Best media server to play back .MKV 1080p files with DTS-HD MA?

[dreamagain]

Patriot Box Office? Boxxee Box? Something else?

I just want to be able to put my MKV's on a hard drive, plug it in and have it be able to bitstream DTS-HD MA audio to my receiver with no problems, and no hiccups. Can anything do this?

 

[bellevegasj]

ps3 media server works great if you have a ps3.

 

[dreamagain]

ps3 media server works great if you have a ps3.

Ps3 Media Server can't playback large .mkv files with dts-hd MA without lagging.. at least for me it can't.

 

[Adam]

Ps3 Media Server can't playback large .mkv files with dts-hd MA without lagging.. at least for me it can't.

Is your PS3 hardwired or going over it's internal wireless connection? If it's using the internal 802.11g wireless, I'm going to guess that's at least one issue. Mine maxes out ~15Mbps, which would be laggy with what you're trying to do.

 

[dreamagain]

Is your PS3 hardwired or going over it's internal wireless connection? If it's using the internal 802.11g wireless, I'm going to guess that's at least one issue. Mine maxes out ~15Mbps, which would be laggy with what you're trying to do.

It's hardwired. I tried a few different movies (mine are all 30-50 gig) and none of them could play. Lots of stutter.

I'm looking for something more like Popcorn hour, boxxee, etc.. I just don't know which one to choose.. there are so many options

 

[its phillip]

Ps3 Media Server can't playback large .mkv files with dts-hd MA without lagging.. at least for me it can't.

Well, your computer is the one doing the transcoding...what are the specs of your machine? I've streamed large files before without issue, except when I try to skip forward/reverse. That empties the buffer quickly

 

[dreamagain]

Well, your computer is the one doing the transcoding...what are the specs of your machine? I've streamed large files before without issue, except when I try to skip forward/reverse. That empties the buffer quickly

The computer I'm doing it on has a Intel Q6600, 6 gigs of ram and an Nvidia 8800gts.

 

[blurayalltheway]

I used to own Boxee Box, Xtreamer SideWinder, etc. It claimed to be able to playback DTS-HD and TrueHD, but it suffered from HD audio dropouts. I returned both of them.

I built a mini-htpc to replace it, and I use Windows 7 MCE as my main media player. I selected MCE because I like the integration of the Media Browser, ArcSoft TMT5 and cool skin/mce remote. It can playback 1080P BD (m2ts, ISO and MKV) files with DTS-HD and TrueHD audio codecs ( and all other audio codecs) flawless. It can do HD Netflix, Vudu, YouTube, Yahoo, Google, etc too. The hardware's and software's are listed below:

1. APEX MI-008 Black Steel Mini-ITX
2. ASRock E350M1/USB3
3. Kingston SSDNow V Series SNV125-S2/30GB
4. Kingston 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1066 (PC3 8500)
5. SilenX IXP-74-09 120mm Case Fan
6. HP MCE Remote Control
7. LG Black 10X BD-ROM
8. Buffalo Technology MiniStation Stealth 1 TB USB 3.0
9. Windows 7 ultimate 64-bit
10. Windows 7 MCE
11. Windows 7 Codecs Pack
12. Shark007
13. Media Browser
14. RealTek HD audio codecs
15. Arcsoft TotallMedia 5
16. MPC-HC

If anyone interesting in Windows 7 MCE fancy skins, you can download: Media Center Studio (it is below the instructions). I used StarTrek as my background. It is cool!

 

[Zuhkov]

I would have suggested you checkout the SageTV HD300, but they were recently acquired by Google. You might look at the WD TV Live Plus, which uses the same SoC. I must confess I have no experience with that product, but the SoC is capable of what you want.

 

[sholling]

I would have suggested you checkout the SageTV HD300, but they were recently acquired by Google. You might look at the WD TV Live Plus, which uses the same SoC. I must confess I have no experience with that product, but the SoC is capable of what you want.

The WDTV Live will not do DTS-HD or Dolby TrueHD only DTS 5.1 and Dolby 5.1.

 

[BMXTRIX]

My entire reason for getting a HDI Dune unit was that it not only handles Blu-ray Discs with the full menu structure, but it also handles HD audio without issue.

I've been pretty happy with it. Plug in new hard drives, they show up fine, can browse through them, and find/playback files relatively easily.

 

[blurayalltheway]

If you want pre-built media player, here are some choices (supports DTS-HD and TrueHD):

Popcorn Hour A-210

Dune HD Smart B1

CoreHT Series

Stay away from Boxee Box and Xtreamer SideWinder till they fixed the HD audio dropout issues!

 

[Nemo128]

All of those look pretty sweet.

 

[95prelude]

I`m waiting for the release of the Xstreamer Prodigy.

 

[blurayalltheway]

I`m waiting for the release of the Xstreamer Prodigy.

Xtreamer Prodigy, the spec looks good but i'm still not convinced on xtreamer dts-hd and truehd playback!

 

[Gustavo]

What about this? Anyone here knows whether this can bitstream dts-hd ma and dolby truehd?


http://www.mede8er.eu/products/med500x.html

What about this?

http://www.astone.com.au/index.php?productID=38&sent=yes#inquiry

 

[FirstReflection]

Yeah, I'm pretty sure the HDI Dune players are what you're looking for. I'm a strong advocate for going the HTPC route. I just think it's the most flexible and capable route and you can build your own for a surprisingly low cost. But if you really just want a playback device that supports MKV and HD-Audio well, the Dune is your device. Good prices too

 

[modman]

Alternative to HTPC?

I am intrigued by the Dune, Core, and Popcorn Hour devices referenced a few posts above. I am about to buy a Gateway compact desktop PC to use for ripping CD's in FLAC format...but now I'm wondering if I should also keep the Blu-Ray door open.

Do these devices function as PC's? That is...can I load ripping software into them and use them to rip both audio and video files to external hard drives?

Thanks
MM

 

[blurayalltheway]

here is nice looking xbmc based htpc