as well!!
With the two Pioneer top-of-the-line Blu-ray players of 2020 discontinued, this may be the best video quality of any mass produced unit.

Oppo is gone & they ain't coming back!

 

I haven't read it in 10+ years, but back in the day that mag should have been called. "What Mid-Fi".

 

Off :

Sure, a 2020 Luxman CD is "Mid-Fi"!
Luxman D-10X review


The magazine covers many electronic devices at many price points, always has.

Edited:
History of amplifiers reviewed -
Home

 

I wouldn't put much stock in any reviews done by What Hi*Fi?. I've read a few reviews from them over the years and more than once the reviews had incorrect information in them. I'm sure the UB9000 is a great sounding player. But I wouldn't buy any component based on a What Hi*Fi? review.

Does the UB9000 have better video quality than the UB820 and UB420? I would agree that Panasonic missed the boat by not adding DVD-A and SACD playback. But it appears to have DSD file playback capability which is good.

 

In the day when I had $'s for gear I used Stereophile & Absolute sound. Specifically, Robert Harley & Corey Greenberg seemed to hear music & gear similarly to how I do. John Atkinson was often spot on for me also.

 

UB9000 will NOT play SACD isos
it WILL play stereo and multichannel DSD files on USB disks. so if you've ripped your SACD's you're ok but if you're still playing SACD discs this player won't do those or ISOs. It also does not support DVD-Audio disks- if you're playing those on here they're playing the plain DVD Video content, not DVD-Audio.
This is all covered in the manual.


Also What Hi-Fi is straight trash

 

my UB820's blu ray drive died after about 7 months, so I'm not inclined to find out. I've been using a sony m800x2 instead- that does play SACD's. Only issue I've had with the sony is dolby vision bugs making discs freeze. It's gotten better with firmware updates but some discs still freeze up if vision is enabled- disabling vision in the sony's options will get freeze-y UHD's to play so I'm happy enough with it.

 

I have owned both the 820 and 9000 since they were made available. Both still working fine. My 9000 will play the 2 problematic movies I have that won’t play on the 820 but other than that I see no video differences.
I have no idea where the “bright” comments come from. I currently own 6 players and the 9000 sure isn’t “bright”. It is dramatically better than any of my other players for audio and is an end game piece for me.
I have an old SACD player but rarely gets used as so little music is available.

 

It’s the exact same operating chip on all 3 players. They all have the same PQ, with the 420 lacking Dolby Vision.

Are you sure about the file playback, Bill? I’ve kept tabs on these players since they came out and bought the 420 when they were cheap.
Biggest complaints; the lack of FW updates, crappy remote on the 820 and 420, no hi-res playback and they’re only good for disc playback, not files.

 

I've mentioned on the Oppo thread, with what they are selling for used, I'm surprised someone doesn't buy the intellectual property from Oppo & start manufacturing them.

 

That's good to know....Maybe they have the Technics engineers working on some of the Panasonic stuff these days....

 

I'm a jonny-com-lately, and am nowhere near a match for the average technical expertise of this group's individuals. My simple question is this - What is the best current tech Universal Player out there for ALL physical media? For my needs this must include following physical media: DVD, DVD-A, SACD and H-SACD multi-layers, 3D, 2D->3D, 4K [and BD obviously], and interface with computers, HDs, and SSDs (HDMI and USB, et al, ports),.......................... I had an all-region 2015 OPPO 203 that did all this -except for 4K- and cooked eggs as well , and the 55" LG ULED 3D TV from 2015, I still have those, but have stored them and just this past week replaced them with a used but perfect condition 2016 55" LG 4K ULED 3D TV [last year of manufacture for 3D and the only for both 3D and 4K at the same time], and not having found an affordable all-region iteration of the last year 2016 of OPPO players [last and only year they were 4K) i bought a Panasonic DP-UB9000 Region Free Blu-ray Player UHD 4K Ultra HD 3D All-Region, and was shocked to find that it does NOT play SACDs nor DVD-As!!!
Luckily my top of the line 2007 Pioneer Elite 7.1 home theater receiver is connected by i-link to it Pioneer Elite mate of that year DV-79AVI, and I can play the SACD and DVD-As through there. I also have several minor other quibbles about the UDP....................Anyway, to repeat: What is the best current tech Universal Player out there for ALL physical media AND that is adaptable for all-region?

 

A used Oppo 205 + the $149 region Free Oppo hack on ebay.

 

There really is nothing universal on the market currently???

 

Nothing that will play everything an Oppo will. There's a newer British brand that some folks say comes close (It's in the Oppo thread). I don't remember what it doesn't play, but I do remember it was missing features I wanted. Not a lot of Sound quality reviews on it, either.

 

I think you’re referring to the French company Reavon.
https://reavon.com/

Sound and Vision reviewed them a while back.
Reavon UBR-X100 and UBR-X200 Ultra HD Blu-Ray Players Review