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ARCTIC MC001 Fanless low cost HTPC
#46
I get heat from the top of the TV but nothing on the back, as long as the aluminium cover is facing outwards I'm sure it will be fine.

I managed to get Yatse to bring XBMC out of standby, worked 3 times then stopped? Didn't try again as I was busy, it's no big deal but I will play around when I update to the latest openelec release,
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#47
I need composite output for my old TV. Will simple adapter like those on ebay http://www.ebay.com/itm/140915734233 work with MC001 ?
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#48
Saw this article on Toms Hardware about the MC001.

I've worked out I can get this unit for £101 with shipping from HK through the artic website which seems to me to be a bargain and too good to pass up compared that I havn't found another item like this for such a low price.

From a scan through this thread it would seem I need to install a windows OS to get full HD audio and probably an SSD to ensure everything is lightning fast.

I would be looking to connect the optical audio from the device to my Amp and the HDMI to the TV. This shouldnt affect the audio at all I'd of thought? Optical doesnt discriminate against HD or non HD Audio if I'm correct?

I wil be at some point looking to route HDMI and audio through an Amp but that won't be for a while yet.

Cheers,

Tim
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#49
Optical does not support HD audio.
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#50
Interesting.

Without going too off topic I hope you dont mind if I ask a further Q.

SOme of my films are ripped from my blu rays with only an HD audio track. If Im running xbmc on this unit, connected via optical to my amp, there will be no audio at all? or a downscaled one?

Cheers,

Tim
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#51
(2013-02-11, 18:25)lpf20011 Wrote: I've worked out I can get this unit for £101 with shipping from HK through the artic website which seems to me to be a bargain and too good to pass up compared that I havn't found another item like this for such a low price.

Is EU VAT and Duty included in that price Tim?

It's still available from Amazon.de for €115 including shipping to the UK and there is not further taxes to pay as it is shipped from within the EU. Works out at about £99.
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#52
New user, long time lurker. Really loving the XBMC software.

I ordered this one myself. Too good an offer to pass. Looking forward to getting rid of my Boxee Box.

What are you're thoughts about SSD or USB 2.0 / USB 3.0 thumb drive with openelec on it?

Will I see any difference in GUI etc. speed at all?
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#53
(2013-02-11, 20:10)martindk Wrote: New user, long time lurker. Really loving the XBMC software.

I ordered this one myself. Too good an offer to pass. Looking forward to getting rid of my Boxee Box.

What are you're thoughts about SSD or USB 2.0 / USB 3.0 thumb drive with openelec on it?

Will I see any difference in GUI etc. speed at all?

SSD is silky smooth for me and they aren't that much more than a good USB stick or SD card, £55 delivered for a 64Gb M4 was too much to resist.

Maybe a bit of overkill but Openelec boots from cold in 18 seconds and I suspect it will last a hell of a lot longer in a HTPC that isn't writing small bits data constantly like it would in conventional use,
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#54
(2013-02-11, 18:40)lpf20011 Wrote: Interesting.

Without going too off topic I hope you dont mind if I ask a further Q.

SOme of my films are ripped from my blu rays with only an HD audio track. If Im running xbmc on this unit, connected via optical to my amp, there will be no audio at all? or a downscaled one?

Cheers,

Tim

I have tested it for you using optical out to a non-HD receiver. Using OpenELEC-Generic.i386-2.99.2. No special config tweaks, just the standard settings to tell it my receiver is 5.1 and AC3/DTS capable.

DTS-HD 7.1
The 5.1 DTS core is outputted to the receiver. Sounds excellent.

TrueHD 6-channel
Outputs 5.1 AC3

LPCM 6-channel
Outputs 5.1 AC3

TrueHD and LPCM are transcoded to AC3 5.1 in realtime. There's no issues with CPU power for this transcoding on the Arctic MC001, it was <15% when playing these (high bitrate Blurays).

The reason I edited was I was getting AC3 2.0, but that was a simple setting change in the Audio settings.
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#55
(2013-02-11, 21:18)matt645 Wrote:
(2013-02-11, 20:10)martindk Wrote: New user, long time lurker. Really loving the XBMC software.

I ordered this one myself. Too good an offer to pass. Looking forward to getting rid of my Boxee Box.

What are you're thoughts about SSD or USB 2.0 / USB 3.0 thumb drive with openelec on it?

Will I see any difference in GUI etc. speed at all?

SSD is silky smooth for me and they aren't that much more than a good USB stick or SD card, £55 delivered for a 64Gb M4 was too much to resist.

Maybe a bit of overkill but Openelec boots from cold in 18 seconds and I suspect it will last a hell of a lot longer in a HTPC that isn't writing small bits data constantly like it would in conventional use,

Cheers Matt, yeah they are nice those ssd's. Hmm... we'll see when it gets here. Looking forward to the specific openelec build.
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#56
(2013-02-11, 21:26)voochi Wrote:
(2013-02-11, 18:40)lpf20011 Wrote: Interesting.

Without going too off topic I hope you dont mind if I ask a further Q.

SOme of my films are ripped from my blu rays with only an HD audio track. If Im running xbmc on this unit, connected via optical to my amp, there will be no audio at all? or a downscaled one?

Cheers,

Tim

I have tested it for you using optical out to a non-HD receiver. Using OpenELEC-Generic.i386-2.99.2. No special config tweaks, just the standard settings to tell it my receiver is 5.1 and AC3/DTS capable.

DTS-HD 7.1
The 5.1 DTS core is outputted to the receiver. Sounds excellent.

TrueHD 6-channel
*edit* will test again with different settings
LPCM 6-channel
*edit* will test again with different settings

AIUI HD Audio bitstreaming (and multichannel PCM) is only supported if you run Windows with AMD/ATI GPUs. OpenElec, being Linux based, will just do PCM 2.0 or DD/DTS lossy.
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#57
(2013-02-11, 23:21)noggin Wrote: AIUI HD Audio bitstreaming (and multichannel PCM) is only supported if you run Windows with AMD/ATI GPUs. OpenElec, being Linux based, will just do PCM 2.0 or DD/DTS lossy.

Yes I already know that. I was expecting transcoded AC3 5.1 for these formats, but I was initially getting only AC3 2.0, hence the edit. It was just a simple setting change.

I already knew what the result would be but the reason for testing was just to confirm the Atom was powerful enough to transcode to AC3 in realtime.
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#58
Loving my 4x MC001's. Can't wait for the Specific MC001 build coming due to the partnership deal with arctic announced last week. Any day now they say with the Openelec 3.0 Frodo launch.

What boot times should I expect off of USB 3 sticks plugged into the USB 2 ports on the back with the non generic build in the works? 28 seconds at the moment with the generic i386 2.92 build.

I can wait for AMD to get their act together with linux drivers. Plays pretty much everything I want perfectly now anyway. No dropped frames on the 40mbit Birds killa sample 5.1 profile thingie. All skins I tried (Metropolis, Aeon Nox, Transparency (My Skin of Choice) smooth as butter as is library browsing.

Don't really care about the HD audio formats. I would like to get audio via HDMI to the TV and via Optical to my 5.1 Reciever though. Pain in the proverbial having to go into the audio menu to change at the moment. What to I need to do to get audio on both outputs at the same time? Sidenote: Menu sounds via HDMI 100% of the time. However only get menu clicks/sounds every second tap of the remote via optical and none if I leave more than a second between button presses on the remote. Its like the first button press wakes the Reciever and thus its only 'awake' in time for the second button press if I'm fast enough.
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#59
Strange, I changed the menu sound from click to bubbles or whatever its called and now I get clicks every button press.

Anyone got any input on the dual audio issue. ie. I'd like 2.0 via HDMI to TV and 5.1 via OPtical/Toslink to my old non HDMI non HD-Audio Reciever

Also, can the MC001 be Started and Shutdown with a Harmony. If I use the shutdown menu and put it in suspend, the Harmony Power Toggle button will wake it up but half the time it doesn't wake properly. I understand this is a problem with Flgrfx drivers or something.

Ideally I could turn it on and off without going through the menu. Is there a bios setting to change perhaps to either enable 'Hard' power on/off or even to get 'Soft power on/off with suspend. Whats the downsides of suspend instead of turning the thing off fully...assuming it can be put into suspend without issues.'
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#60
Well seeing as my middle name is 'ThreadKiller' I'll answer my last question and pose a new one. To enable ;'Hard' On/Off with the remote one needs to disable EUP in the Bios.

Hey guys, I have a question! Big Grin What does one do when not one single F key nor DEL key gets you into the BIOS during Boot. USB keyboard and held 'em all down during boot and Nada. No Bios. Boots into Openelec. Pulling my hair out at this stage.
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ARCTIC MC001 Fanless low cost HTPC5