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

[Una_Everlasting]

Hi all,

Apologies for being a complete newbie, but I've been thinking about a UHD drive and appropriate software - I can't PM Asmcom as this is a new account, and I'm a little confused about the availabilty of drives and the ordering process. I'm UK based and would prefer a fully flashed system, etc (if I have understood that correctly) that I can plug'n'play and start a large series of backups.

Thanks in advance, and please let me know if I am asking the right questions (or not!).

[asmcom]

Update on My Project:
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Note on Handbrake:
I haven't used it yet but while I haven't hit my data cap I was wondering if its the best tool for the job. I also want to purchase a full license of the tool and i read something about a discount here. I want to support and whatnot.

Thank you so much for making this as painless as possible.

Wrong thread? This thread is for Asmcom selling drives.

Handbrake is not related to this forum or MakeMKV. Handbrake is for re-encoding audio/video. MakeMKV is for reading/ripping audio/video streams and writing them untouched in a MKV container file. Two completely different apps for completely different purposes.

MakeMKV licenses can be purchased on the MakeMKV main site, in app from the Help -> Purchase menu, and at a discount from some drive sellers here on the forums.

Handbrake is open source & free - can't pay for it anywhere.

Hello WishfullThinking,

Please ignore comments by nicholfd in relation to this message

This is our seller thread for Asmcom products and services. If a member has a question about MakeMKV licenses, drive bundles, or related items we supply, they are absolutely welcome to ask it here.

We are an authorised MakeMKV license reseller, purchasing licenses in bulk directly as approved sellers, and we provide them at a discounted rate as part of our service to customers. This is clearly relevant to our sales thread.

It is not appropriate for other sellers to intervene on our page to redirect customers or dismiss their questions. If you have technical clarifications to make, please do so in the relevant support sections of the forum and not within another seller’s advertisement thread.

We have always operated here with transparency, professionalism, and respect for forum rules, and we expect the same courtesy in return.

You can contact us by email at the email address below. We are happy to provide you help and support on what software you should use to backup your movie discs. If you purchased a drive from us or multiple drives, we can sell you a software license much cheaper than the official link, as we discount the software for our customers. We hope you have not purchased a license at the full rate if you are a customer of ours. Please email us for any queries you have at all.

uhdfriendlydrives@gmail.com

Kind Regards

Asmcom

[asmcom]

Asmcom Review

It’s long past time that I wrote a promised review of my interactions with and drive purchases from Asmcom.

In 2025, having built a new PC, with the express intention of making it UHD friendly, I soon encountered the challenges of playback and ripping. Having scoured the internet for solutions and education on how best to do this, I eventually found this very supportive community and Asmcom.

Asmcom explained that the two UHD Pioneer drives (BDR-S12U) that I had bought required flashing. This, I’m looking to do now via Asmcom. It also became clear that sourcing such drives in future would become difficult and perhaps impossible. I guess I’m a bit of a ‘Prepper’, so when the opportunity to buy a preconfigured UHD friendly Make MKV ready Pioneer flagship drive from Asmcom presented itself, I knew it was the right thing to do. I ordered the Pioneer BDRS13E-X103 with Vantac DX2 Enclosure.

As a new customer, I had found the communication prompt and dependable but had some reservations about a Friends & Family PayPal transaction. The wonderfully positive experiences and reviews from this community reassured me that it was OK to press on.

I work in Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) within the corporate healthcare sector. Essentially, I work to streamline transactions to make them touchless. What transpired next was an impressively organized order flow, with order confirmation, shipping notifications and instructions. All arriving in my inbox with timing and content to rival Amazon.

Less than 48 hours later, the drive arrived, installed and beautifully boxed in the Vantec DX2 enclosure. The retail box was wrapped in tape to waterproof and strengthen the exterior, essentially making it courier drop kick and weatherproof.

Inside, I was met with two packs of Haribo, which was a lovely touch. A pack of which sweetened my already terrific unboxing experience. The drive was surrounded with formed foam and extra packing foam pieces. That drive was going nowhere during transit. When I lifted out the heavy drive, in its enclosure, it just oozed quality. Along the rear edge of the enclosure, a bronze printed black label strip read PIONEER BDR-S13E-X 1-03, that matched the bronze lines and accents on the front of this beautiful Pioneer drive. That attention to detail did not go unnoticed.

The Vantec enclosure came with a UK power supply, which is not what you get if you buy from Amazon, who supply a US power supply. A quality USB 3 C to A cable was also provided.

When I plugged in the drive, Make MKV recognized it immediately and was good to go. Ascom’s instructions were detailed, explicit and easy to follow. My first rip was Equalizer 3. It ripped like a knife through butter and was just as quiet.

Some months later Asmcom went above and beyond to make it possible for me to order another of these drives and I am forever grateful. I should now be good for many years of worry-free ripping in whatever bunker I end up

In summary, I have seldom experienced the high standards of diligence, dependability and genuine customer care that Asmcom and the team have provided me with. The corporate world would do well to learn what they have to teach.

Best Regards,

Mr Smith


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Thank you mrsmith for taking the time to write such a detailed and thoughtful review.

It genuinely means a great deal to us that you recognised the organisation, communication flow, packaging standards and attention to detail that we work extremely hard to maintain.

We fully understand that the Friends & Family PayPal element can initially cause hesitation for new customers. That is precisely why we operate with complete transparency and why our long standing presence and feedback within this community is so important to us. Trust is earned, not assumed.

Regarding the Pioneer BDR-S12U and BDR-S13E-X103, you are absolutely correct that properly configured and prepared drives are becoming increasingly difficult to source. That is exactly why we focus on supplying

Genuine Retail Pioneer Flagship Drives
Correct UHD Friendly Firmware Configuration
Properly Matched Enclosures Vantec DX2
UK Power Supplies not US imports
Tested, Verified and MakeMKV Ready Units

Every drive is tested on professional workstations using multiple UHD and Blu ray discs to ensure stable laser calibration, clean read performance and quiet operation before it leaves us.

We are especially pleased that your first rip of Equalizer 3 performed flawlessly. That is exactly what these flagship Pioneer mechanisms are designed to do when correctly prepared.

The small details including waterproofed retail boxes, reinforced packaging, formed foam protection, correct cables and Haribo are intentional. These drives are no longer commodity items. They are specialist hardware for collectors who care about longevity and reliability.

Your background in EDI and process automation makes your comments about our order flow particularly appreciated. We aim for structured, traceable and dependable transactions every single time.

Thank you again for your continued trust and support. Customers like yourself are exactly why this community works so well.

Wishing you many years of worry free UHD ripping.

Kind regards
Asmcom
UHD Friendly Drives Team

[asmcom]

Hi all,

Apologies for being a complete newbie, but I've been thinking about a UHD drive and appropriate software - I can't PM Asmcom as this is a new account, and I'm a little confused about the availabilty of drives and the ordering process. I'm UK based and would prefer a fully flashed system, etc (if I have understood that correctly) that I can plug'n'play and start a large series of backups.

Thanks in advance, and please let me know if I am asking the right questions (or not!).

You can email us at

uhdfriendlydrives@gmail.com

[asmcom]

Website Temporarily Offline – New Hitachi Stock Arriving

Our website will be temporarily offline until Friday 6th March 2026 while we prepare new stock and update our inventory system.

We are pleased to confirm arrival of our latest batch of Hitachi-LG Data Storage (HLDS) drives dated December 2025 — believed to be among the final production runs prior to end-of-line (EOL).

New stock includes:

Hitachi BP55EB40 – Revision 4 hardware
BU40N – Revision 4 hardware with updated internal components

The latest BU40N Revision 4 hardware incorporates refinements to the internal PCB layout, power regulation and drive control sections. These updates improve mechanical tolerance control and rotational stability, helping to reduce the likelihood of circular surface marking on certain disc types.

Availability details will be published once the site reopens.

Thank you for your continued support.

Asmcom
UHD Friendly Drives Team

[RibShark]

The latest BU40N Revision 4 hardware incorporates refinements to the internal PCB layout, power regulation and drive control sections. These updates improve mechanical tolerance control and rotational stability, helping to reduce the likelihood of circular surface marking on certain disc types.

Do you know at what date they switched to this new PCB layout or any pictures comparing the different PCBs? I'm very curious that they decided to introduce new hardware right before discontinuing the drive entirely.

[asmcom]

The latest BU40N Revision 4 hardware incorporates refinements to the internal PCB layout, power regulation and drive control sections. These updates improve mechanical tolerance control and rotational stability, helping to reduce the likelihood of circular surface marking on certain disc types.

Do you know at what date they switched to this new PCB layout or any pictures comparing the different PCBs? I'm very curious that they decided to introduce new hardware right before discontinuing the drive entirely.

The latest BU40N Revision 4 hardware incorporates refinements to the internal PCB layout, power regulation and drive control sections. These updates improve mechanical tolerance control and rotational stability, helping to reduce the likelihood of circular surface marking on certain disc types.

Do you know at what date they switched to this new PCB layout or any pictures comparing the different PCBs? I'm very curious that they decided to introduce new hardware right before discontinuing the drive entirely.

Hello RibShark,

For reference, the publicly released specification history for the BU40N is as follows:

Hitachi-LG Data Storage, Inc. – BU40N
Revision 1.02 – Originally issued June 23rd 2016
Last documented revision update – February 10th 2023

Revision 3 documentation references 2019 updates, primarily relating to regulatory and labelling amendments rather than core hardware redesign.

With regard to internal PCB layout changes and control section refinements, this level of detail is not part of any public-facing documentation. Certain technical information provided to us under private communication remains confidential and is not authorised for public release. As such, we are unable to share comparative PCB imagery or disclose specific implementation details.

Both myself and Billycarr11 have access to additional background information relating to these engineering revisions. However, this information was provided to us under confidentiality, and it will not be released publicly.

Based on our understanding, the Revision 4 production changes were introduced around April 2025. As with prior transitions, these adjustments were incremental engineering refinements rather than a complete architectural redesign of the platform.

We hope this helps you.

Kind Regards

Asmcom

[Billycar11]

The latest BU40N Revision 4 hardware incorporates refinements to the internal PCB layout, power regulation and drive control sections. These updates improve mechanical tolerance control and rotational stability, helping to reduce the likelihood of circular surface marking on certain disc types.

Do you know at what date they switched to this new PCB layout or any pictures comparing the different PCBs? I'm very curious that they decided to introduce new hardware right before discontinuing the drive entirely.

The latest BU40N Revision 4 hardware incorporates refinements to the internal PCB layout, power regulation and drive control sections. These updates improve mechanical tolerance control and rotational stability, helping to reduce the likelihood of circular surface marking on certain disc types.

Do you know at what date they switched to this new PCB layout or any pictures comparing the different PCBs? I'm very curious that they decided to introduce new hardware right before discontinuing the drive entirely.

Hello RibShark,

For reference, the publicly released specification history for the BU40N is as follows:

Hitachi-LG Data Storage, Inc. – BU40N
Revision 1.02 – Originally issued June 23rd 2016
Last documented revision update – February 10th 2023

Revision 3 documentation references 2019 updates, primarily relating to regulatory and labelling amendments rather than core hardware redesign.

With regard to internal PCB layout changes and control section refinements, this level of detail is not part of any public-facing documentation. Certain technical information provided to us under private communication remains confidential and is not authorised for public release. As such, we are unable to share comparative PCB imagery or disclose specific implementation details.

Both myself and Billycarr11 have access to additional background information relating to these engineering revisions. However, this information was provided to us under confidentiality, and it will not be released publicly.

Based on our understanding, the Revision 4 production changes were introduced around April 2025. As with prior transitions, these adjustments were incremental engineering refinements rather than a complete architectural redesign of the platform.

We hope this helps you.

Kind Regards

Asmcom

I can confirm I have seen the documents I would not say it was right before they stopped it was 2 years 2023 they stopped in 2025.

I will also say I don't think they wanted to stop making them I think they were forced likely they could not renew their Blu-ray drive manufacturing licence.

[asmcom]

https://shop.uhdfriendlydrives.co.uk/

Asmcom’s USB Stable Power 5VDC Connector Loom and Major Stock Update

Last updated: 5th March 2026

Our website will remain temporarily offline until mid-April 2026 while we prepare a significant new inventory release and implement several technical improvements designed to deliver the best possible performance and reliability from the final generation of Hitachi-LG Data Storage UHD drives.

We are pleased to confirm that we have successfully secured a large bulk order of Hitachi-LG Data Storage (HLDS) optical drives, including production units dated September through December 2025. These drives are believed to be among the final production runs manufactured prior to the official end-of-line (EOL) of these models.

Newly acquired stock includes

Hitachi BP55EB40 Revision 4 hardware
Hitachi BU40N Revision 4 hardware with updated internal components

The latest BU40N Revision 4 hardware incorporates refinements to the internal PCB layout, power regulation and drive control sections. These improvements enhance mechanical tolerance control and rotational stability, helping to reduce the likelihood of circular surface marking on certain disc types.

Extensive validation testing

Over the past three months we have been carrying out extensive real-world testing of host-powered optical drives across a wide range of systems, including Mac Mini computers, compact PCs, Microsoft Surface devices and other low-power USB platforms.

During testing we deliberately applied heavy load conditions to the USB subsystem while the optical drives were operating. This included simultaneous USB device activity such as external hard drive transfers, phone charging, printing, scanning and other bus-powered devices drawing current from the same host controller.

Under these stress conditions we observed that some systems can experience small but measurable voltage dips on the 5V USB power rail. While these variations are typically within specification, optical drives performing high-speed UHD reading can be sensitive to such fluctuations, which in certain environments may lead to occasional read instability or error recovery events.

To further investigate this behaviour we modified several test units and supplied regulated external 5VDC power directly to the drive power rail. This allowed us to isolate the drive from fluctuations on the host USB bus while maintaining normal USB data communication.

The results were extremely positive. With a stable regulated supply connected, the drives demonstrated excellent voltage stability regardless of USB system load, even when the host ports were heavily stressed with multiple devices. Disc reading performance remained consistent and predictable, with improved tolerance to demanding workloads.

This testing confirmed that stable power delivery can significantly enhance the consistency of host-powered optical drives, particularly when connected to smaller modern computers where USB power regulation may vary depending on system activity.

Introducing Asmcom’s USB Stable Power 5VDC Connector Loom

To our knowledge this is the first optical drive USB cable specifically engineered to stabilise USB power delivery for UHD optical drives.

Figure 1: Asmcom’s USB Stable Power 5VDC Connector Loom showing the additional 5VDC female barrel connector for optional regulated external power.



Based on these findings we have developed a new accessory designed specifically to enhance the performance of host-powered optical drives.

Asmcom’s USB Stable Power 5VDC Connector Loom provides the ability to optionally supply regulated external 5VDC power directly to the drive cable while maintaining full USB data connectivity.

As shown in Figure 1, the loom incorporates an additional 5VDC 3.5 mm x 1.35 mm female barrel connector which allows a regulated power supply to stabilise the drive’s power rail while the USB connection continues to handle data communication with the host system.

The design incorporates:
USB 3.0 Micro-B connection to the drive
USB-A connection for data and host power
Additional 5VDC 3.5 mm x 1.35 mm female barrel connector for optional regulated external power
Additional USB Type A to Type C adaptor will be available for customers with C connectors on their devices

This configuration allows the drive to operate normally from the USB host while also enabling connection of a regulated 5VDC 2A power supply when maximum stability is required.

The result is extremely stable drive operation, even on systems where USB bus power may fluctuate during heavy device activity.

Because this type of cable does not currently exist commercially, we have commissioned a custom tooling production run and are currently having 2,000 units manufactured specifically for use with our host-powered optical drive solutions.

These looms will initially support USB Micro-B optical drive platforms, and we are also developing additional versions for other host-powered drive interfaces including native USB Type-C configurations.

Why the website will remain closed until April

We have decided to delay reopening the site so that we can complete:

Final validation testing of the new drive batches
Integration of the new USB Stable Power 5VDC Connector Loom
Preparation of upgraded product kits and documentation
Inventory system updates for the upcoming release

Our goal is to ensure that when the website reopens, customers will receive the most refined and reliable solution possible for these final generation UHD optical drives.

Full availability details and product listings will be published once the site reopens.

Thank you for your continued support.

Asmcom
UHD Friendly Drives Team

[Baronbuzby]

Sounds brilliant!

I need to buy one of your 9.5mm external enclosures - any chance you could help out?

[asmcom]

Sounds brilliant!

I need to buy one of your 9.5mm external enclosures - any chance you could help out?

No problem but we will wait to I get the new Looms from Taiwan. Hopefully they will arrive in 20 to 30 days.

Kind Regards

Asmcom