Multimedia

[pupazaru]

Hello,

Even if the question is also general (for<1000£), lets consider Sony BDP-S370 and Popcorn-C200.

Taking in consideration that what I need, is to be able to play all kind of media files (foto, video and audio) at a good quality level from a hdd on the network and a cd (sacd, dvd, blue-ray etc), why should I buy Popcorn-C200 (more expensive) instead of Sony BDP-S370 (DNLA) ?

It would be nice to rip discs but both are not doing it. Also, I am interested in having audio output for an analog stereo system (Hi-Fi).

Thanks in advance for your support!

Cristian

 

[Anonymous]

Very good question Christian, I was also trying to found out the similarities and differences between media streamers and networked blu-ray players.

Basically, both groups are converging fast, and the main difference is that networked blu-ray players are produced by mainstream CE companies like Sony, Panasonic, LG and Samsung (OK, and Philips,Marantz and many more), while media streamers are produced by companies more involved in PC industry like Western Digital, Netgear and Asus.

The main difference as I see it is that networked blu-ray players have much sleeker user interface and usually (but not always) sounds better and have more connection options (like multichannel analogue outs).

Media streamers have much wider format support, which you can easily compare if you download any manuals of both group of products.

So, if you are using regular CDs, DVD's and Blu-Ray discs than blu-ray player should be a better option, but if you are downloading through torrents in many different video and audio formats, than media streamers are safer bet.

Of course, you can always buy blu-ray player with DLNA and add cheap media streamer like WDTV through HDMI in to widen format support.

Hope this helps; and, since I am not speaking from personal experience, pleease somebody correct me if I'm wrong.

Best rgds,

Goran

 

[pupazaru]

Thanks, your answer helps, I have now a better view of this issue.

An exemple of the converging is the format support improvement for the latest version of networked blu-ray player, for example: http://www.sony.co.uk/product/blu-ray-disc-player/bdp-s370#pageType=TechnicalSpecs (see specifications with "NO"; according with the manual no DVD Audio discs + no FLAC)

Also I have some doubts that the average internet access speeds allow a sufficiently fast download for blu-ray format.

Maybe the only question mark that remains for the time being is: do networked blu-ray player play smoothly media files (including HD) from a hdd on USB or network? In general media streamers are just arriving to this quality.

Best Regards!

 

[Anonymous]

Ref. to blu-ray players, network playback should be smooth according to reviews (of course, wired is smoother than wireless), but be very careful regarding external HDD playback: I think only LG and eventually Panasonic supports it (so no Sony or Samsung), but with limitation (LG) to only 128 GB and max. 1000 files/folders.

Regarding format support, the best of them are mostly limited to DivX HD, AVI, MKV, MPEG-4 and AVCHD video and MP3, AAC, WMA lossy audio codecs, so no flac audio or VOB, ISO, IFO, MOV or RMVB video formats.

All of these formats are supported by any network media player, so it all depends of how important are these formats for you. The best option is to try before you buy - take your HDD with you and check.

Personally, I am waiting for flac to go mainstream before i buy networked blu-ray player, since 80% of my music is in this format. In this moment, I am using J.River Media Player software on my PC with ASIO installed for bit-perfect playback.

Hope this helps.

 

[pupazaru]

Thanks again!

I am curious if there are the opinions around-here regarding http://www.oppodigital.com/ ?

They have impressive specifications and reviews ( FLAC is not specified) but I never heard of this brand.

A good forum with reviews for this brand ....

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1124287

Regards,

 

[bigboss]

The link you posted is going to get moderated very soon, pupazaru.

Oppo is a well known brand even in this community.

http://whathifi.com/Search/Forums/oppo/

http://whathifi.com/Review/Oppo-BDP-831/