Media Servers worthy of high end - Page 11

Since there's so many smart guys on this thread, I was wondering if someone knew of a utility out there that will allow you to switch audio devices on the fly? For example, HDMI for movies and at a press of a button on my remote, switch the default sound card to SPDIF audiocard or USB DAC for music playback.

I've never used it, but I think Vista Audio Changer does that.

thought i would chime in since i bought a dune d1 and have been enjoying it very much. i have yet to get audio or video stutter in my setup (server running windows 7, bluray iso rips and 11mb/s read speed from dune over gigabit network). i use zappiti for the GUI and its most impressive and customizable.

even though the dune outputs ycbcr 4:4:4 into my scaler (denon 602), i recently compared the bluray "valkyrie" which is a pristine transfer in both sound and picture quality. both the dune and my oppo bdp83 were fed to a different input on my denon scaler and into my jvc rs35 pj. i can say that after testing for about 1 hour on different scenes with that movie, that i was unable to distinguish a difference in pq. this surprised me very much as all the comments i had read from dune owners all stated that the dune was close but their oppo was better. im betting because i have both sources fed into the scaler that im getting near identical performance. the thing that surprised me the most though was that i set the dune to output either 1080p24 or 1080p60 whereas the oppo was source direct. the only time i noticed a slight reduction in sharpness was when i set the dune to 1080i60. but that reduction in sharpness also reduced visual "film grain" so i also like that setting.

if you're still having trouble with the sage, i would try out the dune. as of now, if hdi comes out with source direct... great. if not, im just as happy.

The SOC in both players are very similar (Sigma) so there shouldn't be much difference in PQ.

Is actual native content available off Bluray disc at this time? More specificaly 1080P24 or 1080P23.976? Actual frame rate as disc?
Edited by LJG - 8/6/12 at 1:29pm

Thanks Scott:

I am wondering if anyone has any real life experience with the Dune HD Max Player, they claim perfect 23.976 playback...

The Dune players generally work well, but it lacks a native "jukebox" (there are 3rd party solutions but they are kind of a PITA to manage) and often requires beta firmware updates that break other things to play the latest BD discs.

I am sorry but I am NooB at this, what is native "jukebox"?

What I have decided on is a Vidabox Rackclient V3, and if I am not happy with 1080P24(or variant) then possibly adding a Dune HD-Max for just 1080P24 Bluray playback to get the 23.976 playback wanted. The system would be configured as DuneHD ready, and then have the Dune player as the main playback unit The VidaBox’s HDMI output can still be used where 23.976 playback isn’t critical.Hopefully though I will be happy with the Rackclient V3's 1080P24 and won't have to go through this second configuration.

An aggregated way to view media files, usually with associated metadata. W/o this you have to browse the file system to select files.

it it good to know the Vidabox works well anyway

Here are my initial thoughts regarding the Vidabox RackclienV3. 1080P24 Bluray(1080P23.976) playback is perfect or very close to perfect. My Lumagen is reporting 1080P23.98 as the Lumagen rounds out the number. 1080P24 from my Pioneer BDP-09FD, and Oppo 93 also read 1080P23.98 from Radiance. As far as audio is concerned the VBox is sending Bit for Bit high resolution HD audio codecs. On the negative side Frame packed 3D is virtually unwatchable with stuttering or skipping every 10-15 seconds, I am not sure what is going on in 3D mode but it is not good. The stuttering/skipping also cause loss of sync for that moment with 3D glasses.

Hold on for another 3-4 months. I have been told (and sworn to secrecy) that something like what your want is coming. Of course until it is available it is only vaporware.

As soon as I get the a 100% go ahead, I will post the details.

Well I hope it is 3D too then.

My understanding has been that anything Ivy Bridge or prior cannot do 23.976. Haswell, hopefully, but not certain.

The intel chip has nothing to do with the video output frame rate, unless you are using the intel HD graphics.

The video card determines the output frame rate and for at least 6 to 9 months Nvida and AMD both support real 24p. There are also older generations that support the correct frame rate. They each list the products on their home pages.

Could you possibly provide general information on this product

I have been led to believe it is 3-D capable.

No public info can be posted. The Company doesn't want pressure and speculation if it takes more time than expected.

Plus, until all is in place, and licenses are signed and approved, it is vaporware.

We'll see.

Did you say sign license? Sounds like they haven't started on the most impossible part of this task .

Have you tried using a Dune Player with My Movies as the front end/jukebox?? I'm working on a setup with a Dune Player and My Movies...and from the testing that I've done, it's extremely close to a K setup. I've been a My Movies user for years, but the shortcoming has always been having to use it on a HTPC......driver issues, software blu-ray players to deal with, etc. Going this route, you get the simplicity and stability of a set top box, with a top notch interface in My Movies. I've got a gorgeous jukebox display of cover art on my projector or plasma to choose movies (Almost identical to K..minus the moving cover art), or I can pick them from the My Movies ipad/android app that is also integrated with the Dune Player. The app also supports multiple Dune Players!

Setup is very simple. Rip your movies however you want (MKV, ISO, etc). I use MKV because I have no interest in menus, etc. It supports HD audio, chapters and forced/unforced subtitles. Use My Movies Collection Management to mange your movie's. With it's folder monitoring, it was correct in 173 out of 175 of the movies I ripped. Setup My Movies to export Metadata for use on a Dune Player. Export your library to your Dune Player. Choose the My Movies icon on the Dune Player and you are streaming. I have my personal collection of 175 movies ripped in this fashion on two 3T drives with space for another 20-30 movies still...

Cost? under a grand (don't think you can even get a K hard drive for that )
HP Proliant Server with WHS 2011 $255. Dune Player $310. My Movies $50. 2 3T Hard Drives $300. Blu Ray for HP Server and 8G RAM $85.

I couple of other notes....

My friend has a non blu-ray K system, and he will defend it to his death...and I don't blame him as his was the one that got me hooked on having such a setup. However, if you want to do blu-ray, the cost for him to upgrade to a system that could only handle 100 blu-rays was...well let's just say orders of magnitude+ more than my setup. "But the dealer monitors my hard drives for possible failures". Ha for $300 or $600 more I can build in double or triple redundancy to my system.

Lastly, I've got a old firmware Oppo as well for playback of direct attached .isos. Have not turned it on once in the past two months

Those musings were my own and not from the manufacturer, so they may already have approvals. I was just suggesting issues that can take time and delay products.

Is it correct that the dune hd player does not support source direct?

How long ago since you tried the Dune? Did you try the MyMovies interface for Dune?? Mine looks fabulous on my 110" projector setup. There are skins that allow you to change from 5 or 7 rows, or you can choose yourself with Dune Edit.

?? If you are using the MyMovies front end, when you save a new title in the collection manger, it automatically updates the Dune.

I've not had this issue. In fact, both of my Dune Players have been on without reboot for a couple of weeks straight.

I rip to .MKV, but .ISO works as well (did rip a few this way). Either is supported. Bit-streaming, forced subtitles, secondary audio tracks all work with .MKV....

You are correct in there is no source direct mode (yet) on the Dune. It is on the list of requested firmware enhancements. However, I did a side by side comparison from the same source material between the Dune and my Oppo in source direct mode on my projector setup, and could not tell any difference in the two.
Edited by barhoram - 8/31/12 at 8:56am