Good day everyone,
Over the last few years we have had a number of enquiries from customers experiencing issues with the
Hitachi BU40N, particularly reports of discs being scratched during loading or ejecting, as well as problems reading discs that have
stickers or labels applied to them. I want to provide some clear guidance to help anyone facing similar issues.
The BU40N is known to be mechanically sensitive because of its tight internal tolerances. If a disc has even slight surface height variation, minor warp or added thickness from a label or coating, the drive’s clamping system can struggle to maintain even pressure. This can lead to the disc contacting internal components, which is why some users have reported scratching. The BU40N also has difficulty reading discs where the surface is not perfectly uniform, which is a common scenario with sticker labelled discs.
Any form of label on a disc introduces two risks. The extra thickness and uneven surface
disrupt the optical system because the Blu-ray laser reads the data layer only 0.1 mm below the surface. Even small inconsistencies can cause the laser to lose focus or skip. There is also a
mechanical risk with slimline slot loading drives. If a label begins to lift, peel or bubble, it can catch inside the slot, detach and become jammed in the loading mechanism. This may prevent the disc from ejecting or require the drive to be opened. For these reasons, we
strongly advise avoiding sticker labelled discs with any drive.
For users who require accurate UHD reading and maximum reliability,
Pioneer Blu-ray Optical Drives remain the most dependable option available today. Pioneer’s engineering and in-house optical pickup design provide far better stability when reading borderline discs including titles with slight warp, thickness inconsistencies or reflectivity issues. While no Blu-ray drive can read every imperfect disc,
Pioneer models such as the XD07, XD08, XS06, XS07, S11, S12 and S13 consistently succeed in situations where ASUS or Hitachi slimline drives often fail.
Pioneer Blu-ray drives are becoming exceptionally difficult to aquire now with Pioneer ceasing trading. We have two main models left now which are both excellent. The
BDR-XS07TS and the
BDR-XD08EMB-S in particular are excellent choices for anyone building or backing up a UHD collection. They offers
higher precision optics, superior focus stability and exceptionally robust tracking performance. These characteristics give them a noticeably higher success rate with challenging UHD discs. In real world use, any of the
Pioneer Blu-ray Optical Drives reads one hundred percent of non defective UHD discs, whereas ASUS and Hitachi drives typically fail on six to eight percent of titles.
Below is a video and photo of the
Pioneer BDR-XS07TS in operation with MakeMKV backing up a UHD disc using macOS Sequoia so you can see how smoothly it performs:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/17NGUIS ... sp=sharing
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1gHnjxR ... sp=sharing
If anyone has further questions about drive reliability, disc compatibility or recommendations for their setup, feel free to ask and I will be happy to help.
Kind regards
Asmcom
