Micca EP600

I am also interested in this item. I submitted questions to their support a few days ago but have received no reply (not a good sign).

I am trying to find out if this box will connect to network shares and play "iso" images. Also does it show the video in a preview window and display the disc menu when playing.

These features are currently available on my Asus O'Play but my WDTV plays only the movie.

The EP600 has a quick FF/REW interval of 30 seconds. It also has slider control for FF/REW much like VLC or WMP in Windows. And yes, there is GoTo function in which you can go to specific time or specific chapter. The response is very quick, almost instantaneous. ISO images play just fine with menu control.

Jack,
There is one issue I'm very...very concerned about. Every time I plug my flash drive or usb hard drive to my PC running Windows 7 AFTER having plugged them to the EP600 for watching movies, my PC alerts me of possible file system error on the drive and recommend "scan and fix." After I do "scan and fix" everything seems fine. This happens every single time on every single usb flashdrives and hard drives that I've tested (about 6 of them).
Is the EP600 screwing around with the filesystem FAT/MFT? It would be a total disaster if I lose all my files because of it one of these days. Please, check with the engineers. Thanks.

Edit: This happens every time with the "Safe Power Off" function turned ON or OFF. Either way it's the same. This never happened with the WDTV or WDTV Live.

Hey,

ISO images will play fine over network shares and the preview window will begin playing if you highlight a file in the media browser screen.

Disk menu depends on the menu profile. It does not support full BD Menus. It does support Profile 1.0 menus if available. Otherwise you can have the player provide BD-Lite, which is just the player constructing a simple menu on its own for selecting subtitle, audio tracks, and chapters.

Try highlighting the drive in the File Manager and press the eject button on the remote to unmount it before unplugging it.

The issue is caused by Windows Vista and Windows 7 checking an archive bit on the drive. It does this due to the Readyboost feature in these operating systems that uses USB flash drives to improve system responsiveness through caching. This bit might not be set correctly if you unplug a USB drive from the EP600 or Windows XP machine without doing a "safe removal" first.

Jack,
Thanks for the quick response. I tried the "eject" function but nothing changes - the same "scan and fix" problem. I always power off the EP600 before unplugging the drive. With the "Safe Power Off" function turned ON, I believe the EP600 power off all drives and unmount them before shutting down. Same "scan and fix" problem.

I do not think there is any danger of data loss. I will escalate this issue to the firmware team to investigate, what it would take to properly set the archive bit.

Does anyone happen to know if EP600 plays nicely with Mac OS X 10.7? Apple changed some things with file sharing and the WDTV Live (which has been getting consistently more buggy) no longer streams over the network... just says there are no media files available.

Thanks in advance for any information!

Jack,

Thanks for the response. This sounds like it will work well for my needs.

Are you setting up Samba shares under OSX for the media players to read?

With Mac OS you set up file sharing in System Preferences, selecting the folders you want to share. Using Mac OS 10.6 and earlier, you could just select "Network Shares" on the WDTV, and it would access the shares perfectly.

With Mac OS 10.7 Apple stopped using Samba and is now using it's own SMBX, which broke network sharing on WDTV. If the EP600 will allow users to use network sharing with Mac OS 10.7, I will be ordering one today. Western Digital still hasn't fixed the very known problem of network sharing with WDTV and 10.7.

Thanks in advance for any help/direction!

I asked the same question in the EP250/350 thread, but didn't get an answer. So here is it again.

Will EP600 play 1080p/60fps video smoothly? The following is the detailed media info.

* * * MediaInfo Mac 0.7.36.0 file analysis report.
* * * MediaInfo Mac is ©2010 by Diego Massanti - http://mediainfo.massanti.com
* * * MediaInfoLib by Jerome Martinez - http://mediainfo.sourceforge.net
Created on: Oct 18, 2011 11:25:42 AM PDT
Report for file: 00000.m2ts

General / Container Stream #1
Total Video Streams for this File.................1
Total Audio Streams for this File.................1
Total Subtitle Streams for this File..............1
Video Codecs Used.................................AVC
Audio Codecs Used.................................AC3
SubTitle Codecs Used..............................PGS
File Format.......................................BDAV
Play Time.........................................1mn 2s
Total File Size...................................200 MiB
Total Stream BitRate..............................26.6 Mbps
Video Stream #1
Codec (Human Name)................................AVC
Codec (FourCC)....................................27
Codec Profile.....................................High@L4.2
Frame Width.......................................1 920 pixels
Frame Height......................................1 080 pixels
Frame Rate........................................59.940 fps
Total Frames......................................3779
Display Aspect Ratio..............................16:9
Scan Type.........................................Progressive
Color Space.......................................YUV
Codec Settings (Summary)..........................CABAC / 2 Ref Frames
QF (like Gordian Knot)............................0.203
Codec Settings (CABAC)............................Yes
Codec Settings (Reference Frames).................2
Video Stream Length...............................1mn 3s 46ms
Video Stream BitRate..............................25.2 Mbps
Video Stream BitRate Mode.........................VBR
Bit Depth.........................................8 bits
Video Stream Size.................................190 MiB (95%)
Audio Stream #1
Codec.............................................AC-3
Codec (FourCC)....................................129
Audio Stream Length...............................1mn 3s 72ms
Audio Stream BitRate..............................256 Kbps
Audio Stream BitRate Mode.........................CBR
Number of Audio Channels..........................2
Audio Channel's Positions.........................Front: L R
Sampling Rate.....................................48.0 KHz
Bit Depth.........................................16 bits
Audio Stream Delay................................10mn 0s
Audio Stream Size.................................1.92 MiB (1%)
Audio Stream Language.............................Japanese
Subtitle Stream #1
Format............................................PGS
Codec ID..........................................144

I bought the EP600 this week and had some time to play around with it this weekend. Overall, it is a very nice unit for what it is/does and I am satisfied with the overall performance of HD playback, particularly at the rather low pricepoint of ~$100.

My question for today has to do with subtitles, which is documented by Micca as a supported feature of the EP600.

My digital library consists of a series of .mpg clips which were trimmed from a .ts file of a HD OTA broadcast in the US. When I trim any raw .ts file, I organize the program segments (weekly TV shows) with serialized filenames so that they can be played back in series, uninterrupted, i.e.

Show_clip_1.mpg
Show_clip_2.mpg
Show_clip_3.mpg
Etc.

Next, I extract a .srt subtitle file for each segment (using CCExtractor, for Windows, version 0.55). So within the same directory as the .mpg files, I also have

Show_clip_1.srt
Show_clip_2.srt
Show_clip_3.srt
Etc.

When I play the clips back with the EP600, the Subtitle button on the remote does not turn on the subs. When I hit the Menu button on the remote to get at the play options and select Subtitles, the unit returns "No Subtitles".

I noticed that the Micca can be set for various text formats, and I chose UTF-8, as that matches the format of the .srt files that were created with CCExtractor, but this did not help.

Then I tried a test case where the folder contained only one .mpg file and one correspondingly named .srt file, in case that the subtitle function of the Micca was having problems with a series of multiple .mpg + .srt files in the folder location. Still no luck.

I have not checked for firmware updates, and my EP600 unit is running version 1.0.1.14.

One reason I chose the Micca was because of the help and support I have seen in this thread and others on the AVS Forums.

Thanks in advance to anyone who can help out.

Update to the latest firmware, which is 1.0.4.23 . It should fix your problem. You can get it here.
http://content.miccastore.com/micca-ep600

Jack,
I have a request for a feature to be added to the next firmware. There should be an option to hide folder/directory in file-browser mode. I use the file-browser mode primarily to navigate through my contents as I organize them in different folders/categories. The EP600 creates 3 folders of its own (REC, ThunderDB, ThunderDownload) which I have to skip through while browsing and after a while it becomes tiresome and a bit of an eyesore that they're there. It would be a great idea to give the users the option to hide these folders or any folder they do not want to show up. Thanks.

Thanks for chiming in with this recommendation.

Vlad, did the new firmware fix your issue? If not, I can escalate it to see why external subs do not work with .mpg file types.

If the problem persists, try remuxing one of the MPG files into MKV using this FAQ:

http://content.miccastore.com/node/189

MKV with external subs should work perfectly.

Great recommendation. I am adding this to the list of feature requests. Thank you!

Jack, thanks for your reply. Last night, I installed the latest firmware update for the EP600, and still had no luck with .mpg + .srt. If you could escalate this issue for me that would be greatly appreciated.

I will try MKV muxing of .mpg/.srt to verify the subtitle support for MKV container. I've never used MKV at all, so the FAQ link is appreciated.

Thank you for the support

*Update*
The problem with .srt is resolved, and turns out to be a user error. The external .srt file has to have the identical filename to the corresponding .mpg file, which mine did... but it turns out that the name correspondence is case sensitive, which was not the case with my samples. Correctly matching the cases of both filenames solved the issue, and the EP600 was able to detect and display the subs.

There is a slight sync issue that occurs with the EP600 (starts off sync, but gradually drifts out of sync). This did not occur with VLC Videolan, but I will play with CCExtractor settings to see if I can get a better result with sub synchronization.

Thank you once again for your help.

That's good to hear!

Yes, the current firmware is case sensitive. Since the underlying OS is Linux, which is a case-sensitive OS. I had already escalated this issue to the firmware group. I am sure they'll come back to me to report that it's working on their end. I'll ask if it can be made case in-sensitive since that would be more user friendly.

Hi Jack,

I'm interested in your product so hope you're still checking the forum. I'm looking for a media player that will play videos shot on a Panasonic HDC-TM90K at the full 1080/60p setting. From the info below, are you able to confirm if the EP600 would work for me?

Format : BDAV
Format/Info : Blu-ray Video
File size : 1.07 GiB
Duration : 6mn 0s
Overall bit rate mode : Variable
Overall bit rate : 25.6 Mbps
Maximum Overall bit rate : 28.0 Mbps

Video
ID : 4113 (0x1011)
Menu ID : 1 (0x1)
Format : AVC
Format/Info : Advanced Video Codec
Format profile : High@L4.2
Format settings, CABAC : Yes
Format settings, ReFrames : 4 frames
Format settings, GOP : M=3, N=30
Codec ID : 27
Duration : 5mn 59s
Bit rate mode : Variable
Bit rate : 24.3 Mbps
Maximum bit rate : 26.0 Mbps
Width : 1 920 pixels
Height : 1 080 pixels
Display aspect ratio : 16:9
Frame rate : 59.940 fps
Color space : YUV
Chroma subsampling : 4:2:0
Bit depth : 8 bits
Scan type : Progressive
Bits/(Pixel*Frame) : 0.196
Stream size : 1.02 GiB (95%)

Audio
ID : 4352 (0x1100)
Menu ID : 1 (0x1)
Format : AC-3
Format/Info : Audio Coding 3
Mode extension : CM (complete main)
Codec ID : 129
Duration : 5mn 59s
Bit rate mode : Constant
Bit rate : 256 Kbps
Channel(s) : 2 channels
Channel positions : Front: L R
Sampling rate : 48.0 KHz
Bit depth : 16 bits
Compression mode : Lossy
Delay relative to video : -34ms
Stream size : 11.0 MiB (1%)

Text
ID : 4608 (0x1200)
Menu ID : 1 (0x1)
Format : PGS
Codec ID : 144
Duration : 5mn 59s
Delay relative to video : -34ms

Hi,

This 60fps video should play just fine on the EP600.

Jack, thanks so much for the quick reply and the good news. Looking forward to getting the unit and seeing what it can do.

This is my first post, new to the forum. I have been lurking for a while trying to find some information but haven't quite found the answer. I just purchase and receive a Micca EP600 and I am try to set up the wireless. I added the usb wireless which is an ASUS USB-N13 but can't seem to get it to connect. I have enabled the wireless in the settings but it does not scan for wireless networks. My wireless router is in the room right above the player so I know that the signal is not the problem because all my other devices connect to it. The usb dongle does not show power is on. Has anyone else had a problem with this. Any help is greatly appreciated.

Hey,

The EP series supports WiFi USB dongles that use Realtek chips. The one we carry uses RTL8191SU, so any other USB dongle that uses this chip should also work.

Some more research: The Asus USB-N13 uses Ralink RT3072, so that's why the EP600 can't use it.

Here's our FAQ listing some other WiFi USB dongles that are known to use the RTL8191SU chip: http://content.miccastore.com/node/231

Hi Jack,

Thank you for the reply. Does it have to be that exact realtek chip, or will other realtek chips also work? Just curious. I guess I will be returning the Asus wireless usb adapter and looking for one that works.

Thank you for providing the link to other WiFi adapters that may work. I will let you know how it goes.

Hi Jack,

Picked up the EP600 and have been enjoying the device. As you said, it was able to handle the videos taken with my HD Camcorder at it's highest setting which is great.

However, I was wondering if you could shed any light on how I can use the Media Library feature when my files reside on the network and not locally connected to the player. I can't even seem to bring up the option to manually create the Media Library from network files.

Thanks.

Hi,

The media library feature only works for local drives. Network drives have to be accessed through the "File Manager" icon from the main menu, unfortunately.

My unit arrived yesterday so I've only watched a couple videos in it but so far so good, it was able to play two different file types stored in a crappy USB flash drive without any hiccups which makes me very happy.

I have one question though, my intention before buying this device was to store my media in an external Hard Drive and connect it through eSATA to the player, I realize that the EP600 doesn't have an eSATA port but I believe I could make it work with some kind of adapter and connect it to the SATA port that it has on the left side. But after playing media from a USB 2.0 flashdrive I'm not sure I really need eSATA and that perhaps USB might be enough, am I wrong? Is there a reason I shouldn't use USB and find a way to make SATA work?

Hi,

Using USB should be good enough. The SATA connector is there for users who like to use bare drives. There are silicone cases for bare drives that protects everything while leaving the SATA connector on the drive open.