New Zidoo box at IFA 2019

1868 Views 7 Replies 3 Participants Last post by markswift2003, Sep 10, 2019

b curry

Discussion Starter · Sep 10, 2019

Looks like a new high end box being shown at IFA this week, based on a Cortex-A55 CPU.

Information comes from Zidoo's forum.

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markswift2003

· #2 · Sep 10, 2019 (Edited)

b curry said:
Looks like a new high end box being shown at IFA this week, based on a Cortex-A55 CPU.

Information comes from Zidoo's forum.

Good find! Wonder if it uses the Realtek 1619 SOC?

Looks a bit like an Akai amp from the 1970s though

It seems the 1619 (hexa core A55, Mali GPU) is the big brother to the 1395 which was released last year (Cut down version of the 1295 for TV boxes with quad core A53 & Mali 470).

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jwort93

· #3 · Sep 10, 2019

Any chance this would render the UI at 4K? It looks pretty sweet, and is definitely on my short list.

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b curry

Discussion Starter · #4 · Sep 10, 2019

markswift2003 said:
Good find! Wonder if it uses the Realtek 1619 SOC?

Looks a bit like an Akai amp from the 1970s though

It seems the 1619 (hexa core A55, Mali GPU) is the big brother to the 1395 which was released last year (Cut down version of the 1295 for TV boxes with quad core A53 & Mali 470).

That would be my guess too given Zidoo's relationship with Realtek.

Looks like the audiophile/high end is the possible target market based on it's spec's with DSD support, AKM4497 DAC's, XLR connections, toroidal power supply, headphone power amp/pre-amp output, etc.

And Dolby Vision! Really? That would be a first I think!

The large LED display is interesting. Wondering if it will display cover art from the Poster Wall/Home Theater 2.0 or ZDMC?

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markswift2003

· #5 · Sep 10, 2019

b curry said:
That would be my guess too given Zidoo's relationship with Realtek.

Looks like the audiophile/high end is the possible target market based on it's spec's with DSD support, AKM4497 DAC's, XLR connections, toroidal power supply, headphone power amp/pre-amp output, etc.

And Dolby Vision! Really? That would be a first I think!

The large LED display is interesting. Wondering if it will display cover art from the Poster Wall/Home Theater 2.0 or ZDMC?

It certainly looks to be an interesting box although I'm always dubious of them ramming a load of half decent audio gubbins in these media boxes - they never really get that right, particularly when analogue paths are involved - I think that's best left to the likes of Linn or Naim etc..

There aren't many companies left in the video media player market so it's fair game but the audio market is awash with people who know what they're doing so I never understand why companies such as Zidoo follow that line.

There are quite few SOCs that support Dolby Vision - The Realtek 1395 and Hisilicon Hi3798C (Egreat & HiMedia boxes use these) immediately spring to mind, but that doesn't mean the boxes will have it implemented - Dolby don't currently licence media players and have no real incentive to do so and Zidoo certainly wouldn't pay for it even if they did, so I wouldn't get too excited!

HDR10+ on the other hand is open source, so that could be implemented, but whether it will or not is another question...

Must admit it's very encouraging to see Zidoo developing another box with a new SOC - and assuming it is the 1619, that's pretty up to date compared to current boxes from the usual suspects.

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markswift2003

· #6 · Sep 10, 2019

jwort93 said:
Any chance this would render the UI at 4K? It looks pretty sweet, and is definitely on my short list.

That would certainly be very nice - only time will tell - there's no technical reason why not, but I have a sneaky suspicion it'll stay the same - makes development easier and cheaper.

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b curry

Discussion Starter · #7 · Sep 10, 2019

markswift2003 said:
It certainly looks to be an interesting box although I'm always dubious of them ramming a load of half decent audio gubbins in these media boxes - they never really get that right, particularly when analogue paths are involved - I think that's best left to the likes of Linn or Naim etc..

There aren't many companies left in the video media player market so it's fair game but the audio market is awash with people who know what they're doing so I never understand why companies such as Zidoo follow that line.

Agreed. The Brennen products made in the UK are quite nice as well.

Zidoo's music player implementation is still a bit of a mess in the current offerings and I really don't think about or bother using them this way. It is also added unnecessary cost if ones primary use is video playback IMHO.

markswift2003 said:
There are quite few SOCs that support Dolby Vision - The Realtek 1395 and Hisilicon Hi3798C (Egreat & HiMedia boxes use these) immediately spring to mind, but that doesn't mean the boxes will have it implemented - Dolby don't currently licence media players and have no real incentive to do so and Zidoo certainly wouldn't pay for it even if they did, so I wouldn't get too excited!

HDR10+ on the other hand is open source, so that could be implemented, but whether it will or not is another question...

A bit of sarcasm on my part... Yes, hardware is not the issue, it's the licence of course with regards to DV. I do expect HDR10+ to be implemented at some point on someone's box. Zidoo does seem to be one of the bigger players in the market so this could well be the one...

markswift2003 said:
Must admit it's very encouraging to see Zidoo developing another box with a new SOC - and assuming it is the 1619, that's pretty up to date compared to current boxes from the usual suspects.

Yes, it would be great to get a new unit that handles the various codecs including 4K with the stability, all features working correct, PQ, and reliability of the older Sigma SoC's from DuneHD in a single box. A Dune Solo that handles 4K properly if you will.

I expect this unit to be pricey with the DAC's, XLR's, etc. if it does come to market. It would be nice to see something with a newer, up to date SoC at a lower price point in an X9S or Z9S type package.

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markswift2003

· #8 · Sep 10, 2019

b curry said:
...

I expect this unit to be pricey with the DAC's, XLR's, etc. if it does come to market. It would be nice to see something with a newer, up to date SoC at a lower price point in an X9S or Z9S type package.

Exactly what I would hope for too..

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