Official Sony BD Mega-Changer Thread: BDP-CX7000ES & BDP-CX960 - Page 102

Oh in the post before with Low Profile. Make sure the shelf that you have it on is level. If you have it a surface that is not level, then that would cause premature failure. Although, I load my disks in sequential manner and never had a problem.

There is people that rent out the Nimbie's (CD/DVD/BD robot ripper). I own the CD/DVD version, but that is option too. There is a guy over on the Control4 public forums that was renting them out, but it is the people that buy his server.

^^ Thanks for the advice and information. The shelf is level and the load is balanced. Played several music blurays, CD's plus a movie last night and the 7000ES is working perfectly. Sony appears to have a fix for the load and disk scratch issues.

If you have Sony Mega-Changer with load problems, I suggest you send it in.
Edited by RMK! - 6/25/12 at 6:59am

Oh joy. I found a bizarre problem with my CX7000 today.

I was playing the blu ray 'Limitless' last night and the audio dropped out momentarily. I went and swapped out the disc today and sure enough the same problem occurs.

But only with the analog audio outputs.

When watching 'casually' using the HDMI connection to the TV, the audio is fine. But audio from the analog outputs drops out. It's very odd, and I'm chatting online with a Sony live help rep now...

More Joy from Sony.

Well I am pissed. Sony Canada absolutely refuses to fix my 7000es. They say they have no replacements and they can't get the parts and they won't give me back the old one either. They offered to send me a gift card instead. Isn't that lovely. After much bitching they agreed to refund me instead, but wanted to subtract %20 off for depreciation. After much more bitching the agreed to send me a cheque for the purchase price plus tax. That of course leaves me with no bluray multichanger to fill the custom faceplate on my AV rack. I have been looking a round and it looks like there are a few CX960's still available.

So what's the difference between the CX960 and 7000es? Are the cases the same size?

Scott Greig

The main differences between the 7000es and the 960 are the lack of 7channel analog outputs and no RS232 on the 960. Therefore you can only get dolby true through the HDMI output. This is a real bummer if you have an older preamp or receiver without HDMI inputs. Also since there is no RS232, forget about any external software solutions for the poor Sony interface. As for size, I think both units are the same.

fsmith72345503

Thanks.

^^
According to the Sony literature, the 7000ES is 20mm deeper than the 960, but the height and with width are the same, so the 960 should be compatible with your existing shelf and faceplate.

Thanks Brent. Hopefully it won't have the dreaded invalid disk error. ... again.

There is a few 7000ES on Ebay right now. Another option is to build a server setup. There is several options on servers or NAS. The 960 has been reported as having the invalid disc. I don't have this with my Control4 or others with the 3rd party options.

Is the problem the invalid disc issue that appeared to be solved recently or something else?

Well, sounds like Sony is out parts for the 7000ES, but might be only apply to Sony Canada models.

I cannot ping the 7000ES. I set it to a static IP and it successfully did a software update so I know I have a good network connection. My laptop is on the same LAN. I can ping everything else on the network except for the 7000ES. So can anyone tell me if the 7000ES should respond to the "ping" command?

BTW, I contacted Sony support via online chat and the support person was worthless.

you did:

menu: set serial or network control?

But that would mean they are out for all Sony models using the optical part I posted and that would be doubtful IMO.

you cannot ping it direct...

OK. Is there anyway to communicate to it to check it's status via IP?

Well, I know that I can't get a power supply for my Sony DVP-777ES Dvd Changer, because they don't have that part. All manufacturers only keep a limited supply of replacement parts, but Sony seems to be replacing every item they sell.

I have had my issues with Sony and other CE companies over the years but they certainly stepped up on my recent BDP-CX7000ES repair. The unit has been working flawlessly since I received it back last weekend. The US division appears to have both the parts and the know how to fix the load issue with the 7000ES.

When it works, the BDP-CX7000ES has been one of the easiest to use and best investments I have made in my HT.

That was my thinking Kevin, it seems very unlikely they had the part last week and now are suddenly out of the part. RMK got the last one in the world?

You would think it would be worth a try to explain to the technician how to fix this error with the part from the other BD player as You and RMK did instead of buying a new machine with the refund? But maybe it was an unrelated problem and not the invalid disc error.

In which case I would go with the 7000es as many of the problems described in this thread are curable with a third party application, other than the invalid disc problem that apparently requires the hardware fix you discovered.

Hi All,
Ive gone through some of the posts on this thread and they've been very informative and thanks to all who made them, but did sony really cancel this product cos of cloud hosting alternatives, this cant surely be the real reason ???
I'm looking to buy one of these machines second hand and have a wanted add up, I think sony made a serious mistake cancelling this machine given that peoples bluray collections are only increasing !!.

Sony Canada is apparently handling this very differently than Sony USA. The USA repair center is in Laredo Texas and as Noah indicated, specific instructions about the problem and the fix should be included with the required paperwork. It might be that parts are not available in Canada but are still availalbe here. In that scenario, Canadians are out of luck on this one and the refund is probably the best option.

Of course, you can always make me an offer for mine... I've seen some ebay prices around $2K and that might just geterdone ...

My Sony DVP-777ES is a Sony Canada model, and only came with a 3 year warranty instead of 5 years. Although, I did buy it in the USA from online mail order store. Eventually, all supplies of parts will be gone, and you will have to look for a new way for your movies. If you want a Sony 7000ES now you can do the Ebay option or pay a lot for a new one from Amazon.com $3400 to 3499 new price.

I think the reason they had to stop production was the changer did not meet the Analog Sunset law so they couldn't sell it.

http://www.osnews.com/story/22897/2010_Analog_Sunset_the_End_of_Component_Video

Now the reason they have not announced a new changer to replace is the source of speculation. With Kaleidescape's recent legal reversal the changer is more viable today as a solution than ever. The simple act of burning a DVD is deemed illegal by the industry even when the DVD is still required to play the movie and the courts have now sided with the industry.

It's too bad for Sony, they are laying off a lot of folks and there are rumors they could stop making TVs. This is an opportunity for them to differentiate themselves in the market place instead of competing in the crowded space they are in. Lets hope at some point their leadership will discover this.

well, I can get it at www.220-electronics.com for that, and the ones on ebay are cheaper then that and can be converted to area free by jvbdigital, but dont want to hassle.
I was hoping someone in Europe might want a quick sell given the state of the economy.
and as for amazon, you'd want to be off your rocker to pay 3.5k for one.
especially given that from my part of the world, once it breaks down, its going in the bin.

@NoahWinter, thanks for that interesting reply, I've heards others say that the sony of old is gone, its certainly looks that way reading your post. As for their TV's, thinking about it, I havent bought a sony TV since the 1990's when they had a clear definitive lead over their competition with their flat trinitron screens, and nowadays, all TV's are flat. That TV was a 25" crt, I gave it away to a friend years ago and to its credit, it still works perfectly.

My current TV is a 60" LG, I have to say I wouldnt look twice at a sony tv these days in a shop. Not to disparage any sony tv owners out there, but where I live in Europe, they seem to be far more expensive then anyone else with no real advantages. The likes of samsung and LG seem to be everywhere.
Edited by davelillis - 7/2/12 at 4:53am

I was just kidding and thought that price was so absurd that people would know I was kidding. Apparently, there are those who are trying to exploit and profit from the limited supply of these unique products. I will be holding onto mine and only replacing it when I am comfortable that I can have a HTPC solution that will meet all my requirements.

Nope! That could be an easy change, but I think it is more of the new optical format that is going to come out. Although, not for other 3 years according to NHK open house in May of 2012.
Realize that UHDTV (4K) is coming soon. So with each new TV format, we need a new optical solution. Although, you DVD collection wasn't obsolete. You changed to the new Blu-ray format with 1080P TV, so you will change again with UHDTV (4K).

What killed Kaledescape (15K) was it was all packaged in one solution. Yes, it is illegal. Although, having an HTPC server is not illegal. Oh, it is much cheaper to build your own HTPC. I built 3 so far, but last one was a server. Build your own, it is far cheaper than having one built for you. I recommend using the new thunderbolt motherboards (Asus & Gigabyte), because Areca & Sans Digital just developed a nice little solution on a 8 drive setup. The advantage of using the Thunderbolt motherboard, is that you can place that storage drive hidden from view. There is some new optical thunderbolt cables coming out. Length is up to 30 meters. Oh, you can daisy chain these drives too. Need a software to run the HTPC server, then I recommend J River. Why? You need both audio and video. If you have a control4 setup, then a few of us are developing a solution with J river and Control4. Well, this way we can control the changers.

Well, Sony is making Oled now, but Sony might be laying off people to change their production line. GM used to do that all the time. I did read an article about the Oled TV's, but companies can't make any money on low cost HDTV's. So that is why for 4k UHDTV.

I did buy one Sony 7000ES changer from one of the companies off Amazon in December for only $700 us. I missed the Black friday deal, when it was $550. Anyway, you can build an HTPC far cheaper, and make them region free. Depends on how much storage you need. Just with some software. I tested a UK disc tonight, basically, you remove the region codes and reburn the disc. It won't play in the Sony 7000ES changers(My changers never been modified) , but it will play in an HTPC bluray drive or off your server.

Nitro67,

I use a HTPC in conjunction with the 7000es and it does work smooth. What do you believe the cost is of storing a complete BD on a hard drive? In other words the cost of having as much as 50GB with appropriate backup?

I have just purchased the JRiver to play HD audio. I found the IPAD control ok. There appears to be a lot of flexibility to the software. Since the changer does not play Flac files, this appears to be another advantage of such integration, however I have not found anything that sounds as good as music from a BD playing in 5.1 from the changer.

Thanks,

Well, depends on how many BD's that you want to store. There is another forum that I am located on, and the owner of the forum has 4 rackmount servers with 24 drives per server. He has been building this system since 2008. Around 100 TB of BD's, but he had smaller drives in the past. So now you have access to 3TB drives, well, there is a 4TB hard drive. So to equal one changer, would take approximately 8 drives based on 3TB. (20 TB is one changer) Although, there is lot of BD's that are in 25GB range. Use this website to tell what movies is 25GB or 50GB. [URL=http://]www.blu-raystats.com[/URL] You can use either a hardware raid solution or Thunderbolt. Go to newegg.com or Amazon.com (depends on your hard drive size, but it looks about .13 cents for a gigabyte based 4TB hard drive or .12 cents for 3TB hard drive with enterprise drives)
Drive brands that I recommend are going to be Hitachi or Seagate. (Typically, I don't buy the cheapest drive, but I buy Enterprise drives. I have a Areca Hardware raid 6 card, so I have the choice of using SAS or SATA drives.) Well, going with a Hardware raid solution, the manufacturer lists the drive models that you need to use with the hardware raid card. I still look at the price per gigabyte, but Enterprise drives are usually have a warranty of 5 years. (Oh, I have learned from the past on losing data, so that is the reason) I still keep an optical backup of the (CD, DVD, BD) I have this little cd/dvd robot called Nimbie, so it might take a few weeks, but if I lose the array. Then I still have a backup solution. Cost for magnetic tape solution is to high. (5K)
SACD ISO sounds great, there is a thread describing this on J River. (Need the expensive cables for SACD). I never done it, but I heard that you can take bluray concert video and remove the audio part of it. There is a link on how to do it on the web, but I have to look for it later. Car audio would be a good application, if you had a TrueHD decoder in the car. Most home receivers receivers will play flac, but again you are limited to 96Khz depends on the receiver.

J river allows you several different options for audio, but I have some Flac, but my collection is original CD. So it was ripped to wav, dts, or DVD audio. The Nimbie did that for me, so it is rather nice to have.
There is 2 different Ipad app's for J River. I prefer Jremote, but there is another one called Myriver. (Both can stream from a DLNA server). J remote seems to be rather fast. There is an access key to setup the connection to your server or you can do the IP adress. The access key is located in the Help menu, I believe. Also, download the latest version of J River in the forums. J river updates quite frequently, sometimes a few times a week. Your audio depends on your sound card or your DAC. If your receiver or amp has XLR connectors, then you have more options. My Denon 5308 receiver has RCA connectors, so I went with HT Omega Claro Plus card for multiple channel. It has PCI interface. Simiar to the Asus Xonar Essence with the H6 option. You can still buy the Asus Xonar, but not the H6 option. If you have a motherboard with PCI-E, then there is a few options. High-End sound card. Lynx Studio has one multiple channel option, and several stereo options. DAC there is several options, but the forums discusses several solutions. Also, J River has different settings in J River, but depends on your audio setup. I went to Bluejeans for cables, but my server sits in the basement. So, I had to order these special order cables.

Oh, I am under a different nickname on J River, but it is similar to this one. Anyway, as far as support with their product, it is the best that I seen.

That is good to know. So 13 cents per GB and at 50 GB that is $6.50 a BD. That is not so bad. So $2,600 to replace a changer which is why I think the changer makes a lot of sense for BD, not as much sense for DVD which is how I built my system.

Thanks for the very useful information.