Zappiti Owners & Discussion Thread

[Marc 13,292]

Zappiti offer the best media players I've come across aside from the usual suspects (ATV 4K, Shield - and their own limitations). https://www.zappiti.com/

Thought I would start an owners thread as I believe there are a few local users.

 

I've got the 4K HDR unit. So impressed, I'm contemplating an upgrade to the Audiocom modded unit. Anyone compared them?

[TP1 2,083]

15 hours ago, Marc said:

I'm contemplating an upgrade to the Audiocom modded unit.

 

Before you do that Marc, you should try the Zappiti with a decent external linear power supply if you haven't already done so. The difference in both image quality and sound quality is quite dramatic.   I use the Uptone Audio JS-2 ( which has 2 outlets) for both Lumagen and Zappiti at the same time.

 

I also tested an HDPlex linear PSU with Zappiti and  that works well, but the JS-2 is  noticeably better still.  The colours in particular are more nuanced, contrast and apparent resolution is better too.  I'd say the Hdplex did about  about 50-60% of what the JS-2 did.

 

I  thought seriously about the AudioCom  model but  I am not convinced their PSU will as good, let alone better than the JS-2 unit although I am sure it is no slouch. It does have a couple of other tweaks as well  but the difference that  this PSU has made is so significant, that it not only rivals but in some cases  exceeds  the output of my modded Oppo 203 - for 1080P material.  For 4K material, the Oppo has superior electronics for UHD and I use that for 4K files via Oppo's USB port.   However, I would love to try the Audiocom Zappiti nevertheless so I would know for sure which is better.

 

I agree that Zappiti is in a class of its own. Perhaps  it is not for those people who only want one unit to do everything possible. But when used primarily as an AV media player, I  think It stands apart from the rest with that amazing interface and playback capabilities.

[Marc 13,292]

Which model do you have @TP1? I'm assuming yours comes with an external SMPS. The 4K Pro already has an upgraded internal power supply, therefore a 240V in. I'm OK with modifying it and I have had massive success with using linear power supplies on other audio equipment but not sure just how good this "upgraded" PS is over the lower models.

 

[Marc 13,292]

Another thing - do any Zappiti users have a problem with the time it takes to get a lock on the HDMI handshake for audio?

My video syncs fairly quickly, but the audio has a couple of bites at it, with it taking up to 7-10 seconds to finally lock on.

This happened with both my Trinnov and my JBL AVPs so the problem is clearly at the Zappiti end.

I've also tried separating the HDMI Audio with a 2nd HDMI cable, running HDMI audio only to AVP (leaving Lumagen to handle the HDMI video switching), but none of these things make a difference.

 

It is fine for monies, sans generally missing the first seconds of an intro. Where is really fails though is via Zappiti Explorer and trying to watch dolby demos or clips - you end up missing half the demo!

 

Demonstrated below:

 

 

[hifiman 15]

This media player looks very good. For those that already have a lumagen, I'm assuming you run the Zappati in direct output mode?

If this is the case, is there any reason to get the Pro version? I see there are many 4K versions of this player but am not sure which one will do the best job. I have all my UHD files backed up on my NAS as MKV and have been looking to replace my htpc with a good media player. 

[Marc 13,292]

Yes I set the Zappiti to Direct Output mode for use with the Lumagen. My setup is similar to yours with NAS storage for media.

I did look at all the features when I bought mine and still settled on the 4K Pro.

[TP1 2,083]

6 hours ago, Marc said:

Which model do you have @TP1? I'm assuming yours comes with an external SMPS. The 4K Pro already has an upgraded internal power supply, therefore a 240V in. I'm OK with modifying it and I have had massive success with using linear power supplies on other audio equipment but not sure just how good this "upgraded" PS is over the lower models.

 

Mine is the Zappiti One SE 4K HDR  with external SMPS.  Yes, the Pro model would have a better PSU than mine.

[TP1 2,083]

5 hours ago, hifiman said:

is there any reason to get the Pro version?

 

Yes, as it has a better PSU than  standard it will give better picture and sound quality. However, if you already have a high quality linear PSU with 12V output, you could save cash and use your PSU with the the cheaper models. 

[hifiman 15]

11 minutes ago, TP1 said:

Mine is the Zappiti One SE 4K HDR  with external SMPS.  Yes, the Pro model would have a better PSU than mine.

If using an external linear power supply, then there is no need to have a better PSU that is used in the PRO, or it negates the need for one? 

Ah looks like you answered my question just as I asked, thanks!

Looks like AvAustralia are selling that unit on special for $688. 

Edited October 6, 2020 by hifiman

[TP1 2,083]

6 hours ago, Marc said:

My video syncs fairly quickly, but the audio has a couple of bites at it, with it taking up to 7-10 seconds to finally lock on.

 

My audio starts first about a second or two  before the video.    I did notice a delay in audio when first switching to Zappiti  the other night but  all the videos thereafter were fine.

 

I use Lumagen audio out  to the AVP .  I also use fibre optic HDMI  cables exclusively  with the hope that it could reduce sync times,  but I have no idea if this is playing a part here. 

[TP1 2,083]

 

I should add that I don't use a NAS- just internal drive and attached SSD

[Marc 13,292]

1 hour ago, TP1 said:

I use Lumagen audio out  to the AVP

I am doing this too, and all brand new high-quality HDMIs. It's made no difference.

I really don't know if this is a fault or expected operation.

[hifiman 15]

25 minutes ago, Marc said:

I am doing this too, and all brand new high-quality HDMIs. It's made no difference.

I really don't know if this is a fault or expected operation.

Can try this from someone having audio sync issues in avsforum:
The sync delay should be less if you set the Zappiti output (i.e. display mode in the settings) to 24Hz instead of Auto or e.g. 60Hz. Once you have the "auto sync 24/50/60" turned on, it will still output in e.g. 60Hz if the file is in that format.
 

[Marc 13,292]

Thanks @hifiman - I can confirm I have tried that and other suggestions also.

Nothing seems to make a difference unfortunately.

[hifiman 15]

Can this zappati player move subtitle locations?

I have a 16:9 screen and a lot of the times the subs fall into the black bars but I'm moving to a CIH scoped screen and therefore they aren't going to be visible anymore for scoped movies. 

My current media player Vero4k+ allows this but the subtitles have to be ripped in a special way, also the player is good when it works but when it doesn't.. debugging is a mess, hoping the zappati can improve on this! 


 

[TP1 2,083]

11 minutes ago, hifiman said:

Can this zappati player move subtitle locations?

 

Yes it can. I have a CIH setup  too and  have adjusted the subtitles accordingly.  Another cool feature with Zappiti is that if you don't have subtitles already with your video file,  Zappiti can  automatically search and download them for you. This  can be activated when the relevant video is selected from the GUI and then selecting "download subtitles" from the menu.

Edited October 8, 2020 by TP1

[hifiman 15]

53 minutes ago, TP1 said:

 

Yes it can. I have a CIH setup  too and  have adjusted the subtitles accordingly.  Another cool feature with Zappiti is that if you don't have subtitles already with your video file,  Zappiti can  automatically search and download them for you. This  can be activated when the relevant video is selected from the GUI and then selecting "download subtitles" from the menu.

Perfect! This player has tons of features. Would have been good to have netflix/youtube 4k but that's just icing on the cake. 

[TP1 2,083]

3 hours ago, hifiman said:

Perfect! This player has tons of features. Would have been good to have netflix/youtube 4k but that's just icing on the cake. 

 

You can get YouTube in  4K with Zappiti.

 

You can also have Netflix and Prime Video  but I don't think those apps are optimised for the particular chipset used in Zappiti.  You need to access them through an app called Aptoide TV, which I think does some form of software adjustment to make them compatible.   The 4K  images from Netflix  are not quite as good as AppleTV 4k and I think this could be due to the app optimisation issue.   

 

To me the Zappiti  interface  system is the best in the business.  I previously used Plex which  I think lags  behind Zappiti in terms of ease of use, features, playability and reliability.  Zappiti plays virtually all file formats without hiccup  including iso images and BDMV folders (and their menus).  Their support is first class too and they respond  quickly to any queries.

[Marc 13,292]

3 hours ago, TP1 said:

To me the Zappiti  interface  system is the best in the business.  I previously used Plex which  I think lags  behind Zappiti in terms of ease of use, features, playability and reliability.  Zappiti plays virtually all file formats without hiccup  including iso images and BDMV folders (and their menus).  Their support is first class too and they respond  quickly to any queries.

Totally agree with this. I've gone from an i9 battleship Plex (dedicated) server, to Zappiti. After 6 weeks of testing I've now decommissioned the Plex server (and saved a lot of energy $$$ in the process). Zappiti can take a little bit of mucking around to config the video settings (or at least in my case it did feeing into a Lumagen), but once set, it's a forget type process.

 

My wife and young kids are very comfortable using Zappiti.

[cwt 1,104]

On 06/10/2020 at 4:40 PM, Marc said:

Thanks @hifiman - I can confirm I have tried that and other suggestions also.

Nothing seems to make a difference unfortunately.

I noticed in the real time gif Marc it read dolby atmos in after initially showing pcm ; does it glitch with other audio codecs? like aac or flac ? thinking it maybe atmos piggybacking [guessing]

[Marc 13,292]

No idea - Zappiti plays background music through the menus etc which is all output in PCM - once it loads the movie it sends the codec, be it Atmos, DTS etc, and after those couple of attempts to latch it finally does.

[cwt 1,104]

2 hours ago, Marc said:

No idea - Zappiti plays background music through the menus etc which is all output in PCM - once it loads the movie it sends the codec, be it Atmos, DTS etc, and after those couple of attempts to latch it finally does.

Can only speculate its to do with bitstream being needed for atmos playback and the pcm output not completely compatible with the atmos stream [which MUST be piggybacked by the truehd bitstream]

 

Hopefully the decoding to pcm will get a firmware tweak ; ive not had audio glitches with my H264 files with dts-x or truehd ; will try a few 2k bd's with atmos when I get a chance with my zapp duo [ conversion is slow with my laptop ]

[TP1 2,083]

32 minutes ago, cwt said:

Can only speculate its to do with bitstream being needed for atmos playback and the pcm output not completely compatible with the atmos stream [which MUST be piggybacked by the truehd bitstream]

 

 

You might be on to something.   I don't have this problem but then I have the sound for menu's etc turned off so only bitstream audio ( passthrough)  will be played from my unit.   Perhaps you could try  turning off all menu  music  @Marc  and see if that helps the audio delay issue.

[Marc 13,292]

Ahhhh. Great idea!!

Will test once kids are in bed. Thanks!!

[hifiman 15]

Also Marc, ensure that all your cables are at least 2m up to 4m for passive hdmi -  audio sync issues. 

[Marc 13,292]

Sadly this suggestion made no difference. 

Lumagen suggests all cables are min 2m... is this really a thing? Why?

[cwt 1,104]

5 hours ago, Marc said:

Sadly this suggestion made no difference. 

Lumagen suggests all cables are min 2m... is this really a thing? Why?

This looked relevant to the length question Marc ; not so much the audio delay/skipping..

https://hdtelevizija.com/en/2016/03/13/does-hdmi-cable-length-affect-input-lag/

 

If youve initiated passthrough in your Lumagen maybe switch off things like frame insertion and processing in your displays and see if things get worse as the video pases quicker

Edited October 11, 2020 by cwt

[TP1 2,083]

7 hours ago, Marc said:

Sadly this suggestion made no difference. 

 

You have undoubtedly tried a number of things by now, Did they include changing settings in the Android setup menu?  Things such as in developer options,, set the flag to ignore EDID ,  fix output for color space and dynamic range so as to prevent hdmi  "thinking time"?    These have made differences in video delay times to  some people but not others so  I have no idea if it will work.

 

[hifiman 15]

9 hours ago, Marc said:

Sadly this suggestion made no difference. 

Lumagen suggests all cables are min 2m... is this really a thing? Why?

I just learned this recently in one of Jim Peterson's recent youtube vidoes,  HDMI cables were designed to work at longer distances so he says that's a good safe length. It may still work at shorter distances still but can be twitchy. 

How many devices in the hdmi chain do you have Marc? 

Process of elimination, straightest path; source player direct to preamp/processor, then re-introduce other devices into your chain until you nail down which component is the culprit. 

[TP1 2,083]

 

For those interested , these are the power supplies used in Zappiti.  

 

This is  the configuration for Zappiti Pro.  Linear power supply with R-Core Transformer.

 

 

 

And this is the standard supply used on One, One SE, Duo , Mini.  Standard 12V Switch mode power supply .   

 

 

[hifiman 15]

16 minutes ago, TP1 said:

 

For those interested , these are the power supplies used in Zappiti.  

 

This is  the configuration for Zappiti Pro.  Linear power supply with R-Core Transformer.

 

And this is the standard supply used on One, One SE, Duo , Mini.  Standard 12V Switch mode power supply .   

 

 

Although your personal recommendation is go with a One SE/Duo/Mini paired with an external lienar PSU like the Uptone Audio JS-2?

 

 

[TP1 2,083]

3 hours ago, hifiman said:

Although your personal recommendation is go with a One SE/Duo/Mini paired with an external lienar PSU like the Uptone Audio JS-2?

 

 

 

I already had the PSU so the decision was easy.  I think the JS-2  is about as good as you can get for such PSU's  (  5-12V DC LPSU) but since I haven't done a comparison with a Pro , it would not be wise to venture  an opinion on how they would compare.   

 

From purely a cost perspective,  the Pro would be cheaper than say a Duo/JS-2 combination but it could still be worth it if the unit was going to power another device as well.  If JS-2 was not being considered, I can't recommend any other PSU to power the Zappiti since the ones I have tried were not up to the mark IMO.  They did offer some improvement over standard SMPS but did not fully exploit what Zappiti is capable of. 

[One and a half 8]

FWIW I bought the Z.Player Pro 4K HDR  in May 2020. It is used only for movies and videos, the Zappiti has a *long* way to go to be a serious audio player.

 

For picture quality though, the best solution is not to use HDMI and the Zappiti at all. PowerDVD 20 on an i7 streamed over CAT5e to a Sony KD-55A8F (so called smart TV) provides substantial and lower noise than HDMI ever could.

The only real drama with networking is punching through the firewall with rules that allow Miracast. For convenience, an IPad is used with Microsoft remote Desktop app to control PowerDVD.

[Marc 13,292]

20 minutes ago, One and a half said:

the Zappiti has a *long* way to go to be a serious audio player

 

I wouldn't use it for audio, I agree. I think audio was a "add-on" rather than it's primary purpose.

 

22 minutes ago, One and a half said:

PowerDVD 20 on an i7 streamed over CAT5e to a Sony KD-55A8F (so called smart TV) provides substantial and lower noise than HDMI ever could.

The only real drama with networking is punching through the firewall with rules that allow Miracast. For convenience, an IPad is used with Microsoft remote Desktop app to control PowerDVD.

 

It sounds far from convenient to me. The thing that appeals to me with the Zappiti is the single remote, and uncluttered and smart interface for one click movies.

[ghost4man 614]

Really impressed with my Zappiti One 4k HDR. 

 

I think these units really punch way above their weight. 

 

The only think I haven't been able to resolve is audio from the soundbar. 

 

I have a Samsung TV with accompanying soundbar. I can watch the TV with the audio coming out of the soundbar however with the Zappiti connected to the TV the sound comes from the TV speakers only. Not sure why. Zappiti coupled to the TV by HDMI cable only. 

[TP1 2,083]

4 hours ago, ghost4man said:

The only think I haven't been able to resolve is audio from the soundbar. 

 

I have a Samsung TV with accompanying soundbar. I can watch the TV with the audio coming out of the soundbar however with the Zappiti connected to the TV the sound comes from the TV speakers only. Not sure why. Zappiti coupled to the TV by HDMI cable only. 

 

Do you have the TV and sound bar connected through the HDMI port that supports  Audio Return Channel (ARC) ?  Alternatively, can you try connecting Zappiti to TV through the soundbar? 

[ghost4man 614]

6 hours ago, TP1 said:

 

Do you have the TV and sound bar connected through the HDMI port that supports  Audio Return Channel (ARC) ?  Alternatively, can you try connecting Zappiti to TV through the soundbar? 

I will have a look at these two options.

The Zappiti is connected with a single HDMI cable to the TV. The soundbar is by way of optical cable to the TV.

[Johnny_Boy 105]

Looking at getting one of these units. Not sure if I can see a benefit of anything above the mini considering all my media is on a external NAS but happy to here endorsements for higher end models.

 

I was watching a review. See 11mins in

 

It shows the browsing speed/loading of thumb movie posters. Looks quite slow and chunky compared to my HiMedia Q10 Pro (that has different issues and looking to move on from it). What's everyone real life experience with browsing? 

 

So far I'm either Shield pro or one of the Zappiti's. 

 

Cheers 

Edited November 23, 2020 by Johnny_Boy

[Marc 13,292]

It is a touch slow when streaming from a NAS, yes. I can agree with that. It's not unusable though.

I still haven't solved my slow audio HDMI sync problem but learned to live with it.

New problem now though is despite 2RU empty space above it, it's still getting hot and starts doing random things.

I've now removed it from the rack and have it placed on top, and that problem has gone away. 

[pasadena 26]

I came from a popcorn hour VTEN (4K non HDR), which happened to die and which forced my hand to seek other players as cloud media also went into vacuum, I came across the Zappiti and never looked back.  I currently own the Mini 4K HDR and One SE and used to have the Pro.

 

The menu system in the pro is quicker but when you come down to comparing the features of the three I just mentioned, I believe the Pro is overkill for what can be had with the Mini and One Se as they're essenetially the same video/ and somewhat audio wise. I think you're better off with something like the Mini or One SE and spend the extra money on a NAS.

 

The only major difference is that the Pro has 2 HDD bays and the new remote which I really liked, whilst the One SE has 1 HDD bay and non for the mini.  I use the One SE in our home theatre and the HDD bay does come in handy and I do miss the dual drive bays and the Mini we use in our bedroom. If you really want dual HDD bays then there is also the DUO 4K HDR offering. I don't know about the new Duo but the Zappiti's with HDD bays are fanless so I'm not a fan of putting high capacity HDD's that will produce heat and nowhere for it to escape in a hurry.  You run the risk of overheating your internal circuitry.

 

Like all media players, they have their quirks and faults, which is to be expected and no one media player is perfect.  I think people get too harped up and nit picking over small issues, otherwise get a bluray player. I've learned to live with all these quirks and faults and I think Zappit have done a great job.  They're always sending out new firmware updates and they finally sorted out the page up/down function finally but it came. 

 

The zappiti's are small and sleak looking and great for home theatre use but against having a PC in the theatre room acting as a media player/NAS.

 

If you're really super serious about home theatre and have the money to splash out for a decent player I would bypass the stock Pro and instead go for something like the audiocom edition or look at other offerings in the market.

Edited December 5, 2020 by pasadena