Panasonic UB9000 Flag ship uhd player with XLR output

[Perth.hifi]

If Panasonic wants to be somewhat like oppo they should start providing better customer service. All i have heard so far is that their service and response is poor.. correct me if I'm wrong. It should not be hard to get a response. I recall contacting oppo in the past and their response time was fast and provided excellent product support. They also welcomed feedback. Panasonic should have a Australia wide support person to contact who can then relay the messages back to their hq.

 

 

[Whites]

I hope Panasonic are helpful. 

 

Have you downloaded the latest firmware, I only mention this as last night my UB9000 told me there was new version (1.60). Rather strange as it looks like it was released a month ago. The update on Panasonic website says "playability of bluray disc" and "stability of system".

[Kdjjdk Will]

Yes I am on firmware 1.6 

 

for 95 % of people this player will probably be faultless I guess 

 

Panasonic helpdesk is in the phillipines but last time they insinuated the problem were the discs I had were probably rotted - yet they play on my oppo 103 , I didn’t get the vibe that clef hi fi were keen on advocating on my behalf lol

 

i recall oppo support in America were incredible they really went the extra mile to trouble shoot issues but I wouldn’t be surprised that they pulled the pin on UHD because they knew it was gonna be a monumental headf***

[Monkeyboi]

On 25/08/2019 at 2:19 AM, Quark said:

Try changing your HDMI cable.

If it was the HDMI cable the OP would have playback problems with UHD discs because the bandwidth demands of 4k are much higher than that of Blu-ray discs.  I would suspect the player is at fault especially if it happens frequently and only on Blu-ray discs.  But of course I'm happy to be open minded as to the exact cause.

 

Cheers,

Alan R.

[Quark]

2 minutes ago, Monkeyboi said:

If it was the HDMI cable the OP would have playback problems with UHD discs because the bandwidth demands of 4k are much higher than that of Blu-ray discs.  I would suspect the player is at fault especially if it happens frequently and only on Blu-ray discs.  But of course I'm happy to be open minded as to the exact cause.

 

Cheers,

Alan R.

I took it that the OP was only using blu-ray discs.

[Perth.hifi]

Yes I am on firmware 1.6 
 
for 95 % of people this player will probably be faultless I guess 
 
Panasonic helpdesk is in the phillipines but last time they insinuated the problem were the discs I had were probably rotted - yet they play on my oppo 103 , I didn’t get the vibe that clef hi fi were keen on advocating on my behalf lol
 
i recall oppo support in America were incredible they really went the extra mile to trouble shoot issues but I wouldn’t be surprised that they pulled the pin on UHD because they knew it was gonna be a monumental headf***

Support is in the Philippines...gees. premium products should have support in Australia or the country they were purchased... not impressed with the custumer service im hearing. When a product has a issue, after sales support is king. Without it, the product will die.

[Monkeyboi]

1 minute ago, Quark said:

I took it that the OP was only using blu-ray discs.

Oh, okay.  Perhaps I should have read every post. (my bad  ).  However I suppose it begs the question.  Why buy a UHD BR player if you only intend to play BR discs?  Seems a pointless exercise to me unless they intend to either buy or borrow UHD BR discs.   The other thing is (assuming the OP previously had or still has a BR player and I believe there was some mention of not having another HDMI cable available), did the cable work properly on the previous BR player? 

 

Officeworks stock 4k HDMI cables and they are inexpensive.  If the cable is at fault a quick "Harrison Comparison" (swap out the cable) technique works for me.   

 

Cheers,

Alan R.

 

[Monkeyboi]

6 minutes ago, Perth.hifi said:

On 25/08/2019 at 9:41 AM, Kdjjdk Will said:

Yes I am on firmware 1.6 
 
for 95 % of people this player will probably be faultless I guess 
 
Panasonic helpdesk is in the phillipines but last time they insinuated the problem were the discs I had were probably rotted - yet they play on my oppo 103 , I didn’t get the vibe that clef hi fi were keen on advocating on my behalf lol
 
i recall oppo support in America were incredible they really went the extra mile to trouble shoot issues but I wouldn’t be surprised that they pulled the pin on UHD because they knew it was gonna be a monumental headf***

Support is in the Philippines...gees. premium products should have support in Australia or the country they were purchased... not impressed with the custumer service im hearing. When a product has a issue, after sales support is king. Without it, the product will die.

I agree.  Sadly and this is not just limited to consumer electronics (the telecommunications network providers are big on outsourcing to overseas support sites) where many consultants are reading scripted replies off "cheat sheets".  If the question or problem isn't on the cheat sheet the customer of often left out in the cold. 

 

Welcome to the wonderful world of cheap outsourcing.  In the Philippines the average call centre worker gets just PHP 23,000 (~ AUD 650) per month.  Compare what it would cost to provide this in Australia.  I'm not an advocate of OS call centres but I can understand why some companies choose to go down this route. 

 

Cheers,

Alan R.

[Snoopy8]

On 25/08/2019 at 11:09 AM, Perth.hifi said:

If Panasonic wants to be somewhat like oppo they should start providing better customer service. All i have heard so far is that their service and response is poor.. correct me if I'm wrong. It should not be hard to get a response. I recall contacting oppo in the past and their response time was fast and provided excellent product support. They also welcomed feedback. Panasonic should have a Australia wide support person to contact who can then relay the messages back to their hq.

Can you provide link that says Panasonic want to be like Oppo and provide same level of customer service? Plus Oppo was exceptional, not many other hifi/HT companies have with good helpful support and frequent firmware updates.  NAD comes close with frequent firmware updates and responsive support. Panasonic is so, so for support but so are many consumer electronics companies.

1 hour ago, Perth.hifi said:

On 25/08/2019 at 11:41 AM, Kdjjdk Will said:

 

Support is in the Philippines...gees. premium products should have support in Australia or the country they were purchased... not impressed with the custumer service im hearing. When a product has a issue, after sales support is king. Without it, the product will die.

Not fair to tar Philippines as poor support. Had good Optus support from Manila.

 

No doubt after sales support is king, but how many hifi companies and their local distributors pass this test? Many local hifi manufacturers do after sales support well because that is how they differentiate but not all. The local distributors are a mixed bag as are local divisions of international companies.

1 hour ago, Monkeyboi said:

However I suppose it begs the question.  Why buy a UHD BR player if you only intend to play BR discs?  Seems a pointless exercise to me unless they intend to either buy or borrow UHD BR discs.   

Because it provides a superior picture cf Oppo 103 and better audio (7.1 and stereo) than AVR plus future upgrade path to UHD when I upgrade..

[Kdjjdk Will]

Ok yes I’ve played many UHD discs on my Panasonic 9000 ; 4ks from Japan , England USA and Australia 

 

only 1 UHD disc froze and pixelated on my panasonic 9000 :the American Lionsgate release of MelGibsons Hacksaw Ridge

 

checking on several posts from amazon USA other people had this problem with hacksaw ridge so it was probably due to a replication error , it was the early days of UHD

 

so out of 50 plus UHD discs I have only one caused an issue , so as a UHD player I can’t fault it. Only the rare Blu ray disc causes my panny to choke . Just wanted to know what other people’s experience with this player was like

Edited September 1, 2019 by Kdjjdk Will

[Perth.hifi]

Does not say anywhere that they will match or come even close to oppo support. But if you pay for a premium device, one would expect premium or at the least high level of support.

 

I don't think a Australia based sales rep would be to much to ask. E.g. there's been plenty support by benq due their projectors, as seen on the forums...

 

 

[gibbo68]

On 24/08/2019 at 6:05 PM, Kdjjdk Will said:

I’m having a few Blu rays pixelate and freeze on my Panasonic uhd9000

 

discs have no blemish 

 

then they play on my oppo 103

 

funny thing is reading at Blu ray.com and avsforum it can go either way as to which player has the most sensitive laser

 

contacted the Panasonic distributor who told me to liaise with Panasonic  Australia who aren’t to concerned at the moment 

 

I guess this is what happens when you cram too much data into a shiny 5 inch disc or these UHD laser transports  aren’t as forgiving as the Blu ray lasers

Make sure viera link is turned off,  had similar issues with ub900, turned that off thanks to some help from forum members and no issues since.

[Kdjjdk Will]

I’ll give that a try thanks

[Perth.hifi]

Hi all

Does everyone find that the settings button on the Panasonic ub9000 remote only work once you got the home button first?

[Snoopy8]

10 minutes ago, Perth.hifi said:

Hi all

Does everyone find that the settings button on the Panasonic ub9000 remote only work once you got the home button first?

Yes, a Pana player quirk not found in other remotes

[Perth.hifi]

I see.

Any idea of Panasonic are gonna update the apps , or the speed of the apps menu. Or is this a issue with the processing power of the player?

[Snoopy8]

I have always assumed that an AVR has the biggest influence on sound quality with its DAC, analogue circuitry and room correction software. A BD player would only be transporting the HDMI audio signal and SQ should be the same regardless of player.  Right?

 

Had both my UB9000 and Oppo BDP-103 set up, was doing some troubleshooting. Decided to test sound quality via HDMI.

 

To my surprise, the UB9000 clearly beat the BDP-103 in sound quality.   At first blush, the Oppo sounded cleaner, but on closer listening, lacked the detail and body of the Pana.  This was more pronounced in multi channel music than movies, but could still hear the difference in movies.

 

Hmmmm, have to revise my advice that audio via HDMI should all sound the same.  Looks like a player such as the UB9000 with a better power supply, better chassis, low jitter HDMI and a very good drive and solid tray, can improve HDMI sound quality...

[cwt]

On 01/06/2020 at 9:24 AM, Snoopy8 said:

To my surprise, the UB9000 clearly beat the BDP-103 in sound quality.   At first blush, the Oppo sounded cleaner, but on closer listening, lacked the detail and body of the Pana.  This was more pronounced in multi channel music than movies, but could still hear the difference in movies.

 

Hmmmm, have to revise my advice that audio via HDMI should all sound the same.  Looks like a player such as the UB9000 with a better power supply, better chassis, low jitter HDMI and a very good drive and solid tray, can improve HDMI sound quality...

Stop that Snoopy ; was looking at the 825 safe in the knowledge it too had the low jitter hdmi circuitry but not as well built as the THX certified 9000  Good thing I am content with just  using the player as a digital transport - and not  analogue specifically   Good to be able to rationalise  ..

Are you sure about the 103;s value  ? A post on gumtree with a link to amazons listing below may be just the ticket .. Apparently some may not be able to separate a uhd and sdr player ; the word Oppo is enough 

https://www.amazon.com.au/BDP-103-Universal-Player-DVD-Audio-Blu-ray/dp/B009LRR5AQ

[Whites]

On 01/06/2020 at 9:24 AM, Snoopy8 said:

Hmmmm, have to revise my advice that audio via HDMI should all sound the same.  Looks like a player such as the UB9000 with a better power supply, better chassis, low jitter HDMI and a very good drive and solid tray, can improve HDMI sound quality...

Wow, I am surprised by that finding.

 

I have the the UB9000, connected to my Yamaha AVR via HDMI so that I can get ATMOS sound. 

 

I am impressed with the UB9000, use it for watching netflix etc as well as UHD discs, great machine and as a previous owner of Oppo 105D are more than satisfied that it is a worthy replacement of Oppo.

[Guest DrSK]

On 24/07/2020 at 2:16 PM, Whites said:

Wow, I am surprised by that finding.

 

I have the the UB9000, connected to my Yamaha AVR via HDMI so that I can get ATMOS sound. 

 

I am impressed with the UB9000, use it for watching netflix etc as well as UHD discs, great machine and as a previous owner of Oppo 105D are more than satisfied that it is a worthy replacement of Oppo.

Does the UB9000 have HDMI inputs and ARC like the Oppo? 

[Whites]

@DrSK  No HDMI inputs and I don't think it supports ARC.

 

I have never had much success with ARC, haven't tried it with current Sony OLED.

[TP1]

On 01/09/2019 at 10:10 AM, Monkeyboi said:

I agree.  Sadly and this is not just limited to consumer electronics (the telecommunications network providers are big on outsourcing to overseas support sites) where many consultants are reading scripted replies off "cheat sheets".  If the question or problem isn't on the cheat sheet the customer of often left out in the cold. 

 

Welcome to the wonderful world of cheap outsourcing.  In the Philippines the average call centre worker gets just PHP 23,000 (~ AUD 650) per month.  Compare what it would cost to provide this in Australia.  I'm not an advocate of OS call centres but I can understand why some companies choose to go down this route. 

 

In my experience Panasonic products are excellent quality and are top performers but after sales support has never been what Panasonic are about.   It seems to me that will do the bare minimum in terms of legal requirements and no more.  

[TP1]

2 hours ago, Whites said:

@DrSK  No HDMI inputs and I don't think it supports ARC.

 

I have never had much success with ARC, haven't tried it with current Sony OLED.

Current Sony ARC works flawlessly with gear I have hooked up at the moment.

[vintagejapan]

On 15/02/2018 at 12:12 PM, Mobe1969 said:

This may be a dumb question, but is there any benefit for the analog output that would differentiate the 9000 from the 820? I mean what specifically would one use this for? Would you use it if you didn't have a receiver, had spare amps, and didn't want Atmos?

I use the stereo out connected to my pre/power amp. It is more than adequate for all tv and movie duties.

[Mobe1969]

I found the latest firmware. Loaded OK on my Australian UB9000. Someone said this one had the ability to load external subs, but I can't find it.

 

https://av.jpn.support.panasonic.com/support/global/cs/bd/download/ub420/china/index.html

 

 

Loading is odd. Extract the FW file from the exe, copy it to the root of a USB stick (NOT NTFS), turn the player on, then stick it in the front USB. It restarts, then Shows something like FVV, then proceeds to something like "Loading" then eventually (after maybe 6 minutes) shows Finish. It doesn't then automatically restart though. Anyhow after it was on Finish for about 5 minites I gave up and hit the power standby button. Then I turned it on. And there is was, 1.66. I can't find how to load the subs though.