[owan]

I've been lurking here for a little while and trying to gain some insight into the whole media streaming thing and I'd just like to pose my scenario and get some suggestions.


I am a college student who recently bought my first HDTV. I don't have a ton of money so I'd like to stay at the lower end, but if a product is really that much better I am willing to spend. I don't have a fancy set of speakers or a receiver but I want to get one in the future. I don't have a standalone blu-ray player. What I do have is a nice computer w/ a BD drive and Z-5500 speakers. I have lots of BD-rips in the form of .MKV files. Most of these contain the full 1080p content with the DTS cores extracted. I also have a large number of other files of less interest, mostly standard avi type stuff, but some of them are subtitled .MKV's (anime)


So my impressions about what I need:


- I need something that can downmix the DTS core audio to stereo so I can watch my BD rips on my TV until I get a receiver.

- I need something that will bitstream DTS and DTS-MA type stuff so I can decode it in the receiver that I get

- I need something that will display proper subtitles in MKV's

- I need something that won't stutter on high bit-rate MKV's (if i have to remux to .ts I can live with it)


Network connectivity, slick interface, low price, and ease of use are all things I'd like as well. What kind of experiences can I expect from any of these units?


The PCH C-200 kind of appeals to me because of the ability to add a BD drive right into the unit so I wouldn't have to buy a standalone player. Can anyone say anything about it, particularly when it'll be out?


thanks in advance

 

[dbone1026]



Quote:
Originally Posted by owan /forum/post/16825931


I've been lurking here for a little while and trying to gain some insight into the whole media streaming thing and I'd just like to pose my scenario and get some suggestions.


I am a college student who recently bought my first HDTV. I don't have a ton of money so I'd like to stay at the lower end, but if a product is really that much better I am willing to spend. I don't have a fancy set of speakers or a receiver but I want to get one in the future. I don't have a standalone blu-ray player. What I do have is a nice computer w/ a BD drive and Z-5500 speakers. I have lots of BD-rips in the form of .MKV files. Most of these contain the full 1080p content with the DTS cores extracted. I also have a large number of other files of less interest, mostly standard avi type stuff, but some of them are subtitled .MKV's (anime)


So my impressions about what I need:


- I need something that can downmix the DTS core audio to stereo so I can watch my BD rips on my TV until I get a receiver.

- I need something that will bitstream DTS and DTS-MA type stuff so I can decode it in the receiver that I get

- I need something that will display proper subtitles in MKV's

- I need something that won't stutter on high bit-rate MKV's (if i have to remux to .ts I can live with it)


Network connectivity, slick interface, low price, and ease of use are all things I'd like as well. What kind of experiences can I expect from any of these units?


The PCH C-200 kind of appeals to me because of the ability to add a BD drive right into the unit so I wouldn't have to buy a standalone player. Can anyone say anything about it, particularly when it'll be out?


thanks in advance

I think the PCH C-200 is still a few months away from release. I don't know if you have any experience with the A-110, but I would expect the C-200 to be much snappier since it a new chipset. The A-110 stock UI is pretty bad (IMO) and from what I have read the C-200 will be similar, so to get a slick UI you will need to load an add on like YAMJ. The add on of a BD player on the C-200 is a big plus. Some of the other media streamers that seem to be causing buzz are the Xtreamer, Myka, and ACRyan PlayOn ( I am pretty sure all three support DTS downmix, not sure about bitstream). I primarily use HTPCs as my media players in my house. I have a PCH A-110 that just broke, so I am in the market for a secondary player with pretty much the same requirements as you (DTS downmix is a must since this will be a secondary player as I don't particularly enjoy remuxing in an AC3 track). I will probably wait a few months for the C-200 to be released, as well as for the other players I mentioned to mature a little before I decide.

 

[owan]

How much better will the C-200 be than everything else that is out now in terms of overall performance? what will really differentiate it from the A-110 besides the disk expansion? As I said, I'm new to this stuff. I don't know what the shortcomings of the various products are

 

[dbone1026]



Quote:
Originally Posted by owan /forum/post/16830489


How much better will the C-200 be than everything else that is out now in terms of overall performance? what will really differentiate it from the A-110 besides the disk expansion? As I said, I'm new to this stuff. I don't know what the shortcomings of the various products are

Honestly don't know yet. The C-200 is supposed to have the newest Sigma, so I would expect faster performance when scrolling through the menus, etc... but haven't seen any reviews yet to get an idea what exactly the upgrade is over the A-110