QQ Media Player NUC Buyers Club - Discussion

[LuvMyQuad]

What foobar addons are required for sacd conversion and I suppose playback to recognize the format

Well the playback is just flac and it comes with that.

It was a while back but i do remember having to load in an sacd decoder plug in, but i think ive read that newer foobar versions already have it. There is also an official codec bundle i think.

 

[Old Quad Guy]

Foobar2000 download:
https://www.foobar2000.org/download

Screenshot from above link bottom of page:

SACD plugin for Foorbar2000:
https://sourceforge.net/projects/sacddecoder/

Also for SACD:
https://sourceforge.net/projects/sacddecoder/files/

Sony SACD Foobar2000 instructions:
https://www.sony.com/electronics/support/articles/00074942

DVD-Audio plugin for Foorbar2000:
https://sourceforge.net/projects/dvdadecoder/

Foobar DVD audio:
https://www.foobar2000.org/components/tag/DVD+audio

More Foobar2000 plugins:
https://www.foobar2000.org/components

Audio CD burner:
https://www.foobar2000.org/components/view/foo_burninate

 

[J. PUPSTER]

I hope some others here can provide some knowledge of a storage issue that I've had with large SSD's. As you know, the oppo 205 player is no slouch; but when I plug in one of these large SSD's (4TB) into the front of mine, it seems to have to work for a long time to read the whole drive (even if there's very little on it) and can even hang the playback of music if it's not finished doing it's thing. I know it creates a kind of database/cataloging for albums/artists/genre etc. so maybe it always refers to/loads that first. I seem to remember that the guys with SSD surround capabilities in their cars tend to stick to a smaller drive -i.e. 500 GB, for similar reasons.

So my question is - does the NUC's with KODI have a similar issue?

Here's the model below I mostly have for 4TB SSD (Samsung T7) and there is a newer model - T9's, with even faster read & write speeds. However, a particular device's "access & processing" for a particular drive may be somewhat different from read & write speeds for the drive.

https://www.amazon.com/SAMSUNG-Portable-Professionals-MU-PC4T0T-AM/dp/B0CX9BV341/

https://www.amazon.com/SAMSUNG-Portable-Professionals-MU-PG4T0B-AM/dp/B0CHFSZX9W/

 

[humprof]

I hope some others here can provide some knowledge of a storage issue that I've had with large SSD's. As you know, the oppo 205 player is no slouch; but when I plug in one of these large SSD's (4TB) into the front of mine, it seems to have to work for a long time to read the whole drive (even if there's very little on it) and can even hang the playback of music if it's not finished doing it's thing. I know it creates a kind of database/cataloging for albums/artists/genre etc. so maybe it always refers to/loads that first. I seem to remember that the guys with SSD surround capabilities in their cars tend to stick to a smaller drive -i.e. 500 GB, for similar reasons.

So my question is - does the NUC's with KODI have a similar issue?

Here's the model below I mostly have for 4TB SSD (Samsung T7) and there is a newer model - T9's, with even faster read & write speeds. However, a particular device's "access & processing" for a particular drive may be somewhat different from read & write speeds for the drive.

https://www.amazon.com/SAMSUNG-Portable-Professionals-MU-PC4T0T-AM/dp/B0CX9BV341/

https://www.amazon.com/SAMSUNG-Portable-Professionals-MU-PG4T0B-AM/dp/B0CHFSZX9W/

I'm just shooting from the hip here, Pup, and could be wrong, but somehow I had it in my head that Oppos were limited to reading from 2GB drives?

 

[J. PUPSTER]

I'm just shooting from the hip here, Pup, and could be wrong, but somehow I had it in my head that Oppos were limited to reading from 2GB drives?

Not sure about that, as it does play my 4TB SSD once it's done it's thing.

 

[MrBurns]

So my question is - does the NUC's with KODI have a similar issue?

Whilst I can't speak for the NUC's, Kodi has some settings that can either increase or mitigate start-up time. These settings control whether or not Kodi re-scans your music or video library at start-up. Obviously re-scanning a drive will take time.

For db access, Kodi uses either a local sqlite database or a shared MySQL/MariaDB database. Most queries are fast but if your db is huge and you are running some filter query on a subset of your music then this can take some time occasionally. It really depends on the size of the db, the hardware it's running on and the query itself.
I have roughly 30,000 tracks in my db and queries take milliseconds. That involves sending the query to a shared db on a server, executing it, and getting the result back.

If you aren't (re)scanning at start-up, then loading should be the time it takes to load Kodi and the db's and skin. In the order of seconds. Drives are not scanned until you tell Kodi to do so.

 

[HomerJAU]

I strongly recommend not to set Kodi to Scan on Startup. Only ask Kodi to Scan when you know new media has been added or changed. These NUCs will have ‘Scan on Start-up’ disabled on delivery, it’s a user setting.

@J. PUPSTER Using an external SSD gives best performance for Scans, but no noticeable difference to playback performance. The trade off is price, SSD get expensive, whereas HDDs a cheaper per TB and go to 16TB or more as a standalone USB drive.

If you do go for a large USB HDD then ensure it has an external power supply, they get power hungry and the NUC may not supply enough. See the specs pdf.

If connecting an external USB drive, always use one of the USB 3.0 ports (blue) not 2.0 (black). USB 3 allows faster access.

 

[humprof]

@J. PUPSTER Using an external SSD gives best performance for Scans, but no noticeable difference to playback performance. The trade off is price, SSD get expensive, whereas HDDs a cheaper per TB and go to 16TB or more as a standalone USB drive.

Thanks for all the tips and clarifications, @HomerJAU.

Not to open a whole other can o' worms, but even though I currently have a mix of HDDs and SSDs (and thought I would aim to fully transition to the latter over time, as prices come down), some of what I'm reading lately about SSDs is also making me nervous. The early rep of SSDs was that because they were solid state, no moving parts, they were ipso facto much more reliable. But they will fail eventually, too--and usually, unlike an HDD, without any prior warning (or any chance to backup/rescue data before they crash or once they're gone). Maybe not till you're in the cold, cold ground. But the odd SSD could also fail early. Backup, backup, backup....

 

[atlantasteve]

I’m wondering if I can add a Plex Media Server to the NUC. I have my music divided in 2 hard drives, one 2 channel and one MCH. I have my 2 channel drive connected to a laptop with Plex. I planned on connecting my MCH drive to the NUC, but it would be ideal to connect both drives to the NUC with Plex.

 

[LuvMyQuad]

I strongly recommend not to set Kodi to Scan on Startup. Only ask Kodi to Scan when you know new media has been added or changed. These NUCs will have ‘Scan on Start-up’ disabled on delivery, it’s a user setting.

I couldant agree more with this. Boot time for kodi on these nucs is maybe 10 seconds. Your music files are already in the database at startup. They are available as soon as kodi loads.

Typically, even with new additions, you dont have to rescan an entire drive. You can scan in a single album. It takes seconds. You can even do it while you are already playing music.

 

[CINERAMAX]

On my Magnetar, I believe I have a 4.5" SSD. When plugged into the front USB port, it requires frequent manual replugging due to unreliable performance. However, when connected to the rear USB port, it functions flawlessly. Could this be caused by a slightly misaligned metal connection? [Insert Twilight Zone music]

 

[HomerJAU]

I’m wondering if I can add a Plex Media Server to the NUC. I have my music divided in 2 hard drives, one 2 channel and one MCH. I have my 2 channel drive connected to a laptop with Plex. I planned on connecting my MCH drive to the NUC, but it would be ideal to connect both drives to the NUC with Plex.

These NUCs are running a cut down version of Linux (LibreElec), so I doubt a Plex Server can run on one.

But LibreElec can itself act as a file server so all attached drives (USB, Thunderbolt or the internal NVME SSD) can be accessed from other devices on your home network. Your MCH USB drive connected to NUC can be seen from your laptop, Plex on on your laptop can use files on your NUC.

 

[HomerJAU]

On my Magnetar,

These NUCs use very reliable Intel dual core quad thread cpus and Intel chipsets used in business critical solutions. I doubt you’ll have problems like you described on these NUCs. There are multi millions users of both Intel gen 8 core CPUs and Linux. Not just a few hundred using USB drives on a disc player that’s relatively new to the market.

 

[HomerJAU]

IMPORTANT UPDATE (PROJECT MILESTONE):
Paul now has the final NVME SSD image for American assembled QQ NUCs. Let the production line begin!

I will build AU NUC here beginning in about 3 days (I only have 7 to do, Paul has more than 50 across 3 rounds!)

The US plan is to build/test & ship Round 1 first, then Round 2 and finally 3.

I need to finish the next MMH 9 beta release. As soon as that’s done, more QQ Media Player How To docs will be created & uploaded to step users through the initial settings, loading your media (and play it too).

THX
Garry

 

[HomerJAU]

I’m wondering if I can add a Plex Media Server to the NUC.

Hey Steve,

I was looking for an add-on on our NUCs yesterday and found Kodi has a ‘Plex Nedua Server’ add-on, you users can easily install that and run the NUC as a Plex Server.