Magnetar UDP800 Media Player Review

The Best-Sounding Video Player

No matter what you do or offer, people ultimately want a truly universal player—something that delivers great video and equally impressive sound. Most don’t want to buy separate devices for video and audio. And even those who already own two devices often dream of replacing them with one universal player, despite all the arguments, assurances, and beliefs that “separates are better.” Since there’s demand, sooner or later, there has to be supply.

This idea has been around for a while, but until recently, every attempt from manufacturers fell short. Remember the older Dune and Zappiti models?

They offered balanced stereo outputs and so-called “audiophile” DACs, but despite the price tags, they sounded like inexpensive components—plain, uninspired, and certainly not worth it. Even the legendary Oppo 205 only sounded truly impressive after an extensive (and expensive) upgrade, which often cost as much as the player itself.

The Magnetar UDP800 is different. It sounds excellent straight “out of the box” with no modifications required. Just as importantly, it performs brilliantly with discs and video files without extra tweaks—a rarity in this category.

Magnetar UDP800 Media Player Design

Magnetar Audio is still a relatively new name. This young Chinese brand, headquartered in Hong Kong, only appeared in English-language media late last year, when its players first became available in Europe.

Soon after, Magnetar announced two models: the UDP800 and the UDP900. The UDP800 is the entry-level unit, but both share the same foundation—the MediaTek MT8581 chipset, similar to what powered the best Oppo and Pioneer players.

It’s not the same chip, but part of the same family, slightly updated and refined. While not the most powerful SoC available today, it’s arguably the best solution for building a player that can handle video playback at the highest quality. For full 4K Blu-ray images and upscaling Full HD to 4K, raw processing power matters less—and MediaTek still does it better than the competition when paired with the right hardware. In this regard, the UDP800 does not disappoint.

Despite being the “junior” model, the build quality is impressive. The player is heavy—7 kg in total—and the interior is densely packed. The 60 W shielded switching power supply is robust and generously rated.

Its architecture may remind you of Oppo, but the board layout is unique, and the connectivity options differ as well. Unlike Oppo, there’s no HDMI input, but balanced analog stereo outputs come standard here, without being reserved for the flagship model.

What really sets the UDP800 apart are its DACs: a dedicated chip for each channel. Magnetar uses Burr-Brown PCM1795 (192 kHz / 32-bit) converters from Texas Instruments, paired with MUSES8920 op-amps. This combination makes the UDP800 a genuinely musical device.

From the First Chords

To keep the evaluation fair, the Magnetar UDP800 was tested on the same reference systems used for previous media player reviews.

• High-end multi-channel system: Storm Audio processor + JBL Synthesis speakers
• High-end stereo system: Dan D’Agostino Progression amplifier (with DAC) + Nime Audio Design EliteOne speakers
• Displays: Sony VPL-VW5000ES, JVC DLA-X9500, JVC DLA-NZ9 projectors, and LG OLED65CX with Dolby Vision

Over HDMI, playback was flawless. Movie soundtracks and concert recordings in every format were reproduced with full resolution, dynamic scale, and without harshness—matching the performance of the best MediaTek-based players such as the Oppo UHD-205 and its “clone” counterparts.

Via optical and coaxial digital outputs, performance was equally strong.

But once connected through analog outputs—even just RCA—the difference became clear. Compared to the Reavon UBR-X200 (which also uses Burr-Brown DACs), Oppo UHD-203, and even the Oppo UHD-205, the UDP800 sounded more alive.

Music gained depth and character. Overtones and timbral richness emerged, vocals felt more natural, and even electronic music—usually dry and artificial—sounded more engaging. This wasn’t about rare audiophile recordings either; everyday tracks revealed the improvement.

No, the UDP800 won’t rival a $10,000–$20,000 standalone DAC, but its presentation is far from “basic.” The musicality carries across all formats—Red Book CDs, 16/44.1 FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC, and DSD alike.

The only caveat: this is primarily a universal disc player. It supports nearly all optical formats, including DVD-Audio, but with a few exceptions in file-level compatibility (discussed below).

Visual Performance

On the video side, the UDP800 is equally strong. Performance is on par with the Oppo UHD-205, its clones, and the Reavon UBR-X200.

• Wide color gamut
• Excellent fine detail with UHD Blu-ray playback
• Best-in-class Full HD to 4K upscaling
• Very low noise levels

Interestingly, the software is where Magnetar surprised most. The user interface is near-identical to Oppo’s (even reusing some background images), but comes with full HDR10+ support right out of the box—something Reavon lacks and Oppo only added much later.

Equally important, all of Oppo’s file and network playback capabilities are present from day one. The only exception: SACD ISO images aren’t supported. Personally, that’s a minor issue, as separate DSD files are easier to manage anyway—and the UDP800 handles them with no problem.

Conclusion

So, in the end, Magnetar didn’t just make another copy of an Oppo player. The Magnetar UDP800 is the real deal—a true all-in-one machine that gives you top-tier, reference-quality video and sound that’s incredibly musical and engaging. It just pulls you right into whatever you’re watching or listening to. Honestly, if they just add a feature in a future update that helps it organize your movie collection automatically, this player would basically be perfect.

Pros

• Reference video quality
• Musical, emotionally engaging sound
• Works flawlessly out of the box—no firmware mods needed

Cons

• No full Dolby Vision support in MKV playback

Official Site: magnetar-audio

Specifications – Magnetar UDP800

• SoC: MediaTek MTK8581
• CPU: Quad-core ARM Cortex-A53
• GPU: ARM Mali-T860 MP2
• Video formats: MKV, MPEG-TS, MPEG-PS, M2TS, VOB, AVI, MOV, MP4, QT, ASF, WMV, BD ISO, BDMV, DVD-ISO, VIDEO_TS
• Audio formats: MP3, MPA, M4A, AAC, WAV, FLAC, Ogg/Vorbis, WavPack, APE, DSF, DFF
• Max resolution: 3840×2160p60, 12-bit, 4:4:4
• Outputs: 1× HDMI 2.0, 1× HDMI 1.4 (audio), HDCP 2.2, optical Toslink (24-bit/96 kHz), coaxial RCA (24-bit/192 kHz), analog RCA, analog balanced stereo XLR
• Interfaces: 1× USB 3.0 (Type A), 1× USB 2.0 (Type A), Gigabit Ethernet
• Dimensions: 430 × 85 × 300 mm
• Weight: 8 kg