Looking for most inexpensive universal disc player recommendations...NOT SONY!

[stoopid]

On sale at BB for $229

I've been tempted to do the same. These devices can age on the shelf though (capacitors in particular don't have an unlimited shelf life). If there's any belts in the drive mechanism that's another possible fail point, although much easier to replace in most things than soldered electronic components. Electronics we rely on are a tough thing to stock up on, unlike toilet paper and hand sanitizer.

IMO there's always going to be a market for media players due to amount of media out there and its longevity, so even if Sony exits the market someone will fill the void. And it's getting cheaper than ever to make knockoffs so it might be the UB800M3 by XXOITTFE brand on amazon.

 

[Sal1950]

I've been tempted to do the same. These devices can age on the shelf though (capacitors in particular don't have an unlimited shelf life). If there's any belts in the drive mechanism that's another possible fail point, although much easier to replace in most things than soldered electronic components. Electronics we rely on are a tough thing to stock up on, unlike toilet paper and hand sanitizer.

Very true, but at 73 I don't think it will play into the issue for me. LOL

BTW, I was just looking and I only have one big 24 pack of toilet paper left from my early Covid scare days. LOL
True!

 

[Mr. Afternoon]

Or you can just store your music on DV and LTO tapes like a madman.

 

[stoopid]

Or you can just store your music on DV and LTO tapes like a madman.

Funny you say that, I'd trust the magnetic tape long before writable memory/flash memory. But it's only nominally better, and I'll always trust burned/pressed physical media over all other options.

 

[Atomic Punk]

I missed out on the final Oppo run, but weren't they in the same price range?

yeah i guess it was. and used Oppo 203's average close to $1000.

 

[Francis Drake]

Magnetic media has far more fail points than properly stored physical media. Please do not expect your magnetic media to be available to you in a decade+ time.

Never mentioned any form of magnetic media, it's the unstabalist of them all.

 

[stoopid]

Never mentioned any form of magnetic media, it's the unstabalist of them all.

Indeed, it was SeeMoreDigital I should have quoted.

 

[JediJoker]

Magnetic media has far more fail points than properly stored physical media.

I'm assuming by "physical," you mean "optical?"

 

[omnipotent1]

Look for used Pioneer bluray bdp-450's cheap as chips and can play everything audio but not 4k.No audio outs only hdmi!
I had two over the years before I transitioned to mostly network playback and they were fantastic,can be used to rip SACD as well.
Now I just use a Sony UBP x700 cause it was the cheapest 4k player that does Dolby Vision at the time.It won't play DVD-A or burned discs but network playback covers all that anyway for me.

 

[Francis Drake]

Look for used Pioneer bluray bdp-450's cheap as chips and can play everything audio but not 4k.No audio outs only hdmi!
I had two over the years before I transitioned to mostly network playback and they were fantastic,can be used to rip SACD as well.
Now I just use a Sony UBP x700 cause it was the cheapest 4k player that does Dolby Vision at the time.It won't play DVD-A or burned discs but network playback covers all that anyway for me.

I does look as though the Pioneer BDP-450 may be an answer for some here, as long as they keep in mind the unit is some 10 years old now, and the issue of laser failure is more a possibility than with a new unit.

Just trying to keep things in balance.

 

[stoopid]

I'm assuming by "physical," you mean "optical?"

Yes optical versus magnetic.

 

[omnipotent1]

I does look as though the Pioneer BDP-450 may be an answer for some here, as long as they keep in mind the unit is some 10 years old now, and the issue of laser failure is more a possibility than with a new unit.

Just trying to keep things in balance.

Sure but at least her in the EU you can regularly snatch them on Fleabay for around 50-60 euros

 

[atrocity]

Magnetic media has far more fail points than properly stored physical media. Please do not expect your magnetic media to be available to you in a decade+ time. The strategy with magnetic media is to have multiple copies, and eventually copy the copies over to new magnetic media periodically (like every 5-10 years at most).

Everything is a tradeoff. I use hard drives because my collection is so absurdly over the top, but I'm a computer nerd and am willing to also go over the top there.

I was given a Dell desktop from late 2014-early 2015 that wasn't being used, packed it with the maximum 16gigs of RAM and loaded TrueNAS on it. It's the primary storage for everything with multiple shares, each for a particular usage. Each share is mirrored on the server itself and in turn backed up to separate drives hosted on Linux boxes.

TrueNAS monitors the status of the drives and alerts me via email any time something goes wrong, which definitely happens from time to time. With mirroring, so far a single drive failure has only meant that I had to replace that drive as soon as possible, after which re-mirroring is completely automatic and hands-off. TrueNAS has been excellent about warning me when it detects even the slightest issue.

I have backup jobs that run three times per day and send me emails to let me know what needs to be backed up, which prompt me to run live backups as necessary.

Additionally, the music is backed up offsite to Jottacloud, which has a great all-you-can-eat annual fee and works with rclone, which is essential rsync for cloud storage.

So you can go the magnetic route and have reasonable certainty that it's not going to screw you over, but there's no denying that it's not simple. It certainly helps that I'm retired and have the time to screw around with something that complex, but for me the reward is worth the trouble.

 

[stoopid]

Everything is a tradeoff. I use hard drives because my collection is so absurdly over the top, but I'm a computer nerd and am willing to also go over the top there.

I was given a Dell desktop from late 2014-early 2015 that wasn't being used, packed it with the maximum 16gigs of RAM and loaded TrueNAS on it. It's the primary storage for everything with multiple shares, each for a particular usage. Each share is mirrored on the server itself and in turn backed up to separate drives hosted on Linux boxes.

TrueNAS monitors the status of the drives and alerts me via email any time something goes wrong, which definitely happens from time to time. With mirroring, so far a single drive failure has only meant that I had to replace that drive as soon as possible, after which re-mirroring is completely automatic and hands-off. TrueNAS has been excellent about warning me when it detects even the slightest issue.

I have backup jobs that run three times per day and send me emails to let me know what needs to be backed up, which prompt me to run live backups as necessary.

Additionally, the music is backed up offsite to Jottacloud, which has a great all-you-can-eat annual fee and works with rclone, which is essential rsync for cloud storage.

So you can go the magnetic route and have reasonable certainty that it's not going to screw you over, but there's no denying that it's not simple. It certainly helps that I'm retired and have the time to screw around with something that complex, but for me the reward is worth the trouble.

Your strategy is sound for day to day use and for information you want immediate access to. My post and the spirit of the prior posts was relating more to archival level storage. I have plenty of information saved magnetically, but the most important bits I want to keep 'permanently' eventually get burned to optical media and tossed in a safe. For music, I simply buy the optical version whenever possible. There's different solutions for different needs, cost/benefits, etc. As long as the person using magnetic knows its shortcomings, then they're accepting the tradeoffs and any risks.

 

[Sal1950]

I have about 12 TB's of SSD storage in the music server PC.
I use SSD there because it's dead quiet.
Also a 14tb external spinner HD for keeping backup.
Only about 1 tb free till I'll have to add something.

 

[rwwear]

Hello all! I have a Sony UBP-X800M2, and just discovered that it doesnt actually play DVD+R and DVD-R SACDs and DVD-As. Issue Playing Back Burned DVD-Audio Disc on Sony UBP-x800m2
Infuriating.
What are some recommendations for the most inexpensive universal players? I want it to play everything. Ultra HD Blu Ray, multi channel SACD, quad Blu Ray, DVDRs...everything this garbage Sony was SUPPOSED to play.
Thanks so much in advance for your experienced knowledge!

Magnetar looks really good. UDP800 | Magnetar Audio U.S.

 

[SeeMoreDigital]

Magnetar looks really good. UDP800 | Magnetar Audio U.S.

Lol... Neither of the Magnetar players can be described as being "inexpensive" !!!

 

[rwwear]

Well yes. But no one else really makes a good one that's inexpensive. The Reavon is a little cheaper. Made by the same company I believe. Reavon | 4K UHD Blu-ray players

 

[Sal1950]

Well yes. But no one else really makes a good one that's inexpensive. The Reavon is a little cheaper. Made by the same company I believe. Reavon | 4K UHD Blu-ray players

But do we know for sure that these players will play the obscure burnt media the Sony failed on?

 

[rwwear]

But do we know for sure that these players will play the obscure burnt media the Sony failed on?

I don't. Maybe the reviews will show?