SACD Ripping using an Oppo or Pioneer? Yes, it's true!

[emthered]

Just thought I'd share an exciting discovery here. Apologies in advance for the length of this post but I feel that this is very important and relevant to this thread. I was one of those unlucky ones who had a Pioneer BDP-80FD that would not read SACDs. The display would read "CD" when SACDs where inserted and therefore sacd_extract would not work properly. I've always been a tinkerer and decided I wouldn't give up. After some extensive research I discovered that the BDP-160, BDP-170 and BDP-80FD are all essentially the same unit. The BDP-160 is marketed in Europe, U.K., Taiwan, Asean, Oceana, Russia and China. The BDP-170 is marketed in Russia and Oceana and the BDP-80FD in North America. 

 

I deduced the most likely problem with detecting the SACD must be in the laser/loading unit (Pioneer refers to this as the "Loader Assembly"). I was able to source a replacement part from a Chinese supplier on Ebay by searching for "BDP-160 laser". Sure enough I found a new one for $23 USD shipped. I figured $23 was a worthy gamble. I received the part about three weeks later.

 

Replacing the part is fairly easy. While the unit is powered on, open the tray and remove the tray's faceplate by pushing it upwards and away from tray and set it aside. Close the tray. Turn off and unplug the unit. Remove the six screws that hold the case lid and remove it and set it aside. Remove 2 ribbon cables and 1 molex connector from the main board. These three connections are attached to the Loader Assembly. Remove the Loader Assembly by removing the 4 silver screws that hold it to the chassis. There is a black plastic disc cover piece that is attached by clips to the top of the assembly - carefully remove it by unclipping and lifting upward. Once the Loader Assembly is removed pull the tray open by pressing sideways on the white plastic bar underneath the unit. This motion will retract the laser assembly and allow you to slide the tray to the outward position exposing the 4 screws you'll need to remove to extract the laser carriage. Before you remove the laser carriage undo the 2 ribbon cables. Once the ribbon cables are removed you can unscrew the laser carriage from the Loader Assembly. Remove the 4 rubber damping grommets from the old laser and put them on the new one and screw the new laser carriage into the Loader Assembly. Carefully re-attach the 2 ribbon cables. 

 

Now here's the most important step. This will not work if you don't do this! There is a special barcode on a sticker placed on the bottom of the laser carriage. This barcode must be scanned in order to decipher a special 64-digit code. The barcode is in "Data Matrix" format so you'll need to download a barcode scanning app on your phone that will read "Data Matrix" barcodes. There are many free apps available for Android and iOS that can do this. Once you scan the code your scanning app should show a 64-digit alpha-numeric code. CAREFULLY write this code down and set it aside. Apparently this barcode is used by the main board for properly aligning and calibrating the laser.

 

At this point you can re-assemble everything in reverse order. Be careful when replacing the ribbon cables to the main board as any misalignment may cause problems.

 

On your computer create a .TXT file (I used notepad on a PC) and carefully type in your 64-digit code. Any typing errors will result in this not working so take your time! Save the file on the root of a USB drive as "2D_barcode_data.txt". Place the USB drive in the USB slot of the re-assembled BDP-80FD and power on. Also make sure the unit is attached to a monitor. Upon boot-up use the remote to navigate to "Initial Setup" and press "enter" on the remote. Now press the following numbers on the remote to get into the service mode screen - "5 1 7 7". The monitor screen will change to a service mode menu. Select "[6]Repair Service" then select "Write 2D barcode from USB memory" and press the enter button on the remote. With any luck the message "OK" will appear on the screen. Quit the service mode by pressing the "stop" button on the remote. Note that you can also enter the barcode using the remote alone but it's a lot more cumbersome. 

 

PROBLEM FIXED! I can't describe how excited I was when I inserted a SACD and the unit's readout showed "SACD". Sacd_extract now works flawlessly every time. Disclaimer - at the time of this writing I can only find one supplier of this part and this particular supplier has only one unit left. Your results may vary. The official part number is KEM-480AAA. Best of luck!

[emthered]

The BDP-80FD is good. However, be aware that if you buy used this unit is known to have lasers go bad after a certain period of time. This happened to me. I got mine used from Ebay. It would read everything but SACD. I had to find a part replacement for the laser carriage (from China) and managed to successfully bring my unit back to life. I described the process in detail in an earlier post on this thread (page 99 by emthered).

[emthered]

When you put the disc in, does the BDP-80FD front screen read "SACD" or "CD"? If you bought your BDP-80FD used it might have a bad laser. If the laser is bad the front screen will read "CD" when an SACD disc is inserted.

 

I was getting this libsacdread error until I replaced the Laser Carriage.