Hi my brother is after a media player to go with his new system comprising a 50pk590, sony s370, humax 9200, yamaha 2065 and MA 5.1 set up. He's seen one called a cyclone full hd2 2tb bit torrent player/recorder and has asked my advice but i don't really know much about them is this any good or is there better about for similar money? Cheers
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When should you upgrade your hi-fi? How to control ‘upgradeitis’
Media player suggestions please
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Well, your Sony S370's about as close as it gets without buying a dedicated media player. The only difference between the Sony 370 and its wireless media playing counterpart is, er, wireless capability.
Spend £40 on the likes of Belkin's Wireless N Router, plug it in the back of the Sony's ethernet port (thereby saving on the £70 you'd need to spend on the Sony dongle and avoiding the proprietary dongle issues) and you're done. It's got a USB capability on the front, so you're able to use that for memory sticks.
I was thinking about getting the Sony media player, but have now ditched said plan. Will probably read up on wireless routers, connect it up to our main house router (so it acts as an extender and avoids the need to send wires across the hall, etc. etc.) and do it that way.
Spend £40 on the likes of Belkin's Wireless N Router, plug it in the back of the Sony's ethernet port (thereby saving on the £70 you'd need to spend on the Sony dongle and avoiding the proprietary dongle issues) and you're done. It's got a USB capability on the front, so you're able to use that for memory sticks.
I was thinking about getting the Sony media player, but have now ditched said plan. Will probably read up on wireless routers, connect it up to our main house router (so it acts as an extender and avoids the need to send wires across the hall, etc. etc.) and do it that way.
Sorry should have been more clearer he basically wants a fair size hard drive to store avi/mp3 files on and play through the system with hdmi out etc.
As far as a streamer goes he ain't interested in that function.
Cheers
As far as a streamer goes he ain't interested in that function.
Cheers
Hya Stu
I have a Seagate Theater +. Some issues with firmware upgrades causing probs but they have a new model. Currys have other options. Will discuss here again.
Must down me cocoa.
Cheers
I have a Seagate Theater +. Some issues with firmware upgrades causing probs but they have a new model. Currys have other options. Will discuss here again.
Must down me cocoa.
Cheers
Finished my cocoa. Back to the Seagate Theatre Plus ..
Iomega and WD as well as seagate do media players. Mine (as others) have separate drives. Useful. My Seagate worked well till I updated firmware. Seagate support were (in the end) quite helpful when my slideshows froze. Reverting back solved the problem. I needed an HD box for my Pana camera HD video. Works with most files, pix, video & music. The remote is poor - my Harmony one works better with it. Occasional freezes are annoying but I am happy with it generally.
HDMI useful so i can take my files elsewhere.
Stu - ever tried biwiring yr AE's ? Or for music do u use HDMI from yr Yamy.
Cheers
Iomega and WD as well as seagate do media players. Mine (as others) have separate drives. Useful. My Seagate worked well till I updated firmware. Seagate support were (in the end) quite helpful when my slideshows froze. Reverting back solved the problem. I needed an HD box for my Pana camera HD video. Works with most files, pix, video & music. The remote is poor - my Harmony one works better with it. Occasional freezes are annoying but I am happy with it generally.
HDMI useful so i can take my files elsewhere.
Stu - ever tried biwiring yr AE's ? Or for music do u use HDMI from yr Yamy.
Cheers
stu31:Sorry should have been more clearer he basically wants a fair size hard drive to store avi/mp3 files on and play through the system with hdmi out etc.
As far as a streamer goes he ain't interested in that function.
Cheers
An original Apple TV, with the 160Gb HD would be fine for this I think. Western Digital also do something similar. Failing that, get a Western Digital 1TB external HDD off Amazon for about £50 and use the computer to do the rest. All you'll need's a USB, HDMI or optical cable and you're there.
As far as a streamer goes he ain't interested in that function.
Cheers
An original Apple TV, with the 160Gb HD would be fine for this I think. Western Digital also do something similar. Failing that, get a Western Digital 1TB external HDD off Amazon for about £50 and use the computer to do the rest. All you'll need's a USB, HDMI or optical cable and you're there.
More of a don't buy rather than a do but I recently got a Asus HD2. In theory a wonderful piece of kit with the ability to add your own HDD, NAS capability and plenty of file format compatability - in actuality a rather buggy piece of hardware with only a small list of compatible drives and the fact it is either a NAS or a player, it cannot do both at the same time! Just a warning as a lot of sites seem to be rating it quite highly at the minute and it is quite a reasonable price but until the firmware is completely sorted I would stand back.
On my trawling of various forums, however, I have found that iomega offer a media player, with a 1TB drive which has been received quite favourably and if you are lucky they have an outlet store where they sell reconditioned drives so a bargain may be picked up.
B.
On my trawling of various forums, however, I have found that iomega offer a media player, with a 1TB drive which has been received quite favourably and if you are lucky they have an outlet store where they sell reconditioned drives so a bargain may be picked up.
B.
PS Stu - not only have we very similar kit & layout but ..
Yup
Yoov guessed it - spooky eh ?
I godda bros !
Yup
Yoov guessed it - spooky eh ?
I godda bros !
Thanks all i'll try and get my head around the media players tomorrow.
Hi Rob
With regards to the AE's i've never bi wired them, when playing music i only use the hdmi for sacd's (I only have 4!) for all other music I use a good quality stereo lead as i find the vocals and bass alot richer/fuller? when playing at high volumes.
Cheers
Hi Rob
With regards to the AE's i've never bi wired them, when playing music i only use the hdmi for sacd's (I only have 4!) for all other music I use a good quality stereo lead as i find the vocals and bass alot richer/fuller? when playing at high volumes.
Cheers
I'll give the analogue a try then - that means using the S570's DAC instead of the Yamaha. If I get round to biamping I'll let you know but that means using 5.1 instead of 6.1. Good luck with your search. I use my Seagate to stream from my PC sometimes but it runs well from its own drive.
Cheers Stu
Cheers Stu
What no one mentions AC RYAN.
The only streamer under 100.00 that can bit stream HD audio and play most codecs.
They are working on a new GUI as the one thats on it now is not pretty, but what do you want, function or looks.
I love mine, you can but one as well with a HDD which is a little more than 100.00 but again for the price and bitstreaming HD audio you cant beat.
I looked everywere and decided on this, even considered the Popcorn hour, but for the price this does the same.
Also the new one has a gigabit lan
The only streamer under 100.00 that can bit stream HD audio and play most codecs.
They are working on a new GUI as the one thats on it now is not pretty, but what do you want, function or looks.
I love mine, you can but one as well with a HDD which is a little more than 100.00 but again for the price and bitstreaming HD audio you cant beat.
I looked everywere and decided on this, even considered the Popcorn hour, but for the price this does the same.
Also the new one has a gigabit lan
Never heard of them ! They look good though. Do they play AVCHD lite video? At the time the Seagate was the only player i could find to support this format.
Interesting !
Interesting !
They Play my AVCHD files from my panasnic lumix. and they play all my video files that are avchd.
It will even play blu-ray iso files and avchd iso as well, I have only had one thing that it would not play, but I dont think it was the player fault, I just think it was the way it was encoded.
It will even play blu-ray iso files and avchd iso as well, I have only had one thing that it would not play, but I dont think it was the player fault, I just think it was the way it was encoded.
Popcorn Hour A200 or AC Ryan
WDTV Live is a cracking box if DTS-HD isnt important. UI is miles better than all the others ive used.
Popcorn Hour has its NJM UI but its only a BETA stage at the moment so i never use it
WDTV Live is a cracking box if DTS-HD isnt important. UI is miles better than all the others ive used.
Popcorn Hour has its NJM UI but its only a BETA stage at the moment so i never use it
Acer Revo HCPC would be my pick or the Boxee box. I have seen two of those Cyclone media players fail within a matter of weeks. The internal hdd failed and the only way to get anything to play was via external hdd. Suffice to say, I wouldn't recommend one. I have no experience of the Boxee box but having previous experience of a Dlink media player, I can safely say they know what they're doing and the Boxee interface looks superb. I currently use an Acer Revo 3700 with 2Tb external drive to stream to a couple of PCs and it works a treat and the XBMC Software is absolutely brilliant and free!
Thanks for all the suggestions I passed the info on and the winner is ....... the ac ryan HD2 well when the shops have stock in mid march anyway.
Cheers
Cheers
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