UGoos AM6B+ - End-Game 4K Media Streamer (for me anyway, and anyone who cares about Dolby Vision playback)

[citysoundman]

I read that in macOS Sequoia 15 "Passthrough is available in Apple Music, QuickTime Player, and the Apple TV app on Mac with Apple silicon and a built-in HDMI port or a supported USB-C to HDMI adapter" but that might not fit your use case.

I got one of these little AM6B boxes, followed the instructions, and did the local setup on screen (telling where files are on the network). Mine are NFS but samba is similar.

I can't remember what did with the SD card, probably just left it in. And it seems pretty snappy.

I have not needed to do so, but you can ssh in the terminal on Mac. The default root password is coreelec
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thanks for the reply! It's kinda lame that Apple will allow passthrough only on their apps

I can share Mac files via Samba or NFS - I recently found NFS Manager which lets my Oppo play Mac network files - a real game changer for me!

I've never used SSH but it sounds like a good way to remote in, I will try it for sure.

So are you happy with the box? Any issues??

 

[Steve Bruzonsky]

Does the UGoos AMB6+, once software(d) with Corelec, play ISO 4k blu ray files? Or do I need to convert to MKV files? In order to get the max benefits of Dolby Vision FEL?

 

[citysoundman]

Does the UGoos AMB6+, once software(d) with Corelec, play ISO 4k blu ray files? Or do I need to convert to MKV files? In order to get the max benefits of Dolby Vision FEL?

From what I've read, ISO playback is not really doable from Kodi. Some Windows users have had some success but I kinda doubt that it will work on this. Maybe someone else has tried it?

 

[JediJoker]

Nvidia recently released a software update to the Shield that, in part, pertained to Dolby Vision. Anyone know whether that brings its capabilities in-line with the AM6B+?

 

[himey]

Nvidia recently released a software update to the Shield that, in part, pertained to Dolby Vision. Anyone know whether that brings its capabilities in-line with the AM6B+?

It doesn't. I have been in the market for a streamer for Dolby Vision since I got an LG OLED a little over a month ago. I picked up a Homatics box from Aliexpress for $88 and it is working out great with Kodi CoreElec and Jellyfin. Watched Snake Eyes tonight which is the highest bitrate movie in my collection, and it played flawless in DV FEL 7.

 

[SeeMoreDigital]

Well I think the time has come... Where are people from the UK buying the UGoos AM6B+?

 

[citysoundman]

Well I think the time has come... Where are people from the UK buying the UGoos AM6B+?

US here, but I have mine coming from Ali Express. First time buying from them, they were $50 cheaper than Amazon.

 

[JediJoker]

US here, but I have mine coming from Ali Express. First time buying from them, they were $50 cheaper than Amazon.

AliExpress is generally the way to go when purchasing Chinese products. Many manufacturers have their own storefronts there.

 

[citysoundman]

Well I think the time has come... Where are people from the UK buying the UGoos AM6B+?

You might want to wait on buying it. It seems the CoreElec site is all of a sudden down while the team reassesses things

 

[himey]

AliExpress is generally the way to go when purchasing Chinese products. Many manufacturers have their own storefronts there.

The tariffs could slow things down but I'm pretty sure the US simply doesn't have the infrastructure to handle the volume. The tariffs lasted 12 hours at the beginning of February and packages were delayed up to a month. Could they be that stupid again? Hopefully not.

 

[himey]

You might want to wait on buying it. It seems the CoreElec site is all of a sudden down while the team reassesses things

Not a good time for a newbie to learn about CoreElec!

 

[JediJoker]

The tariffs could slow things down but I'm pretty sure the US simply doesn't have the infrastructure to handle the volume. The tariffs lasted 12 hours at the beginning of February and packages were delayed up to a month. Could they be that stupid again? Hopefully not.

Yes, tariffs and the revocation of the de minimis exemption for Chinese imports could spell the (temporary) end of AliExpress in the U.S. I'm not sure what the import duties are like for AliExpress orders in Europe.

 

[SeeMoreDigital]

You might want to wait on buying it. It seems the CoreElec site is all of a sudden down while the team reassesses things

Reassess what things?

 

[himey]

Reassesses what things?

If you are new to CE, it's going to take a lot more effort to get up to speed now.

 

[HomerJAU]

The cons of the AMB6+:
It’s running a old Linux version that can’t be updated as the DoVi code is locked to that version
It can’t do a 4K UI for Kodi, (it can do 4K when playing video)
It’s not super fast for library navigation if using a skin with heavy graphics, scrolling through lists af albums with cover art or artists with an artist image.
They may never get future updates that support Dovi. It is probably a one shot wonder.

It does do a great job playing 4K video! And FEL is a nice feature, but there’s not much FEL content.

I have two I use in two rooms for Movies/Dovi. But I also have two other Kodi devices I use for Music and Music video, and most of the time for movies too. I probably should not have bought 2 AMB6+, only 1 for my dedicated media room with 77” TV.

 

[HomerJAU]

If you are new to CE, it's going to take a lot more effort to get up to speed now.

Why not a QQ Special Ed NUC? These are coming full set up with a custom UI aimed at surroun music listeners.

 

[SeeMoreDigital]

If you are new to CE, it's going to take a lot more effort to get up to speed now.

Oh dear...

 

[himey]

Oh dear...

One of the devs just posted on Reddit that it should be back soon. Hopefully that is the case. Right now you can't install dependencies because the host site is down. CE is certainly limited at this point in time.

 

[himey]

It can’t do a 4K UI for Kodi

The Homatics doesn't have that limitation.

 

[HomerJAU]

The Homatics doesn't have that limitation.

The Homatics can't run CoreElec from it's internal storage. You must have a 'slow' USB device connected for that. (I have one of those too). I have a SSD USB drive hanging off it behind my Bedroom TV!). That's not a lounge room, fast browsing Music device at all. It will be the next to be dumped.