which adroid tv box should I choose. New on this market...

[plessers@gmail.com 24]

Currently running KODI@@rpi (with EmbyConnect), 
Now I am considering to buy an android tv box like Minix Neo X8H Plus to have more functionality (netflix etc...) with the Emby app.

New on this market, so what do you suggest? Budget +/- 100 EUR

 

thanx for suggestions

 

B

 

[CBers 6771]

If you can stretch the budget, go for the Nvidia Shield TV.

[Pirlo1966 22]

yep , shield tv console

[RanmaCanada 344]

Shield is what everyone recommends because that is what the devs have.  The android boxes, see my experience.  S905 is good, RK3229 is bad.  We really need to have better support for the chips in VLC before these cheap ass boxes will be worth buying.  They are great for everything else, but not fantastic for Emby, unless you enable external players and fiddle around with things.  The chinese boxes are more a hackers domain than what your average user can handle.  A shield is pretty much plug in and it works.

[Deathsquirrel 741]

No, shield gets recommended because it's far and away the most capable box with the best native audio and video support.  I don't think it's fair to say people here recommend them because EBR has one.  It's likely the other way round.

 

On the cheaper end most people seem to like the nexus players.  I have a gen1 fire tv and cant recommend it unless you use amazon prime.

Edited April 11, 2016 by Deathsquirrel

[Heuer 76]

Shield TV is the best Android device without a doubt. With so many Emby users having them it encouraged ebr to buy one to help with development

[Spaceboy 2493]

I don't find the shield to have any better compatability that the np. Or at least the same problems exist with the Emby app.

[Deathsquirrel 741]

I don't find the shield to have any better compatability that the np. Or at least the same problems exist with the Emby app.

 

As far as I'm aware the NP doesn't support the HD audio formats in the native player so won't be able to bitstream those formats any time soon, if at all.

[plessers@gmail.com 24]

mmm, I thought this was more straightforward. 

 

The same conversation here: https://forums.plex.tv/discussion/214789/which-adroid-tv-box-should-i-choose-new-on-this-market#latest but my first conclusion is that there are some problems with formats (not every player has HW-decoding), problems with apps (emby/plex sometimes need external players), srt-subtitles, Hardware (with a RC chipset, you can't update kodi), etc...

 

The NVIDIA SHIELD is mentioned a lot, but apart from its ugly desing, it stretches my budget to 200 EUR and up.

 

The MINIX NEO X8-H Android looks OK and is affordable. Does anybody knows it is compatible with CEC on a Samsung TV? Differences between MINIX NEO U1 / X8-H / X8-H Plus ?

[CBers 6771]

Ugly design?!?!

[plessers@gmail.com 24]

de gustibus et coloribus non disputandum est... :-)

[Snapper 20]

I am not in love with the design either.  Frankly, it reminds me a lot of the gaming PCs from 10 years ago.  Like it or not, it certainly doesn't have a modern appearance or fit with the style of most AV equipment.  I would gladly take the look of the FTV or AppleTV over the Shield any day.  With that said, performance trumps appearance for me, but there is no reason it had to be this way.

[Pirlo1966 22]

Ugly? You hardly notice the device. It's so small and flat.

 

 

Edited April 12, 2016 by ehgeahrev

[MSattler 387]

I don't find the shield to have any better compatability that the np. Or at least the same problems exist with the Emby app.

 

Wifi on the Shield is tons better.

Less freezing for View/Google Channels with HDHomerun on the Shield vs the NP.

Better condec support with the Shield vs. the NP.

[MSattler 387]

 

mmm, I thought this was more straightforward. 

 

The same conversation here: https://forums.plex.tv/discussion/214789/which-adroid-tv-box-should-i-choose-new-on-this-market#latest but my first conclusion is that there are some problems with formats (not every player has HW-decoding), problems with apps (emby/plex sometimes need external players), srt-subtitles, Hardware (with a RC chipset, you can't update kodi), etc...

 

The NVIDIA SHIELD is mentioned a lot, but apart from its ugly desing, it stretches my budget to 200 EUR and up.

 

The MINIX NEO X8-H Android looks OK and is affordable. Does anybody knows it is compatible with CEC on a Samsung TV? Differences between MINIX NEO U1 / X8-H / X8-H Plus ?

 

 

Neo X8H-Plus was CEC compatible for me but you will only get Kit Kat on it, and there is no TrueHD/DTS-HD support for Emby with the Minix unless you pay for VidOn service.

 

Shield is faster, has a much better interface <GoogleTV on the shield vs stock Kit Kat Android Launcher>.  I believe right now the Emby Android TV app will not work correctly on Kit Kat, at least that has been my experience lately on my Tab 3, and other Kit Kat devices.

[Martijn76 4]

I'm looking for 2 endpoint devices as well, most of my equipment is Apple related so I was looking for an Apple TV 4 with Kodi.

 

Since my Emby runs on a hp microserver transcoding is out of the question.

 

Would shield be a better option?

 

 

 

Verzonden vanaf mijn iPhone met Tapatalk

[Tranquil 93]

If you can not deliver a transcoded stream from your server, I think you will be best with the shield.

Apple TV needs transcoding for almost every file, or you want to convert your entire library to one supporting format. (Mp4 container, h264)

As the Apple TV is nearly the same expensive as the shield, I would go with the shield. 

[Martijn76 4]

If you can not deliver a transcoded stream from your server, I think you will be best with the shield.

Apple TV needs transcoding for almost every file, or you want to convert your entire library to one supporting format. (Mp4 container, h264)

As the Apple TV is nearly the same expensive as the shield, I would go with the shield.

Yes, that's what I thought. Although I'm not sure if Kodi on appletv makes a difference in this.

 

Shield seems to be the safer choice because of the wide range of supported formats (and therefore no transcoding), correct?

[Tranquil 93]

All my mixed media, and I have a lot, is running without transcoding. Until today, I haven't found one file, that could not be played by the native HW acceleration. (Including many audio codecs)

 

I'm using KODI 16.0 on my shield. 

Edited April 14, 2016 by CBers

[Martijn76 4]

All my mixed media, and I have a lot, is running without transcoding. Until today, I haven't found one file, that could not be played by the native HW acceleration. (Including many audio codecs)

 

I'm using KODI 16.0 on my shield.

Sounds great, probably will order one this or next week... Seems that the prices are fixed at 200 euro so no use waiting for a good deal. ;-)

[CBers 6771]

All my mixed media, and I have a lot, is running without transcoding. Until today, I haven't found one file, that could not be played by the native HW acceleration. (Including many audio codecs)

 

I'm using KODI 16.0 on my shield. 

 

You should NEVER get transcoding when using Kodi as it plays directly from the source, if the add-on is configured that way.

 

Running the Emby ATV app may offer different results 

[Martijn76 4]

You should NEVER get transcoding when using Kodi as it plays directly from the source, if the add-on is configured that way.

 

Running the Emby ATV app may offer different results

So it should work as well on the appletv; however after reading a lot of experience I think the shield is still the better choice.

 

2 dune d1's are (hopefully) being picked up this weekend and will pay for the first shield. If everything works as advertised I'll sell my zidoo x6pro (which hasn't been unpacked yet) and iconbit 3D player for the second shield.

 

Any issues with the shield and 3D now that I think of it?

[Tranquil 93]

You should NEVER get transcoding when using Kodi as it plays directly from the source, if the add-on is configured that way.

 

Running the Emby ATV app may offer different results 

 

I think you are now going to confuse @@Martijn76 .

 

My KODI is using a HTTP Stream to Emby server and does not do any access directly to the filesystem.

 

@@Martijn76 :

Just to make it clear: The Apple TV 4 is not able to play other containers as mentioned in this post. And even, if I understand correctly, these h264 video must meet some specific parameters to get work. (parameters can also be found in this post)

This will lead to these scenarios:

 

If Apple TV is able to decode your stream: The container will be remuxed, which means, the video data will be copied 1:1 just into a new container. I think Mp4 in this case, this is not nice but it does not have high influence on your CPU.

If Apple TV is not able to decode your stream, the complete video needs to be transcoded, which is very CPU intensive and maybe not fast enough on your system.

 

Which formats are available for HW acceleration, can be found here: 

 

Apple:

Video:
H.264 video up to 1080p, 60 frames per second, High or Main Profile level 4.2 or lower
H.264 Baseline Profile level 3.0 or lower with AAC-LC audio up to 160 Kbps per channel, 48kHz, stereo audio in .m4v, .mp4, and .mov file formats
MPEG-4 video up to 2.5 Mbps, 640 by 480 pixels, 30 frames per second, Simple Profile with AAC-LC audio up to 160 Kbps, 48kHz, stereo audio in .m4v, .mp4, and .mov file formats
 
Audio:
HE-AAC (V1), AAC (16 to 320 Kbps), protected AAC (from iTunes Store), MP3 (16 to 320 Kbps), MP3 VBR, Audible (formats 2, 3, and 4), Apple Lossless, AIFF, and WAV; Dolby Digital 5.1 and Dolby Digital Plus 7.1
 

These are the shield specs:

Video:
4K Ultra HD ready
4K playback at 60 FPS (VP9, H265, H264)
4K capture at 30 FPS (H264, H265)
Supports: MPEG-2/ MPEG-4/ Xvid/ DivX/ WMV9/ ASF/ AVI/ MKV/ MOV/ M2TS/ MPEG-TS/ H.263/ H.264/ H.265/ VC-1/ VP8/ VP9
 
Audio:
7.1 and 5.1 surround sound pass through over HDMI
High-resolution audio playback up to 24-bit/192 kHz over HDMI and USB
High-resolution audio up-sample to 24-bit/192 kHz over USB
Supports: AAC, AAC+, eAAC+, MP3, WAVE, AMR, OGG Vorbis, FLAC, PCM, WMA, WMA-Pro, WMA-Lossless, DD+/DTS (pass-through), DTS-HD MA (pass-through), Dolby TrueHD (pass-through)

Source: https://shield.nvidia.com/store/android-tv

 

KODI is able to enhance missing codecs, for audio as for video, but it then has no HW acceleration and needs be to compute using the CPU of your device. Depending on the media you try to play this may work or not.

Edited April 14, 2016 by Tranquil

[CBers 6771]

I think you are now going to confuse @@Martijn76 .

 

And that won't

 

Just out of curiosity, why are you using HTTP and not NATIVE ??

[Martijn76 4]

I'd most likely will not use the http method. My unraid nas is a local machine so I will access the filesystem directly.

 

I cannot see the specs you quoted on tapatalk but I am aware of the limited support of the appletv.

 

I'm about 99% sure I will go for the shield :-)

 

 

Verzonden vanaf mijn iPhone met Tapatalk