The best 4k streamer in market today

[justinrh 259]

I'd like to find a box that is at least from an American (or otherwise non-Chinese) brand company ...

[Apotropaic 41]

The Google TV 4k Streamer (4k) is a decent buy if you want the latest android patch support as well as supporting all the major apps.

Might not be so good at Atmos and HDR formats when using apps such as emby…I do have one so can do some testing if you like.

[skank 85]

10 hours ago, jaspalgill said:

The Google TV 4k Streamer (4k) is a decent buy if you want the latest android patch support as well as supporting all the major apps.

Might not be so good at Atmos and HDR formats when using apps such as emby…I do have one so can do some testing if you like.

Yeah i was about to jump on the google one, but no passthrough, so no go for me

[Apotropaic 41]

14 hours ago, skank said:

Yeah i was about to jump on the google one, but no passthrough, so no go for me

You mean passthrough for Atmos TrueHD/DTS:X or passthrough in general?

[tedfroop21 86]

1 hour ago, jaspalgill said:

You mean passthrough for Atmos TrueHD/DTS:X or passthrough in general?

No pass through in general.   It raises the price of the device too much to make it smart enough to pass through audio.

And FYI.  Generally speaking there are two devices that control pass through.  Your media player if you have an external one, and your TV (also known as your sink device.)

You need both to support the audio standards you want to play.   Why?  Even going back to DTS-MA and True-TD you can get "up to" 5.1 channels but not the full meal deal if you use an external player with a TV that does not support the full standard.  Even if you put your device between the player and TV, the TV's capability to handle the audio affects what is passed through to your AVR.   So if it passes on Dolby/DTS 5.1, you get 5.1 for everything, nothing more.

(Don't ask how I know....but the reason I know is why I use emby....)

[Jdiesel 1431]

That's not true, the Google TV Streamer supports DD, DD+, and DTS passthrough

[rbjtech 5282]

6 hours ago, tedfroop21 said:

No pass through in general.   It raises the price of the device too much to make it smart enough to pass through audio.

And FYI.  Generally speaking there are two devices that control pass through.  Your media player if you have an external one, and your TV (also known as your sink device.)

You need both to support the audio standards you want to play.   Why?  Even going back to DTS-MA and True-TD you can get "up to" 5.1 channels but not the full meal deal if you use an external player with a TV that does not support the full standard.  Even if you put your device between the player and TV, the TV's capability to handle the audio affects what is passed through to your AVR.   So if it passes on Dolby/DTS 5.1, you get 5.1 for everything, nothing more.

(Don't ask how I know....but the reason I know is why I use emby....)

If using ARC or EARC, then there is this dependency yes, but if you have an AVR, then simply eliminate that dependency from the HDMI chain.   Plug your client playback hardware directly into an available AVR HDMI 'In' port (primary if available as some may not be full spec HDMI) and then plug the HDMI 'Out' or monitor into the TV.    You then not only get the AVR's overlay controls available to you on the TV - but eliminate ARC/E-ARC as you are now going audio direct - no return path is needed.     Thus if your AVR supports HD Audio bitstream (THD Atmos, DTS-HD/X etc) - then it will play it if passed through from just the client/player - what the TV Supports is irrelevant. 

Edited May 14, 2025 by rbjtech

[rbjtech 5282]

5 hours ago, Jdiesel said:

That's not true, the Google TV Streamer supports DD, DD+, and DTS passthrough

I don't believe it supports HD Audio - that's what we are referring to in this thread.    

The Google TV Streamer uses the Dolby MS12 decoder - https://professional.dolby.com/product/home-entertainment/dolby-multistream-decoder-ms12/  - thus compressed Audio only.  (DD, DD+)  For legacy DTS 5.1 (note NOT DTS-HD) is uses an open source software decoder.

[Apotropaic 41]

5 hours ago, rbjtech said:

I don't believe it supports HD Audio - that's what we are referring to in this thread.    

The Google TV Streamer uses the Dolby MS12 decoder - https://professional.dolby.com/product/home-entertainment/dolby-multistream-decoder-ms12/  - thus compressed Audio only.  (DD, DD+)  For legacy DTS 5.1 (note NOT DTS-HD) is uses an open source software decoder.

Yeah it doesn't, I brought mine down from the bedroom and plugged it onto my avr which plays/displays pretty much everything out there right now.

Dolby TrueHD Atmos - didn't work, emby direct plays the audio but the device downmixes it (not sure if that is the correct term but the AVR only gets PCM 5.1)

Dolby Atmos DD+ - this worked fine, and is the Atmos you get from apps like Disney+ and a lot of the Atmos demo material on the web you can download

DTS-HD MA - didn't work, I imagine the DTS core gets sent as PCM

DTS-:X - didn't work, I imagine the DTS core gets sent as PCM

As for HDR, HDR 10 works fine in Emby, the device supports HLG, HDR 10 Plus and Dolby Vision but I can't test those due to my projector lacking support.

All in all it's a decent device, and if you don't have an AVR and 'decent' speakers then you aren't losing much - except that nagging feeling of not seeing flags light up  

[tedfroop21 86]

6 hours ago, rbjtech said:

If using ARC or EARC, then there is this dependency yes, but if you have an AVR, then simply eliminate that dependency from the HDMI chain.  

Been there done that.  Even used to use the Pl*x workaround because DTS would only play in 5.1 without it.   Connected it every which way you could.  Even through the AVR with it switching sources. When I was looking at using emby, I came here and asked and ebr gave me a technical explanation of how it works.  Put in a new KD55X85K to replace my old Toshiba hd TV and boom...DTS 7.1 and more.

Dolby is not as fussy in some of its forms, but DTS is as weird as any other proprietary Sony standard.

Edited May 14, 2025 by tedfroop21

[tedfroop21 86]

4 minutes ago, tedfroop21 said:

 

OOps....not enough coffee yet this morning...

Edited May 14, 2025 by tedfroop21

[rbjtech 5282]

1 hour ago, tedfroop21 said:

Been there done that.  Even used to use the Pl*x workaround because DTS would only play in 5.1 without it.   Connected it every which way you could.  Even through the AVR with it switching sources. When I was looking at using emby, I came here and asked and ebr gave me a technical explanation of how it works.  Put in a new KD55X85K to replace my old Toshiba hd TV and boom...DTS 7.1 and more.

Dolby is not as fussy in some of its forms, but DTS is as weird as any other proprietary Sony standard.

Hmm sounds VERY odd as the AVR should not CARE what capabilities the TV audio has, as it should just be passing through video on it's output.

1. Shield HDMI 'Out' > AVR HDMI 'In' 
2. AVR HDMI 'Out' > TV HDMI 'In' 

That's it - if the TV is influencing in any way what the AVR can playback from the Shield, then that is not normal .. 

[tedfroop21 86]

13 hours ago, rbjtech said:

from the Shield

key thing there.....the Sheild.....

[skank 85]

Might this box https://en.sdmctech.com/product/android-tv_301.html be better than the homatics BOX R 4K Plus ?

Worth to wait for?

[rbjtech 5282]

4 hours ago, tedfroop21 said:

key thing there.....the Sheild.....

What device where you using ?

[rbjtech 5282]

3 hours ago, skank said:

Might this box https://en.sdmctech.com/product/android-tv_301.html be better than the homatics BOX R 4K Plus ?

Worth to wait for?

Having the latest cpu/gpu combo in hardware means very little without certification and support.  

The Shield is still fully supported 10 years after it's release - infact it got a significant update only recently adding functionality, not just bug fixes.

I'm hoping with the incoming Nintendo Switch 2 release - Nvidia use their own T239 SoC to release the Shield 2025 ..

If they did - it would be the 'go to' hardware for anybody serious about AV - and given the legacy and popularity of the Shield 2015/2019 - the number of customers upgrading to get AV1, HDR10+ etc would be huge. 

Edited May 15, 2025 by rbjtech

[Q-Droid 989]

6 minutes ago, rbjtech said:

The Shield is still fully supported 10 years after it's release - infact it got a significant update only recently adding functionality, not just bug fixes.

People tend to overlook this when chasing after those new cheap trinkets.

 

[tedfroop21 86]

2 hours ago, rbjtech said:

What device where you using ?

Roku.   Purchased before I found Emby.

When I upgraded the TV/display I got an Android/Google TV, next best thing to the Sheild.

[skank 85]

3 hours ago, rbjtech said:

Having the latest cpu/gpu combo in hardware means very little without certification and support.  

The Shield is still fully supported 10 years after it's release - infact it got a significant update only recently adding functionality, not just bug fixes.

I'm hoping with the incoming Nintendo Switch 2 release - Nvidia use their own T239 SoC to release the Shield 2025 ..

If they did - it would be the 'go to' hardware for anybody serious about AV - and given the legacy and popularity of the Shield 2015/2019 - the number of customers upgrading to get AV1, HDR10+ etc would be huge. 

Shield is coming with new device for 2025 based on nintendo switch soc?

[tedfroop21 86]

4 hours ago, rbjtech said:

If they did - it would be the 'go to' hardware for anybody serious about AV - and given the legacy and popularity of the Shield 2015/2019 - the number of customers upgrading to get AV1, HDR10+ etc would be huge. 

....and h266.   It will definitely be my choice for my next streamer device.

[embylad892746 32]

On 5/15/2025 at 5:46 PM, tedfroop21 said:

....and h266.   It will definitely be my choice for my next streamer device.

h266 "VVC" was dead on arrival. The entire movie industry moved to AV1 exactly to avoid using VVC licenses.

[embylad892746 32]

On 5/15/2025 at 1:00 PM, rbjtech said:

Having the latest cpu/gpu combo in hardware means very little without certification and support.  

The Shield is still fully supported 10 years after it's release - infact it got a significant update only recently adding functionality, not just bug fixes.

I'm hoping with the incoming Nintendo Switch 2 release - Nvidia use their own T239 SoC to release the Shield 2025 ..

If they did - it would be the 'go to' hardware for anybody serious about AV - and given the legacy and popularity of the Shield 2015/2019 - the number of customers upgrading to get AV1, HDR10+ etc would be huge. 

I would say it's very unlikely they'll release another shield but would love to be proven wrong. Consider that consumer GPU sales are like 5% of their revenue compared to data center customers and the market for a "nice streaming box" wouldn't even come close to 5% of consumer GPU sales. I bet the team maintaining the Shield is 3 devs who do it as a side project

[skank 85]

Still not decided here, im not jumping on an outdated shield.

The homatics is still a possibility although i read it has issues now.

Maybe the firetv cube... but i got everything from google.. so that might not be a good choice?

Hoping something new is coming this christmas.

[skank 85]

Anyone has the dune premier 4k pro?

Im about to jump on it

https://www.dune-hd.com/products/dune-hd-premier-4k-pro

 

It's based on Amlogic S905X4-K and would play anthing except  3d mvc but i dont need that

[justinrh 259]

On 10/17/2025 at 9:25 AM, skank said:

Anyone has the dune premier 4k pro?

Im about to jump on it

https://www.dune-hd.com/products/dune-hd-premier-4k-pro

 

It's based on Amlogic S905X4-K and would play anthing except  3d mvc but i dont need that

Let us know your experience.