What kind of Media Player do you use?

[jkasanic]

I just picked up another Kodi box. I already had one of these, and i liked that it ran cool, had optical input, WIFI, and LAN, plus came with a little remote. This one will be replacing my i3NUC in the HT.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00QHLSKOE/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I just picked up another Kodi box. I already had one of these, and i liked that it ran cool, had optical input, WIFI, and LAN, plus came with a little remote. This one will be replacing my i3NUC in the HT.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00QHLSKOE/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1

What type of media are you feeding this box (i.e. Compressed MKV rips, 1:1 BluRay rips, Bdmv folder structure etc)?  How does it handle higher bitrate files? Any issues with audio passthrough (or are you just using Kodi as the front end)?

[NBPk402]

What type of media are you feeding this box (i.e. Compressed MKV rips, 1:1 BluRay rips, Bdmv folder structure etc)?  How does it handle higher bitrate files? Any issues with audio passthrough (or are you just using Kodi as the front end)?

I have been using MKV rips set to same as source for audio and video. We are also playing SACDs ripped to FLACs, and they are fine. We are using Kodi as the front end...with it set to passthrough. Does this make sense? I haven't had a chance to try it on my movies yet in the HT though...I was using my other one in our MB, and it is passing the audio via optical to my WIFI headphones. I will let you know how it does in the HT too.

[jkasanic]

I have been using MKV rips set to same as source for audio and video. We are also playing SACDs ripped to FLACs, and they are fine. We are using Kodi as the front end...with it set to passthrough. Does this make sense? I haven't had a chance to try it on my movies yet in the HT though...I was using my other one in our MB, and it is passing the audio via optical to my WIFI headphones. I will let you know how it does in the HT too.

Yeah, makes sense. Interested to hear how your 1:1 rips with HD audio perform? These are the only limitation in my current setup.

[NBPk402]

Yeah, makes sense. Interested to hear how your 1:1 rips with HD audio perform? These are the only limitation in my current setup.

I had thought that the rips were great, but after switching to the new media player... I have my doubts. Last night I noticed my audio didn't quite sound the same while i was giving a demo to others of my setup, so I played the SACD in my Pioneer BDP-80DF... The results were dramatically different! I am going to have to do some more testing before I am certain. What we heard yesterday was at least 6db louder from the SACD than the rip, and somehow more bass, and clearer vocals. I had always thought a HDD would sound better (and in the past was unable to tell the difference).

[NBPk402]

I decided to give Plex a try, and i am now a lifetime member. At first I didn't like the interface, but once I got it all setup I love it. I really like the fact that I can pause a movie, and then start it up from where i left off in another room. I have been having some network problems since I started converting my whole LAN over to Cisco, and I believe the problems are all from the Netgear R7000 that was originally giving me a headache. Strange thing is with Kodi I am getting buffering, but with Plex it plays flawlessly, and appears to be at a louder level like my Pioneer DVD is.

[jkasanic]

I was torn between Plex and Emby but ultimately decided on Emby for the interface and awesome support.  You can't really go wrong with Plex though as it's very established.

[NBPk402]

I just came across this one... http://vortexbox.org/about I haven't tried it as Plex is doing fine for me, but someone else might like to try it out.

[NBPk402]

The more I use Plex, the more I like it. It is great to be able to pause and continue in another room. The channels feature is nice too for streaming from the Internet too.

[alangouger]

I plan on purchasing one of the HD Dunes. They seam to playback most file types including UHD BD rips. One model downloads trailers for playback. I remember the company name from over a decade ago and was surprised and happy to see they are still going strong.

[Baseball0618]

Apple TV 4K.  have 3 of them.  Love em'

[Harro]

I use a Minix Neo U9 side loaded with LibreElec for Kodi. It runs super smooth.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/like/322647536451
https://forum.libreelec.tv/thread/5274-index-libreelec-community-builds-for-amlogic/

[AVSMike]

I use PLEX on Roku to access my server. Works well, allowing access to my ripped movies on all of my displays, computer and iphone.

[claw]

I use my pair of Oppo 203 players to play HD and UHD Blu-Ray folder backups over my home network.   The Oppo outputs Dolby Vision to my LG OLED which is not possible with most players from folder backups.

I do realize this capability may disappear some day if pressure is put on Oppo by the studios, but for now it works great.

 

[Harro]

I use PLEX on Roku to access my server. Works well, allowing access to my ripped movies on all of my displays, computer and iphone.

I do have a Plex server running on my 100TB Nas 24/7. Feeds my shows and Movies while traveling to my phone or tablet, but mostly for my extended family across the US.

I have been Kodi (Xbmc) person for well over 10 years and with the scrappers available, my media shows off nicely. 

[DennisMitchell]

I have been a long-term PlexPass user of Plex, but I found a better Plex solution.   There is a Plex add-in for Kodi and I run on the nVidia Shield.  It is fantastic.  Kodi v18 and above now has "whitelisting" of certain resolutions that you wish not to be upscaled by Kodi or the nVidia Shield.  Kodi controls nVidia Shield resolution and refresh rate setting to permit the video passthrough to your display device.  

My display is a JVC RS540 (recently acquired), and I want all 1080p and below content to come to the projector at 1080p.  4k content I want to come natively to the projector.  The JVC then does it thing with e-shift to enhance the 1080p and process the 4k to the best of its ability.

To achieve this I set nVidia Shield resolution to "1080p 59.9" and Kodi to use "1080p auto".  When I play a 4k movie, Kodi will change the nVidia Shield resolution to 4k, and return it to 1080p after the playback ends.

Let me know if you have any questions.