Primare Knob Posted October 6, 2017 Share Posted October 6, 2017 Hi, I am running a central media server with stores all my movies and tv shows as full BluRay HD Audio MKV copies. The Living room has a HD Audio receiver in a 2 channel setup, a Chromecast video and a Xbox one. On the server I am running and testing a multitude of Media Server Programs like Plex, JRiver and Kodi with an SQL database. For convenience the ChromeCast Video is used with Plex cast but the problem is that it doesn't support MKV and or HD audio, which requires transcoding on the Plex server which let me to upgrading the hardware. Kodi on the Xbox one is still a long way off and I did use an Android box with Kodi before but that gave me (wired) network issues. I am looking to free up my hardware to build a gaming rig and use the old hardware again but need to get rid of the transcoding issue. I would like to add a media player that supports MKV playback with subtitle support and can bitstream HD Audio to my receiver. Something that can be controlled by a phone app so not to need any remote controls and or keyboards. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Satanica Posted October 6, 2017 Share Posted October 6, 2017 So you're asking for recommendations on a standalone hardware Media Player? Something other than a PC (Computer Media Player) ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
powerav Posted October 6, 2017 Share Posted October 6, 2017 3 hours ago, Primare Knob said: I would like to add a media player that supports MKV playback with subtitle support and can bitstream HD Audio to my receiver. Something that can be controlled by a phone app so not to need any remote controls and or keyboards. That is Kodi libreelec build on a PC or something like the powerful Nvidia Shield. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Primare Knob Posted October 6, 2017 Author Share Posted October 6, 2017 2 hours ago, Satanica said: So you're asking for recommendations on a standalone hardware Media Player? Something other than a PC (Computer Media Player) ? Anything that works without the need of transcoding on the server end. A PC based setup would be preferred but price wise not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Satanica Posted October 6, 2017 Share Posted October 6, 2017 Just now, Primare Knob said: Anything that works without the need of transcoding on the server end. A PC based setup would be preferred but price wise not. Just go with JRiver MC. A quiet/silent HTPC without the need for gaming does not have to cost a lot and can look nice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
powerav Posted October 6, 2017 Share Posted October 6, 2017 1 hour ago, Satanica said: Just go with JRiver MC I wish Jriver had an operating system like kodi libreelec. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Satanica Posted October 6, 2017 Share Posted October 6, 2017 1 minute ago, powerav said: I wish Jriver had an operating system like kodi libreelec. I personally need an OS underneath. Also, some of it's best features like the WDM driver, WASAPI Loopback and Asio Line In are only available on Windows. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kukynas Posted October 6, 2017 Share Posted October 6, 2017 plenty of fanless players available capable of playing up to 4K without container type limitation either with Jriver, Plex or Kodi soft, pricewise somewhere between 50-200 bucks (depended on HW and SW), the tricky part might be the phone remote control and its integration if you don't wanna be limited by player capabilities I would choose x86 (Intel/AMD) based HW otherwise android (ARM) should be fine as well couple of examples Intel based (includes Win10 home pre-installed): Beelink BT3 PRO 4GB/64GB version Beelink AP34 Beelink M1 ARM (android) based: Beelink Mini MXIII II Beelink GT1 Beelink GT1 Ultimate my pick highlighted in bolt... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swervyn Posted October 10, 2017 Share Posted October 10, 2017 A DNLA server? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest rmpfyf Posted October 10, 2017 Share Posted October 10, 2017 On 06/10/2017 at 11:00 AM, Primare Knob said: Hi, I am running a central media server with stores all my movies and tv shows as full BluRay HD Audio MKV copies. The Living room has a HD Audio receiver in a 2 channel setup, a Chromecast video and a Xbox one. On the server I am running and testing a multitude of Media Server Programs like Plex, JRiver and Kodi with an SQL database. For convenience the ChromeCast Video is used with Plex cast but the problem is that it doesn't support MKV and or HD audio, which requires transcoding on the Plex server which let me to upgrading the hardware. Kodi on the Xbox one is still a long way off and I did use an Android box with Kodi before but that gave me (wired) network issues. I am looking to free up my hardware to build a gaming rig and use the old hardware again but need to get rid of the transcoding issue. I would like to add a media player that supports MKV playback with subtitle support and can bitstream HD Audio to my receiver. Something that can be controlled by a phone app so not to need any remote controls and or keyboards. Any PC on Linux running Kodi will work. Set the audio to passthrough. Phone app control supported. You need to get specific about MKV; the file format is just a container, many codecs are supported. If your MKV are hiding h.265 video, your hardware requirements will be very specific, and maybe your OS too. Not everything supports hardware acceleration for that just yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Primare Knob Posted October 16, 2017 Author Share Posted October 16, 2017 I have bought a NUC and will probably run JRiver and the Chromecast Desktop App in the background via the JRiver audio driver.Does anyone know if Chromecast is supported in JRiver itself.In the end, the playback software will come down to what the family finds most easy to use. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Primare Knob Posted October 19, 2017 Author Share Posted October 19, 2017 Any ideas on using an SDHC card to run the OS? I have run out of SSD's.All this thing has to do is grab audio and video streams from the network. I wouldn't think there would be much writing to the risk. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
powerav Posted October 19, 2017 Share Posted October 19, 2017 38 minutes ago, Primare Knob said: Any ideas on using an SDHC card to run the OS? I have run out of SSD's Kodi will run off a SDHC card, would also be the easiest for family to use. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Satanica Posted October 19, 2017 Share Posted October 19, 2017 On 10/17/2017 at 7:31 AM, Primare Knob said: I have bought a NUC and will probably run JRiver and the Chromecast Desktop App in the background via the JRiver audio driver. Does anyone know if Chromecast is supported in JRiver itself. In the end, the playback software will come down to what the family finds most easy to use. I don't think JRiver supports Chromecast. What are you trying to do? Can you not just present your media via JRiver's Theater View? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Primare Knob Posted October 19, 2017 Author Share Posted October 19, 2017 I don't have enough HDMI ports left, so the ChromeCast is going. But that has been used to stream audio from Google Play.There is a desktop version for ChromeCast audio, but last time I used it it was rather slow and I believe needed a specific app setup. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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