(2024-05) S & V - Review of Magnetar Disc Player

[stoopid]

But if not for different features such as analog outs, what are you getting with this player over the Sony for the extra $1300?

^^^ This

The analog outs is really the primary feature that distinguishes the Magnetar. An old Oppo can play the burned media, the sony upd can play newer retail releases, and both can be found for under $450 combined. The Magnetar's price point is the primary issue. That's a huge premium for analog outs. Could get a decent hdmi capable amp for less than the difference and be somewhat futureproofed in the process.

 

[SeeMoreDigital]

Why do you need multi channel outs for SACD? I stream DSD over HDMI and my amp decodes it.

It's for people like me who don't want a hulking great AVR that offers loads of features I don't want or need.

I prefer to have a dedicated stereo amplifier for listening to 2-channel music, along with supplementary 2-channel power amplifiers if I want to listen to multi-channel audio music.

 

[key_wiz]

^^^ This

The analog outs is really the primary feature that distinguishes the Magnetar. An old Oppo can play the burned media, the sony upd can play newer retail releases, and both can be found for under $450 combined. The Magnetar's price point is the primary issue. That's a huge premium for analog outs. Could get a decent hdmi capable amp for less than the difference and be somewhat futureproofed in the process.

Yeah, if someone really desires analog outs then they can decide if the extra $$ is worth it for them or not.

Otherwise, the argument would be “build quality” on an untested player/brand. If someone could convince me it will last 50 years then maybe. But no one could promise that. And are the components ACTUALLY better? Certainly not just because they might be heavier.

It’s interesting. I’m a professional musician and in the pro-music world everything is moving to smaller, lighter gear. Not only for the obvious advantage of having to haul it around, but the newer digital amps, powered speakers (speakers with the amps built in) and smaller subwoofers perform better or at least as well as the old analog behemoths. Such are the advances in technology.

Now, I like a solid, well built case as much as anyone. My Yamaha player is relatively heavy and solid and I like that I can feel safe stacking a couple of things on it. And I like the look. But that it actually performs or sounds better than a smaller, lighter player? I’m highly skeptical.

 

[Owen Smith]

People that prefer/use older pre-HDMI amplifiers I imagine.

But if not for different features such as analog outs, what are you getting with this player over the Sony for the extra $1300?

The Sony won't play burned DVD-A, and it's not easy to make it multi region.

 

[key_wiz]

The Sony won't play burned DVD-A, and it's not easy to make it multi region.

Seems a lot of scratch just for those two features to me. But that’s a decision for each individual to make.

 

[kfbkfb]

There's a roundabout way to get MCH line level outputs (from MCH HDMI signals) - use a low end AV receiver (such as a Pioneer VSX-534 [decodes DTS-HD & MCH DSD input via HDMI]) and add circuits to convert the speaker outputs to line level outputs.

Sony 800 (~$250) + Pioneer (~$240 [renewed]), when either player or receiver dies, just replace that part with a name brand unit.


Kirk Bayne

 

[The Rang]

I was reluctant at first, but ended up buying (and testing, then boxing back up) a second Sony ubp-x800m2 for just this reason. I'm not rich, spending $250 on something collecting dust in the closet felt foolish but on a long enough timeline it assures I can playback 90-something percent of what I have years from now when my current ubp-x800m2 finally shits the bed.

Next time the X800M2 hits $299CDN on sale I plan to buy another one as a back up

 

[Owen Smith]

Seems a lot of scratch just for those two features to me. But that’s a decision for each individual to make.

You live in the US, so multi region is largely irrelevant to you. Try looking up what is in Region B blu ray and Region 2 DVD compared to Regions A and 1 and you'll see why multi region is more important to me. I buy local region discs when they exist and are as good as US discs because local discs are cheaper. But about a third of my DVDs and blu rays are Region A and 1, with a smattering of region 3 and 4 DVDs thrown in from the days when you had to hunt for an anamorphic transfer or DTS soundtrack on DVD.

 

[kfbkfb]

https://www.amazon.co.uk/SONY-X700-System-100-240V-Multi-System/dp/B07B7Q9RHY/ref=sr_1_6
^^^
Plays 2D/3D Blu-ray Regions: A, B and C Plays All-Region DVDs:
Regions 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9. 0 PAL/NTSC Plays PAL and NTSC Region DVDs on Any TV Built-in NTSC⇔PAL Converter


Does this UHD player fulfill your need?


Kirk Bayne

 

[Asklia]

Did anybody mention the crazy price of the UDP900 with full analog out? More than 3000...

 

[Owen Smith]

https://www.amazon.co.uk/SONY-X700-System-100-240V-Multi-System/dp/B07B7Q9RHY/ref=sr_1_6
^^^
Plays 2D/3D Blu-ray Regions: A, B and C Plays All-Region DVDs:
Regions 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9. 0 PAL/NTSC Plays PAL and NTSC Region DVDs on Any TV Built-in NTSC⇔PAL Converter

Does this UHD player fulfill your need?

That's the sort of thing I'd be looking at if I didn't have three Oppos. But note it has no manufacturer's warranty (presumably because of a multi region mod being fitted) and there's no statement on burned DVD-A.

 

[SeeMoreDigital]

Hi Owen,

Out of interest... How many home made DVD-Audio discs have you made?

 

[Owen Smith]

Hi Owen,

Out of interest... How many home made DVD-Audio discs have you made?

Over a hundred. Enough I'm not sure how many. I'm moving to playing the iso images, but that has its own problems with new players not supporting that.

 

[SeeMoreDigital]

Over a hundred. Enough I'm not sure how many.

That's a considerable quantity. It would take many hours to convert that many to say, .mkv or .mka files.

I'm moving to playing the iso images, but that has its own problems with new players not supporting that.

Indeed... Hopefully when disc spinning players become impossible to buy, file playback devices will become more flexible when it comes to parsing .iso files. But I'm not holding out that much hope!

 

[Owen Smith]

That's a considerable quantity. It would take many hours to convert that many to say, .mkv or .mka files.

Yes, if it was half a dozen I'd just convert them and be done with it, getting rid of my need to play burned DVD-A.

Indeed... Hopefully when disc spinning players become impossible to buy, file playback devices will become more flexible when it comes to parsing .iso files. But I'm not holding out that much hope!

I hold out no hope at all of wider .iso playback support. Currently the blu ray forum requires blocking .iso to get a blu ray playback licence, that's what caused Oppo to remove .iso playback.

 

[SeeMoreDigital]

I hold out no hope at all of wider .iso playback support. Currently the blu ray forum requires blocking .iso to get a blu ray playback licence, that's what caused Oppo to remove .iso playback.

Indeed... However media players that don't offer disc playback are under no such restrictions.

I wish I still had some of my old 'non disc' Ziova and Xtreamer media players to test their DVD-A and SACD .iso file playback capabilities as back in the day I only tested their DVD-V and (2K) Blu-ray .iso file playback capabilities...

 

[barfle]

Made in Vietnam seems to be happening.

And Korea and India.

 

[barfle]

If new model Oppos were still being manufactured today you can bet your sweet bippy a flagship Oppo today would be priced much higher. Ref: Magnetar UDP-900

205s were a lot less expensive than 105s (which is what I bought and use almost daily).

 

[SeeMoreDigital]

It’s interesting. I’m a professional musician and in the pro-music world everything is moving to smaller, lighter gear. Not only for the obvious advantage of having to haul it around, but the newer digital amps, powered speakers (speakers with the amps built in) and smaller subwoofers perform better or at least as well as the old analog behemoths. Such are the advances in technology.

Yep, the sound and build quality of 'Class D' amplifiers have improved hugely in recent years. Indeed, the upcoming Fosi Audio V3 Mono power amplifier with its 'on/off/auto' power switch and PFFB (Post-Filter Feedback) features looks very interesting. If they every got round to manufacturing a 2-channel version with the same features I would instantly buy three or even five of them.

 

[hi-res_edition]

Stock up on shiny disc players.. however, the demise of vinyl 20 years ago tells a different story today ... and same with that crappy cassette. Still, I surely miss Oppo's quality of manufacturing and while I don't think the Magnetor is over the top price wise given inflation, some of the design issues noted in the article make me wonder what other potential flaws exist in the player.