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Good evening,

Looking at picking up a new Pioneer USB drive from Amazon. Was wondering how they stacked up to the more traditionally sized units in terms of compatibility, reliability and performance especially compared to the 5.25" big brothers.

Thanks in advance for any advice you can offer...
-Del

Well, Pioneer drives are held in high regard on these forums. However, current Pioneer firmware can't be downgraded and is incompatible with LibreDrive, which means the drive's won't be able to rip UHDs.

Pioneer firmware update February 2023

Your best bet is buy one with older, compatible firmware from a seller in your region.

delio77 wrote: ↑

Thu Dec 05, 2024 12:30 am

Good evening,

Looking at picking up a new Pioneer USB drive from Amazon. Was wondering how they stacked up to the more traditionally sized units in terms of compatibility, reliability and performance especially compared to the 5.25" big brothers.

Thanks in advance for any advice you can offer...
-Del

If you are wanting to rip UHD, then none of those from Amazon or any retail stores will be compatible as they all have newer firmware. The only external option from Amazon that works OOTB is the Verbatim 43888.

Oh I apologize...I thought the sticky mentioned that the Pioneers were now working. I totally misunderstood. I will look at the Verbatim, or just get a 5.25"

Thanks!

delio77 wrote: ↑

Thu Dec 05, 2024 3:29 am

Oh I apologize...I thought the sticky mentioned that the Pioneers were now working. I totally misunderstood. I will look at the Verbatim, or just get a 5.25"

Thanks!

As I mentioned, most Pioneer models from Amazon and other stores are not compatible nor downgradable. The exceptions to this are:

Verbatim 43888: Official UHD drive that works OOTB
Verbatim 43890: Not a UHD drive but can currently be cross-flashed professionally (contact Billycar11)
Pioneer BDR-212V: Not a UHD drive but can currently be cross-flashed professionally (contact Billycar11)

All other Pioneer models cannot currently be made UHD or LibreDrive enabled as they have firmware that is too new (Post Dec 2022).

If you would prefer a model other than those listed above, check with a seller on this forum (including myself). We do have some Pioneer drives available that are LibreDrive enabled and UHD compatible.

Thanks Marty,

I wasn't debating you, I was clearly mistaken and acknowledged that. Sorry again!

I am interested in purchasing a prepared solution.I will PM you and/or Billy. His stock seems to be low at the moment

Marty I am not sure if my PM made it to you, but I am interested

delio77 wrote: ↑

Thu Dec 05, 2024 3:55 am

Marty I am not sure if my PM made it to you, but I am interested

Replied to your PM.

delio77 wrote: ↑

Thu Dec 05, 2024 3:29 am

Oh I apologize...I thought the sticky mentioned that the Pioneers were now working. I totally misunderstood. I will look at the Verbatim, or just get a 5.25"

Thanks!

There was a period of time after MakeMKV added support for Pioneer drives and before Pioneer updated their firmware to disable UHD ripping where you could buy one of the correct Pioneer drives from your favorite retailer and it would work right out of the box. Unfortunately, those days have passed.

I've recently acquired a Pioneer BDR-S13U-X 5.25 SATA drive from Billycar11 to begin the journey of digitizing my library and I must say, I'm quite impressed. No issues whatsoever and the drive is exceptional quality. To give you an idea of how quiet it is, while ripping I had to put my ear to it to make sure it was running - and the drive is in a room that is acoustically treated. I can't recommend the BDR-S13U-X 5.25 enough. Same with Billy.