Media Players 102: Kodi for Multichannel Music Playback (features and hardware)

[Ninecats]

Aye, I tried the regular scan in the left menu, tried delete old library cache as well, didn’t work - will try your second suggestion.

 

[Ninecats]

Tried your second suggestion, HomerJAU, as well as restarted every single media involved (PC, media player, network - well not that all that had anything to do with it, but still...) and voíla, WORKS! Thanks for your help!

 

[sbrom]

My “embedded” mini-PC (win 10) is up and running Kodi.

Is there a way to reboot my mini-PC directly into Kodi without going through the windows login screen and executing Kodi from the windows UI?

Essentially I want to use Kodi “headless” for playback, under control of the iPad app.

FYI I’m using wireless LAN, HDMI connection to my AVR, iOS app “Kodi Music Remote”, and I also have a Rii smart remote.

Thanks for any help,
Steve

 

[LuvMyQuad]

My “embedded” mini-PC (win 10) is up and running Kodi.
Is there a way to reboot my mini-PC directly into Kodi without going through the windows login screen and executing Kodi from the windows UI?
Essentially I want to use Kodi “headless” for playback, under control of the iPad app.
FYI I’m using wireless LAN, HDMI connection to my AVR, iOS app “Kodi Music Remote”, and I also have a Rii smart remote.
Thanks for any help,
Steve

This will tell you how to disable the password.

This will tell you how to run Kodi at Startup

 

[sbrom]

This will tell you how to disable the password.

This will tell you how to run Kodi at Startup

Thanks so much!

 

[paligap]

Assuming all I want to use a media player for is to play music (mostly multi-channel) and, eventually, movies (50/50 1080 and 4K), through an AVR, what are the advantages of using a Gen8 NUC i3 player over an Nvidia Shield? I'm considering getting 1 or 2 such players, and I'm trying to decide if the price difference is worth it for me.

 

[windhoek]

I'm becoming a big fan of the Nvidia Shield TV gadget as it can do so much and so much of that it does extremely well indeed. I use one in my bedroom for streaming film and TV from Netflix etc as well as stereo music from my NAS - fwiw, the Nvidia Shield can output 24/192 via async USB. I tend to use Kodi, although I've got a PLEX Premium so I really should get that sorted as it has a slicker UI. Oh, the Nvidia Shield can also do gaming (including games from a Steam account once you get on GeForce beta).

I use the one in my living room solely for stereo and multichannel music streaming from my NAS. Again, I use Kodi as player but I really should get PLEX up and running as the UI is slicker as I've already said.

The other thing worth mentioning is that being an android device, the Nvidia Shield runs off of a 5V USB input so no bulky power supply or whatever is needed. And I reckon I'm underusing both of mine by a long way, but I bought them because it's got a well-deserved reputation for being straightforward, no-nonsense device for getting the job done when it comes to film, music and TV content - the gaming is an unexpected bonus (fwiw, I'm currently playing Half-Life 2).

Nvidia Shield TV? Recommended!

 

[ParkerJon]

Assuming all I want to use a media player for is to play music (mostly multi-channel) and, eventually, movies (50/50 1080 and 4K), through an AVR, what are the advantages of using a Gen8 NUC i3 player over an Nvidia Shield? I'm considering getting 1 or 2 such players, and I'm trying to decide if the price difference is worth it for me.

There are times that the NVidia Shield is short on horse power: switching in and out of movies/music in Kodi can cause playback pauses. However having one box that does Netflix, Amazon, Tidal, DAZN, Kodi, Plex, and a bunch more things in a cohesive package that all works from a remote or with some Google integration is the deciding decision. If NVidia come out with a faster box I'll replace at least one of our Shields in an instant.

 

[HomerJAU]

A NUC will be faster and smaller than the NShield and you can add internal storage to some NUCs (e.g. your entire hires MCH music library for portable use)

The NShield has 4K HDR apps for Netflix, Amazon. NUC/Kodi is limited to 1080p SDR Netflix currently. If you have a recent Smart TV then your TV will have 4K HDR apps anyway. So I’m not sure this is an issue with anyone with a 4K TV, I use my Sony TV apps for Netflix & Amazon, Kodi NUC apps for Optus Sport (Premier League) and Kayo (AFL, NFL, Champions League etc)

There’s an article on NShield’s website saying it doesn’t do some 24bit MCH Audio, or greater than 6CH audio, but that was dated 2017 so not sure if it’s still valid though:
https://nvidia.custhelp.com/app/ans...i-play-high-resolution-audio-on-my-shield-tv?
Rumour there’s a new NShield type device coming soon from NVidia which will no doubt be faster.

EDIT: NUC/Kodi does not yet support HDR output (it’s tone mapped SDR). The next Kodi release adds HDR, probably released late 2019/early 2020.

.

 

[HomerJAU]

Here’s another Kodi device that gets good reviews:

https://osmc.tv/vero/

 

[paligap]

I wish I knew how to do a multi-response on this forum, but let me say "Thanks" to all who responded to my query. I'll use user names to reply.

windhoek: I'm not familiar with async USB, but I doubt my AVRs can implement it, anyway. I think the Shield outputs 24/196 over HDMI, no? I'm old enough to have just missed the gaming phenomenon, but my son and grandkids are into it.

ParkerJon: I might wait for the faster Shield, depending on how long the wait is.

HomerJAU: I use the internal apps on the LG in my living room, and they are rock-solid and feature Dolby Vision. The apps on the Sony in my media room caused some problems a couple of years ago, so I use a Roku Premiere+ there. I'm a little worried about the possible audio limitations on the Shield, but it's really hard to get straight info on whether they are real. Thanks for the link to the Vero 4K. It's less expensive, and it looks like I could control it with my Harmony One. However, it doesn't specify which audio file types it supports.

 

[HomerJAU]

From the HD Audio info on this page:

https://osmc.tv/vero/
Quote: Hear every detail. In addition to 192Khz PCM, Vero 4K + supports 7.1 channel bit-perfect passthrough of major audio formats, including DTS-HD Master Audio, DTS: X, Dolby TrueHD and Dolby Atmos

 

[paligap]

Quote: Hear every detail. In addition to 192Khz PCM, Vero 4K + supports 7.1 channel bit-perfect passthrough of major audio formats, including DTS-HD Master Audio, DTS: X, Dolby TrueHD and Dolby Atmos

I guess I'm just paranoid when the specs on the devices I'm looking at don't specify multi-channel flac. I read a couple of posts where users said their Vero 4K wouldn't play multi-channel flac files. One was resolved, but another didn't seem to be.

 

[windhoek]

windhoek: I'm not familiar with async USB, but I doubt my AVRs can implement it, anyway. I think the Shield outputs 24/196 over HDMI, no? I'm old enough to have just missed the gaming phenomenon, but my son and grandkids are into it.

I don't know whether the Shield outputs 24/192 via HDMI as my AVR is limited to 24/48 or 24/96, I can't remember which. Either way, it's old and I can only get 24/192 via async USB from the Shield to my DAC - it as the printer-type USB Input that's for audio.

 

[HomerJAU]

where users said their Vero 4K wouldn't play multi-channel flac files

I’m sure the Vero 4K+ outputs 5.1/7.1 from FLAC (and does DTS-HDMA, Atmos etc) via HDMI Passthrough. The only issue I saw was one processor that didn’t accept the multichannel PCM input. If you have a mainstream AVR it should be ok.

You could always contact Vero guys to confirm.

 

[himey]

My “embedded” mini-PC (win 10) is up and running Kodi.

Is there a way to reboot my mini-PC directly into Kodi without going through the windows login screen and executing Kodi from the windows UI?

Essentially I want to use Kodi “headless” for playback, under control of the iPad app.

FYI I’m using wireless LAN, HDMI connection to my AVR, iOS app “Kodi Music Remote”, and I also have a Rii smart remote.

Thanks for any help,
Steve

Check out Launcher 4 Kodi if you use or ever plan to use a remote...

 

[himey]

I'm becoming a big fan of the Nvidia Shield TV gadget as it can do so much and so much of that it does extremely well indeed. I use one in my bedroom for streaming film and TV from Netflix etc as well as stereo music from my NAS - fwiw, the Nvidia Shield can output 24/192 via async USB. I tend to use Kodi, although I've got a PLEX Premium so I really should get that sorted as it has a slicker UI. Oh, the Nvidia Shield can also do gaming (including games from a Steam account once you get on GeForce beta).

I use the one in my living room solely for stereo and multichannel music streaming from my NAS. Again, I use Kodi as player but I really should get PLEX up and running as the UI is slicker as I've already said.

The other thing worth mentioning is that being an android device, the Nvidia Shield runs off of a 5V USB input so no bulky power supply or whatever is needed. And I reckon I'm underusing both of mine by a long way, but I bought them because it's got a well-deserved reputation for being straightforward, no-nonsense device for getting the job done when it comes to film, music and TV content - the gaming is an unexpected bonus (fwiw, I'm currently playing Half-Life 2).

Nvidia Shield TV? Recommended!

Android devices can't do 44.1 khz which definitely affects bit perfect audio. Other than that, I do think Kodi is excellent on Android devices like the Shield TV and Firestick 4K.

 

[windhoek]

Android devices can't do 44.1 khz which definitely affects bit perfect audio. Other than that, I do think Kodi is excellent on Android devices like the Shield TV and Firestick 4K.

I'm not sure what you mean regarding Android devices not being able to output 44.1khz - is that not the equivalent of normal CD sample rate resolution? I'll admit, I'm not the most tech-savvy so I'll happily to defer to expertise.

 

[paligap]

I’m sure the Vero 4K+ outputs 5.1/7.1 from FLAC (and does DTS-HDMA, Atmos etc) via HDMI Passthrough. The only issue I saw was one processor that didn’t accept the multichannel PCM input. If you have a mainstream AVR it should be ok.

You could always contact Vero guys to confirm.

I went ahead and ordered one of these, and I look forward to receiving it and setting it up. Thanks for the recommendation and link.

 

[himey]

I'm not sure what you mean regarding Android devices not being able to output 44.1khz - is that not the equivalent of normal CD sample rate resolution? I'll admit, I'm not the most tech-savvy so I'll happily to defer to expertise.

Android devices can't do standard CD resolution of 44.1 khz. This makes bit perfect audio impossible with CDs that forces compromises in the audio quality. Also the playback of DTS CDs and any DTS audio wrapped in a wav file or flac, doesn't work unless converted.

For best audio from CDs I change the output to 88.2 or 176 khz which is a pain. If you don't manually change the settings it defaults to 48 khz which definitely doesn't sound nearly as good. These Android devices does many things very well for the money so these compromises are not a deal killer imo.

I use a Firestick 4K mostly when I am not using my mini HTPC and for video, the stick stands toe to toe for video, especially for 4K UHD video rips that have HDR, which the stick actually plays back better quality video than my HTPC.