5.25" external enclosure options

[FreelancerJ]

Hi all, long time lurker first time poster!

I've been using one of the old flashed UHD drives in my ancient tower desktop for a long time time, a LG WH16NS60. Been doing it's job great since I got it.

During one of the lockdowns I got myself a 11th Gen Intel NUC to play with, mostly just so I could have a computer I could wipe and start again at a moments notice running so I could play with various self-hosted software and learn how it all works together.
Then in a later lockdown, got my hands on a R730XD and now host a bunch of stuff there and use the VMs and CTs on there for playing around with. With that, the NUC has become more and more my main driver, taking over most of the day to day that my 2012 tower and Mac Mini covered.

The other day I realised the only reason I even power on the tower is to rip discs and Plex them, so I started wondering if I can move my disc drives into enclosures and run them on the NUC. (The R730XD has a 20-bay 2.5" backplane installed, so no room to pop the drives there sadly).

I haven't found a lot of USB enclosures, seeing as NUCs won't quite fit a 5.25" drive inside, and they all seem grossly expensive. OWC's enclosure for example, $280 here in Australia, and sadly isn't actually much of a premium over the other options I've found so far.
Given the minimum costs I'd be looking at, I'm curious if anyone knows of an enclosure that would fit 2 or more 5.25" drives in and then connect over USB 3, as along with the UHD drive I also have a BDXL drive (not actually UHD compatible, my bad) and a regular bluray drive (a setup I have found useful when importing seasons of TV shows, since the disc is the slowest part but MakeMKV works pretty well in parallel).

I'm also not really opposed to DIYing it if anyone knows of any small PC cases that would fit a couple of 5.25 inch drives and a USB <-> SATA controller with a couple SATA ports.

So would love to know if anyone has any ideas on that front. If I'm spending so much anyway, why not see if I can keep the cable numbers down?

-----------------------

Bonus question: Does UHD playback work for these sorts of drives when running through a USB enclosure? Or does it have to be via a SATA connection? My tower was much too old to playback 4k video or anything in h.265, and lacked the SGX support in the processor for official playback support, but it would be helpful if I could playback UHDs on the same system as I rip them, rather than running the disc over to the xbox and starting each "extra" to see exactly how long it is to match to what I pulled off the disc. So useful to know, but obviously not a critical feature.
I do have a 2.5" SATA bay in the bottom of the NUC so if I HAD to I could replace the cable and run it out of the enclosure to the drive directly. Would just need to figure out what type of cable the SATA cable is at the board end, it turns into a small horizontal-insert flex cable...

-----------------------

So yeah, thanks in advance for any insights or experience anyone can share!

[Billycar11]

i did see an owc on amazon for $111aud https://www.amazon.com.au/OWC-Mercury-E ... 113&sr=8-1
but idk if that includes shipping.
for now i only recommend the OWC 5.25 as it can still flash drives.
i dont know of any multibay 5.25 things that are usb i know about some but they are standalone duplicators.

UHD playback official or unofficial can work over USB but SGX is now gone from 11th gen forward. so you will need to do unofficial playback its the way to go anyway.
im almost 100% sure that internal cable wont be able to power a 5.25 drive

[MartyMcNuts]

Hi all, long time lurker first time poster!

I've been using one of the old flashed UHD drives in my ancient tower desktop for a long time time, a LG WH16NS60. Been doing it's job great since I got it.

During one of the lockdowns I got myself a 11th Gen Intel NUC to play with, mostly just so I could have a computer I could wipe and start again at a moments notice running so I could play with various self-hosted software and learn how it all works together.
Then in a later lockdown, got my hands on a R730XD and now host a bunch of stuff there and use the VMs and CTs on there for playing around with. With that, the NUC has become more and more my main driver, taking over most of the day to day that my 2012 tower and Mac Mini covered.

The other day I realised the only reason I even power on the tower is to rip discs and Plex them, so I started wondering if I can move my disc drives into enclosures and run them on the NUC. (The R730XD has a 20-bay 2.5" backplane installed, so no room to pop the drives there sadly).

I haven't found a lot of USB enclosures, seeing as NUCs won't quite fit a 5.25" drive inside, and they all seem grossly expensive. OWC's enclosure for example, $280 here in Australia, and sadly isn't actually much of a premium over the other options I've found so far.
Given the minimum costs I'd be looking at, I'm curious if anyone knows of an enclosure that would fit 2 or more 5.25" drives in and then connect over USB 3, as along with the UHD drive I also have a BDXL drive (not actually UHD compatible, my bad) and a regular bluray drive (a setup I have found useful when importing seasons of TV shows, since the disc is the slowest part but MakeMKV works pretty well in parallel).

I'm also not really opposed to DIYing it if anyone knows of any small PC cases that would fit a couple of 5.25 inch drives and a USB <-> SATA controller with a couple SATA ports.

So would love to know if anyone has any ideas on that front. If I'm spending so much anyway, why not see if I can keep the cable numbers down?

-----------------------

Bonus question: Does UHD playback work for these sorts of drives when running through a USB enclosure? Or does it have to be via a SATA connection? My tower was much too old to playback 4k video or anything in h.265, and lacked the SGX support in the processor for official playback support, but it would be helpful if I could playback UHDs on the same system as I rip them, rather than running the disc over to the xbox and starting each "extra" to see exactly how long it is to match to what I pulled off the disc. So useful to know, but obviously not a critical feature.
I do have a 2.5" SATA bay in the bottom of the NUC so if I HAD to I could replace the cable and run it out of the enclosure to the drive directly. Would just need to figure out what type of cable the SATA cable is at the board end, it turns into a small horizontal-insert flex cable...

-----------------------

So yeah, thanks in advance for any insights or experience anyone can share!

I don't recommend direct UHD disc playback. It is better to rip first then play the MKV file. Your NUC will play it back just fine. I use an 8th gen i3 NUC as a HTPC myself. It is running LibreELEC and I stream from my NAS to it. You could use the unofficial playback method if you really wanted to. Simply use MakeMKV or AnyDVD as the on-the-fly decrypter and play using VLC or another player (just not PowerDVD!!)

Yeah, there are bugger all options for 5.25"enclosures. There is the OWC Mercury Pro and the Vantec NST-536S3-BK. I've never seen a dula or triple bay enclosure. Don't think there is such as thing. A cheaper option is a SATA/USB 3.0 powered adapter. I recommend the Unitek Y-3324.

[FreelancerJ]

I don't recommend direct UHD disc playback. It is better to rip first then play the MKV file.

Oh I don't mean for me to sit back and watch, more for being able to browse menus to help identifying the different extras, and for comparing the original on disc to samples when I re-encode them (though that's not all that common, just occasionally when something seems flaky in the rip. When I ripped my 4k Matrix trilogy originally, blacks and greens were pretty screwed for HDR in the rip even before I re-encoded it, but a second rip of the same disc a few months later was fine).

Your NUC will play it back just fine. I use an 8th gen i3 NUC as a HTPC myself. It is running LibreELEC and I stream from my NAS to it. You could use the unofficial playback method if you really wanted to. Simply use MakeMKV or AnyDVD as the on-the-fly decrypter and play using VLC or another player (just not PowerDVD!!)

So there shouldn't be much in the way of trouble having it over a USB bridge?
Yeah the only reason I actually want to be able to do that is accessing the menus to get info from them while ripping so the un-official method will usually not help :/

Yeah, there are bugger all options for 5.25"enclosures. There is the OWC Mercury Pro and the Vantec NST-536S3-BK. I've never seen a dula or triple bay enclosure. Don't think there is such as thing. A cheaper option is a SATA/USB 3.0 powered adapter. I recommend the Unitek Y-3324.

The Vantec looks nice, and takes the price down to 150 including shipping, so not too bad. I've only found one Unitek on StaticIce but for 29 bucks I can wait for any lead times I hadn't even considered just sitting the drives on the desk... maybe I could find some brackets and mount them to the underside of one of the shelves... wonder how the vibration would be though... hmmm

Yeah I guess it is a less and less common form factor now. Most people who want an external disc drive are looking for a new drive and so buy up on the slimline ones.
I'm looking around for any USB SATA boards that have more than 1 SATA port on it cause I have spotted a couple small form factor computer cases that have dual 5.25 bays on the front that I could use. Wouldn't be economical if I needed to buy the drives as well but since I have them it looks like it might be the cheapest option (involving cases) depending on what a USB controller would cost (if one exists)

Thanks for the two suggestions though, might be my way forward anyway!

[MartyMcNuts]

I don't recommend direct UHD disc playback. It is better to rip first then play the MKV file.

Oh I don't mean for me to sit back and watch, more for being able to browse menus to help identifying the different extras, and for comparing the original on disc to samples when I re-encode them (though that's not all that common, just occasionally when something seems flaky in the rip. When I ripped my 4k Matrix trilogy originally, blacks and greens were pretty screwed for HDR in the rip even before I re-encoded it, but a second rip of the same disc a few months later was fine).

Your NUC will play it back just fine. I use an 8th gen i3 NUC as a HTPC myself. It is running LibreELEC and I stream from my NAS to it. You could use the unofficial playback method if you really wanted to. Simply use MakeMKV or AnyDVD as the on-the-fly decrypter and play using VLC or another player (just not PowerDVD!!)

So there shouldn't be much in the way of trouble having it over a USB bridge?
Yeah the only reason I actually want to be able to do that is accessing the menus to get info from them while ripping so the un-official method will usually not help :/

Yeah, there are bugger all options for 5.25"enclosures. There is the OWC Mercury Pro and the Vantec NST-536S3-BK. I've never seen a dula or triple bay enclosure. Don't think there is such as thing. A cheaper option is a SATA/USB 3.0 powered adapter. I recommend the Unitek Y-3324.

The Vantec looks nice, and takes the price down to 150 including shipping, so not too bad. I've only found one Unitek on StaticIce but for 29 bucks I can wait for any lead times I hadn't even considered just sitting the drives on the desk... maybe I could find some brackets and mount them to the underside of one of the shelves... wonder how the vibration would be though... hmmm

Yeah I guess it is a less and less common form factor now. Most people who want an external disc drive are looking for a new drive and so buy up on the slimline ones.
I'm looking around for any USB SATA boards that have more than 1 SATA port on it cause I have spotted a couple small form factor computer cases that have dual 5.25 bays on the front that I could use. Wouldn't be economical if I needed to buy the drives as well but since I have them it looks like it might be the cheapest option (involving cases) depending on what a USB controller would cost (if one exists)

Thanks for the two suggestions though, might be my way forward anyway!

Playback over USB 3.0 would work ok.

You wouldn't be able to play the disc to see the menu's etc while ripping as the ripping software will need unobstructed and total access to the disc. You could look at the menu's either before or after a rip though.

Yeah, wow, mounting a drive under a shelf would be different! Just use something like silicon or rubber washers to help dampen any vibrations.

Good luck!

[Billycar11]

Thanks for the two suggestions though, might be my way forward anyway!

Don't forget Marty sells those adapters and he is in Australia he is the go to seller for Australia

[FreelancerJ]

i did see an owc on amazon for $111aud https://www.amazon.com.au/OWC-Mercury-E ... 113&sr=8-1
but idk if that includes shipping.
for now i only recommend the OWC 5.25 as it can still flash drives.
i dont know of any multibay 5.25 things that are usb i know about some but they are standalone duplicators.

UHD playback official or unofficial can work over USB but SGX is now gone from 11th gen forward. so you will need to do unofficial playback its the way to go anyway.
im almost 100% sure that internal cable wont be able to power a 5.25 drive

Oh dear how did I miss this before!
That the OWC can flash them would be good future proofing I guess. I must admit I didn't look at Amazon, I try not to support them with my business at all given their general anticompetitiveness, and I've had a couple friends work in various parts of the company that have confirmed their labour practices are pretty shot, even here down under...
Looking at the listing though (cause I was hoping it might be a company listing through Amazon that I could look up elsewhere, alas no), it apparently comes with a US power brick, so I'd have to buy a Aussie one as well, and that doesn't include shipping :/

I knew SGX was dropped on the 12th gen, but didn't know it was gone from the 11th gen too! That's annoying, I've managed to buy on the exact outside of both sides of SGX existing... Wonder if the specsetters will come up with a offical solution around that

A cheaper option is a SATA/USB 3.0 powered adapter. I recommend the Unitek Y-3324.

Don't forget Marty sells those adapters and he is in Australia he is the go to seller for Australia

Oh I see, this was marketing! Marty-keting?
How much for 2 to Canberra?

Playback over USB 3.0 would work ok.

You wouldn't be able to play the disc to see the menu's etc while ripping as the ripping software will need unobstructed and total access to the disc. You could look at the menu's either before or after a rip though.

Yeah, wow, mounting a drive under a shelf would be different! Just use something like silicon or rubber washers to help dampen any vibrations.

Good luck!

Playback over USB: Sa-weet
Playback while ripping: Yeah, every now and then powerdvd or VLC will launch when I put in a new disc and I won't notice, and be wondering 10 minute later why it's taking so long to scan the tracks
Under shelf mount: Yeah, thinking I could attach them to the underside of the shelf the NUC is under, save a little desk space. Would also keep the cats from batting them off the desk or sitting on them
How far does the adapter stick out the back of the ODD?

[MartyMcNuts]

i did see an owc on amazon for $111aud https://www.amazon.com.au/OWC-Mercury-E ... 113&sr=8-1
but idk if that includes shipping.
for now i only recommend the OWC 5.25 as it can still flash drives.
i dont know of any multibay 5.25 things that are usb i know about some but they are standalone duplicators.

UHD playback official or unofficial can work over USB but SGX is now gone from 11th gen forward. so you will need to do unofficial playback its the way to go anyway.
im almost 100% sure that internal cable wont be able to power a 5.25 drive

Oh dear how did I miss this before!
That the OWC can flash them would be good future proofing I guess. I must admit I didn't look at Amazon, I try not to support them with my business at all given their general anticompetitiveness, and I've had a couple friends work in various parts of the company that have confirmed their labour practices are pretty shot, even here down under...
Looking at the listing though (cause I was hoping it might be a company listing through Amazon that I could look up elsewhere, alas no), it apparently comes with a US power brick, so I'd have to buy a Aussie one as well, and that doesn't include shipping :/

I knew SGX was dropped on the 12th gen, but didn't know it was gone from the 11th gen too! That's annoying, I've managed to buy on the exact outside of both sides of SGX existing... Wonder if the specsetters will come up with a offical solution around that

A cheaper option is a SATA/USB 3.0 powered adapter. I recommend the Unitek Y-3324.

Don't forget Marty sells those adapters and he is in Australia he is the go to seller for Australia

Oh I see, this was marketing! Marty-keting?
How much for 2 to Canberra?

Playback over USB 3.0 would work ok.

You wouldn't be able to play the disc to see the menu's etc while ripping as the ripping software will need unobstructed and total access to the disc. You could look at the menu's either before or after a rip though.

Yeah, wow, mounting a drive under a shelf would be different! Just use something like silicon or rubber washers to help dampen any vibrations.

Good luck!

Playback over USB: Sa-weet
Playback while ripping: Yeah, every now and then powerdvd or VLC will launch when I put in a new disc and I won't notice, and be wondering 10 minute later why it's taking so long to scan the tracks
Under shelf mount: Yeah, thinking I could attach them to the underside of the shelf the NUC is under, save a little desk space. Would also keep the cats from batting them off the desk or sitting on them
How far does the adapter stick out the back of the ODD?

Approx 15-20cm out the back of the drive.

The adapters can only be ordered from me with an internal desktop drive. (see sig below)

[FreelancerJ]

Approx 15-20cm out the back of the drive.

The adapters can only be ordered from me with an internal desktop drive. (see sig below)

Ah well I'll remember you if I need a second/replacement UHD enabled drive then.
15-20cm would probably not fit behind the drive in the shelving unit anyway I guess.

If I come up with anything especially cool or amusing, I'll post back to share