pir8radio 1292 Posted August 29, 2017 Share Posted August 29, 2017 (edited) Hey all, I wanted to do a post regarding emby client HARDWARE geared toward Live TV. The below is just my opinion, which varies vastly between different users on this forum. I had a hard time finding emby specific hardware client info, so I hope this helps someone. A little background, I have used all of the more popular clients for testing the emby experience. Some of them being Roku (almost every version including 4k), FireTv (stick and 4k), Apple TV, Android TV (mibox, nvidia shield), Chinese Android TV (Fake android Tv MXQ Pro 4k), intel PC hdmi sticks, Full PC's, Chromecast, Playstation, and Xbox to name most of them.. Wow, I've wasted tons of money..... lol I'll have to start listing some on ebay, Anyway..... When I was looking to switching my whole house from DirecTV Genies to "some device" that works with emby, I had a hard time finding hardware that closely reassembled the "cable box" experience my family was used to using for the past 10+ years, that I could use on my "OTHER" TV's. Other being bedroom, dining room, guestroom, bathroom (don't laugh) etc.. also, devices that were priced decently. So I started my journey with a few requirements, or guidelines.... Easy to use, like a cable box, turn it on and you are ready to go, Minimal clicking to get to live tv. A guide grid similar to what we were already used to on the DirecTv Genies. Can handle 4k videos, but didn't need to output 4k, but if it did that would be a plus. STABLE!!! There is nothing worse than a wife's "I told you so" or "why didn't you just leave what we had, it worked fine!". This one is important to get the family on board with a switch of any kind related to TV, be it from cable to satellite, or from satellite to emby. Relatively cheap device. We have 6 Tv's and the Home theater I'm slowly working on. I don't have the money for $150.00+ boxes on every tv. Remote control - either works with HDMI CEC (using the stock tv remote) or accepts IR for my universal remotes, so we don't need two remotes per TV. I found CEC features not supported across all TV's see this post for more info. Here is what I personally found with some of the devices listed at the top, as options for my "other" Tv's. Listed worst to best. Intel HDMI Stick - basically a windows embeded pc built into a stick. I knew better when I tried to use this for Emby Theater, but I was curious what it would do. It sucked....... Don't waste your time or money, neat concept horrible with video, actually it sucked even surfing the web. Roku Ultra - Was my favorite client for a while, has a good guide, fits most of my criteria above, the guide lacks some of the bells and whistles, like a live preview while changing channels, not the fanciest looking interfaces, its just how roku is, not the fault of the app developers. Not a bad experience, plays emby media well, easy to navigate, CEC supported so I could use a single remote (the factory tv remote). The roku sticks are about the same except they don't support IR and a universal remote, unless you use the harmony hub universal remote, sticks are slightly slower when using the gui. MXQ Pro 4k - This includes all of the other Chinese Android TV devices/boxes based on the S905 Quad Core CPU. This device runs a seedy version of android TV, it's kind of half android half android TV. This box performed extremely well, I ranked it lower than the FireTV box mainly due to the hybrid version of android having issues running the emby for android TV version. There are some minor issues with the emby app GUI features when running on this box. Also this box is not as stable as the FireTv or other Android TV devices. That said, you can have this device for a little over $30.00 US. CEC worked well. FireTV 4k - Great box, snappy, much like the android TV version of the software client. This is my second favorite box, Well third if you count the Shield. It was the leader in my testing but still slightly pricey at $100 ish, US, when I wrote this. But unless you root this device there is no getting rid of all of the AD's and other crap on the home screen, You also can not auto launch emby without rooting. The FireTv box was what I was originally considering going with. By now I have wasted tons of cash testing various boxes but I needed to find something more like the Nvidia Shield, except priced much lower. The FireTv stick is about the same except it doesn't support IR and a universal remote, unless you use the harmony hub universal remote, the stick is slightly slower when using the gui. MiBox - I found it! at $69.00 (at the time of writing) it was the closest box to the Nvidia Shield as I was able/willing to find. The emby android TV app (almost identical to the FireTv app) is great for the family. CEC works great, I can use my factory TV Remotes so I don't need two remotes for each TV. I can boot up this box, and have emby auto load using a non-root app called "Launch on Boot". Supports 4k @ 60 FPS & 7.1 audio pass-through. This box now acts more like a cable box, my family is happy.. Yay! See this post for more refinements, and a video of the MiBox at work! UPDATE 11-04-2018 With the Oreo issues this box is really unstable using wifi, there have also been a bunch of good android/FireTv emby updates that have shifted my opinion from using a MiBox to a FireTv 4k Stick. FireTv 4k Stick - The new FireTv 4k sticks have a nice universal remote that actually works, plenty of CPU power, and supports 4k. Emby has made all kinds of cool improvements to the client software that were not there when I originally reviewed some of these devices. Though I personally deemed MiBox FireTv 4k Stick the winner here, The Nvidia Shield is probably the best Android TV device available today, making it the best hardware client in my opinion, but not for my usage, which was "other" Tv's in the house. Price and stability being the main reason going with the MiBox FireTv 4k Stick. There is no way I am willing to spend $190.00+ for each TV cable box replacement in my home. Considering how tough it is to tell the difference between the Shield and MiBox for emby usage, this is a great alternative to the Nvidia Shield! Between these two devices the GUI is just as responsive, the emby experience is exactly the same and video playback, tough to tell. I'm sure the Shield has a better GPU but man this MiBox FireTv 4k is pretty good especially considering the price. If you have the cash to blow, or want good 4k video playback experience, I would go with the Nvidia Shield. Otherwise give the MiBox FireTv 4k Stick a try before buying a Shield I think you'll like it. Again this entire post is related to finding good inexpensive hardware for standard use emby clients. Parents, granny, kids room, additional home TV's, guest rooms, etc. I hope it will save someone blowing money for testing any of these devices. Edited November 4, 2018 by pir8radio 10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest asrequested Posted August 29, 2017 Share Posted August 29, 2017 (edited) This is great! I was loosely contemplating getting something like this. Based on your review, I would also get the Mibox. Thanks for this! Edited August 29, 2017 by Doofus 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wilky13 21 Posted August 29, 2017 Share Posted August 29, 2017 How about the newer AppleTV? Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pir8radio 1292 Posted August 29, 2017 Author Share Posted August 29, 2017 (edited) How about the newer AppleTV? Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk At the time of writing there is no Live TV support. Edited August 29, 2017 by pir8radio Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tur0k 143 Posted August 29, 2017 Share Posted August 29, 2017 This is perfect, I have been contemplating building a new HTPC client for my upstairs living room to improve the experience up there. I will give it a mibox a whirl. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luke 36991 Posted August 29, 2017 Share Posted August 29, 2017 https://emby.media/community/index.php?/blog/1/entry-388-emby-live-tv-for-apple-tv-now-in-beta/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
casminkey 15 Posted August 30, 2017 Share Posted August 30, 2017 Good stuff! How would you compare the Live TV video quality between the MiBox and Emby Theater? Do you use Wifi or have a USB adapter to plug in a network cable? I currently have desktops for all of my TV's running Emby Theater - it's a bit of a pain to manage if something craps out with Windows, and updates, and such. So looking to simplify, save $$ on electric by not having 4 desktops running and not have a mini tower. I do love Emby Theater though and the Live TV performance of my Nexus Android TV isn't quite there. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pir8radio 1292 Posted August 30, 2017 Author Share Posted August 30, 2017 Good stuff! How would you compare the Live TV video quality between the MiBox and Emby Theater? Do you use Wifi or have a USB adapter to plug in a network cable? I currently have desktops for all of my TV's running Emby Theater - it's a bit of a pain to manage if something craps out with Windows, and updates, and such. So looking to simplify, save $$ on electric by not having 4 desktops running and not have a mini tower. I do love Emby Theater though and the Live TV performance of my Nexus Android TV isn't quite there. I mostly use my Emby Theater for movies, what performance issues are you seeing with nexus vs ET I can try to see if I see the same thing between my ET and MiBox. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
casminkey 15 Posted August 30, 2017 Share Posted August 30, 2017 I mostly use my Emby Theater for movies, what performance issues are you seeing with nexus vs ET I can try to see if I see the same thing between my ET and MiBox.Live TV skips or freezes. Sometimes a channel won't play at all. It's very inconsistent. But it is on Wifi where ET is hardwired. So I've contemplated getting a USB Ethernet adapter for the Nexus player. Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using Tapatalk 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BAlGaInTl 279 Posted August 31, 2017 Share Posted August 31, 2017 I've been curious about the MiBox for some time now. I've read that the interface can be sluggish at 4K. Many reviewers set it to 1080 and noticed immediate improvements. I'm thinking of getting a 4K TV at which point I think I would probably put my Shield TV on the 4K device and get a MiBox for my 1080p set. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pir8radio 1292 Posted August 31, 2017 Author Share Posted August 31, 2017 I've been curious about the MiBox for some time now. I've read that the interface can be sluggish at 4K. Many reviewers set it to 1080 and noticed immediate improvements. I'm thinking of getting a 4K TV at which point I think I would probably put my Shield TV on the 4K device and get a MiBox for my 1080p set. Yea i would use the shield on the 4k. But the MiBox3 is pretty good, there are previous versions that were not so good from my reading.. I never found a definitive review that had an issue with the 3. But I know the Shield has a better GPU. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mwongjay 64 Posted August 31, 2017 Share Posted August 31, 2017 (edited) FireTV 4k - Great box, snappy, much like the android TV version of the software client. This is my second favorite box, Well third if you count the Shield. It was the leader in my testing but still slightly pricey at $100 ish, US, when I wrote this. But unless you root this device there is no getting rid of all of the AD's and other crap on the home screen, You also can not auto launch emby without rooting. The FireTv box was what I was originally considering going with. By now I have wasted tons of cash testing various boxes but I needed to find something more like the Nvidia Shield, except priced much lower. The FireTv stick is about the same except it doesn't support IR and a universal remote, unless you use the harmony hub universal remote, the stick is slightly slower when using the gui. Thanks for putting this together. Just adding my experience - I bought a few FireTv sticks for the tv's I had, but encountered streaming issues when I binge watched shows (after like 4 or 5 hours). I would guess this was related to heat, but I didn't do any testing to figure out other than swapping them to see if one stick was bad. Had issues with all of them when streaming for long durations. Sent them back and replaced them with the boxes. Have not had any issues with the FireTv boxes. Edited August 31, 2017 by mwongjay 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tur0k 143 Posted August 31, 2017 Share Posted August 31, 2017 I just picked up a mi box from a local Wally World and set it up in my bedroom. This thing is pretty sweet. This is a huge improvement from the old MXII android clone I had years ago. Picture is great quality, and the live TV guide is really responsive. It does seem to require a password every time I close and then re-open the app, so I will need to address that. I wish this thing had a LAN NIC but my UAP-AC-LITE doesn't seem to have trouble reaching it. It does not seem to support RADIUS authentication, but I was kind of expecting that. I may just replace my living room pc next. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kanipek 224 Posted August 31, 2017 Share Posted August 31, 2017 Great info! Does the MiBox have the Live Channels app available also? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest asrequested Posted August 31, 2017 Share Posted August 31, 2017 I was wondering if they had on the store. Sweet! I may get one, today. A mi box, that is lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pir8radio 1292 Posted August 31, 2017 Author Share Posted August 31, 2017 (edited) I just picked up a mi box from a local Wally World and set it up in my bedroom. This thing is pretty sweet. This is a huge improvement from the old MXII android clone I had years ago. Picture is great quality, and the live TV guide is really responsive. It does seem to require a password every time I close and then re-open the app, so I will need to address that. I wish this thing had a LAN NIC but my UAP-AC-LITE doesn't seem to have trouble reaching it. It does not seem to support RADIUS authentication, but I was kind of expecting that. I may just replace my living room pc next. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Within the Emby settings, it's one of the first few options, to login as this user. How much was it there if you don't mind? I have also read reviews that USB network adapters work with it. Edited August 31, 2017 by pir8radio 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pir8radio 1292 Posted August 31, 2017 Author Share Posted August 31, 2017 Great info! Does the MiBox have the Live Channels app available also? Yes I disabled it on mine, so I know its there... Never used it though. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest asrequested Posted August 31, 2017 Share Posted August 31, 2017 Just picked up a Mi (it's still in the) Box 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JAJ 11 Posted August 31, 2017 Share Posted August 31, 2017 Nice!!! Im excited. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PrincessClevage 173 Posted August 31, 2017 Share Posted August 31, 2017 Can we expect a full review Doofus? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest asrequested Posted September 1, 2017 Share Posted September 1, 2017 Can we expect a full review Doofus? I would, but I'm having some serious problems with it. I'm not going to list them :/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest asrequested Posted September 1, 2017 Share Posted September 1, 2017 (edited) The least of which is TV playback takes 11 seconds to start. And it's glitch. It doesn't direct play, it direct streams. I haven't checked the server logs, yet. CEC works well until I turn it off. Turning it back on, well it just doesn't. Only my TV comes on, I need two remotes. What I liked in the review was that I could just turn it on and go right to TV. But it just I can't get it to work. I'm going to have try and make it always on. Then I can just turn the TV on an off. Edited September 1, 2017 by Doofus Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest asrequested Posted September 1, 2017 Share Posted September 1, 2017 OK, that seems to work better. Disabling turning the device off in the CEC settings, allows me to turn the TV off and leave the Mi box on the page I left it. I'll see what happens over time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pir8radio 1292 Posted September 1, 2017 Author Share Posted September 1, 2017 OK, that seems to work better. Disabling turning the device off in the CEC settings, allows me to turn the TV off and leave the Mi box on the page I left it. I'll see what happens over time. strange, mine (little white led) sleeps when I turn the tv off and wakes when its back on.. maybe firmware update? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pir8radio 1292 Posted September 1, 2017 Author Share Posted September 1, 2017 The least of which is TV playback takes 11 seconds to start. And it's glitch. It doesn't direct play, it direct streams. I haven't checked the server logs, yet. CEC works well until I turn it off. Turning it back on, well it just doesn't. Only my TV comes on, I need two remotes. What I liked in the review was that I could just turn it on and go right to TV. But it just I can't get it to work. I'm going to have try and make it always on. Then I can just turn the TV on an off. I noticed it direct plays if "Direct stream live tv" is enabled in the emby client settings, I have not reported that yet.. However when it is in that state you cant pause live tv... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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