Mitsubishi Kagaku Media (MKM) 50GB VAMKM-IMf

[blackice]

Mitsubishi Kagaku Media (MKM) 50GB Archive Discs (Jiima certified)

MID: VAMKM-IMf
Product code: MKM ASBS25RDJP
burned @2x (without defect management) PR1MC, scan @4x

[Stingray]

Excellent scans, it's a pity I haven't seen such discs for sale in Japan.
could you please advice where to find them

[blackice]

These discs are industry grade discs, so you won't probably find them in consumer shops. I bought them from "pdoeurope" in Wiesbaden, Germany, in 2017. The product number was "ASBS25RDJP" (Media ID VAMKM-IMf). They were very expensive, about 13 Euros one piece. They also had 100GB discs with MID VAMKM-IMk. I didn't buy them, they were 30 Euros a piece.
I could burn these 50GB discs only with Pioneer's PR1MC, that I directly bought from Almedio, Japan. As of about 2024, Almedio ceased the distribution of archival grade optical BD-R drives. The consumer Pioneer's weren't able to burn them, since the firmware doesn't have a write strategy for VAMKM-IMf. I found out that Plextors PX-B940SA firmware contains a write strategy for those discs. (B940SA is a relabeled Pioneer drive, BDR205)

[Stingray]

Thanks, now I understand why they can't be found through search, and judging by the year, they're still japanese Mitsubishi. Regarding the drive, I bought a couple of Pioneer PR1s on a Japanese Yahoo and also I have BDR205s

[blackice]

Which PR1s do you have? Are they able to either check the discs? I bought mine (new) in 2017 for about 2400 Euros!!! That damn drive went faulty just 10 months later. I think the blue laser diode went defective. The drive was replaced (with no cost for me) by a new one. The second one also died after 2-3 years. So much for the "superior industry quality". I think it was basically a normal consumer drive, maybe some better pulleys or gears or better dust protection..... You paid for the special firmware and the better tuning of the drive. All of my (many) other consumer Pioneer drives still work, also most of my cheaper LG still work even today....

[czary2mary]

Napisany przez blackice

Which PR1s do you have? Are they able to either check the discs? I bought mine (new) in 2017 for about 2400 Euros!!! That damn drive went faulty just 10 months later. I think the blue laser diode went defective. The drive was replaced (with no cost for me) by a new one. The second one also died after 2-3 years. So much for the "superior industry quality". I think it was basically a normal consumer drive, maybe some better pulleys or gears or better dust protection..... You paid for the special firmware and the better tuning of the drive. All of my (many) other consumer Pioneer drives still work, also most of my cheaper LG still work even today....

You can replace the laser. It fits Pioneer BDR-206/07/S06/07 models. The better condition the donor is in, the better it will perform. It's better than the BDR-207/S07 because they have very similar calibration data (except for the BDR-207DBK, which has a lower power setting and may perform less well on BD-R XL 100GB / BD-RE 100GB).

[Stingray]

Napisany przez blackice

Which PR1s do you have?

Thanks to the guys from this forum, they helped me get/make a scanning drive.
I bought a BDR-PR1EPA on Yahoo Auctions in Japan, it wasn't expensive but I didn't know if it working or not (90% of the items there are described like that),
It seems that the laser died early; there was no dust inside, and the drive was in near-new condition with factory stickers.Unfortunately, I had to look for a laser, ordered 3 more drives (it seems that many compatible lasers don't last long), replaced the entire chassis with the laser, and after cross-flashing, I got a BDR-PR1ML that can scan.
I scanned about 200 BD-R records and compared them with the Vinpower results. RSER correlates very strongly with LDC & BIS. However, I did not see a strong correlation between Burst error and other parameters.


I recently purchased a BDR-PR1MDCB, hoping that it would be more advanced than standard drives. I have not found a clear description of its capabilities yet, as it is still on its way to me.

[blackice]

@Stingray:
Have you finally received your Pioneer BDR-PR1MDCB? Can you report on the capabilities of this drive? Is it possible to do a media quality scan with it?

[Stingray]

Napisany przez blackice

@Stingray:
Have you finally received your Pioneer BDR-PR1MDCB?

No, I haven't received it yet. Japan Post cancelled small air parcels in December, and I sent the parcel by sea to save money. I think I'll receive it in April or May. I'll let you know.

[blackice]

I found out, that the Sony 50GB discs with MID SONY-ND6 are also excellent discs (about the same quality as the Mitsubishi VAMKM-IMf discs). And those I always burnt with my cheap LG WH16NS48! I used that drive for burning and scaning at least 200 discs and it still works. I have taken the SONY-ND6 discs out of SONY ODC 600R cartridges

[blackice]

SONY 50GB from ODC 600R cartdridge

MID: SONY-ND6
burned @4x (with defect management) LG WH16NS48, scan @4x

[blackice]

At czary2mary: I did replace the optical pickup with an identical one from a S07-XLT drive. It never provided the same burn or scan quality as before. Maybe the diode wasn't in good condition anymore or it is because the drive isn't calibrated to the new diode.

[czary2mary]

Napisany przez blackice

At czary2mary: I did replace the optical pickup with an identical one from a S07-XLT drive. It never provided the same burn or scan quality as before. Maybe the diode wasn't in good condition anymore or it is because the drive isn't calibrated to the new diode.

Install update 1.75 , adds support for the Ritek BDXL 100GB and improves device performance. With a laser transplant, there's always the risk of performance being worse than the factory-installed version. (The BDR-07XLT may have lower-power lasers installed because they didn't support the BDRXL.)

Pioneer BDR-S07XLT 2012r

[Stingray]

Napisany przez czary2mary

Pioneer BDR-S07XLT 2012r

Interesting.
even 207M has support based on this medialist https://pioneer.jp/device_e/product-..._Medialist.pdf and some japanese versions

but piano style S07XLT without (but mentioned XL on the front page) https://pioneer.jp/device_e/product-..._MediaList.pdf

[czary2mary]

Napisany przez Stingray

Interesting.
even 207M has support based on this medialist https://pioneer.jp/device_e/product-..._Medialist.pdf and some japanese versions

but piano style S07XLT without (but mentioned XL on the front page) https://pioneer.jp/device_e/product-..._MediaList.pdf

It was indeed strange that the BDR-07XLT model didn't receive BDXL support.
The BDXL 207/208/S07/S08 series models also didn't receive updates for the Ritek BD-R XL 100GB and Sony BD-R XL 128GB media (208/S08 models can be fixed by flashing the firmware from the BDR-209/211/S09/S11 models).