[jac55]

Thank you for your swift response. The purist in me likes to think the sampling rate and bit depth of the original music file is being let through to the DAC in the AV receiver, even though I may not be able to tell if the stream has been downsampled or not.

[poofyhairguy]

Thank you for your swift response. The purist in me likes to think the sampling rate and bit depth of the original music file is being let through to the DAC in the AV receiver, even though I may not be able to tell if the stream has been downsampled or not.

You can set the rate in the settings if it bugs you, just make sure advanced options are enabled in Kodi. I think the optimized setting is best for most though.

[wrxtasy]

Poofy, there is a gaping chasm in your first page for:

a) Those of us that don't live in the US and have to pay exorbitant prices inc taxes to import from the US.
b) Value PAL TV refresh rates and decent quality deinterlacing and refresh rate switching.
c) A proven cheap as chips pure Kodi media device that has very stable firmware.
One that just works especially when Overclocked.

As of end of October 2014 over 3.8 million of these capable little buggers have been sold !
https://blog.adafruit.com/2014/10/13/3-8...spberrypi/

I think you know what I'm talking about

[poofyhairguy]

I am not a Pi hater. Seriously. The Pi's are just the only major device/device category I personally haven't owned/fixed. I respect a device that can play most 1080p and de-interlace. And refresh rate match, I hate going backward on that. I have been meaning to get one for years and run my test clips through it (the set that kills the Crystal HD) but I just am so demanding about my HTPC setups that I never had a person use for one outside that. But I want to redo the thread in a bit to be more informative so let me ask some questions and I will include it:

-Single core box performance is what basically determines library count and GUI performance in my experiance (there are some MySQL tricks but I am talking local library). What library limit do you think the Pi (even overclocked) has? 500 movies? 1000? 2000? I am going to put in a scale. Every ARM device I have touched, excluding the new iPad, can't take my 2000 movies and have performance I find acceptable so I wonder about the Pi.

-Do you use light skins like Bello? Seems like it would fly on there. What is your FPS on Confluence? Aeon?

-Any plugins you know don't work? Or do work really well?

-Do you know if there is any color correction in hardware?

-Any other general advice/warnings?

Thank you in advance.

[aaronb]

I already have a Harmony 1100, which I am currently using in the lounge.

I have a Harmony in every room with a TV. I just don't see the point in trying anything else once the family is used to a Harmony. I am a huge fan of the 600s or 650s.

Then you need a FLIRC or USB IR receiver to go with it (I still am a fan of the HP ones) to really maximize utility.

I've been using/recommending/setting up for friends Harmony 650s for years, but the lag is finally starting to really annoy me. I've done all of the common fixes to improve it, but the best you can do is still quite a bit slower than other remotes. I'd kill for something Harmony-esque with no lag, and that still has totally customizable buttons with the on-screen display screen like the 650.

It wasn't until I had a problem one day and had to use the Android remote that I realized how slow to respond my Harmony is

[bym007]

I already have a Harmony 1100, which I am currently using in the lounge.

I have a Harmony in every room with a TV. I just don't see the point in trying anything else once the family is used to a Harmony. I am a huge fan of the 600s or 650s.

Then you need a FLIRC or USB IR receiver to go with it (I still am a fan of the HP ones) to really maximize utility.

I've been using/recommending/setting up for friends Harmony 650s for years, but the lag is finally starting to really annoy me. I've done all of the common fixes to improve it, but the best you can do is still quite a bit slower than other remotes. I'd kill for something Harmony-esque with no lag, and that still has totally customizable buttons with the on-screen display screen like the 650.

It wasn't until I had a problem one day and had to use the Android remote that I realized how slow to respond my Harmony is

By android remote, I take it you mean Yatse and the likes?

[wrxtasy]

I am not a Pi hater. Seriously. The Pi's are just the only major device/device category I personally haven't owned/fixed. I respect a device that can play most 1080p and de-interlace. And refresh rate match, I hate going backward on that.

-Any other general advice/warnings?

Just a wee bit...
The Raspberry Pi's are pretty popular, especially outside the US so some detail on proper setup really is needed.

I have a pretty big media library on the RPi (3400 video files and growing) and these are the recommendations to get the best performance from it: (Plus anyone with ARM devices will benefit from some of these tips)

- don't use a local library, thats what cheap NAS storage is for.
- buy a 512MB RPI B+
- use Ethernet
- get a good microSDHC, the updated NOOBS Samsung one is recommended.
- Max Overclock it with a recommended 5V/2.0 Amp power supply that includes a decent thick USB power cord.
- use force_turbo=1 Overclocking. This is Max Overclocking all the time, not adjusted dynamically.
- DO NOT use local Metadata scraping as the write speed of most SD cards is slow plus the CPU just cannot handle parsing all that data. Instead use external Metadata scrapers. I find the very recently updated MediaElch excellent.
- Store all media in separate external folders which includes the associated metadata.
- for fast Kodi GUI and Media Library browsing use NFS and the above folder structure recommendation. NFS taxes the CPU very lightly compared to SMB. You want your fast Ethernet Network to do all the work, presenting the Pi with all that Metadata instead of taxing the CPU.
- Library Scanning speed used to be terribly slow, now its pretty quick using Openelec 5.0 / Kodi.
- Kodi > Settings > System > Video > File Lists > Extract thumbnails and video information > OFF
- Set the gpu_mem=256 in the config.txt file to play all Skins
- choose a low textured Skin for best GUI speed

- deinterlacing Live TV is pretty good too using: (thanks Popcornmix)
For DVD resolution the RPi will do a motion adaptive deinterlace similar to YADIF.
For higher resolutions (e.g. 1080i) it will do Bob. Both will optionally double framerate.

- the Youtube addon is a bit slow.

Skins: Aeon Nox works but it is not what you call snappy. The low textured graphics Skins work the best.
Confluence no problems at all, Maximinimalism, Conq. They are all snappy.

My personal favorite and one thats a bit different is the skin Eminence

[aaronb]

By android remote, I take it you mean Yatse and the likes?

Yeah, the official Android remote app

[poofyhairguy]

It wasn't until I had a problem one day and had to use the Android remote that I realized how slow to respond my Harmony is

Well that is not fair, an app isn't using IR at all. I don't see the issue with using both. I use a Harmony and Yatse almost daily. It comes down to the situation, Yatse isn't going to control the volume on my AV receiver.

[aaronb]

It wasn't until I had a problem one day and had to use the Android remote that I realized how slow to respond my Harmony is

Well that is not fair, an app isn't using IR at all. I don't see the issue with using both. I use a Harmony and Yatse almost daily. It comes down to the situation, Yatse isn't going to control the volume on my AV receiver.

It's not an IR thing though, it's the Harmony lag. I have other IR remotes that respond much faster. Using more than one remote is a dealbreaker for me, defeats the whole purpose of having a Harmony (also not really a fan of all touchscreen, I seldom need to look at the Harmony)

I'm just holding out hope for my dream remote with the features of the Harmony and the speed of other remotes

[Chalupa]

For a stick that plays nice with MicroSD or a USB drive there are a tons of options. I recommend something with a Mali 450 GPU as it has a great decoder built in. I have an S805 based one that I use as my vacation device.

Can anyone recommend a few devices in this category? Not having much like Googling without knowing what to look for. I'm just looking to play relatively basic videos (720p H.264 at 10Mbit, say) off a USB hard drive. Netflix, Hulu, 3D, 10-bit, ethernet and 4K unnecessary. Could I grab something like this with a remote for around $50, or is that unrealistic?

[poofyhairguy]

For a stick that plays nice with MicroSD or a USB drive there are a tons of options. I recommend something with a Mali 450 GPU as it has a great decoder built in. I have an S805 based one that I use as my vacation device.

Can anyone recommend a few devices in this category? Not having much like Googling without knowing what to look for. I'm just looking to play relatively basic videos (720p H.264 at 10Mbit, say) off a USB hard drive. Netflix, Hulu, 3D, 10-bit, ethernet and 4K unnecessary. Could I grab something like this with a remote for around $50, or is that unrealistic?

So far I have had good results with my MK808B PLUS, but I am hesitant to outright recommend it until I run it through all the tests I abuse every HTPC with.

One thing that gives my pause is the 10 bit requirement. I need to try some on this thing. I apologize I can't be more helpful yet but I will update OP with my findings.

[KoopaTroopa]

I am not a Pi hater. Seriously. The Pi's are just the only major device/device category I personally haven't owned/fixed. I respect a device that can play most 1080p and de-interlace. And refresh rate match, I hate going backward on that.

-Any other general advice/warnings?

Just a wee bit...
The Raspberry Pi's are pretty popular, especially outside the US so some detail on proper setup really is needed.

I have a pretty big media library on the RPi (3400 video files and growing) and these are the recommendations to get the best performance from it: (Plus anyone with ARM devices will benefit from some of these tips)

- don't use a local library, thats what cheap NAS storage is for.
- buy a 512MB RPI B+
- use Ethernet
- get a good microSDHC, the updated NOOBS Samsung one is recommended.
- Max Overclock it with a recommended 5V/2.0 Amp power supply that includes a decent thick USB power cord.
- use force_turbo=1 Overclocking. This is Max Overclocking all the time, not adjusted dynamically.
- DO NOT use local Metadata scraping as the write speed of most SD cards is slow plus the CPU just cannot handle parsing all that data. Instead use external Metadata scrapers. I find the very recently updated MediaElch excellent.
- Store all media in separate external folders which includes the associated metadata.
- for fast Kodi GUI and Media Library browsing use NFS and the above folder structure recommendation. NFS taxes the CPU very lightly compared to SMB. You want your fast Ethernet Network to do all the work, presenting the Pi with all that Metadata instead of taxing the CPU.
- Library Scanning speed used to be terribly slow, now its pretty quick using Openelec 5.0 / Kodi.
- Kodi > Settings > System > Video > File Lists > Extract thumbnails and video information > OFF
- Set the gpu_mem=256 in the config.txt file to play all Skins
- choose a low textured Skin for best GUI speed

- deinterlacing Live TV is pretty good too using: (thanks Popcornmix)
For DVD resolution the RPi will do a motion adaptive deinterlace similar to YADIF.
For higher resolutions (e.g. 1080i) it will do Bob. Both will optionally double framerate.

- the Youtube addon is a bit slow.

Skins: Aeon Nox works but it is not what you call snappy. The low textured graphics Skins work the best.
Confluence no problems at all, Maximinimalism, Conq. They are all snappy.

My personal favorite and one thats a bit different is the skin Eminence

Hi all,

While I agree with this post, I wonder if almost all of these tips are now moot due to RPi 2.

Faster CPU, four cores, 1GB ram

I think you wouldn't need to do quite a few of the above tips.

Thoughts?

[poofyhairguy]

For a stick that plays nice with MicroSD or a USB drive there are a tons of options. I recommend something with a Mali 450 GPU as it has a great decoder built in. I have an S805 based one that I use as my vacation device.

Can anyone recommend a few devices in this category? Not having much like Googling without knowing what to look for. I'm just looking to play relatively basic videos (720p H.264 at 10Mbit, say) off a USB hard drive. Netflix, Hulu, 3D, 10-bit, ethernet and 4K unnecessary. Could I grab something like this with a remote for around $50, or is that unrealistic?

Ok I did the full test. My mk808b plus didn't completely live up to spec but it did better than I expected.

It can handle all the h264 I can throw at it. My highest bitrate sample of 1080p and no problem. As a surprise it can also handle 720p Hi10P which was cool. Also it handles MPEG2 and 30fps h264 content well. It had problems with VC1 files (in many containers and bit rates) and couldn't handle a 480p HEVC. But I will take the trade off there. The GUI is pretty responsive, it can actually run Aeon kinda well. Confluence is snappier than on ION1, which is cool. A decent amount of the plugins I tried worked. Oh and it could play files off a pen drive and off a powered hard drive, both of a exfat formatting (but I have read NTFS works too). Also the device is getting some degree of support (An update added USB ethernet support) so I feel comfortable recommending this thing as long as you aren't going to stream media over its wifi. I got mine for $35 online so hopefully this will work for you.

[MSummerville]

Hi,

Great thread guys. Really useful- I am looking to upgrade a couple of ATV2s that I have around the house that link to a NAS over ethernet.

I have ready good review of the CuBox in a Kodi setup and wonder how these compare to the advice in this thread. Has anyone used one? Interested in people's views and how they compare to the FireTV (which I assume is the equivalent)

http://www.solid-run.com/products/cubox-...-computer/

Thanks