[pinn]

Hi,

I have been browsing the forums for the past few week trying to decide what box to upgrade, too. I have been running an old e-machines er-1401 but it's a bit long in the tooth now. What I would like in a new box is HD audio passthrough for my receiver, x265 support and while I dont have a 4k/HDR tv yet, I would like to get one in the nearish future (my wife permitting!).

I have been looking at the Minix u1 and the Wetek core but don't know how I would manage with these as am currently using Windows to run sabnzbd, sickbeard and couchpotato. I also have all my media on three externally powered USB drives.

So I guess my question is, were I to plump for Android/openelec would I still be able to manage downloads via Sab etc and could I use my HDDs, or should I be looking to a NUC?

Any advice and recommendations for other boxes would be appreciated

[Mylo75]

Libreelec to add another option.

Get a nas and run sickbeard etc from it, and have kodi only device.

Buy a nuc run Windows.

See sticky threads all info there.

[hdmkv]

HD audio passthrough for my receiver, x265 support and ... a 4k/HDR

Options:
- HiMedia Q10 Pro (has HDR now)
- nVidia Shield TV (HDR should be added)

If HDR not needed:
- WeTek Hub, Play2, or Streamer (dates unknown)
- Intel 'Kaby Lake' NUC's (late 2016)

[ianuk2005]

Rather than running external hdds if your looking for lots of storage best option is to get a nas or something like a cheap hp microserver thats dedicated to storage and downloading. Im currently using an old n54l microserver on openelec running transmission for downloading and sharing files, doubles up as an outdated playback device as well.

Shield is a great top end playback only device. Possibly worth waiting till new wetek products though to see how they are. Minix is probably not as worthwhile support wise.

[pinn]

Libreelec to add another option.

Get a nas and run sickbeard etc from it, and have kodi only device.

Buy a nuc run Windows.

See sticky threads all info there.

Thanks for the advice. So I guess I could run my existing Windows PC as a NAS and just buy an Android box to stream to. When streaming from a NAS is there any loss of quality on HD sound/picture sources? I'd probably connect it via homeplugs as wifi is a bit wonky in my house.

Cheers

[pinn]

HD audio passthrough for my receiver, x265 support and ... a 4k/HDR

Options:
- HiMedia Q10 Pro (has HDR now)
- nVidia Shield TV (HDR should be added)

If HDR not needed:
- WeTek Hub, Play2, or Streamer (dates unknown)
- Intel 'Kaby Lake' NUC's (late 2016)

Is it confirmed that Android won't run multiple externally powered HDDs via USB or a USB hub?

[ianuk2005]

HD audio passthrough for my receiver, x265 support and ... a 4k/HDR

Options:
- HiMedia Q10 Pro (has HDR now)
- nVidia Shield TV (HDR should be added)

If HDR not needed:
- WeTek Hub, Play2, or Streamer (dates unknown)
- Intel 'Kaby Lake' NUC's (late 2016)

Is it confirmed that Android won't run multiple externally powered HDDs via USB or a USB hub?

Android can use external hdds for sure (if correcrly formatted), multiple and via a usb hub i've never know anyone to actually try

As long as your not transcoding or anything like that quality should be exactly the same via a nas. Of course buffering could be an issue if your trying to stream very large files e.g. 4k over a bad network.

If your wifi is bad switching to 5ghz can make a huge difference, I use gamestream which needs a fast stable network and on 2.4ghz its a pixelated laggy mess due to congestion, 5ghz flawless 1080p.

[wrxtasy]

I would not be trusting Android to handle multiple directly connected HDD's correctly, even with a Hub. I've seen to many problems.
See this post HERE where this was discussed recently.

Personally I would get a NAS and a nVIDIA Shield or run a Linux OS based version of Kodi on HDMI 2.0 10-bit hardware and stay away from Android completely.

HDR and REC 2020 are so new I would not be getting media player hardware exclusively for that either. Buy well sorted out Hardware when the standards are settled and the future actually arrives. Hardware will be both cheaper and cause less problems that way. You pay through the nose to be right on the (buggy) bleeding edge.

[pinn]

[quote='wrxtasy' pid='2325157' dateline='1462077670']
I would not be trusting Android to handle multiple directly connected HDD's correctly, even with a Hub. I've seen to many problems.
See this post HERE where this was discussed recently.

Personally I would get a NAS and a nVIDIA Shield or run a Linux OS based version of Kodi on HDMI 2.0 10-bit hardware and stay away from Android completely.

HDR and REC 2020 are so new I would not be getting media player hardware exclusively for that either. Buy well sorted out Hardware when the standards are settled and the future actually arrives. Hardware will be both cheaper and cause less problems that way. You pay through the nose to be right on the (buggy) bleeding edge.
[/quote

Yeah, I had seen your previous post and that's why I just wanted confirmation as others had set that using stickmount has allowed them to mount multiple ext HDDs.

I'd rather run one rather than 2 devices and the Shield is probably at the higher end of my budget. Wouldn't the Core be able to do what I'm after?

[wrxtasy]

Yes, you can add two USB drives in Android on the Core for the 2 USB ports it has before likely having to go down the stickmount path (never used this personally). Ask the Stickmount question over in the WeTek Core thread.

Running OpenELEC on the Core and you can do whatever you want, but then you loose HD Audio Passthrough.

The other option that I'm personally developing for, and is now ticking over nicely indeed is the 10-bit/4K ODROID C2 running LibreELEC. Again add as many HDD's as you want as its a Linux based OS. The only thing really missing on that is DTS-MA/HRA Audio Passthrough and DD+
You do get the DTS Core from DTS-MA though. See all the up to date C2 details HERE

Be aware you need externally powered HDD's or a powered usb Hub when using any ARM device like the RPi's, Core or C2 for HDD reliability.
Plug and play, you will need an Intel box supplying more power.

[User 325245]

Hello, I used to have WIndows HTPC so except couple of NASes, I have several external USB HDDs (due to cost cutting)... the PC died so I bought Android box. So since I already had all those WD's with movies, I tried using them with android/kodi. It works, but the problem is that my Android box doesn't have power on/off function, it is always ON, so it can be turned on via remote control. The problem is that external USB disks then NEVER turn off completely, since the Android box is not fully powered off....

[pinn]

Hello, I used to have WIndows HTPC so except couple of NASes, I have several external USB HDDs (due to cost cutting)... the PC died so I bought Android box. So since I already had all those WD's with movies, I tried using them with android/kodi. It works, but the problem is that my Android box doesn't have power on/off function, it is always ON, so it can be turned on via remote control. The problem is that external USB disks then NEVER turn off completely, since the Android box is not fully powered off....

Cheers. Looks like I may be best off going for something that runs some variant of Linux then - I presume that would have power management for drives?