MP 1,1-5,1 cMP: Silent optical drive upgrade (Blu-ray?)

[BadGoldEagle]

Hi all,

I have a HomePod which I mainly use as a hifi, streaming content from my iPhone or my Macs. Works great (albeit with a small but totally tolerable delay), but I can't play CDs with it.

The original 2010 LG Superdrive from my Mac Pro is just too loud to play CDs comfortably without using headphones.
I'd like to add a second one (preferably Blu-Ray because the mechanisms are probably more modern...). Can you recommend me one that's really silent? That's my main concern.

Or alternatively, is there a way to slow down the read speed of the old LG unit to 1x when playing pressed CDs/DVDs?

Thanks!

 

[Snow Tiger]

Hi all,

I have a HomePod which I mainly use as a hifi, streaming content from my iPhone or my Macs. Works great (albeit with a small but totally tolerable delay), but I can't play CDs with it.

The original 2010 LG Superdrive from my Mac Pro is just too loud to play CDs comfortably without using headphones.
I'd like to add a second one (preferably Blu-Ray because the mechanisms are probably more modern...). Can you recommend me one that's really silent? That's my main concern.

Or alternatively, is there a way to slow down the read speed of the old LG unit to 1x when playing pressed CDs/DVDs?

Thanks!

5.25" SATA LG WH14NS40 Blu-ray player and burner .

Just remove the faceplate before installation in your cMP .

LG Electronics WH14NS40 14X Blu-ray/DVD/CD Multi compatible Internal SATA Rewriter Drive, BDXL, M-DISC Support, Black

LG Electronics WH14NS40 14X SATA Blu-ray Internal Rewriter , (Black) compatible support for Windows 10

www.amazon.com

There's also a side benefit of being able to burn Blu-ray Verbatim M-discs for archival storage .

Verbatim M DISC BD-R 25GB 4X with Branded Surface Blank Blu-Ray Recordable Media – 25pk Spindle,Blue

Verbatim M DISC optical media is the new standard for digital archival storage. Unlike traditional optical media, which utilize dyes that can break down over time, data stored on an M DISC is engraved on a patented inorganic write layer – it will not fade or deteriorate. This unique engraving pro...

www.amazon.com

fully supported by macOS .

 

[BadGoldEagle]

Thanks for your reply.
Is it silent though? That's the main criteria.

 

[Snow Tiger]

Thanks for your reply.
Is it silent though? That's the main criteria.

I can't recall any unusually loud noises and I build Systems for music editors with those drives installed . Audio guys are pretty sensitive to noise and I have to keep that in mind .

 

[Macsonic]

Thanks for your reply.
Is it silent though? That's the main criteria.

I’ve used 3 brands of Blu-Ray 5.25 drives, the Pioneer BDR-2209UBK, Asus BW-16D1HT and LGWH16NS40. All of them provided quiet operations. Used them to watch Blu-Ray movies, burn blu-ray or DVDs. A newer Pioneer model, BDR-2212 just came out replacing the BDR-2209

Car Audio, Speakers, Subs & Amps | Pioneer Electronics USA

Pioneer Electronics car audio and home theater entertainment products including in-car GPS navigation, Android Auto Enabled Receivers, Apple Car Play enabled Receivers, Pioneer and Elite Receivers, headphones, iphone car stereo, car stereos, bluetooth car stereo, car radio, speakers and...

www.pioneerelectronics.com

ASUS BW-16D1HT - ultra-fast 16X Blu-ray burner with M-DISC support, black

The product is multiple voltage compatible, that voltage arrange is 100-220V

www.amazon.com

 

[crjackson2134]

I've had the LG WH14NS40 for about 4 years. It has worked great and pretty silently too. Unfortunately about 6 months ago it lost it's ability to read BD (even commercial media).

I rarely use optical media anymore, but I'm considering Pioneer as a replacement.

 

[BadGoldEagle]

Thank you all for your suggestions and sorry for the lack of answer on my part. Life got in the way of things and I had to take care of another problem.

I forgot to mention that I live in Europe... so some of the models would cost over 150€ to import. My budget is in the 60-80€ range and all I could find on Amazon was a couple of Asus drives and an LG.

One of the Asus drives turned out to be the BW-16D1HT @Macsonic mentioned. I was worried it might be too loud but your post confirmed otherwise. Thanks! That's the one I'm gonna get.

Big thanks to you all once again for your help!