Hong Kong-based Magnetar has put to bed any fears about the imminent death of Blu-ray media, announcing not one, but two new and very expensive 4K Blu-ray players at the CEDIA Expo 2025 in Denver this week.
The new media players include the Magnetar UDP900MKII and UDP800MKII, and they’re collectively referred to as the MKII series, replacing its earlier UDP900 and UDP800 models, which will be discontinued.
Magnetar’s UDP900 and UDP800 launched in April 2023, and ever since then they have generally been considered among the best 4K Blu-ray media players that money can buy, not to mention some of the most modern.
With the UDP900MKII and UDP800MKII, Magnetar is offering some professional-grade features, including SACD playback, support for Dolby Vision and HDR10+, and also Dolby Atmos and DTS:X surround sound.
Magnetar’s older players were known for their fantastic audio performance, and the MKII series builds on that, with the UDP900MKII featuring a pair of twin ESS 9038 Pro DACs and a dedicated HDMI eARC port for audio input, as well as XMOS USB playback. It supports up to 768Khz PCM and 512 DSD for high-resolution sound.
As for the Magnetar UDP800MKII, it comes with seven OPA1602 op-amps, which help to reduce noise and HDMI jitter, the company explained. There’s also enhanced EMI shielding, and a redesigned chassis that helps to ensure more performance stability, with quieter disc reading.
There are redesigned USB 3.0 ports on both of the new players to ensure enhanced connectivity, and they’re both described as “Roon Ready”, which means they feature Roon's streaming technology built into them, allowing for high-quality audio playback.
The downside is that, just as with the original UDP900 and UDP800 players, the Magnetar UDP900MKII and UDP800MKII are extremely pricey. The company is asking for $3,299 (around £2,440) for the former and $1,799 (£1,330) for the latter, with imminent availability in the U.S., followed by other markets later. It didn’t say when.
Magnetar’s decision to refresh its 4K Blu-ray media player lineup is a great sign for Blu-ray media aficionados, who have become increasingly worried about the prospects that physical discs may one day become all but impossible to buy due to the rise of video streaming platforms.
While many companies have stopped making 4K Blu-ray players and many stores have stopped selling the physical discs, there are signs that this trend might be reversed. Earlier this year for example, Sony announced a new version of its UBP-X700 4K Blu-ray player, called the UBP-X700K.
On the other hand, some brands have departed from the Blu-ray player market. LG quit recently, and its exit was followed by Pioneer and then the French company Reavon just recently, leaving Magnetar, Sony and Panasonic as the three main producers of Blu-ray players that are still in the business. Games consoles like the PlayStation 5 and the Xbox Series X can also be used to play Blu-ray media.
Magnetar’s UDP900MKII and UDP800MKII clearly represent the higher-end segment of the Blu-ray player market, while Sony’s and Panasonic’s models are a lot more affordable, though they don’t have the same number of premium bells and whistles.
