Media Hub
Posted by: 2roomsor1 on 02 December 2010
I have been looking for a hub to cut down on the boxes on the rack (too many, i have to loose some before i am allowed more) one place to look is my media tank and hdd recorder, i have seen the following
Samsung BD-C8900 3D Blu-ray Player With 500GB HDD & Freeview HD
and it playes mkv's avi basically all in one box, and over a network dnla etc etc
question is, has anyone seen this in action? and will another brand be bringing a 3d bluray freeview hdd out?
i can not find anythink and christmas is coming?
ps, this is a one box solution and i dont expect it to perform like my main source but in the living room i have been over run with black aluminium boxes. main viewing is in a different room, music in the livingroom film in the spare bedroom.
Samsung BD-C8900 3D Blu-ray Player With 500GB HDD & Freeview HD
and it playes mkv's avi basically all in one box, and over a network dnla etc etc
question is, has anyone seen this in action? and will another brand be bringing a 3d bluray freeview hdd out?
i can not find anythink and christmas is coming?
ps, this is a one box solution and i dont expect it to perform like my main source but in the living room i have been over run with black aluminium boxes. main viewing is in a different room, music in the livingroom film in the spare bedroom.
Posted on: 12 December 2010 by Mr Underhill
Hi spw,
Funnily enough I was having the same thought, esp after looking at the new cheap Sony Blu-Ray machines, and their network digital player.
Trouble is that there are a number of interesting boxes out there, but each has a subset of the functionality I want, nothing does the lot; and DLNA looks like a cut down version of upnp, which is itself was described by its writer as a lobotomised protocol.
Decided that if I was going down this route I'd probably need to build a HTPC, and include all I want.
BUT, I will probably buy a cheap Sony Blu-Ray for the play room, so the girls can watch iPlayer through the TV.
M
Funnily enough I was having the same thought, esp after looking at the new cheap Sony Blu-Ray machines, and their network digital player.
Trouble is that there are a number of interesting boxes out there, but each has a subset of the functionality I want, nothing does the lot; and DLNA looks like a cut down version of upnp, which is itself was described by its writer as a lobotomised protocol.
Decided that if I was going down this route I'd probably need to build a HTPC, and include all I want.
BUT, I will probably buy a cheap Sony Blu-Ray for the play room, so the girls can watch iPlayer through the TV.
M
Posted on: 12 December 2010 by garyi
What about a boxee box or appletv running plex, both will play just about any media file known to man.
Posted on: 12 December 2010 by GreenAlex
But neither will play BluRays and from what I understand, the BluRay-Player is supposed to be built in as well, right? If not, there are lots of options.
Posted on: 12 December 2010 by Mr Underhill
Hi Gary,
Not HD Audio, from what I have read, although now they've lowered the price to £99 it is in the same bracket as the Sony - cheap, so I am tempted.
When I saw that the Sony could act as a DLNA client I started thinking about:
1. Setting up a resilient NAS;
2. Moving all my pictures and home movies onto it;
3. Moving all my Flac files onto it;
4. Ripping my DVDs;
5. Recovering my wife's laptop for her, from the girls in the evening, by making iPlayer et al available through the Blu-Ray player.
THEN experimenting with streaming the HD Audio to the Sony, and playing them back via the nDAC.
But, from what I have read, to achieve this I would have to transcode my flac files, and probably to MP3.
If I could have streamed 96/24 did I expect this to be as good as my current solution? NO.
But it could be the shape of things to come, and worth a play.
I REALLY like the idea of:
1. Making MY content available through a number of screens around the house, be that VOB, mkV, JPG etc.
2. Making my music collection available as MP3 to other family members would be fine; if I can get it to stream, and be selectable via a nice GUI.
3. Streaming HD Audio to play back via the nDAC would be great.
To move this forward I am doing the following:
This Christmas my younger daughter is getting a laptop - and I am going to reclaim her Dell desktop. I will equip this with four 2TB HDDs, and configure it as my RAID 5 NAS, Linux based. I will load a Media server, and start playing.
I have sourced a Phillips 56" widescreen, and this will be installed in my main system, being fed by the DVD5 via DVI --> HDMI. It also can be used for streaming content from the internet, Phillips Net TV.
My current 37" panny will move into the playroom, and I will (probably) buy a Sony 370 to feed it. This will stream iPlayer and LoveFilm, which I use. I can then see what I can get it to handle on the NAS.
I have bought a Hannspree 25" 1080P 3D LCD for the bedroom, to be used by me as my laptop main screen, but also for AV duties on occasion. I MAY get something like the Apple TV and see what I can achieve with that.
I wired my house with CAT6 a few years ago, and I have just, yesterday, upgraded by switch from 10baseT to 10/100, to assist with moving larger files around while avoiding latency.
Early next year I should be streaming via the Sony to the panny. This will include: iPlayer, family photos, MP3 (or transcoded flac --> MP3).
I will be streaming to the screen in the bedroom, initially via my laptop with its HDMI interface.
I will be using the Phillips Net TV, and seeing what it can do.
Naim DVD5 & AV2
I have very happy with my DVD5 and AV2, and so have felt no great urgency to move to BluRay per se. BUT, if they were to increase the networking functionality, well that would be interesting.
One issue is that manufacturers love locking people in: Phillips have their Net TV; Sony have a number of proprietary standards; Naim have Naim Net, etc. These 'solutions' generally only cover some of the options I want, Net TV does not access iPlayer for instance.
Now I could buy a Logitech SB Touch, purely for the HD Audio. I could build a CMP2, and experiment with expanding it to be a full HTPC. But, I think the first step will probably be the Sony, and see / listen to what can be achieved.
This is SUCH a fast moving area. While it makes it fun and interesting I don't think it is an area that a high quality niche player, like Naim, will dive into. But they may prove me wrong and deliver the Naim Br1, AV3 and Media Network Server 1 tomorrow.
For me the New Year is going to involve a lot of learning!
M
Not HD Audio, from what I have read, although now they've lowered the price to £99 it is in the same bracket as the Sony - cheap, so I am tempted.
When I saw that the Sony could act as a DLNA client I started thinking about:
1. Setting up a resilient NAS;
2. Moving all my pictures and home movies onto it;
3. Moving all my Flac files onto it;
4. Ripping my DVDs;
5. Recovering my wife's laptop for her, from the girls in the evening, by making iPlayer et al available through the Blu-Ray player.
THEN experimenting with streaming the HD Audio to the Sony, and playing them back via the nDAC.
But, from what I have read, to achieve this I would have to transcode my flac files, and probably to MP3.
If I could have streamed 96/24 did I expect this to be as good as my current solution? NO.
But it could be the shape of things to come, and worth a play.
I REALLY like the idea of:
1. Making MY content available through a number of screens around the house, be that VOB, mkV, JPG etc.
2. Making my music collection available as MP3 to other family members would be fine; if I can get it to stream, and be selectable via a nice GUI.
3. Streaming HD Audio to play back via the nDAC would be great.
To move this forward I am doing the following:
This Christmas my younger daughter is getting a laptop - and I am going to reclaim her Dell desktop. I will equip this with four 2TB HDDs, and configure it as my RAID 5 NAS, Linux based. I will load a Media server, and start playing.
I have sourced a Phillips 56" widescreen, and this will be installed in my main system, being fed by the DVD5 via DVI --> HDMI. It also can be used for streaming content from the internet, Phillips Net TV.
My current 37" panny will move into the playroom, and I will (probably) buy a Sony 370 to feed it. This will stream iPlayer and LoveFilm, which I use. I can then see what I can get it to handle on the NAS.
I have bought a Hannspree 25" 1080P 3D LCD for the bedroom, to be used by me as my laptop main screen, but also for AV duties on occasion. I MAY get something like the Apple TV and see what I can achieve with that.
I wired my house with CAT6 a few years ago, and I have just, yesterday, upgraded by switch from 10baseT to 10/100, to assist with moving larger files around while avoiding latency.
Early next year I should be streaming via the Sony to the panny. This will include: iPlayer, family photos, MP3 (or transcoded flac --> MP3).
I will be streaming to the screen in the bedroom, initially via my laptop with its HDMI interface.
I will be using the Phillips Net TV, and seeing what it can do.
Naim DVD5 & AV2
I have very happy with my DVD5 and AV2, and so have felt no great urgency to move to BluRay per se. BUT, if they were to increase the networking functionality, well that would be interesting.
One issue is that manufacturers love locking people in: Phillips have their Net TV; Sony have a number of proprietary standards; Naim have Naim Net, etc. These 'solutions' generally only cover some of the options I want, Net TV does not access iPlayer for instance.
Now I could buy a Logitech SB Touch, purely for the HD Audio. I could build a CMP2, and experiment with expanding it to be a full HTPC. But, I think the first step will probably be the Sony, and see / listen to what can be achieved.
This is SUCH a fast moving area. While it makes it fun and interesting I don't think it is an area that a high quality niche player, like Naim, will dive into. But they may prove me wrong and deliver the Naim Br1, AV3 and Media Network Server 1 tomorrow.
For me the New Year is going to involve a lot of learning!
M
Posted on: 12 December 2010 by garyi
I have made no effort in research as I am still in the company of an older apple tv.
The new one can however run plex which in turn seems to play most formats.
I do however want to know exactly what interesting music is available on HD audio?
The trouble I have found in the past with music formats pushing the boundaries is that you land up with shite plinky plonk. Audiophiles sit in their darkened rooms listening intensely to this stuff and the question has to be asked why?
That being said if you are going to tell me some seriously good music is in this format...
The new one can however run plex which in turn seems to play most formats.
I do however want to know exactly what interesting music is available on HD audio?
The trouble I have found in the past with music formats pushing the boundaries is that you land up with shite plinky plonk. Audiophiles sit in their darkened rooms listening intensely to this stuff and the question has to be asked why?
That being said if you are going to tell me some seriously good music is in this format...
Posted on: 14 December 2010 by 2roomsor1
Hi all
I have been down the HTPC option, and in the start all was great, but it soon wears off, fan noise heat power consumption, clunky windows remote and lack of mouse/keyboard. using them makes it easier, but have you tried to use a mouse on the arm of a chair?
so combining hdd recorder bluray and streamer in one box would be great,
at the moment i am running with a sony dvd/hdd a dvico streamer and ps3 for bluray, the one box would replace all 3 and alowm me to use the PS3 for gaming in my viewing room and not as a bluray player in the living room.
interesting the apple tv with plex, what is this and does it run on the new apple tv?
thanks
paul
I have been down the HTPC option, and in the start all was great, but it soon wears off, fan noise heat power consumption, clunky windows remote and lack of mouse/keyboard. using them makes it easier, but have you tried to use a mouse on the arm of a chair?
so combining hdd recorder bluray and streamer in one box would be great,
at the moment i am running with a sony dvd/hdd a dvico streamer and ps3 for bluray, the one box would replace all 3 and alowm me to use the PS3 for gaming in my viewing room and not as a bluray player in the living room.
interesting the apple tv with plex, what is this and does it run on the new apple tv?
thanks
paul
Posted on: 14 December 2010 by GreenAlex
quote:apple tv with plex
apple tv won't replace the bluray player. nor is it a satellite receiver.
Posted on: 14 December 2010 by Adrian F.
Have you checked out those:
- DreamBox DM 8000 HD PVR
2 DVB-S2 tuners built-in, 2 slots for other DVB tuner cards, HDD + optical drive optional. Highly tweakable linux inside. Many free firmware images and plugins. But takes some time in the forums to get to know...
- Popcorn Hour C-200
no tuners (more streaming/less tv), cheaper, HDD + optical drive optional.
(I have heard from a friend who has one, that the firmware is not up to... He went to Mac mini with Ubuntu and XBMC. No BD, but the rest works.)
- Dune HD, has a line of media players, (some with integrated BD-drive).
- DreamBox DM 8000 HD PVR
2 DVB-S2 tuners built-in, 2 slots for other DVB tuner cards, HDD + optical drive optional. Highly tweakable linux inside. Many free firmware images and plugins. But takes some time in the forums to get to know...
- Popcorn Hour C-200
no tuners (more streaming/less tv), cheaper, HDD + optical drive optional.
(I have heard from a friend who has one, that the firmware is not up to... He went to Mac mini with Ubuntu and XBMC. No BD, but the rest works.)
- Dune HD, has a line of media players, (some with integrated BD-drive).
Posted on: 14 December 2010 by GreenAlex
I would have recommended a linux based satellite receiver as well. Not DMM as they are well overpriced, but there are excellent receivers available. LAN, USB, SATA. Will play most formats, depending on which chip they use.
But again, no BluRay. I think some newer chips will actually play the files, but they have no drives of course.
I use my satellite receiver as a universal media player for xvid/divx and mkv and am active in a german forum where we build images for sh4 receivers.
They are very versatile, but it really helps if you are new to this kind of thing, you have to decide whether you yourself are a techie or if you want some kind of plug and play device that requires no extra work or thinking like an apple tv or that samsung all-in-one.
But again, no BluRay. I think some newer chips will actually play the files, but they have no drives of course.
I use my satellite receiver as a universal media player for xvid/divx and mkv and am active in a german forum where we build images for sh4 receivers.
They are very versatile, but it really helps if you are new to this kind of thing, you have to decide whether you yourself are a techie or if you want some kind of plug and play device that requires no extra work or thinking like an apple tv or that samsung all-in-one.
Posted on: 14 December 2010 by 2roomsor1
quote:Originally posted by Adrian Frauchiger:
Have you checked out those:
- DreamBox DM 8000 HD PVR
2 DVB-S2 tuners built-in, 2 slots for other DVB tuner cards, HDD + optical drive optional. Highly tweakable linux inside. Many free firmware images and plugins. But takes some time in the forums to get to know...
- Popcorn Hour C-200
no tuners (more streaming/less tv), cheaper, HDD + optical drive optional.
(I have heard from a friend who has one, that the firmware is not up to... He went to Mac mini with Ubuntu and XBMC. No BD, but the rest works.)
- Dune HD, has a line of media players, (some with integrated BD-drive).
currently have a dvico m6500 which is great for streaming but the pvr is very clunky.
the 1 box solution i would like would need to include the following
hd freeview
hdd recorder
bluray player
3d if possible (not looking for a performer, but a jack of all trades)
this unit would be in the living room, home cinema elsewhere.
thanks
Posted on: 14 December 2010 by GreenAlex
does the source need to "support" 3D? or is it really just the display?
by the way, what you are looking for will be fairly rare and will limit your options to probably no more than 3 devices. just guessing of course, but hd freeview means it has to be a uk modell (specially made for the uk) and then bluray....
by the way, what you are looking for will be fairly rare and will limit your options to probably no more than 3 devices. just guessing of course, but hd freeview means it has to be a uk modell (specially made for the uk) and then bluray....