Question Pioneer Blu-Ray Drive Models for Best CD read/ripping?

[chane]

I've heard lots of positives about Pioneer BD drives. They might be a bit more expensive but many say they are uncommonly reliable and better than most at reading troubled CDs. Others say they are overrated; ymmv,
I guess.

It probably sounds silly but before I finally have Microcenter build me a custom desktop for speedy 1080p video editing, I’d prefer to use one of these new Pioneer drives in a Dell Dimension 8300; Windows XP SP2. Pentium IV, 3G memory.

No problems using these 2020 Pioneer drives with Windows XP simply for CD ripping?

High Blu-Ray r/w performance is essential, but might anyone recommend one or more of these
current internal models https://www.pioneerelectronics.com/PUSA/Computer/Computer+Drives or
these earlier models https://www.pioneerelectronics.com/PUSA/Computer/ch.Computer+Drives.Archived

for best overall performance, but especially for CD reading/ripping accuracy?

Also, there’s a lot of talk here about firmware updates. For whatever reason, does Pioneer tend to issue firmware updates more often than most other optical drive brands? If yes, why would this most likely be?

 

[Fallen Kell]

A lot of the firmware updates are for supporting blu-ray movie playback.

That said, I would go read up on MakeMKV. Do a google search on "makemkv ultimate uhd" and do some reading.

 

[mnewsham]

Pretty sure the oldest Pioneer drive sold new only supports back to Windows 7

Nothing sold new today would officially support windows XP (nor should a company bother supporting windows XP in 2021)

Now, that doesn't mean it won't work at all, but I wouldn't 100% expect it to work either.

 

[Insert_Nickname]

Pretty sure the oldest Pioneer drive sold new only supports back to Windows 7

The drive itself doesn't care what OS you're using. So long as the OS supports IDE*, which most x86 ones do. There might be a BIOS switch to toggle between IDE and AHCI mode, but that has nothing to do with the OS.

Software support is a different matter of course, but you should, theoretically at least, be able to do even blu-ray burning on XP. Not that most XP-era machines would be fast enough...

* A really good way to kill drives was to stick them in PIO-mode for a while. Just wait as required.

 

[mnewsham]

The drive itself doesn't care what OS you're using. So long as the OS supports IDE*, which most x86 ones do. There might be a BIOS switch to toggle between IDE and AHCI mode, but that has nothing to do with the OS.

Software support is a different matter of course, but you should, theoretically at least, be able to do even blu-ray burning on XP. Not that most XP-era machines would be fast enough...

* A really good way to kill drives was to stick them in PIO-mode for a while. Just wait as required.

Oh sure, i agree theoretically there shouldn't be any issues.

But pioneer isn't going to do a thing about it if something with the firmware causes a conflict in windows XP or something, because realistically, there is little to no reason for anyone to be running windows XP at this point.

 

[Insert_Nickname]

But pioneer isn't going to do a thing about it if something with the firmware causes a conflict in windows XP or something, because realistically, there is little to no reason for anyone to be running windows XP at this point.

The point is that any firmware bug will effect whichever OS you're using equally. Windows, Linux, BSD etc.

But I digress.

 

[chane]

The point is that any firmware bug will effect whichever OS you're using equally. Windows, Linux, BSD etc.

But I digress.

Oh sure, i agree theoretically there shouldn't be any issues.

But pioneer isn't going to do a thing about it if something with the firmware causes a conflict in windows XP or something, because realistically, there is little to no reason for anyone to be running windows XP at this point.

Actually, I never had any thought of attempting anything with BD media on an XP pc. I only thought of buying a well rated BD drive model to later install in a late model Windows 10 desktop when I dispose of the XP pc.

My only goal is getting any BD, DVD or CD drive with excellent CD read/ripping-and error correction, though the vast majority of CD tracks ripped on the Panasonic SW-5584 BD drive and always using EAC almost never reported less than a ~98% perfect read error score. That Panasonic drive still works great but I can’t find a new one like it for sale to replace the dead Sony BWU-2005S drive in my other Windows XP SP2 desktop.

Money’s not really the problem but I’m just not looking to trash my XP desktops yet, and I’d rather rip CD tracks on them than on my laptop with an external drive.

As shown here all of these Pioneer drives apparently support Windows XP SP3.

https://www.pioneerelectronics.com/PUSA/Computer/Computer+Drives/BDR-209DBK#ReadSupport

https://www.pioneerelectronics.com/PUSA/Computer/Computer+Drives/BDR-206MBK

https://www.pioneerelectronics.com/PUSA/Computer/Computer+Drives/BDR-208DBK

https://www.pioneerelectronics.com/PUSA/Computer/Computer+Drives/BDR-207MBK

https://www.pioneerelectronics.com/PUSA/Computer/Computer+Drives/BDR-2209#specs

https://www.pioneerelectronics.com/PUSA/Computer/Computer+Drives/BDR-2208#specs

https://www.pioneerelectronics.com/PUSA/Computer/Computer+Drives/BDR-2207#specs

https://www.pioneerelectronics.com/PUSA/Computer/Computer+Drives/BDR-2206

But I only have SP2 and the SP3 download has been discontinued.
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us...e-pack-3-64ae69fa-1232-3060-8301-5f79aea94b5f

New Egg verified owner reviews of this particular Pioneer drive report no problems even with Win XP or XP MCE. “..no complaints! Just make sure you are not using XP with blu-ray... I found that out the hard way!” Of course, I would hardly be doing that anyway. https://www.newegg.com/pioneer-bdr-203bks-internal-blu-ray-burner/p/N82E16827129037

But what problems may occur without SP3 with any of the above Pioneer drives?

I will email Pioneer support about this but would appreciate your feedback and any related experiences.

 

[Insert_Nickname]

My only goal is getting any BD, DVD or CD drive with excellent CD read/ripping-and error correction, though the vast majority of CD tracks ripped on the Panasonic SW-5584 BD drive and always using EAC almost never reported less than a ~98% perfect read error score. That Panasonic drive still works great but I can’t find a new one like it for sale to replace the dead Sony BWU-2005S drive in my other Windows XP SP2 desktop.

5.25" blu-ray drives are commodity now. I honestly don't think there is much difference between models anymore, beyond regional packaging.

I have a BDR-209EBK, BDR-208EBK and a BDR-X04T in use. In use, there isn't any difference. But then, I haven't done really serious CD-ripping on them. The last I've used for that purpose was a DVR-219LBK(?), but that was like 10+ years ago.

New Egg verified owner reviews of this particular Pioneer drive report no problems even with Win XP or XP MCE. “..no complaints! Just make sure you are not using XP with blu-ray... I found that out the hard way!” Of course, I would hardly be doing that anyway.

I think the customer is referring to (commercial) blu-ray playback. Something XP is unable to do at all, since it lacks support for the required DRM.

 

[mikeford]

If you are planning to rip, look at the forums supporting the ripping software. For playback use a stand alone player and avoid the headaches and cost.