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Does anybody have the Panasonic DMP-UB900 UHD Player...

testiles

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... and can answer this question for me?

I posted on the Panasonic board but feel more likely to get an answer here...

So, I recently bought an open-box DMP-UB900 UHD player. There are 3 things I can't get it to do that all my previous UHD players did. I don't know if there's something wrong with the open box unit or if UB900 is not capable.

1) Will not play BD-R's that I burned with list of mp4's on them.

2) Will not play DVD-Rs that I burned with list of high-rez 192/24 flac files.

In both cases, when the disc loads and I say play videos/music, get message "There are no files in this folder". Only option is to Return.

These same discs played fine on my previous Samsung and Sony UHD players.

3) When playing store-bought CDs, no Title or Track information is displayed. Just Track 1, Track 2, etc. (Why no search on GraceNotes at the least?)


So guys, is my unit defective or are these functions beyond the DMP-900?


Any help with this is greatly appreciated. If defective, I have to return this unit (and that would be a shame because it does a bang-up job playing Blu Rays and UHDs!).


T
 
Although I have an DMP-UB900 UHD, I can't answer your questions.
But my impression of this device is, that it is completely useless for anything but playing DVD/Blu-ray/UHD Blu-ray discs. And this it does exceptionally well.
Everything else is pretty much a joke (Network access, apps, ...), so I wouldn't be surprised if it doesn't play .mp4 or .flac

Personal grief: No IP control. IR Blasters are so lame...
 
Although I have an DMP-UB900 UHD, I can't answer your questions.
But my impression of this device is, that it is completely useless for anything but playing DVD/Blu-ray/UHD Blu-ray discs. And this it does exceptionally well.
Everything else is pretty much a joke (Network access, apps, ...), so I wouldn't be surprised if it doesn't play .mp4 or .flac

Personal grief: No IP control. IR Blasters are so lame...


He he. James that was the impression I was getting too! That it specializes in Blu Ray and UHD playback. But boy what an excellent job it does with those formats!

And yeah, now that you mention it, I couldn't get Network access to play anything I have on my computers on the home network. But I didn't spend a lot of time trying because my receiver can take care of that.

So if what I'm seeing is not a defect but a lack of functionality, I will be happy to keep it for what it does and continue to use my Sony UHD to "fill in the gaps".


Hey, what do you mean by "No IP control. IR Blasters are so lame". I didn't get any IR blasters with this unit... and what's IP control?

Also, do you think you could burn an mp4 or 2 to a blank BD-R and see if your UB900 plays it? And/or pop in a CD and see tell me what you see?


T
 
Hey, what do you mean by "No IP control. IR Blasters are so lame". I didn't get any IR blasters with this unit... and what's IP control?
With IP control, I mean "controlling a device via ethernet" and not "via IR blasters" (Infrared remote control).
Most "better" CE devices allow to control them via IP instead of infrared remote. I hate infrared, as it requires line of sight. And something is always in the way. A cat, a table, a closed cupboard door, my own feet when lying in bed, ...

Also, do you think you could burn an mp4 or 2 to a blank BD-R and see if your UB900 plays it? And/or pop in a CD and see tell me what you see?
Burning, no, can't do. I haven't hooked up the player at the moment, but I will try a CD as soon as I have.
But I would bet, it will only display track numbers. Connecting to Gracenote is IMHO wishful thinking... :)
Maybe it can display CD-Text, but I doubt it. I believe it is completely useless for anything but playing video discs very well.
 
Panasonic review found through google. Should play CD's. music files. What does the manual say? Should be able to download documentation from Panasonic. I don't have one but was interested in your dilemma

https://www.soundandvision.com/content/panasonic-dmp-ub900-ultra-hd-blu-ray-player

http://www.trustedreviews.com/reviews/panasonic-dmp-ub900


Hi Jamie.

Yes, it does play CDs and I'm sure it probably plays music files, but doesn't seem to play music files on DVD-R -- aka DVD data discs.

I guess the best test for whether this particular unit will actually play an mp4 file is to play one on an SD card, which I don't have or use, or via the Network DLNA functions, which I have yet to get to work...

Anyway, I'll try to test mp4 playback through one of those methods.


BTW, I was able to play an mkv file that was burned to a BD-R disc but got video with no audio.

Ironically, when I play same disc on my computer I get audio no video.

Probably a CloneBD issue. To this day I have not created a fully functional mkv through CloneBD (but not really trying too hard. I don't usually use mkv files).


As for the manual, I have that and it says the unit can play high rez audio files and mp4s but doesn't stipulate whether it can play either from a DVD-R or BD-R.


T
 
With IP control, I mean "controlling a device via ethernet" and not "via IR blasters" (Infrared remote control).
Most "better" CE devices allow to control them via IP instead of infrared remote. I hate infrared, as it requires line of sight. And something is always in the way. A cat, a table, a closed cupboard door, my own feet when lying in bed, ...

LOL, your own feet! Funny.

Wow, I have never heard of or owned such a device but it sounds cool.

Closest I have had to that was a UHD player that could control other components without an IR blaster - I believe through HDMI. But it itself required an infrared remote.

Can you give me an example of an audio or video component that has IP control. Interested to research further...


Burning, no, can't do. I haven't hooked up the player at the moment, but I will try a CD as soon as I have.

Ok, cool!


Connecting to Gracenote is IMHO wishful thinking...

Really? Even my old inexpensive Samsung UHD did that.

But it only needed to do it for my CDs that were backups. Don't store-bought CDs have all that info within the disc itself?


You know what's funny. I was able to play a CD-R I burned with mp3 files on it and it displayed a wealth of information including Album Title, Song Titles, Song Length, etc.

But not for a commercial CD? Go figure.

The mp3's sounded fantastic on this machine btw.


Maybe it can display CD-Text,

I'll have to try this.


I believe it is completely useless for anything but playing video discs very well.

Yeah but the Sound and Vision article that Jamie provides the link for above says Panasonic designed this with the audiophile in mind.

Maybe mine really is just defective...



T
 
LOL, your own feet! Funny.

Wow, I have never heard of or owned such a device but it sounds cool.

Closest I have had to that was a UHD player that could control other components without an IR blaster - I believe through HDMI. But it itself required an infrared remote.

Can you give me an example of an audio or video component that has IP control. Interested to research further...
The Oppo BDP-1xx and newer have it (plus RS232 control).
AFAIK Sony & Samsung have it.
LG TVs usually have RS232 control (almost as good), newer models have IP control, too.
Newer Sony TVs usually have it. Don't know about Samsung.
Denon & Onkyo receivers have it. I prefer Denon, as they publish the IP commands on their website.

You need some kind of "controller", which sends the IP commands (or RS232 via a getway). Most popular is "iRule" http://getirule.com/
I personally use something else, as I want physical keys and no smartphone app.

Really? Even my old inexpensive Samsung UHD did that.

But it only needed to do it for my CDs that were backups. Don't store-bought CDs have all that info within the disc itself?
Nope. Unless they have CD-Text. Only few have. Just tried one, it just says "title 1"...

You know what's funny. I was able to play a CD-R I burned with mp3 files on it and it displayed a wealth of information including Album Title, Song Titles, Song Length, etc.

But not for a commercial CD? Go figure.

The mp3's sounded fantastic on this machine btw.
The mp3s are tagged, containing all the info in the file. No need to connect to Gracenote (which costs money, by the way).


Yeah but the Sound and Vision article that Jamie provides the link for above says Panasonic designed this with the audiophile in mind.
Audiophiles only have ears. ;) They don't want to see anything. For less interference, you can even shut down the video section of the player during music playback.

Maybe mine really is just defective...
I don't think so.
 
@James, thanks so much for the IP and RS232 info. I have RS232 on several pieces of equipment but assumed it was for some kind of fancy whole-house installation. I will definitely try to learn more about this now.

And especially thanks for the feedback on the UB900.

So at least I know CDs are playing as Panasonic intended (misguided as that may be. Even audiophiles like to check what actual song is playing occasionally (lol)).

I do suspect there is something wonky going on with the BD-R with mp4's because the specs state the unit can play mp4's. Not on a "data disc"? But it played the mkv on a BD-R, so....

You know what though, it doesn't matter. I have fallen in LOVE with how this baby handles my Blu Rays and UHDs. In fact, Blu Rays look nearly as good as UHDs on this!

So defective or not, I'm keeping it. Was very fortunate to get it as an open-box for a very low price.

I'll also continue to use my Sony UHD Player but now, more for playing all my DVD-R and BD-R "data discs". I have my entire HDTrack hi-rez music collection on DVD-Rs and had stopped buying regular CD's for the most part. And I have BD-R's that hold the complete collection of several TV series downloaded by PlayOn to mp4's.

The Sony can also play DVD-Audio and SACD discs, which I still have a few. And has onboard Bluetooth allowing use of headphones with the (supposedly) superior LDAC protocol. So there are actually a number reasons to keep it around, if I think about.

I think using both UHD players, I'll have all my bases covered.


Thanks again, man.

T
 
@James @Jamie

ADDENDUM:

I feel like such a dunce.

Just realized the attached "Playable media" chart from the UB900 user manual, a chart which I have looked at countless times, is actually explaining what files you can read on what media!

Duh!

Attached below.

Snipping Clipboard 2.JPG

I think that last column enumerates which file types are usable on each media listed.

mp4 is only listed for SD Memory cards and USB devices (too bad I haven't had a USB HD under 3T for YEARS...)

Looks like mp3 on CD-R is ok and I did get that to work.

Same with mkv on BD-R.


Note FLAC files are listed under DVD-R. Maybe it was the 192/24 resolution that threw things off ???

Not really sure because the FLAC entry on this page says it should be ok...

Snipping Clipboard 3.JPG

... but maybe not via DVD-R. I dunno this machine is complicated...


I can't believe I didn't fully fathom what that last column under "Playable media" was explaining all this time.

Think I'm getting dumber with age (lol).


T
 
Last edited:
@James @Jamie

So, I finally got an answer back from Panasonic yesterday.

The engineers confirmed that the UB900 does not support mp4's on BD-R's. But we knew that.


They said the flac files on DVD-R should work provided they conform to the following:

---------------------------------------------------------------------

Basic specification of FLAC file on DVD-R is;



- FLAC file name should be xxx.flac or xxx.FLAC



- files in one folder should be 10000 or less.



- File system of DVD-R should be UDF or ISO9660, write as "Write Once"



not "packet write"(write files/folders more than one time)


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Pretty sure my DVD-R's fit the bill.

For each, I just downloaded an album's worth of flac files from HDTracks and burned them to DVD-R using ImgBurn with "File System: UDF", "Revision: 2.50".

Not familiar with packet write but don't see where ImgBurn is using it.

No folders at all on the disc, only the files.

They want me to send them one of the DVD-R's but have not explained how yet...


As for CD information display, they are asking which titles I have that issue for.

To me that suggests that the UB900 is supposed to show this information. I asked that but guess I will have to wait another few weeks to find out.

I understand not reading CD-Text but I would think they would at least use FreeDB to get disc info online. I'm assuming that is free, no?

As I said, both my other UHD players do this. One of them even displays the CD cover.


Yesterday, I checked the unit's Internet connection status and it says it's fine.

Waiting to hear more from them on this.


T
 
Last edited:
I just downloaded an album's worth of flac files from HDTracks

And by that line you have ended this topic. That is called piracy. Case closed

Sent from my Nexus 7 with Tapatalk
 
And by that line you have ended this topic. That is called piracy. Case closed

Sent from my Nexus 7 with Tapatalk


No, HDTracks is an online store where you pay for high rez albums to download.

Perfectly legal Ch3vron.


I definitely do not do piracy dude!


T
 
Which is why I didn't object to reopening after James said that ;-)

Sent from my Nexus 6P with Tapatalk
 
Which is why I didn't object to reopening after James said that ;-)

Sent from my Nexus 6P with Tapatalk


Since you said "Your the boss" not "Ok, my bad", wasn't sure if you objected or not.

Glad he intervened otherwise I could not have explained the situation if the thread was locked.

Thanks @James . BTW I'm "he" (lol).


Actually, I thought HDTracks was a well-known music store.

The only thing illegal about them is how much they charge for their hi rez albums (lol).

But that's a topic for another day.


T
 
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