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Best way to enjoy ripped video and mp3/aac music?

post #1 of 29
2/15/12 at 1:53am
Thread Starter 
Hi, I have a file/media server that I want to use some type of set top box (e.g. WDTV Live, Boxee, Popcorn Hour, blu-ray player, etc) via smb to play any file that I have? All my movies have been ripped over the years from DVD and bluray. I want support for TrueHD and DTS-HD so I guess that means I can't use WDTV Live? WDTV Live can't just send TrueHD to my AVR untouched and let my AVR handle it (I have a Denon 2310)?

70% ripped mkvs of DVDs and Blurays (80% AAC or DTS audio the rest various other codecs), 30% music via mp3 or aac (if I need to, I can change the aac to mp3).

Streaming options would be awesome (e.g. Amazon Video, Netflix, Youtube, various websites if possible, like thedailyshow.com, etc).

I also want to have a beautiful and easy to use browser for easily locating my content...

What options do I have? The more flexibility, the better! I want this to "just work". I am tired of fiddling five minutes or more each time I try to start a movie from my computer!

Thanks!
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post #2 of 29
2/15/12 at 3:32am
You will need two media players. One to stream you ripped movies and the other to stream online content.

Media Players:
Dune and PCH are the two tops in that order.

Mede8er is another good player, but it doesn't recognize force subs, and it can't recognize full bluray menus from ISO's.

However, Mede8er is coming out with a music Jukebox.

Online streamers,

Roku, WDTV2. WDTV2 has netflix, hulu, vudu but no amazon. I use my xbox and ps3 for online apps.
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post #3 of 29
2/15/12 at 3:30pm
Thread Starter 
Why do you say the Dune is the best?
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post #4 of 29
2/15/12 at 3:39pm
Couple things to check Im not sure the dune has the license in place decode AAC to multichannel PCM so get clarification on that. There is not receiver out there now that decodes AAC so the box has to do that part. The popcorn hour will decode the AAC to multichannel PCM. and are you sure they are AAC and not AC3 for your movies?

Dune and pch are the top models with the most support and firmware upgrades along with the communities that follow them. Be warned there are a lot of people on this forum that push DUNE for everything without reading what you actually need.
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post #5 of 29
2/15/12 at 3:43pm
Thread Starter 
So if the rips are AC3, AAC doesn't matter? What is the difference?
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post #6 of 29
2/15/12 at 3:48pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by phie View Post

So if the rips are AC3, AAC doesn't matter? What is the difference?

Two different codecs. AC3 is Dolby digital most players will support it and most receivers will support it. AAC is a different beast most people dont support it fully or only two channel downmix it rather then multichannel pcm output.

So if you have a 5.1 AAC track and the semi support it you would get 2 channel stereo output, if they fully support it you will get 5.1 multichannel pcm going to your receiver.
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post #7 of 29
2/15/12 at 3:49pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by halfelite View Post

Two different codecs. AC3 is Dolby digital most players will support it and most receivers will support it. AAC is a different beast most people dont support it fully or only two channel downmix it rather then multichannel pcm output.

Well, what does TrueHD and DTS-HD use?
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post #8 of 29
2/15/12 at 3:58pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by phie View Post

Well, what does TrueHD and DTS-HD use?

This all depends on your receiver you are sending the audio to. if your receiver supports truehd/dts-hd it will send that out. If it only supports dts you will get the core dts track for dts-hd and if it only supports AC-3 you will get the interleaved AC3 track from the trueHD if it is present which if you have mkv files it is not present. as mkv does not support it
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post #9 of 29
2/15/12 at 3:59pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by halfelite View Post

This all depends on your receiver you are sending the audio to. if your receiver supports truehd/dts-hd it will send that out. If it only supports dts you will get the core dts track for dts-hd and if it only supports AC-3 you will get the interleaved AC3 track from the trueHD if it is present which if you have mkv files it is not present. as mkv does not support it

Well, my Denon 2310 AVR accepts bluray formats including Dolby TrueHD and DD+, dts-HD and dts-HR. So, what does that mean for me, wanting to get the most versatile box? I'm a bit confused... Thanks!
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post #10 of 29
2/15/12 at 4:02pm
With it supporting everything. Most of the higher end players dune/pch will support it all for main codecs like dts-hd,truehd,dts,dolby.

If you need to confirm what audio your files have download mediainfo http://mediainfo.sourceforge.net/en and it will tell you so you can check if its AC-3 or AAC


And like gusgus said. If you want streaming options keep it separate and pick up a roku to handle your online streaming sites and then a media player for your local content.
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post #11 of 29
2/16/12 at 9:50pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by halfelite View Post

With it supporting everything. Most of the higher end players dune/pch will support it all for main codecs like dts-hd,truehd,dts,dolby.

If you need to confirm what audio your files have download mediainfo http://mediainfo.sourceforge.net/en and it will tell you so you can check if its AC-3 or AAC


And like gusgus said. If you want streaming options keep it separate and pick up a roku to handle your online streaming sites and then a media player for your local content.

So, if I play a track with DTS-HD, the Dune player (any of them) will passthrough to my AVR and let the AVR play it?
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post #12 of 29
2/17/12 at 3:48am
Quote:
Originally Posted by phie View Post


So, if I play a track with DTS-HD, the Dune player (any of them) will passthrough to my AVR and let the AVR play it?

Yes
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post #13 of 29
2/17/12 at 3:59am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by mlknez View Post

Yes

Thanks. Does that go for the WDTV Live box too? If not, what is the feature called so I can look for it?
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post #14 of 29
2/23/12 at 5:14am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by mlknez View Post

Yes

Do you ahve a suggestion for which Dune to get? Do you think it's worth waiting for Popcorn Hour? It seems they have pushed back their delivery date again...
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post #15 of 29
2/23/12 at 5:45am
Quote:
Originally Posted by phie View Post

Thanks. Does that go for the WDTV Live box too? If not, what is the feature called so I can look for it?


WDTV does not play True HD sound.

Quote:
Originally Posted by phie View Post

Do you ahve a suggestion for which Dune to get? Do you think it's worth waiting for Popcorn Hour? It seems they have pushed back their delivery date again...


I used to own a PCH A300. It is a nice media player, but my family and I had too many issues with it. After 2 or 3 weeks of ownership, I returned it.

I ordered a Dune D1 yesterday. I was going to order the H1, but the D1 has a nice front display and it was only $10 dollars more.
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post #16 of 29
2/23/12 at 5:57am
Quote:
Originally Posted by phie View Post

Do you ahve a suggestion for which Dune to get? Do you think it's worth waiting for Popcorn Hour? It seems they have pushed back their delivery date again...

If you need to occasionally play a physical disc, such as a rental, then get the B1, if you need a local hard drive installed, get the H1, otherwise get the D1.
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post #17 of 29
2/23/12 at 6:15am
Quote:
Originally Posted by mlknez View Post

If you need to occasionally play a physical disc, such as a rental, then get the B1, if you need a local hard drive installed, get the H1, otherwise get the D1.

A friend of mine has 3 blu-ray players, and he ended up buying the Dune B1. I asked him, why would you spend more money on the B1 than the D1. "He said, I can play BD disk in it." I pointed to his BD player on his tv stand.....---> the look on his face
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post #18 of 29
2/23/12 at 6:19am
Thread Starter 
How about the Dune HD TV-101? Does the D1 have anything that the TV-101 doesn't have? Do you know where I can buy the D1 in America?
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post #19 of 29
2/23/12 at 6:51am
Quote:
Originally Posted by phie View Post

How about the Dune HD TV-101? Does the D1 have anything that the TV-101 doesn't have? Do you know where I can buy the D1 in America?

http://www.diamondhomedesign.com/store/

I ordered one yesterday from them.
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post #20 of 29
2/23/12 at 9:35am
Thread Starter 
I notice optical is missing on the TV-101, but HDMI should passthru TrueHD and DTS-HD. What does my computer require for Dune to play DTS-HD and TrueHD? Simply just send the mkv file to the Dune, which then goes to the AVR, and then the AVR carries the signal to the TV? Or do you select the file through DLNA?

Sorry for the confusion!
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post #21 of 29
2/23/12 at 11:06am
Quote:
Originally Posted by phie View Post

I notice optical is missing on the TV-101, but HDMI should passthru TrueHD and DTS-HD. What does my computer require for Dune to play DTS-HD and TrueHD? Simply just send the mkv file to the Dune, which then goes to the AVR, and then the AVR carries the signal to the TV? Or do you select the file through DLNA?

Sorry for the confusion!

True HD can only be use if the media player supports it. If it doesn't support it, you won't get any HD sound. You rip whatever movie you want in whatever format you want, with whatever sound track you want. Thereafter, you have to either install a hdd to your media player and play the movies from there or play them via network.

You've got a lot of reading and research to do before you start buying anything.
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post #22 of 29
2/23/12 at 11:07am
Thread Starter 
Can you suggest what to read? I'd like to use DLNA to play the files via the network. Ultimately, if the ripped file has TrueHD or DTS-HD, I want to use it, so what do I need to accomplish this? Passthrough is fine, I think, because my Denon 2310 accepts TrueHD and DTS-HD.
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post #23 of 29
2/23/12 at 11:40am
Quote:
Originally Posted by phie View Post

Can you suggest what to read? I'd like to use DLNA to play the files via the network. Ultimately, if the ripped file has TrueHD or DTS-HD, I want to use it, so what do I need to accomplish this? Passthrough is fine, I think, because my Denon 2310 accepts TrueHD and DTS-HD.

Do you even know what DLNA supports? It definitely doesn't support HD sound. Go to the DLNA website, and it will explain to you how it works and what it supports.

DLNA is just a PIA, and at times its too much work to make it work.
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post #24 of 29
2/23/12 at 1:17pm
Thread Starter 
So, ultimately, my Dune device needs a hard drive, or perhaps a usb stick of the content I want to play? Or is there another way to get the media from my file server to the Dune? It looks like I need an external drive of some kind to connect via eSATA or USB...
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post #25 of 29
2/23/12 at 1:28pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by phie View Post

So, ultimately, my Dune device needs a hard drive, or perhaps a usb stick of the content I want to play? Or is there another way to get the media from my file server to the Dune? It looks like I need an external drive of some kind to connect via eSATA or USB...

You don't need to install a hard drive. That's optional. You can stream everything from your PC, Server, NAS or whatever you use to store your media to the Dune or other media player.
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post #26 of 29
2/23/12 at 1:29pm
Thread Starter 
Oh, via a network drive? Is that how it works? Can you connect via cat6 for reliability sake (over wifi)?
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post #27 of 29
2/23/12 at 1:35pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by phie View Post

Oh, via a network drive? Is that how it works? Can you connect via cat6 for reliability sake (over wifi)?

Dune doesn't have wireless, I believe you can buy a dongle wireless for it, but I wouldn't recommend it. I connect everything at my house with Cat5e.
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post #28 of 29
2/23/12 at 2:21pm
Thread Starter 
okay, that makes sense! So when you connect via cat5/6, your connecting computer/HDD is setup as a network share, or how does it browse the files on the connecting computer/HDD?
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post #29 of 29
2/23/12 at 2:28pm
It connects to a network share either over samba your standard windows share or nfs your standard linux share. Same as sharing files between two PC's
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