Is new Roku Ultra better than Firestick 4K?

[Old Onkyo]

I have an Amazon 4K Firestick connected to my tv. I was gifted a Roku Ultra. Is it worth going thru instal/ setup of the Roku, Or should I just give it away?

 

[Paul DS]

Roku Ultra is a good box. I certainly wouldn't give one away.

 

[Hobbit]

IMO, the Roku Ultra is much much better than the firestick. I bought one for my gf, and liked it so much better I bought one for myself. The firestick is on my bedroom tv and rarely used. Even though my smart tv is slow, like most of them, I prefer it.

Of course, If you love amazon and you're totally intertwined with them, you may miss the convenience of easily giving them your money.

 

[Danzilla31]

The Roku ultra is in both my home theater setup and my bedroom setup for a reason love those bad boys

 

[Old Onkyo]

Guess I’ll install it today.. Thanks everyone.

 

[Old Onkyo]

connected, sound is a definite improvement.

 

[Cos]

I use both, Ultra is my go to, and Firestick is for Kodi

 

[lovinthehd]

Why would audio change? It has different codecs?

 

[panteragstk]

Why would audio change? It has different codecs?

Firesticks are limited to DD+ for the most part. Main reason I gave mine away. Haven't messed with the new Roku boxes in a long time, but they're very popular for a reason.

 

[afterlife2]

Firesticks are limited to DD+ for the most part. Main reason I gave mine away. Haven't messed with the new Roku boxes in a long time, but they're very popular for a reason.

No atmos you mean on 4K fire stick?

 

[panteragstk]

No atmos you mean on 4K fire stick?

Yes, but it's over DD+. Thanks for pointing that out. I forgot that part, but from what I've read it's spotty as to whether or not it works consistently for people.

 

[lovinthehd]

Firesticks are limited to DD+ for the most part. Main reason I gave mine away. Haven't messed with the new Roku boxes in a long time, but they're very popular for a reason.

With Old Onkyo's system that wouldn't be a limitation I don't think.....

 

[panteragstk]

With Old Onkyo's system that wouldn't be a limitation I don't think.....

Good point.

I honestly liked the Fire Stick. Has a ton of app support, but the audio codec restriction and the horrible interface were enough for me to get rid of it.

If people don't care about those two things, then it's a fantastic device.

 

[lovinthehd]

Good point.

I honestly liked the Fire Stick. Has a ton of app support, but the audio codec restriction and the horrible interface were enough for me to get rid of it.

If people don't care about those two things, then it's a fantastic device.

I have older Fire sticks and most of the apps I use have at least DD+, so no problem for me. Curious, what codec restrictions did you particularly note with what apps compared to the Roku? Do you have lossless audio now with Roku apps?

 

[panteragstk]

I have older Fire sticks and most of the apps I use have at least DD+, so no problem for me. Curious, what codec restrictions did you particularly note with what apps compared to the Roku? Do you have lossless audio now with Roku apps?

It was for my lossless movie rips with DTS-HD/X and Dolby TrueHD/Atmos tracks that it didn't work well for. Video quality was perfect, better than my shield TV for HDR>SDR conversion. I had wanted to use it in my theater, but it didn't work out.

 

[lovinthehd]

It was for my lossless movie rips with DTS-HD/X and Dolby TrueHD/Atmos tracks that it didn't work well for. Video quality was perfect, better than my shield TV for HDR>SDR conversion. I had wanted to use it in my theater, but it didn't work out.

You ran your own lossless rips thru the fire stick via Plex app? No changes with app content directly?

 

[panteragstk]

You ran your own lossless rips thru the fire stick via Plex app? No changes with app content directly?

Yep. Everything was force transcoded to DD+ through Plex. I expected to see the server doing the conversion, but it sent the untouched file to the Fire Stick 4K and it transcoded the audio. Same thing happened with the Xbox One I tested. I was surprised to see that since I thought they both would just direct stream like my Shield TV.

 

[Old Onkyo]

It was for my lossless movie rips with DTS-HD/X and Dolby TrueHD/Atmos tracks that it didn't work well for. Video quality was perfect, better than my shield TV for HDR>SDR conversion. I had wanted to use it in my theater, but it didn't work out.

My wife kept saying, “the picture is better.”

 

[lovinthehd]

My wife kept saying, “the picture is better.”

Are you comparing with both connected and switching between them with same content on same app between firestick/roku?

 

[Old Onkyo]

Are you comparing with both connected and switching between them with same content on same app between firestick/roku?

Naw man.. it’s new, ergo it must be better. Right?