Sonos or audio and video media server

Bishop22

Hi there,

I am info high-end hifi and have a pretty decent system built to my liking over the years. We have broadband and watch YouTube via the Bluray player. Home cinema is already in, Meridian controller, amps etc.

I like the SONOS equipment, esp. the controlability via the free iPhone app and streaming off my iTunes and being able to manage other rooms all wirelessly. Only issue with SONOS is that its only audio (btw. it does Internet radio as well).

If we wanted to stream video content whats the best solution? Needs to include storage as well, say 2TB for arguments sake. I was looking at AC Ryan PlayOn!HD2. Theres a bewildering amount of options out there !

Basically I'd like access to a web broswer and movies and audio and video content. Is Netfilx a possibility? I read they check ip and need a US ip. (We currently use the Opera browser on the Wii on the big tv with a wireless keyboard, thats all ok but a bit fiddly to be surfing).

Many thanks,

Bishop

PogMoThoin

You should check out the Boxee Box, it doesn't have internal storage but has 2 usb ports for external storage and can connect to network shares.

Netflix and Vudu can be done with a decent USA vpn to tunnel to a USA ip.

I had the free months trial of both Netflix and Vudu running fine on my Boxee Box with the free vpn provided by these guys, (SD only mind you as the speed of this free vpn topped off at 1.5-2mbit), their paid for vpn is faster. Some UK users posted in the Boxee forums that they have HD running absolutely fine on the paid one, you'd need a minimum of 7-10mbit broadband.
https://www.overplay.net/
https://www.overplay.net/blog/overplay-vpn-on-the-boxee-box

To get the details of the free vpn, register but don't select any package and then just select server details, its listed at the top. Otherwise their paid vpn costs $10 per month on top of your Netflix subscription.

banquo

@Pog: How fast are shows (Colbert Report, etc) over the free vpn? I had a BlackVPN account and it was super.

@Bishop: I got a Boxee Box a few weeks ago, it's perfect for what you're describing. And super easy to setup and use.

PogMoThoin

Anything SD can be streamed on the free Overplay vpn, it averaged about 1.5-2mbit. For HD content you'd need the paid vpn and at least 7-10mbit broadband here for it to stream continuous without buffering. My broadband is 7mbit, but averages about 5mbit.

My months trial for both is over long ago so it no longer works for me (unless I open a new account with a different email), I've not bothered as I download lots in HD. I may get the paid vpn in future if my broadband speeds ever increase to 10mbit, but thats not likely. Services similar to Netflix and Vudu will probably appear over here long before that.

Bishop22

Hi guys, thanks for the very quick replies, much appreciated. I've done a search and see these on flea bay for 200+ sterling. Are they really worth that give no storage? Whats the attraction to these as opposed to other boxes? I read quickly on the boxee forum that the web browser is poor also, someone waiting on an update !

The audio outputs are very important to me, need excellent sound if I'm to rip all the CD collection and move from physical CD's which is the ultimate plan.

Final question - can the Boxee be controlled by an iPhone app?

Thanks again,

Bishop

PogMoThoin

Boxee is a media player with social integration and it plays absolutely every file you throw at it without fail, even .mkv's in 1080p
http://www.wired.co.uk/reviews/tvs-and-home-cinema/2010-12/d-link-boxee-box-uk

The browser has been much improved in the latest update, its now a fully functioning browser with bookmarks. The box has both rca stereo and optical surround sound out. There is both Android and iphone apps for the box (just really give a d-pad like the remote), the remote has a qwerty keyboard on the reverse.

Read my old thread here:
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056080740

Bishop22

Quick update - Last night I downloaded Boxee onto my laptop (from boxee.tv). I also installed the Boxee app on iPhone. I got to streaming music from laptop, itunes and SD movies off the internet (one of the apps that came with Boxee, VUDU?). It was a short freebie movie anyway.

I tried the browser and got a page for boards.ie however its a dogs job to click a link, perhaps I have to get used to that, however I gave up after four attempts.

I found the 'button' and 'gesture' navigation screens equally useful from the iPhone, liked them after half an hour of finding my way. Really nice app/controller.

The software I got was dated Oct 2010, version 09.23.xxxx so perhaps the browser has improved. How can I get newer s/w? Also I agree with Pog's comments on earlier software, the time to display tracks (and bear in mind I'm direct on my laptop, not NAS or networked) was very poor. I liked the GUI overall, went through Settings, YouTube and got around without any need to resort to a help manual ;-) yippee simple.

You definitely need the stand alone box, if anything it would allow you to be free of firing up a laptop and making the connections for audio/video, however this method is good for the moment as it lets us explore how well Boxee fits our requirements. I'll rip a few CD's in lossless mode this evening and see how they sound. Again the stand-alone box ought to provide a much better sound out via the rca coaxial or the optical for an a/v processor.

Having great fun with this, what else can I do with it??? (I'll check Pandora and link in my Twitter acccount as well).

Thanks all,


Bishop

PogMoThoin

The pc version of Boxee hasn't been updated in months (Oct 2010) and doesn't look like it will, its old and hasn't got the changes and improvements like the Boxee Box software got. The Browser has been much improved since, with better html5 support and bookmarking etc. The user Gui has been completely changed, I posted about this on the other thread.

There is a cheaper option, you can put XBMC on an Apple TV, but its limited to outputting 720p only on the ATV (and you lose your ATV warranty). Boxee is based on the same code as XBMC but XBMC is more customisable, without the social integration like Boxee. Try it out on your pc just like Boxee, you may prefer it. There are some beautiful skins available for it.
http://lifehacker.com/5739364/how-to-install-xbmc-on-your-apple-tv-2

Bishop22

Thank you PogMoThoin, I shall check out XBMC on the laptop. I like the skins. So apart from missing the Social Integration, what else is missing? Is there an iPhone app to control?

Do you have any experience of the AC Ryan PlayOn!HD machine? For me the big drawback of the Apple TV (even gen 2) is the lack of 1080p. Thats a pity as its classy looking and relatively cheap.

Regards,

Bishop.

PogMoThoin

Bishop22 wrote: »

Thank you PogMoThoin, I shall check out XBMC on the laptop. I like the skins. So apart from missing the Social Integration, what else is missing? Is there an iPhone app to control?

Not much, its actually got a much bigger community with lots more apps and plugins than Boxee. Its far ahead of Boxee on the customisation side of things, Boxee isn't customisable at all. I had considered using a nettop or building a HTPC and using XBMC before I bought the Boxee Box as I had been using XBMC on an old Xbox to play my media before this. I will possibly still build a HTPC in future, but for now the Boxee does what I need. I have XBMC installed with the transparency skin on my pc to watch media, looks amazing. Now if I could get XBMC on my Boxee Box, that would just be the ultimate, but I doubt it will happen, XBMC guys have said they have no intentions porting it.

There are XBMC apps for Android, just check the Apple store, I'm not an Apple user.

Bishop22 wrote: »

Do you have any experience of the AC Ryan PlayOn!HD machine? For me the big drawback of the Apple TV (even gen 2) is the lack of 1080p. Thats a pity as its classy looking and relatively cheap.

I've no experience of it, sorry.
Yeah, 1080p was a big deal for me also.

Bishop22

For ref, there are plenty of XBMC apps on iTunes. Free and paid options. I got a free one called 'uRemoteXBMC 1.0' I'll report back on how it functions.

Bloody hell, Pandora is also blocked outside of the US. WTF ?

Antigrav

I also am a bit of an audiophile and have my HTPC connected into an AV Receiver 7.1 over optical S/PDIF.

I went with a home built HTPC using XBMC on Ubuntu Linux with a mini-ITX Atom/ION motherboard and SSD drive. This is totally silent and connects over Gigabit LAN to a NAS/Media server where all the media resides.

I ripped all my CD collection onto this at 256kbps and can't pick up any difference from the CD's playing directly through my NAD CD player. Certainly, the ease of access beats any loss in fedelity, but I can always play a CD if I want!

The HTPC also plays HD videos (mkvs) from the NAS, but my broadband won't support internet based HD streaming. I tend to use bittorrent to drop videos onto the NAS for later viewing. The kids watch YouTube and we also have tried out Overplay for Hulu and BBC iPlayer.

All that works well, but still want to replace my Sky TV box with Saorview and Freesat streaming from the NAS/Media Server. This has turned out to be more complex with DVB-S and DVB-T devices and lots of messing with MythTV, etc.

When XMBC supports MythBox on latest versions all this should be more 'wife friendly'. Until then, I don't mind a bit of fiddling with frontend/backend configurations and we can access all our audio/video around the house over LAN or Wifi connections.

We do have the advantage of PCs or Games consoles connected to all of our displays The cost of this all adds up, but if you were looking at Sonos kit for around the house it may actually be cheaper

Bishop22

Hi Antigrav,

Nice sounding setup, you've done a bunch of work to get where you are now.

What capacity is the SSD? So you store content on the NAS connected to the workstation - if I read correctly, what advantage is SSD in this configuration? I understand they are relatively costly.

I downloaded EAC (exact audio copy) last night and ripped a Kings of Leon CD to FLAC (might be a useful longer term archive) and to also to WAV. Gosh they are monsters in both formats e.g. same tune in FLAC is 26.2Mb and in WAV its 39.9Mb. Isnt a mp3 around the 4 or 5 Mb mark?

I've got a Technomate 6900 Super Combo plus etc etc that does the Satellite and new DTT in Ireland. It does HD and PVR for me via a connected WD HDD.

Flipping house is chocca with technology and there's so much to learn. My Missus thinks its all madness !

BTW, what did you use to rip CD's?

Is Mythtv only really designed for Linux? I see a few Windows builds are available but sounds more like an afterthought. What tuner card do you use? Wouldn't mind a look at Mythtv though.

Regards, Bishop

PogMoThoin

The advantage of an SSD in a HTPC is that its completely silent (unlike mechanical drives) and boots in seconds making it ideal for beside the TV

Antigrav

Bishop22 wrote: »

What capacity is the SSD? So you store content on the NAS connected to the workstation - if I read correctly, what advantage is SSD in this configuration? I understand they are relatively costly.

It's a 40Gb, and only stores OS and apps. As PogMT says, SSDs are quick and silent. This little box sits next to the AV Amp under TV. It is just a front end to the NAS/Media Server which is in a press upstairs.

We wired the house recently when doing a renovation, and I put a comms cabinet in with CAT 5e around the house. I've since routed the TV and Sat coax into the same place. Phone line comes in there too for the DSL connection.

BTW, what did you use to rip CD's?

I used a professional version of WinAmp. Had been using this for Audio playback before XBMC. Unless you are pulling HD Audio from Blu-ray, I wouldn't bother with lossless audio. Audio CDs are sampled at 44KHz, so using a 320bps audio codec will pretty much reproduce that.

Is Mythtv only really designed for Linux? I see a few Windows builds are available but sounds more like an afterthought. What tuner card do you use? Wouldn't mind a look at Mythtv though.

Yes. You need to be familiar with Linux. The Mythbuntu distribution is pretty good, and avoids the non essential stuff. I used the Hauppauge tuner cards because they work well on Linux.

You strike me as a 'black box' man. Those plug-and-play boxes are getting really good, and are priced as consumer goods. It's a trade off between an open platform that you can upgrade, and a proprietary box that you rely on the manufacturer to keep up to date. It also depends how much spare time you have :cool: :D

Bishop22

Antigrav, you're right there, I am sick of the sight of PC's and don't want any more at home to be tinkering with. I ran Linux before, years ago when it started to become fashionable to do so, but can't really be dealing with that again :-)

The guys here almost have me convinced to buy a Boxee, sounds like the dev is ongoing (being open source?) and improvements coming through regular enough. I have tried Boxee on laptop and XBMC, both nice GUI's, both have iPhone apps to control.

At the end of the day most of us desire convenience, I don't want my hobby (high-end hifi) turning into a chore. There's no doubt CD's will be replaced some day and most likely that will be digital based, as in media centred/converging with Internet and TV.

Right now my cd player is playing up and a replacement at that level is going cost a grand a half for a second hand unit. Its expensive but its "smile on your chops good" when its in full flight. There a crowd that do a unit called Olive HD4 that might be where I need to aim for but again thats close on 3000 euro (headcase stuff, I can hear you :-)

http://www.olive.us/products.html


Fear is any/most disk based solutions will be second in terms of sound quality and that's going to be a disappointment, ultimately ending in return to CD......

(I have to admit I felt the same about Vinyl years ago and I managed it over to CD).

Antigrav

If your amp can take in PCM, you may be better off getting a blu-ray player rather than a high end CD player. This will give you true 24-bit lossless audio, but only from blu-ray discs. It then depends very much on your speakers.

Could be expensive replacing the collection though :rolleyes:

Bishop22

Ohh palpitations :-) I wish that was the solution.

On the front end I have speakers which were approx €7k new. For fun I tried the Samsung Bluray player into a €4k pre and power amp setup via the very best of speaker cable and interconnects and the sound (IMHO) is 'digital' i.e. not good ! But that makes sense, a €200 Bluray is not going to be a sufficient source for a €14k + analogue system.

The digital source has to be right, maybe thats more in the DAC stage than storage/stream/transport. I'm afraid a lot of the media streaming gear that is being sold these days is still a long way from recreating the original recordings i.e. hi-fidelity. (I think the focus right now is on convenience and convergence of all media).

Still having said that we are at a point where the high-end audio companies are creating products, albeit at extortinate prices to fit this need. Meridian do their Soloos, Olive HD already mentioned and Linn have streaming solutions and storage etc. I love the Boxee concept and may buy their black box and front it with a good offboard DAC into my existing hi-fi. Thats this months idea anyway :-)

Regards,

Bishop