Roku 3 uses a remote with its own headphone jack!

[admin]

I've been pretty impressed with how well Roku has been keeping up with their little black boxes. This latest gen has the most impressive remote control I've ever seen for a device of this type. AV Receiver and soundbar manufacturers should take note!

Discuss "Roku 3 Streaming Media Player (4200R) Preview" here. Read the article.

 

[afterlife2]

The older XS does search as well and yes when you search there are Netflix associated with certian actors or movies on the XS as well. XS also has AV out, while the Roku 3 doesn't anymore. I'm sticking with the XS.

 

[en sabur nur]

I'm really liking the Roku 3! I want to see a few real reviews before placing my order, but everything looks good!

 

[ratso]

i have an old oppo bdp-83 that i had modded for region free. was thinking about upgrading to the new 103 to get the new fullHD netflix (yes i have it on my ps3 but i find it kind of a pain to use). seeing as how audioholics just had that review of the oppo and reminded me that my old 83 visually is as good as the new one i will just get one of these little boxes instead. i had an old roku and liked it but there was a bunch of runaround about surround sound back then (it was matrixed, not discrete). looks like they finally solved all that?

 

[Wayde Robson]

My question about the Netflix app... does it do 5.1 where available in HD? I get this with the PS3 Netflix app but was surprised to find that I'm not getting it with the Oppo Netflix app. My Oppo BD player only provides stereo sound for all movies... unless there's a setting I couldn't find, and I looked.

 

[sholling]

I wrote up a mini review of the Roku 3 in the general section. The main changes between the 2 XS and the 3 are speed and the interface. The 3 is much faster and the new interface is 3 vertical columns instead of the horizontal filmstrip layout but some Roku 2 boxes will get the new interface in April.

Wayde Oppo chose not to update the app on their player. It seems like the only truly finished functions on the Oppo BDP 93 are the core disc playback functions while the apps were left performing like early beta code products. But Netflix updated their app on the Roku 2 XS (and probably others) for Dolby Digital Plus 5.1 quite a while ago and it's in the Roku 3 as well. Unfortunately Netflix still doesn't let you set and forget your preference and you have to manually choose 5.1 for each video that has 5.1 sound. If Netflix is reading this I hope they adopt the new interface and allow you to set 5.1 as a persistent preference.

 

[sholling]

Responding to the article search includes Netflix, Amazon, Vudu, and Blockbuster in it's results - if they have the video. If the channel doesn't carry the movie they won't show up in the results.

 

[afterlife2]

Yep same here I don't get the DD 5.1 only stereo on my Roku XS with Netflix, but I do get it on my Panny and Sony BD players, which has a newer interface than the Roku XS. I do get 5.1 DD on Amazon though with the XS.

 

[sholling]

Yep same here I don't get the DD 5.1 only stereo on my Roku XS with Netflix, but I do get it on my Panny and Sony BD players, which has a newer interface than the Roku XS. I do get 5.1 DD on Amazon though with the XS.

That's strange because I do get DD+ 5.1 from Netflix via Roku but you have to select 5.1 sound with each movie and not every Netflix movie has 5.1 sound. Just to make sure I wasn't having a senior moment I just watched the 1st 10 minutes of Limitless on the Roku 3 and not only does DD+ display on my receiver but I hear the sound coming from my surrounds. Unfortunately Netflix doesn't have a lot of movies with 5.1 sound.

Edit I just double checked my Roku 2 XS and Limitless played in DD+ with 5.1 sound and yes I could hear sound coming from my surrounds. Did you select 5.1 from the movie's "Audio & Subtitles" menu?

 

[afterlife2]

Tried it again with Limitless and nope it don't work, only works in Stereo, But on my Sony BD it does 5.1. When I had the Onkyo 707 5.1 worked great on the XS. Weird. My thinking is that the Sony/Panny Is 5.1 DD, but not +, While the Roku is DD + and won't work with my HK 247.

 

[mychaelp]

What I like about the new Roku is the remote range. I don't have to aim it perfectly as I did with the old box. Hated that when laying on the couch. Yes, I'm lazy.
Netflix and Amazon Prime streaming work great and with such little power draw this little box barely registers on my killawatt meter after a few days use! I'm using it as part of my alternative to cable TV as I cut the cord a few years ago. Here they go over in a step by step guide how to set it up and channel suggestion for how I use it.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

Finally gave in and tried out Roku3.

I knew Roku streamed movie channels like Netflix, Amazon, Hulu, etc.

But I had no idea it also streamed photos and Apple Lossless Audio Codec (ALAC) files - M4A.

So basically the Roku is like the Apple TV, except better because it has more movie channels and better OS support - Android, iOS, etc, whereas Apple TV only supports iOS.

Netflix - At first the PQ looks like SD, but after a few minutes it becomes HD & much clearer. DD Plus 5.1 is good. Has subtitles.
Amazon: Same as Netflix for PQ & subtitles. DD 5.1 is good.
Music: Excellent SQ (lossless audio) from Android Tablet & iOS (iPhone, iPad).

So now I have both the Apple TV & Roku3, but I will not be using the Apple TV anytime soon because Roku3 rocks.

I will be using Roku3 for both movies and music streaming from now on.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

I just tried Roku remote on my Windows 8 tablet. It worked just fine, except I can't stream music like on Android & iOS. But the Roku remote itself worked just fine.

 

[saywhat]

one thing i noticed when i went to the new roku 3 was it will play some of my files that refused to play or stuttered so badly on the roku 2 version.
Cough it up to a faster chip set maybe????
I have two 1080p files that my older roku would continually say loading on would play a little then back to loading screen thru the whole movie.
the roku 3 not once had to do this so that tells me it can handle a higher bitrate movie than the older roku 2

also it will play formats like .dts .flac and more. I was surprised how many higher end audio file formats it would play. Im impressed.