Dune Base 3D review, 1st out in the wild

at the moment tested by the reviewer the base 3d is not supporting

MKV + MVC 3D
HI10P
No forced subtitles in mkv files.

at least dts-hd and true-hd ISO are working, looks a much better realease than A400, maybe saybas learn something with dune and mede8er players.
Edited by canton160 - 1/20/13 at 3:53am

This firmware has 1 year of work, the improvements would not be so significatives like other players.

forced subtitles .mkv never worked in previous dune players, and first report doesnt say otherwise.

definitly this looks a dune 2D, that does 3D, but less the 3D MVC so far.

This is good news for those of us who have waited. I have always used my oppo 95 for my 3d blu ray rips, but if I am able to finally stream them from my server I may retire it from that use

Anyone aware of any media player with BD-lite that suport forced subtitles?
This question was raised in avforums.com and its worth investigate.

Woo-Hoo I was worried when I saw the $600 price being talked about but $300 is great!

Wasn't the $600 price, that was being talked about, for the Dune Max 3D? It's supposed to be released late Q2 or early Q3.

Yes, I think you are right.

Are the Zappiti player and dune the same thing? Haven't been following media players for some time. http://zappiti.com/zappiti_player.html

They are same hardware with custom firmware for zapiti, the Dune base 3D cant use zapiti

http://www.avforums.com/forums/18368745-post58.html
http://www.avforums.com/forums/18368728-post57.html

i would take this zapiti with grain of salt.







Dune max 3D (ces 2013 ) prototype intel + xbmc - 600$

Dune HD base 3D Sigma Designs 8672 - 300$
Edited by canton160 - 1/21/13 at 12:56am

The dune base 3D (or any other dune) can't use the zappiti player firmware, but of course it can use the zappiti jukebox like any other Dune. Regarding the future dynamic version, it's not clear but I think that it could be used with any new Dune hardware with chipset including open GL abilities, so all new 2013 models, but not the old ones (smart/max/101/301...).

@mr eric

there are hidden fees behind the zapiti firmware, like to customise or use music jukebox, im not familiar with the original and paid zapiti firmware .
at the moments its seems too marketing, ive being read the zapiti topic in HCFR and it seems the ipad app is not ready yet, most of the stuff are in development.

yes there are hidden fees in zappiti for some options. The player seems to come pre-loaded with zapp music (or a free download option at least). But zapp music might also be a paying option in a near future through the Dune HD Portal for all other dune users. We also already discussed about the crazy 5€ silver theme...

For the ipad app, it's already live and working, unless you speak about the music part.

Anyway, if that doesn't make you happy, just buy a Base 3D and use yadis + a music jukebox like MyDuneHD Music or other + Dune Media Controller. You will end up with the same functions, but with much more customization possibilities and everything for free...

I think too that the zapp player is just a marketing tool created by HDLand to maximize their profit by selling options for zappiti jukebox, or make it more appealing as a "one box solution" so people will buy it instead of the Base 3D.

Personally I don't like this kind of behavior : or it's free and 100% free (and you don't complain if not working, or you help to make it work better), or it's paying and 100% paying (and you can complain if not working and receive proper support for it). Giving a free core part to ask for money for basic options is not something I like : most of the time it ends with a very basic free software where you need to buy everything just to run it properly, and dev' will just say "it's free ! why are you complaining...".
Edited by Mr Eric - 1/21/13 at 1:44am

no reason why you shouldn't be able to use dune explorer, duneX, yadis, mymovies or any other jukebox with the new models.

For those interested in the zappiti version of this base 3D, duneplayer.com is now listed as official reseller for the US : http://zappiti.com/zappiti_player_resellers.html

So essentially if I went from my Dune HD Duo to the Dune Base 3D, I would be giving up Full Bluray menu support and be left with BD Lite and gaining 3D frame packed.....

exactly. You will also have a more powerfull chipset able to display dynamic/moving menus (oPenGL. But nobody knows if they will use it) and a 1Gbs ethernet instead of 100Mbps.

Well I preordered my Base 3D last night.

I have Dune players in every room in the house but would like a better option in the main family/theater room to deal with proper audio handling.

This seems like it will fit the bill.

Only disappointment still is no Netflix or Amazon support but that was to be expected. I'll have to stick with Rokus and XBOXs for that.

I fail to understand why there is such an interest in these players. I think everyone would be better served by Dune continuing to sell the Smart series instead. If there is no support for forced subtitles in MKVs or BD Lite - then what is the solution?

Also, BD Lite at least on Dune players is not very good at stitching together blu-rays where the files are split into multiple parts.

The only real solution I can think of to reliably use these players to redo everything from scratch to MKVs that only include forced subtitles and then set the player to have subtitles on by default. For someone starting from scratch this may be reasonable. For everyone else gaining 3D support hardly seems worth having to dust of the discs to redo everything from scratch. I don't know how many movies have forced subs or are split into multiple files but I would speculate it could be as many as 25%. On the other hand, how many 3D BDs are there really (never-mind the question of how many convincing 3D BDs there are) - I would suggest most would be better off with a Smart series unit and then relying on a dedicated 3D player for playback of actual 3D discs.

Unfortunately, the Smart Series cost more then the new Dune 3D's. It doesn't really affect me much since my family and I do not really care about 3D. I also do not use menus, and I don't mind turning one subs manually . File branching doesn't affect me either as I use ClownBD to make 1 M2TS file. So, not everyone will be affected by it.

I see your point. I used DVDFab so all subtitles are included and file-branching would affect me so for me these new players are a no-go. I would either have to go through and re-rip anything with file branching as well as reauthor everything with forced subs to include either only a forced subtitles track or only a forced subtitles track.

The truth is I may have to invest in a couple of backup smart series Dunes as I think I would sooner dust off my Oppo and go back to using physical discs than have to re-rip - I just don't have the time or inclination to go through the trouble again.

I am trying to decide between this and the Smart series, and the fan on this was already sort of turning me off. But as for forced subs, I thought the smart series also had a problem with this? In fact, most Media Streamers I've looked at seemed to trouble with forced subs. Is that incorrect?

The Dune Base 3D has a fan???

EDIT: How loud is it?
Edited by aaronwt - 1/24/13 at 8:56pm

Some of us want 3d thanks.

Yes, apparently it does. Mr Eric says so here:
http://www.avforums.com/forums/streamers-network-media-players/1732053-dune-hd-base-3d-official-thread-9.html#post18396666

You can also clearly see the fan vent on the back in the product photos. I imagine it's as loud as fan on anything else this size.

I wonder if my MKV Forced Subtitles fix will work on this?

(I don't know any reason why it wouldn't.)

Not sure, since BD Lite is used for BR playback. I could test on my TV303D

Speaking of which, I just got the TV303D yesterday to review. Reports originally were that it would not support HD Audio pass thru. I tested a few DTSMA Blu Rays and the lights lit up on my AVR Need to test TrueHD next.

I haven't compared the specs side by side to the Base3D , but if the difference simply turns out to be the case this could be interesting

It should be an easy fix for Dune to implement forced subs, my A400 does forced subs in mkv properly