(Asmcom:) Pioneer UHD 4K Drives, MakeMKV Discounted Software £39.99, Worldwide Service, Excellent Service!!!

[asmcom]

Good to hear from you and I hope the Pioneer BDR-XD08EMB-S, BDR-XD08TG and the Archgon fitted with a Hitachi BU40N drives that you purchased from us are all still running well.

They are indeed, thanks . I use the BDR-XD08EMB-S for the actual ripping, and keep the BU40N just for generating dumps for The Powers That KEYDB. The BU40N has only ever struggled to read one UHD disk - "Queen - Rock Montreal & Live Aid", possibly the wide-screen version. The Pioneer reads anything, although I think it also read the problematic "Queen" disk slower than usual.

Curiously, I have been able to run both UHD drives off my PC's USB2 ports without an external power supply. (Obviously not both at once!) I am wondering if this could be because my PC's own power supply is 650W? Plugging a USB hard drive into my PC's (only - it's an old PC ) USB3 port, I can still rip a typical UHD in under 1.5 hours.

The BDR-XD08TG is stored in a cool, dry place as a backup.

You’re asking a very reasonable question, and the key point is the distinction between consumer PC optical drives and the OEM mechanisms used in standalone UHD players and consoles.

OK, so although it doesn't help us directly, it still means that there will be an ongoing market for releasing new UHD disks. Although not for recordable BD-R XL writable disks, by the sound of it.

Great to hear your drives are performing well, looks like you received a very good BU40N that has performed excellently except for one disc which is very overall for this drive.

Kind Regards

Asmcom

[kaysee]

"Don’t use your drive for playback. The laser will wear out.
These drives are built for ripping, not repeated movie watching."

Is this just to avoid wear-and-tear on equipment that is difficult to replace, and instead to use more readily available consumer electronic players for routine playback?

[Coopervid]

"Don’t use your drive for playback. The laser will wear out.
These drives are built for ripping, not repeated movie watching."

Is this just to avoid wear-and-tear on equipment that is difficult to replace, and instead to use more readily available consumer electronic players for routine playback?

Get a player like a Oppo Clone or Ugos and playback from HDD. That's what I do.

[kaysee]

I only play video from files, but the question is about whether there is something in particular about these specific optical drives which means that they should not be used for realtime playback of of optical discs, differing from other optical drives.

[Coopervid]

I only play video from files, but the question is about whether there is something in particular about these specific optical drives which means that they should not be used for realtime playback of of optical discs, differing from other optical drives.

No. It's just a recommendation to use them only for ripping to extend the lifespan of the laser unit.

[kaysee]

IOW, "don't use up your good drives for dumb things".

OP: what was the per-unit cost for the 50000 minimum number of units that the new company might be willing to manufacture?

[Coopervid]

IOW, "don't use up your good drives for dumb things".

OP: what was the per-unit cost for the 50000 minimum number of units that the new company might be willing to manufacture?

Man, 50000 units is above all economic limits. It guess 10000 would be the maximum for a MOQ that could be accepted for the combined volume for Billy and Asmcom. And then there is the question of the needed licences.

[asmcom]

I only play video from files, but the question is about whether there is something in particular about these specific optical drives which means that they should not be used for realtime playback of of optical discs, differing from other optical drives.

No. It's just a recommendation to use them only for ripping to extend the lifespan of the laser unit.

Hi all,

I’ve treated myself for Christmas and ordered a Zidoo Z3000 Pro, which will be waiting for me once I’m out of hospital. I’m looking forward to integrating it into what is already a setup centred on full ISO / BDMV disc rips stored on my QNAP NAS Drives.

System Setup:

• Display: LG OLED77G54LW (G5)

• AVR / Processing: Arcam AVR31

• Speakers: Linn Akurate 5.1 with Aktiv cards (upgrade ~2 years ago)

• Current player: Dune HD Pro 4K

• Storage:

• 2 × QNAP TS-873A

• RAID 6 on both units

• with 8 x18TB =144TB on one NAS, & 8 x 26TB = 208TB on the other

• 10GbE cards fitted, fully wired infrastructure

My library is entirely local rips, and I strongly prefer ISO / full BDMV structures, especially for titles where:

• bonus features matter

• behind-the-scenes / making-of content is important

• commentary tracks, archival material, and branching versions exist

Preserving the full disc experience is more important to me than “main movie only” playback, particularly for box sets such as The Pacific produced by Tom Hanks, where the UHD/Blu-ray discs include extensive third-party authored content — behind-the-scenes documentaries, historical featurettes, expert commentary, archival footage, and episode-specific supplements — all accessed through the original disc menu structure and lost entirely if only the main feature is retained.

Why the Z3000 Pro appealed:

• Dual HDMI outputs (separate video + audio)

• HDMI (video) direct to the LG G5

• HDMI (audio-only) direct to the Arcam AVR31

• Avoids ARC/eARC entirely and keeps audio bitstreaming simple and robust

ISO / BDMV playback

• UHD and Blu-ray ISO

• full disc menus where supported

• seamless access to extras, commentaries, and alternate cuts

Dolby Vision, including FEL titles (player-side processing)

• The Z3000 Pro can process Dolby Vision FEL (Full Enhancement Layer) content from UHD ISOs

• FEL processing is performed in the player, not the display, with the enhancement layer merged and output as a correct Dolby Vision signal over HDMI

• The LG G5 does not decode FEL itself, but fully supports Dolby Vision input and correctly displays the resulting signal

Frame-rate handling

• Frame-rate switching left on AUTO so output always matches the source

• HDR pipeline

• Correct Dolby Vision / HDR10+ signalling

• Accurate metadata handling

• Minimal unnecessary processing in the player

Audio passthrough into a high-end chain

• Reliable TrueHD / Atmos passthrough

• Reliable DTS-HD MA / DTS:X passthrough

• Letting the Arcam AVR31 and Aktiv Linn system do the processing

NAS playback stability

• Reliable playback of very high bitrate UHD remuxes

• No buffering or stalling

• Good behaviour with large libraries across multiple NAS shares

Likely SMB initially, but open to NFS if it proves superior on Zidoo.

If anyone here is running the Z3000 Pro with ISO / full disc playback, particularly Dolby Vision FEL titles, I’d be interested in:

• any known menu limitations

• recommended settings

• SMB vs NFS experiences

Looking forward to getting it installed and properly dialled in once I’m home.

Kind Regards

Asmcom

[Coopervid]

You should have asked. Oppo Clone is what I use. It just can't do DoVi from MKV files. They need to be converted or you need to play the m2ts file. Ugos player can but is cumbersome to set up.

[Coopervid]

You can't get Oppos anymore but the so called Oppo clones that don't have an optical drive. They are perfect for playing folders and ISOs.

[asmcom]

You should have asked. Oppo Clone is what I use. It just can't do DoVi from MKV files. They need to be converted or you need to play the m2ts file. Ugos player can but is cumbersome to set up.

Good point, I agree the Oppo UDP-205 is also excellent for network playback and I had no stability issues with mine it at all.

For me the decision was more about long-term direction than raw playback quality. Oppo Digital exited the player market years ago, so the platform is effectively end-of-life:

• no ongoing firmware development

• no future format or workflow improvements

• no fixes for newer Dolby Vision edge cases

That’s fine if your use case is stable and disc-focused, but my setup is now fully NAS-centric and ISO / BDMV-first, and I wanted a platform that is still actively developed.

The Zidoo Z3000 Pro fits that better for me:

• active firmware updates

• continued work on Dolby Vision (including FEL handling from rips)

• better alignment with large libraries and full disc structures

So it wasn’t about the Oppo being weak, it’s still a superb player, but more about moving to a platform that’s still evolving alongside how I now use my collection.

Kind Regards

Asmcom

Ps Too Many Meds Tonight LOL

[micael456]

Hi, are there any 4k drives currently available for the UK region? Sadly my current Pioneer BDR-UD04 has started to fail, it's given up on 4k drives and is only working intermittently for Blurays so looks like I'll be needing a new drive. Thanks in advance.

[nicholfd]

Hi, are there any 4k drives currently available for the UK region? Sadly my current Pioneer BDR-UD04 has started to fail, it's given up on 4k drives and is only working intermittently for Blurays so looks like I'll be needing a new drive. Thanks in advance.

See the first post of this thread - store is closed for the holiday season.

[asmcom]

Hi, are there any 4k drives currently available for the UK region? Sadly my current Pioneer BDR-UD04 has started to fail, it's given up on 4k drives and is only working intermittently for Blurays so looks like I'll be needing a new drive. Thanks in advance.

See the first post of this thread - store is closed for the holiday season.

Yes we have Pioneer Drives. New delivery just arrived. We will open in February 2026

[micael456]

Great, thanks both. Interestingly my drive seems to have started working once I took it out of the verbatim enclosure, so hopefully it will last until February! @asmcom, do you run a waiting / notification list or shall I just check back February time? Thanks