[bon_gr]

I have been going through the forum reading and reading endless posts as well as the "START HERE" guide. I bought some months ago the Himedia Q5 Pro box, and I am not happy with it. I realized that I do not care at all about the whole Android OS, I just wanted a smooth KODI experience, and being able to playback all x265, 4K, HDR, 10bit videos to my 4K HDR TV, as well as pass through HD audio to my amplifier.

I have decided to ditch the Himedia box, and want to buy a libreelec box that will do, as hassle free as possible, all of the above. I don't mind paying a bit more if I will get to do what I need without endless searching in forums to get answers. Simply install libreelec and work as flawlessly as possible is the most important thing to me. I would prefer if you could point me to specific boxes and not generic answers like "get a s905(x) box".

Thank you in advance!

[trogggy]

I don't mind paying a bit more if I will get to do what I need without endless searching in forums to get answers. Simply install libreelec and work as flawlessly as possible is the most important thing to me.

That sounds like an Odroid C2 to me. It costs a fair bit more than a generic S905 / 905X box but the support is specific to that box so if you don't want to 'mess' to get things just so it's a good route to take.

[bon_gr]

I don't mind paying a bit more if I will get to do what I need without endless searching in forums to get answers. Simply install libreelec and work as flawlessly as possible is the most important thing to me.

That sounds like an Odroid C2 to me. It costs a fair bit more than a generic S905 / 905X box but the support is specific to that box so if you don't want to 'mess' to get things just so it's a good route to take.

Thank you for your answer. Is it easy to set up? And most importantly, do x265, HDR, 4K, 10bit & HD audio passthrough work?

[trogggy]

Read the thread I linked to. Look at wrxtasy's posts in particular for what will / won't work.
I don't use the C2 - I use S905 boxes which take more messing about, but the performance of all these boxes (S905 / S905X) should be broadly similar - but of your criteria I'm only interested in X265, which works a treat on my Beelinks.

Edit: I think the ease of setup has been compared to sticking lego together. If you can do that you can use a C2...
Saying that, lego's moved on - I'd struggle with some of the stuff my son's stuck together.

[bon_gr]

Read the thread I linked to. Look at wrxtasy's posts in particular for what will / won't work.
I don't use the C2 - I use S905 boxes which take more messing about, but the performance of all these boxes (S905 / S905X) should be broadly similar - but of your criteria I'm only interested in X265, which works a treat on my Beelinks.

Edit: I think the ease of setup has been compared to sticking lego together. If you can do that you can use a C2...
Saying that, lego's moved on - I'd struggle with some of the stuff my son's stuck together.

Thanks again. It looks cool, however I see that it won't support HDR... (- This is not a HDR10 or 1080/2160p VP9 decoding platform.). Am i wrong?

[trogggy]

Actually no, you're right. An S905X -based box would play HDR, but I'm not aware of any that are supported like the C2. So maybe you're looking at something pc-based in a much higher price bracket if you want it to 'just work.'.

[bon_gr]

None of the S905x is supported that much? Maybe someone who needs what I need and has tested one of those boxes can help... As for the PC-based solution, any idea what would be enough for what I need?

[wrxtasy]

Asking for HDR support is a limiting, sometimes expensive Noose that you are going to tie around your neck. Why ?

- Kodi does not even support HDR10 Metadata output. Plus there is stuff all properly encoded 4K HDR content out there anyway. The only decently encode HDR10 stuff is locked behind Netflix and Amazon Video servers or on uncrackable UHD Blurays.
How 4K HDR many test clips can a person watch ?

Personally I would not even bother investing in expensive HDR10 capable equiptment until both Kodi Software and widely available HDR video content is is bedded down and widely available. It's all Pure Marketing at this point in time IMHO.

AMLogic S905 boxes will give you Gigabit Ethernet. Some like the WeTek Hub and MINIX U1 - have excellent AC WiFi. The ODROID C2 will be a bit faster, due to Overclocking abilities and it has a superior HDMI CEC implementation over any other AML Box.

I recommend Wireless remotes for any Kodi media player.

[bon_gr]

Thank you for your reply. Money aside, If you had to recommend one box for my case, and in order to be as much future proof as possible, which would it be (please note I already own the Himedia Q5 Pro).

[wrxtasy]

Intel Kaby Lake hardware with a proper HDMI 2.0 port instead of that Bastardised Display Port to HDMI 2.0 implementation some Intel Apollo Lake Hardware is packing.

You will have to wait for both Firmware and Software to catch up.
http://forum.kodi.tv/showthread.php?tid=294312

Probably still won't perform as good for Audio & Video playback at the moment (excluding 3D) as a $40-$50 AMLogic S905X box running LibreELEC Kodi Krypton.

For AML S905X LibreELEC support:
https://forum.libreelec.tv/thread-5274.html

[bon_gr]

I don't care about 3D... So which S905x box then?

[wrxtasy]

That is where the DIY starts, read the LibreELEC link above and see what everyone else is using successfully. These devices and the names of them change all the time. Just do some basic reading over on the LibreELEC forums.

Buy a quality Wireless remote too, like a MINIX A2/A3 Lite with its Mini Keyboard.

[bon_gr]

I already own this remote bought together with the Q5 Pro.

http://www.futeko.com/products/AC111.php

So any S905x box would do? Isn't there one that is more compatible or more stable than others?

Thanks for all your help

[wrxtasy]

That is where the DIY starts, read the LibreELEC link above and see what everyone else is using successfully. These devices and the names of them change all the time. Just do some basic reading over on the LibreELEC forums.

OR

AMLogic S905 boxes will give you Gigabit Ethernet. Some like the WeTek Hub and MINIX U1 - have excellent AC WiFi. The ODROID C2 will be a bit faster, due to Overclocking abilities and it has a superior HDMI CEC implementation over any other AML Box.

There is no Gigabit Ethernet on AML S905X boxes. 100M only.
The WeTek Hub / Play2 and ODROID C2 are LibreELEC AMLogic reference Hardware devices.

The S905 Play2 is on a discount sale at the moment too:
http://forum.kodi.tv/showthread.php?tid=...pid2569932
https://wetek.com/shop/wetek-play2

You need some sort of SD Card like a Samsung EVO or Sandisk Class 10 UHS-1 microSDHC card to get started with LibreELEC.

Do you still think HDR support is worth chasing at this present point in time ?
Hardware gets cheaper each year, we just have to wait for Software and Firmware to catch up, and by that time HDR Hardware will be cheaper again when all that is sorted out.