Need a new BD drive, which one?

[nanoman06]

Whats the preferred BD drive for ripping these days? (Internal)

[Woodstock]

I like LGs, as posted in several other of these topics found here (we get the question about once per month); Others hate them.

I find few problems with Samsung drives, other than they're generally slower than the LGs I have; Others say they're junk at best.

Others like Pioneer. And, you know, I haven't seen many people complain about Pioneer drives.

So, a lot comes down to whether or not you plan on buying a drive that claims to be able to handle UHD/4K video (which no current ripping software can do), or "inexpensive and works with regular stuff". All of the drives that claim UHD capability work fine with MakeMKV for "regular" BD content.

[nanoman06]

Ah, good to get a feel for the brand's. I was actually hoping for a particular model recommendation. I have one drive that is locked and one that isn't. Definitely hope to avoid another locked model :/

[Woodstock]

"Locked" as in "rip-locked"? Or one that got locked by an AACS version and stopped loading BDs?

I have not experienced rip-lock on LGs or Samsung, but some drive manufacturers (including Pioneer) have a "quiet mode" that limits ripping speeds unless you turn it off. In the case of Pioneer, you have to turn it off with a Windows computer.

[nanoman06]

"Locked" as in "rip-locked"? Or one that got locked by an AACS version and stopped loading BDs?

I have not experienced rip-lock on LGs or Samsung, but some drive manufacturers (including Pioneer) have a "quiet mode" that limits ripping speeds unless you turn it off. In the case of Pioneer, you have to turn it off with a Windows computer.

Ah, yes, riplocked. I was thinking about either the WH14NS40 or the WH16NS40

[Woodstock]

Either should work, but... "Silent Play" is LG's version of the issue I mentioned with Pioneer drives. When it detects that you've loaded something it recognizes as "playable media" (as opposed to "just" a data disk), it will limit the rotational speed to keep the drive from making noise. It needs to be disabled to get full ripping potential out of the drive.

[angelgraves13]

LG

I got the Pioneer UHD Blu-ray drive and it's really picky about reading disks with the tiniest imperfections and scratches. The LG reads it like a boss.

[drathbun]

Either should work, but... "Silent Play" is LG's version of the issue I mentioned with Pioneer drives. When it detects that you've loaded something it recognizes as "playable media" (as opposed to "just" a data disk), it will limit the rotational speed to keep the drive from making noise. It needs to be disabled to get full ripping potential out of the drive.

Would you mind sharing which model LG drive you use to avoid this? Thanks.

[Woodstock]

I'm using an LG BH16NS40 with the NS50 service code, just purchased. It worked fine for my one 4KUHD disk (The Martian), and I've subsequently used it for ripping regular BDs.

I have not had to disable "silent play" on this drive - it seems it came with it disabled. Yesterday's ripping sessions saw 10x and faster on ripping Kuromukuro.

[drathbun]

Thank you.

[jensenholmes]

I was looking for a thread recommending BR drives .Since the recs here are fairly old, I thought I'd bump this up and see what BR drives people suggest now?

The LG drive that was mentioned above is internal. What external BR drives have people had good luck with? I currently have an external drive I've been using since 2015, but it will only rip about 1/2 of the time. Many times I get errors like the one mentioned in the BR Rip thread. They suggested trying another drive when this happens, so I thought I'd get another drive.

I'm planning on travelling extensively next year and putting my stuff in storage, so I'm trying to digitize my entire collection.

Also I don't care about watching movies from the BR Drive. Or writing to it. I only want to rip from it.

[jinx100]

One option is to use a powered SATA to USB converter. These run about $20 and let you use an internal optical drive outside your case. Make sure it includes a 12 volt supply for the drive.

I've used both the LG WH16NS40 and WH14NS40 UHD friendly drives this way since they are not compatible with the SATA 150 in my old computer. I get 3-4x read speeds on a USB 2.0 port.

[jensenholmes]

One option is to use a powered SATA to USB converter. These run about $20 and let you use an internal optical drive outside your case. Make sure it includes a 12 volt supply for the drive.

I've used both the LG WH16NS40 and WH14NS40 UHD friendly drives this way since they are not compatible with the SATA 150 in my old computer. I get 3-4x read speeds on a USB 2.0 port.

Thanks for the tip. I'll look into those. Are internal drives better at reading discs without errors than external?

[jensenholmes]

Update on this for anyone who needs help in future.

I bought these two items per the advice above.

1. LG WH16NS40 Super Multi Blue Internal SATA 16x Blu-ray Disc Rewriter
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00E7 ... UTF8&psc=1

2. UNITEK USB 3.0 to SATA Converter Adapter Cable for 2.5 3.5 Inch Hard Drive Disk with 12V/2A Power Adapter
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00GL ... UTF8&psc=1

They were super easy to hook up. The SATA converter enabled me to plug the LG drive into a regular USB outlet on my laptop.
I'm running Windows 10. Windows recognized the drive right away. I didn't have to download any software or fiddle around with it. Everytime put in a blu ray disc, I get a system message that the blu ray player with that movie is now available.

I can open MakeMKV, see the tracks on the disc, and rip them to my hard drive. It works perfectly.

So far (after just 1 day) I have successfully ripped 3 different blu ray discs that my older Pioneer blu ray drive could not rip, even after repeated cleanings of the disc and attempts to read it. So I'm quite happy with that performance!

The LG drive is also larger and sturdier than my older plug-in drive.

I'll probably just use the LG from now on, but I suppose if I ever run into a disc it can't handle, I can try my Pioneer again.

I'm very happy with this purchase and can highly recommend it. Thanks to jinx100 and others on this thread for the info.

NOTE: I haven't tried a Region B blu ray, but I hope it will work. I have a lot of UK stuff.

JH

[BitGid]

Hey.
Some external drives I found:
Samsung DVD (not blu-ray, but has 4 star rating on amazon)
Some blu-ray ones: (More Expensive)
Samsung BD Writer (3.5 star rating)
Pioneer BD Writer (has USB 3.0 and 4 star ratings)
I don't really know what makes a drive good but I just found a best external drives page and listed a few.

Edited to remove shortened URLs with affiliate IDs to show true destination of link.

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