Sony UBP-X800-thoughts and questions

Matthew J Poes · Oct 23, 2017

i bought a Sony UBP-X800 after my PS3 failed a few months back. I know this is silly given everyone’s love of Oppo, I was a very early adopter of theirs, and a number of my devices failed after a few years. I was also being cheap and got a very good price on the Sony.

Anyway overall it’s been good. It’s iphone app lacking in features but works as a remote well enough. As a streamer and player it’s great. No issues so far. I had some some stability issues at first but a firmware update quickly fixes that. It has no analogue outs so as far as sound quality it’s digitally perfect. The video is equally perfect from what I can tell. Again not much to say.

Matthew J Poes · Oct 23, 2017

Ok so now questions!

I find much more diversity in the quality of amazon prime videos. I use this to watch Vudu, Netflix, and Amazon Prime. Vudu always seems perfect, Netflix is mostly good, but some of Amazon transfers are terrible. Is it amazon or the Sony player? The most common artifact is a very raised black level, and I’ve noticed he Sony does this often. The black level is correct during blue rays, but then black screens while it loads or closes an app end up being a dark grey. Some amazon movies have this black level throughout. I’ve tried playing with settings but not found a solution as of yet.

If anyone who knows more about video than I has suggestions I’m all ears.

Michael Scott · Oct 24, 2017

This is actually the player I'm looking at to upgrade from my Samsung 8500... I've played with it a little and find it to be a capable device with only one problem. No dolby vision being added to it.

Matthew J Poes · Oct 24, 2017

Michael Scott said:
This is actually the player I'm looking at to upgrade from my Samsung 8500... I've played with it a little and find it to be a capable device with only one problem. No dolby vision being added to it.

I’ve found it to be solid for the money. The app used to be feature rich but the story I heard was that a contract dispute lead to the app losing all those features. As such it’s a strange looking app, but once you understand it, it works well. You have to select remote and then have full remote access including direct app access.

Michael Scott · Oct 24, 2017

It's probably the best value on the market right now (IMO) and would be ranked higher if it supported DV....

Matthew J Poes · Oct 24, 2017

Michael Scott said:
It's probably the best value on the market right now (IMO) and would be ranked higher if it supported DV....

I agree. It may support it in the future. I think DV is superior to its alternatives but it’s not supported widely and I’m unaware of any source material at the moment. I know that will change but of course so can support for DV. For now I think it’s a minor loss.

While I’ve connected it to a 4K UHD tv, all I can confirm is that it plays UHD discs and they looked great. I use it in my theater with a 1080p projector.

Michael Scott · Oct 24, 2017

MjPoes12 said:
I agree. It may support it in the future. I think DV is superior to its alternatives but it’s not supported widely and I’m unaware of any source material at the moment. I know that will change but of course so can support for DV. For now I think it’s a minor loss.

While I’ve connected it to a 4K UHD tv, all I can confirm is that it plays UHD discs and they looked great. I use it in my theater with a 1080p projector.

Sony came out and sadly said they weren't going to add support of DV in this one, but rather leave it for the next player in their lineup. Which is sad as I was hoping for the upgrade. It's not a big deal, as the DV vs. HDR comparisons I've done show only slight differences. But it would be nice.

Sonnie · Oct 25, 2017

I have been looking at this player as well. Seems to be pretty popular and very reasonably priced.

Michael Scott · Oct 25, 2017

yeah, costco has it for $239 which isn't bad. I bet black friday brings it to $199

Todd Anderson · Oct 26, 2017

MjPoes12 said:
Ok so now questions!

I find much more diversity in the quality of amazon prime videos. I use this to watch Vudu, Netflix, and Amazon Prime. Vudu always seems perfect, Netflix is mostly good, but some of Amazon transfers are terrible. Is it amazon or the Sony player? The most common artifact is a very raised black level, and I’ve noticed he Sony does this often. The black level is correct during blue rays, but then black screens while it loads or closes an app end up being a dark grey. Some amazon movies have this black level throughout. I’ve tried playing with settings but not found a solution as of yet.

If anyone who knows more about video than I has suggestions I’m all ears.

Go in your settings... I believe this is the player that has that semi-unusual output setting for “TV or Projector”. Make sure it’s set to The correct setting.

Matthew J Poes · Oct 26, 2017

Todd Anderson said:
Go in your settings... I believe this is the player that has that semi-unusual output setting for “TV or Projector”. Make sure it’s set to The correct setting.

Thank you Todd. I will go in and look for that setting. I watched an entire amazon movie in a haze last night because of this problem.

leecreek · Oct 26, 2017

About 8 months ago I picked up a Sony el chepo at Wally World. BDPS3700. It plays blurays, dvd's and cd's fine. It just will not browse my wired network to my music server without being let loose on the internet. My 2 other Samsung players have no problem. My Yamaha receiver has no problems when the internet access is cut off. Wonder why Sony feels the need to collect information from my setup?

Matthew J Poes · Oct 26, 2017

leecreek said:
About 8 months ago I picked up a Sony el chepo at Wally World. BDPS3700. It plays blurays, dvd's and cd's fine. It just will not browse my wired network to my music server without being let loose on the internet. My 2 other Samsung players have no problem. My Yamaha receiver has no problems when the internet access is cut off. Wonder why Sony feels the need to collect information from my setup?

I’ve never tried such an arrangement so can’t really comment. If it helps I could try testing that to see if this model is different. I don’t imagine the software is identical between the two as the UBP-x800 has a lot more features but that sounds like a conscious choice.

Michael Scott · Nov 30, 2017

I picked mine up this black friday to replace my aging Samsung 8500.... so far I'm REALLY impressed with it. very snappy response. Quality of build is excellent, and so far no more annoying handshake issues (unlike my Sammy). I had to make a decision that I couldn't do Dolby Vision (Sony announced that there would be no DV update for the X800) but it was either that or spend 3x the money for the Oppo which has enough problems of its own.

Matthew J Poes · Nov 30, 2017

Yeah I think it's great and great to hear you like it so far. With the amount of movies you watch you will be giving it more of a workout than I have.

Checkout the app. It's ugly and poorly designed but...as a remote it's very functional and makes direct access for its apps easier.

If you cab do DVDA or SACD give that a shot too. It works well. Much faster than most I've used and sounds perfect

Michael Scott · Nov 30, 2017

haha, yeah, I'll give it a workout for sure...

and you're right. the apps are a bit ugly and annoying, but they work decently enough for what they are. So far I'm very happy with build quality and functionality for the price I paid ($149)

Matthew J Poes · Nov 30, 2017

Michael Scott said:
haha, yeah, I'll give it a workout for sure...

and you're right. the apps are a bit ugly and annoying, but they work decently enough for what they are. So far I'm very happy with build quality and functionality for the price I paid ($149)

Wow it's a steal for that. I think I paid maybe $225 for mine.

Michael Scott · Nov 30, 2017

yeah, I expected it to hit $199.99 for Black friday, and when it hit $149.99 I didn't even hesitate and hit the order button. It was the best value per dollar player out there at that price range

I've been looking to replace my Sammy first gen player for a while now and this was the perfect excuse.

Sonnie · Nov 30, 2017

The only real thing hold me back from it is lack of a USB input for my music.

Matthew J Poes · Dec 1, 2017

Hmm I didn't even realize it didn't have a USB input. It does have network streaming so you could just attach the music through a NAS. That is what I do. It's not the best for this I will admit, but then few devices I've used really are. All the products with an interface I like are out of my price range. I really like the Aurliac system in the modestly priced class. Roon is probably the best thing I've ever used, but once you price out the monthly service and needed hardware, TIdal, etc. the cost is more than I can handle right now.

Michael Scott · Dec 1, 2017

lol, I didn't even realize it didn't have a USB input when I grabbed it. wow, I assumed that was standard

Todd Anderson · Dec 1, 2017

I'm guessing your AVR probably has USB tho... probably better tech, too ;-)

mechman · Dec 3, 2017

Is the issue with Amazon video resolved? Just wondering as I was looking at this for the theater room.

Hlam · Dec 25, 2017

Got one today. A Christmas present from my wife.
I will be using it for music playback. It sounds great with my SACD and DVD-A discs.
It does have a USB. Located behind a panel under the power button.
Merry Christmas everyone.

Michael Scott · Dec 25, 2017

mechman said:
Is the issue with Amazon video resolved? Just wondering as I was looking at this for the theater room.

I don't have any problem with Amazon video on it. What was the issue?

Sony UBP-X800-thoughts and questions

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