[SALE] (IN STOCK) Worldwide - BRAND NEW Pioneer BDR-S09XLT, BDR-S08XLT, BDR-209DBK Drives - 4K/UHD - Tested

[levtrocki]

I have purchased a drive and will update when it arrives. Looks like it was shipped out recently and will arrive to Canada by the end of the week which is quite fast.

I used the upfront option (DDP?) to hopefully cover the taxes/import tariffs. Never used that before but I assume FedEx did the calculations correctly on their end to ensure no payments will be needed at delivery. I believe for Canadians this is likely cheaper than the fees they would charge after the fact (broker fees for FedEx and other private couriers is usually as much as the tax itself or more). 

My biggest concern is likely to be things I can maintenance myself (like dried out lubricant on moving internal parts, or replacing rubber tray belts). Otherwise I'm pretty confident I will be happy when it arrives. 

I will update after receiving. Initially I was trying to source drives through Ebay but the amount of counterfeits/relabelled/rebadged drives are nearly impossible to filter out at this point. I found some encouraging listings from Japanese sellers, but of course then found many highly rated Japanese based sellers are also now selling drives with duplicate labels and serial numbers across multiple models, and they all claim they are "100% authentic". Seems there is no good way to ensure you aren't getting counterfeits on Ebay, so at least with this you can be sure you are receiving an authentic Pioneer drive.

Thank you for your order! Regarding your concerns about maintenance: because these are New Old Stock (NOS), the internal belts and factory lubricants haven't been subjected to years of operational heat and dust, so they generally hold up exceptionally well. We have customers using it for months now with over 1000 rips.

Thumbs up on the purchase of Pioneer BDR-209DBK. I did have to pay a $50 Trump Tax on arrival.  I was also confused because it didn't present the same model number in MakeMKV, but this is due to it already being flashed and ready for ripping. It tops at 4x and is very quiet. I'm happy with my purchase and their responsiveness to support requests.

Glad to hear the BDR-209DBK is running quietly and ripping well for you. Sorry to hear you got hit with that $50 import tax on arrival—US customs can unfortunately be a bit of a roulette wheel depending on the agent processing the package.

I purchased a Pioneer BDR-S08XLT from UHD Archive, and after ripping more than 40 4K UHD discs, I can confidently say this has been one of the best upgrades I've made to my movie-ripping setup.

For context, I previously used an ASUS BW-16D1X-U external Blu-ray drive, flashed with LibreDrive-compatible firmware. It performed exceptionally well with DVDs and standard Blu-rays, ripping them quickly and reliably. However, 4K UHD discs were another story.

My ASUS/LG drive successfully ripped perhaps 60% of my UHD collection, and even some of those required multiple attempts. It struggled particularly with triple-layer (BD100) discs, frequently encountering hash-check errors and read failures, often around layer transitions. I also suspected thermal sensitivity, as the drive would sometimes require an overnight cooldown before I could successfully retry a problematic disc. On particularly difficult titles, I had to resort to creating backups and using MKVToolNix as a workaround. It became a frustrating and time-consuming process.

Enter the Pioneer BDR-S08XLT from UHD Archive. The difference has been remarkable.

I've now ripped more than 40 4K UHD movies, including numerous triple-layer discs, without a single read error or failed rip. More impressively, every disc that previously gave my ASUS/LG drive trouble has ripped successfully on the Pioneer on the very first attempt.

A few things that have particularly impressed me:
- Exceptional UHD reliability: Every 4K UHD disc I've tried has ripped successfully, including troublesome BD100 titles.
- No cooldown periods: I can rip multiple 4K movies back-to-back without worrying about the drive overheating or becoming unreliable.
- No workarounds necessary: I haven't needed to use the backup method or MKVToolNix to recover a problematic rip.
- Extremely quiet operation: The Pioneer is noticeably quieter than my previous ASUS/LG drive. The difference is substantial.
- Consistent performance: Maximum UHD read speeds peak at around 4X, with a typical 4K movie taking approximately 60 minutes to rip directly to MKV using MakeMKV. I'll gladly take that level of reliability over faster speeds and repeated failures.

Purchasing Experience - Excellent

I'm located in the United States and purchased directly through UHD Archive's website rather than eBay. I did not prepay VAT or import taxes.

My order arrived within just seven calendar days from Turkey, which was genuinely impressive.

The drive arrived in like-new condition. Despite being manufactured in 2013, there was no visible rust, corrosion, or damage to the external casing. The original retail box was intact, although some of the adhesive had weakened with age, exactly as the seller discloses on their website.

Given that UHD Archive prepares these older drives with UHD-compatible firmware before shipping, I expected some evidence of handling. Nevertheless, the drive looked excellent and has performed flawlessly.

Final Thoughts

I finally understand why there are so many passionate Pioneer enthusiasts in the UHD ripping community. These drives really are that good, particularly when it comes to reliably reading difficult 4K UHD Blu-ray discs.

After dealing with countless failed rips, repeated retries, cooldown periods, and complicated workarounds, having a drive that simply works every single time has been a game changer.

I highly recommend both UHD Archive as a seller and the Pioneer BDR-S08XLT to anyone serious about archiving a 4K UHD collection. The product condition, shipping experience, and most importantly, actual performance have exceeded my expectations.

And a special thank you to UHD Archive for sourcing, preparing, and bringing these new-old-stock Pioneer drives back to life. It's great to see such outstanding hardware being made available to enthusiasts who can genuinely appreciate it.

Absolutely worth the investment. Highly recommended!

Wow, thank you for such an incredibly detailed and thoughtful review! Your experience with the triple-layer BD100 discs perfectly highlights why the community loves these Pioneer drives so much. The older ASUS/LG drives are great for standard Blu-rays, but Pioneer's optics handle those difficult layer transitions on 4K discs with so much more stability.

I have put a lot of effort into tracking down, testing, and flashing these drives, and reading a review like yours makes every bit of that work completely worth it.

[ble707]

I bought a Pioneer BDR-S08XLT from Levi and after about 7 4K rips there has been no issues.
However, as noted from other community members and Levi himself, I did have to pay a $90 import fee for FedEx shortly after I received the drive on October 5. (accounting to $420 after the initial $330 payment)

I'll make a timeline of how my order went:

August 24, 2026 - Signed up on the pre-order list.
August 25, 2026 - Levi emailed me the next day and got me enrolled for a BDR-S08XLT of my choice.
September 16, 2026 - As noted from Levi, there was issues regarding their payment infrastructure. The payment service during this time wouldn't let me pay for the drive and Levi told me to wait until it gets resolved.
September 23, 2026 - The payment service was fixed, and I was able to finally pay for the drive.
October 5, 2026 - The drive comes in. Works right out of the box.
October 9, 2026 - I received the import notice from FedEx for the $90 import fee. Asked Levi about it, basically I got screwed in paying that fee.

From this back-and-forth service with Levi, I don't blame him at all for these problems. I feel for those who are starting their businesses and especially trying to give the MakeMKV community the last of the authentic Pioneer drives in the world to keep our ripping sessions alive. These type of things with the payment problems and import fees is not against the seller whatsoever, it's out of his control.
With that being said, while I do want to complain about the prices of these drives nowadays (they were previously much cheaper before Pioneer exited out the market, and was before I started doing my rips earlier this year), I genuinely believe this is the best prices these people can do considering that fact. If you strictly want an authentic Pioneer drive that isn't a misleading model and money isn't necessarily an object to you, then Levi is the perfect person to buy from.
I personally won't buy another drive from him because of the high costs, but that doesn't change the fact that my Pioneer drive I bought from him still works.

[neomurph]

Long time lurker, finally decided to join up and I too can echo sentiments experienced here. Ordered an BDR-S08XLT 10/25/26, received product neatly packed and bubble wrapped 11/2/26.

After taking several pictures for archival purposes, installed the drive therein after.. Unit has successfully ripped several triple-layer classics in my library, including some problematic titles, which my OG, LG-WH16NS40 sturggled with.

When time permits, I will attempt a more thorough review, however, my experience directly correlates to others, especially "gsingle" etc. As also communicated, price is an issue across so many mediums these days, no matter where we turn, we incur excessive pricing across the board.

For now, I will simply chalk this expense toward an expensive hobby which fuels my need to archive an extensive, growing, and always cherished collection. Wishing all the best to everyone, hope we all, "find that small measure of peace, that we all seek, yet few of us ever truly find."

[levtrocki]

I bought a Pioneer BDR-S08XLT from Levi and after about 7 4K rips there has been no issues.
However, as noted from other community members and Levi himself, I did have to pay a $90 import fee for FedEx shortly after I received the drive on October 5. (accounting to $420 after the initial $330 payment)

I'll make a timeline of how my order went:

August 24, 2026 - Signed up on the pre-order list.
August 25, 2026 - Levi emailed me the next day and got me enrolled for a BDR-S08XLT of my choice.
September 16, 2026 - As noted from Levi, there was issues regarding their payment infrastructure. The payment service during this time wouldn't let me pay for the drive and Levi told me to wait until it gets resolved.
September 23, 2026 - The payment service was fixed, and I was able to finally pay for the drive.
October 5, 2026 - The drive comes in. Works right out of the box.
October 9, 2026 - I received the import notice from FedEx for the $90 import fee. Asked Levi about it, basically I got screwed in paying that fee.

From this back-and-forth service with Levi, I don't blame him at all for these problems. I feel for those who are starting their businesses and especially trying to give the MakeMKV community the last of the authentic Pioneer drives in the world to keep our ripping sessions alive. These type of things with the payment problems and import fees is not against the seller whatsoever, it's out of his control.
With that being said, while I do want to complain about the prices of these drives nowadays (they were previously much cheaper before Pioneer exited out the market, and was before I started doing my rips earlier this year), I genuinely believe this is the best prices these people can do considering that fact. If you strictly want an authentic Pioneer drive that isn't a misleading model and money isn't necessarily an object to you, then Levi is the perfect person to buy from.
I personally won't buy another drive from him because of the high costs, but that doesn't change the fact that my Pioneer drive I bought from him still works.

Thank you for providing such a detailed timeline of your experience and for your incredible patience while we were sorting out our payment infrastructure back in September. It was stressful indeed.

I completely understand the frustration regarding that $90 FedEx import bill. It's definitely not a small amount, especially on top of an already expensive drive. I appreciate you being transparent about the total cost so others know what to expect.

Thanks again for trusting me with your purchase and for the kind words. Enjoy your drive

Long time lurker, finally decided to join up and I too can echo sentiments experienced here. Ordered an BDR-S08XLT 10/25/26, received product neatly packed and bubble wrapped 11/2/26.

After taking several pictures for archival purposes, installed the drive therein after.. Unit has successfully ripped several triple-layer classics in my library, including some problematic titles, which my OG, LG-WH16NS40 sturggled with.

When time permits, I will attempt a more thorough review, however, my experience directly correlates to others, especially "gsingle" etc. As also communicated, price is an issue across so many mediums these days, no matter where we turn, we incur excessive pricing across the board.

For now, I will simply chalk this expense toward an expensive hobby which fuels my need to archive an extensive, growing, and always cherished collection. Wishing all the best to everyone, hope we all, "find that small measure of peace, that we all seek, yet few of us ever truly find."

Thank you so much for the review, i really appreciate the support. It's great to hear that the drive is finally handling the discs that LG struggled with (and I hear that a lot)

This hobby certainly isn't getting any cheaper, especially when it comes to genuine Pioneer drives. Hope we find that peace in them.