@mahler123 If you referring to the Panasonic blu-ray player, the new model is the UB9000P1k (MSRP = 1100 USD), which i have. It is unclear where you’re getting the 1500 price tag. It can also serve as a great sounding CD player/network streamer/DAC/Preamp in a hifi system.
If you know something about blu-ray drives, reliability and so on, no one on earth is beating the Japanese brands. Magnetar (UDP900, price = 3000 USD) is a higher end Chinese brand like Oppo and i don’t doubt their competence. But, it’s "new" and doesn’t have as long a record as Panasonic. I don’t know much about it except that it’s getting some good reviews.
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It looks like the Panasonic doesn't play SACDs. I don't understand why truly universal disc players aren't more common.
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Cleeds is correct, the Panasonics are not universal players.
As I mentioned in the OP, the UI for the Magneton looks so much like the Oppo it begs the question as to whether they just purchased the platform from Oppo
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The D.BOB ($700) will take a DSD stream from a SACD player via HDMI and send the signal to an external DAC. I have a used $200 Oppo player as a transport and it sounds great via the D.BOB. I am coming from one of the best SACD players ever made, the Sony SCD-1 (this died recently).
GeerFab Audio D.BOB Digital BreakOut Box – Upscale Audio
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I too have been looking for a universal UHD player for my 4K movies, SACD’ and DVD-A’s. I have a Sony UHD player that will play SACD’s but not DVD-A’s. The Sony is “cheap” (U700) feeling in that it is light and very “plastic”. I had been using my old OPPO for reading the discs for music but it has recently started to freeze up for no reason. I am interested in a player that is well built (weighs more than 2lbs!), has a good power supply, transport, clock, etc. The only names that pop up that will do this is Rivean and the brand mentioned here. I am interested more in build quality and reliability as my Marantz AV preamp does all the digital processing via HDMI. I really don’t want to pay for a high-end DAC in the player since this would be bypassed anyway. Anyone have any hands-on experience with either of these brands?
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Sony refused to make their players compatible with DVD-A for the longest time, only relenting after DVD-A began to die as a format. I have a Pioneer Elite that plays Blu Ray, DVD and SACD but it was discontinued years ago. It also does a DSD to PCM conversion for SACD
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I now own a Magnetar UDP 900. It is a real boat anchor. The transport is eons faster than anything else on the market and as a music transport is all you could ask for. I can’t speak to the DACs as I do not use them. What really sets it apart is the picture. Is it perfect? No. The buttons are too small and hard to find in the dark. I do not care for the front panel aesthetics. The remote is not backlit. In short if you have a high end system and need a universal transport you have no where else to go. The Panasonic is a tinker toy in comparison.
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I now own a Magnetar UDP 900. It is a real boat anchor. The transport is eons faster than anything else on the market and as a music transport is all you could ask for. I can’t speak to the DACs as I do not use them. What really sets it apart is the picture. Is it perfect? No. The buttons are too small and hard to find in the dark. I do not care for the front panel aesthetics. The remote is not backlit. In short if you have a high end system and need a universal transport you have no where else to go. The Panasonic is a tinker toy in comparison.
@mijostyn , Cool, good to know, I guess i’ll hop on the Magnetar bandwagon myself shortly. I am a sucker for them heavy thangsss.
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I will be interested in the feedback.
@mijostyn can you comment on SACD, DVD-A, or Blu Ray Audio on this player? What DAC are you using?
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@mahler123
It will output DVD A and Blu Ray audio via the digital output and they sound great. It will only output SACD through it's analog output and I have not listened extensively to that yet. I only have about twenty SACDs and I avoid them now because of this problem.
I use a digital signal processing preamp which includes sub crossovers and the necessary four DAC channels. Currently I am using a very inexpensive MiniDSP SHD which has DACs that are substandard for my system and are a bit grainy. My old TacT processor died and I needed a cheap substitute. I have a new DEQX Pre 8 coming any day now which has a full 4 way crossover and 8 DAC channels. It is also a $13,000 unit of the highest quality and should be wonderful.
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So in my 2 channel system I program my Oppo 105 to output DSD from SACD. Since the Magnetar OS looked identical to Oppo, I am assuming this is the same. I then output the DSD over HDMI into the HDMI input of my Bryston DAC3. In a different system I output DSD from SACD using an Oppo 203 into the HDMI of an Anthem AVR
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^The later Oppos such as the 205 don’t output DSD from SACD the way the earlier Oppos like the 105 did. As the Magnetar appears to be more like the more recent 205, I doubt the Magnetar can output SACD DSD other than through the analog outputs. With customers so frequently using outboard DACs, archiving systems like Roon etc., and DSP room correction and headphone processing, I think Sony is way overdue in releasing SACD from the constrictions that deny their customers from getting the most from their systems.
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I just got one last week. In short comparison with SACD stereo, the sound quality is more transparent, high frequency cymbals harmonics are more real than oppo 105D.
The SACD multichannel analog output also sounds better than oppo 105D
Its HDMI output both SACD stereo and multi channel layer to marantz AV7706.
The remote can control oppo player and vice versa.
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@asin
which model did you purchase?
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It was the UDP 900
sorry for late reply
was not checking this forum during holiday
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IMO the Oppo 205 is still the king. The Magnetar 900 does not have as many digital inputs as the 205 and the dac chip for the surround domain is a lower quality one than in the 205. Very similar players other than that.
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@arnold_h
thanks for the input. Your point about the different chips for the surround domain intrigues me. Do they use a separate chip for each channel? Or one chip for two vs another for multichannel?
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The Oppo 205 uses a 9038Pro for the stereo outputs and a 9038Pro for the surround sound outputs. The Magnetar uses a 9038Pro for the stereo outputs and a 9028 for the surround outputs.
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Yes that is correct, they both use Sabre dac chips but the Magnetar uses a lesser version for the surround output. Also one review I read on the Magnetar was that the volume level does not show up on the units display, only if headphones are plugged in or if the tv is on then the volume level would show on the tv screen. I use my Oppo 205 as a dac preamp and the volume display is a must for me.
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The surround channels are less important, mainly for ambience and movie effects like helicopters flying, so one could justify using a lesser chip in those channels, but it seems chintzy to do so, especially considering that this is not a budget player
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With the growth of mult-channel streaming perhaps it might be time to reconsider the notion of surround sound as only a home theater sound effects concept going forward?
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Perhaps.
I listen primarily to Classical. Most labels that specialize in multichannel use surrounds for ambience. The rears try to emulate the reflections that one might experience in the concert hall from walls, seats and ceiling behind the listener. There is at least one German based label-Tacet- that says the heck with that, and plunks the listener in the middle of the orchestra or chamber ensemble. For a Tacet disc, I would want the same chip in all channels
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^ I don’t know where the future is going. Time will tell.
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I was told by the Hong Kong Dealer that those were the same group of engineers from the Oppo Digital making the Oppo blue-ray players.
When Oppo Digital closed down the production line few years ago and those engineers didn't want to work on the Oppo Mobile phone production lines, so they introduced this new company Magnetar making the UDP 800/900 models.
I traded in my Oppo 205 and the old Anthem AVM 50v to a Magnetar 900 (upgraded version) and the Anthem AVM 70 8K. The set-up menu of the 900 is exactly the same as the Oppo 205 set-up menu. The dealer's room had the cut-out top side of the 900 and again looked 95% same as the inside of the 205.
The dealer mentioned that the performace of the 900 is much better than the 205's desgin with 2 separate Power Supplies and ESS chips for the multi-channel output and 2-channel output.
The 900 works very nice and fast and I am very pleased with the blue-ary part! But if you are a very serious music listener on CD or SACD, I would suggust that you have a separate set of Hi-Fi system. I could hear the big difference between them.
These are my personal opinion only.
Thanks for reading.
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The comments about Magnetar having the involvement of former Oppo engineers is very telling. The set up menus for the two brands are just two similar to me to be explained by coincidence.
Could you expound a bit more on your last paragraph?
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