Dune HD 2020 Players Owners Thread

After much frustration and messing about with network settings on the NAS it turns out it was a simple solution and trying a different Ethernet cable did the trick taking a read test from 12MB/s to over 100 so no more choppy playback.
 
Hi all,

I have been using a 10 year old budget LG Bluray to play video files on my 22" (yes LoL) LG TV monitor. I have no internet connection at my house so I sometimes download YouTube documentaries in my mothers onto a 1TB portable HDD and play them back at the house, lately most of the MKV or .mp4 YouTube downloads will not work on my old LG BluRay player and I need to use my laptop plugged in via HDMI which is a nuisance...

All I am looking is a media player to play more modern video formats via my portable HDD drive, I don't use a NAS or anything and my TV is 1080p. I have been looking at these 4k Dune drives but maybe a bit overkill for my purposes...

I was wondering would the typical cheapo Chinese media players do me instead of forking out £150, I was looking into upgrading my Bluray player just for the more modern media playback but the 4k players are overkill also and I don't need a 4k UHD BD player as I have no 4k TV. I'm sure the Dune have a slicker interface etc. but would the Ebay cheapo ones do seeing as you can get the likes of a T95 H616 Android 10.0 TV Box 4GB+64GB Quad Core KD HD Media Player WIFI for less than £18?

T95 H616 Android 10 TV Box

All I want it to do is play the more modern video files although I was able to use my Bluray player remote control before for pausing etc, without fail. Maybe the remote supplied with this and the cheap interface or lack of it won't work or is a pain in the ass which I don't want.

The ability to play subtitles is important (I have tinnitus and hearing loss) and these seldom worked on my LG Bluray player with media files via my portable HDD. I reckon a more modern Bluray disc player could be the same.

I'm prepared to buy a Dune if it worked flawlessly with subtitles etc. even if I only use 1080p

I wish they had a co-axial output to input into my DAC as the HDMI through the TV then Toslink to DAC is very attenuated. I can't find a cheaper media player with a co-axial output but I'd love this.

Thanks
 
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Hi all,

I have been using a 10 year old budget LG Bluray to play video files on my 22" (yes LoL) LG TV monitor. I have no internet connection at my house so I sometimes download YouTube documentaries in my mothers onto a 1TB portable HDD and play them back at the house, lately most of the MKV or .mp4 YouTube downloads will not work on my old LG BluRay player and I need to use my laptop plugged in via HDMI which is a nuisance...

All I am looking is a media player to play more modern video formats via my portable HDD drive, I don't use a NAS or anything and my TV is 1080p. I have been looking at these 4k Dune drives but maybe a bit overkill for my purposes...

I was wondering would the typical cheapo Chinese media players do me instead of forking out £150, I was looking into upgrading my Bluray player just for the more modern media playback but the 4k players are overkill also and I don't need a 4k UHD BD player as I have no 4k TV. I'm sure the Dune have a slicker interface etc. but would the Ebay cheapo ones do seeing as you can get the likes of a T95 H616 Android 10.0 TV Box 4GB+64GB Quad Core KD HD Media Player WIFI for less than £18?

T95 H616 Android 10 TV Box

All I want it to do is play the more modern video files although I was able to use my Bluray player remote control before for pausing etc, without fail. Maybe the remote supplied with this and the cheap interface or lack of it won't work or is a pain in the ass which I don't want.

The ability to play subtitles is important (I have tinnitus and hearing loss) and these seldom worked on my LG Bluray player with media files via my portable HDD. I reckon a more modern Bluray disc player could be the same.

I'm prepared to buy a Dune if it worked flawlessly with subtitles etc. even if I only use 1080p

I wish they had a co-axial output to input into my DAC as the HDMI through the TV then Toslink to DAC is very attenuated. I can't find a cheaper media player with a co-axial output but I'd love this.

Thanks
You'd better throw your 18 bucks in the sea or give it to me:D. This should do the job also :
- Dune HD SmartBox 4K
Good luck ;)
 
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OK but that'll cost twice the price when 20% VAT, plus customs and import fees are added on. Where are these sent from? Hong Kong? I only see one retailer selling Dune in the UK and their cheapest model is £180 which is more than 200 bucks in your money.

Update... I see one on Ebay from Germany for about £90 but I'm also looking at a few used ones too including the older Dune HD Base 3.0 which has a co-axial digital output which I want plus an internal 3.5" bay which I could use. Maybe it is too old? What do you think? As I said before I only need 1080p but maybe it won't play the YouTube MKV and .MP4 files.
 
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OK but that'll cost twice the price when 20% VAT, plus customs and import fees are added on. Where are these sent from? Hong Kong? I only see one retailer selling Dune in the UK and their cheapest model is £180 which is more than 200 bucks in your money.

Update... I see one on Ebay from Germany for about £90 but I'm also looking at a few used ones too including the older Dune HD Base 3.0 which has a co-axial digital output which I want plus an internal 3.5" bay which I could use. Maybe it is too old? What do you think? As I said before I only need 1080p but maybe it won't play the YouTube MKV and .MP4 files.
All x264 files will play on that older units but no x265 files due to hardware limitations
 
Yeah I think I 'need' x265 capability, saves a lot of storage space and I could convert all my films stored to the format although it takes ages even with a 6-core 12-thread processor.

I am looking at another unit, only 3 years old, the Dune HD Solo 4k. Interestingly it has a DVB-T/T2 built into it which I could use as my TV has only a SD tuner and I could record too. I'm not sure how slick it is for recording. I definitely do not need the HDR features of the latest line-up nor 4k as I don't need it having a 21.5" TV... smallish lounge and a 42" TV would be ridiculous, I couldn't sit far enough away from it.
 
New firmware today for Realbox
This version is a minor update which only fixes the problem with menu
"Setup / Applications / Android Applications".
 
New firmware today for Realbox
This version is a minor update which only fixes the problem with menu
"Setup / Applications / Android Applications".
Not showing OTA for me yet. The device is reporting 200415_0405_r14 as the latest.
 
Does anyone know if the Dune HD Solo 4K is a decent NAS server? The manual says it has NAS capability. I wonder do internal and external drives show up on the network?
 
Does anyone know if the Dune HD Solo 4K is a decent NAS server? The manual says it has NAS capability. I wonder do internal and external drives show up on the network?
You are on the wrong thread, this is for 2020 Dune models. But if I remember it was decent as a server. They plan to add the server functionality to the current series but it’s not available yet.
 
Not showing OTA for me yet. The device is reporting 200415_0405_r14 as the latest.
Yes my mistake m8,thats the one I got, I must have missed an update while I was using my ATV for a while. So Fake News LOL.

Drac
 
Ordered a PRO II yesterday straight from Dune Hong Kong:D Let's see what that new chip is capable off:eek:
 
You'd better throw your 18 bucks in the sea or give it to me:D. This should do the job also :
- Dune HD SmartBox 4K
Good luck ;)

Eventually won myself a Dune HD Solo Lite (the updated wi-fi one) apparently unused on Ebay. These players are still very popular it seems. I do have a powerful modern PC in a HTPC case which could have played any file but I had no remote control, I don't want to see Windows, and I'd have to use a 10m HDMI cable too running around the room... No no and no the media player was the smart idea.

BTW you should see HD movies played through a photography monitor, absolutely outstanding!
 
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So it arrived already a bit unexpected yesterday :) During setup the response was much snappier then previous media players , played already one file PQ was outstanding and sound in the same league. Downside wasn't able to get Hdr(+) out of it yet. Have to dig deeper into it but i saw a lot of DV options including Sony's low latency mode so maybe there is a way to play such file's . In the next couple of weeks more news on that subject ;)
 
So it arrived already a bit unexpected yesterday :) During setup the response was much snappier then previous media players , played already one file PQ was outstanding and sound in the same league. Downside wasn't able to get Hdr(+) out of it yet. Have to dig deeper into it but i saw a lot of DV options including Sony's low latency mode so maybe there is a way to play such file's . In the next couple of weeks more news on that subject ;)

The Zidoo Z9x has the diff RTD1619DR VS10 playback have a read up Sir Oled 👍
 
The Zidoo Z9x has the diff RTD1619DR VS10 playback have a read up Sir Oled 👍
Thanks for the tip :) interesting read but a clever move to do not brag about that DV playback :censored:
 
Thanks for the tip :) interesting read but a clever move to do not brag about that DV playback :censored:

early stages yet on what these new chipsets can do or playback etc
will wait on what the X9x can do if more .
Fight Club 😂😂
 
Neat little unit there Sir Oled, can it output digital co-axial audio through the white cable like in the old players? I'm looking forward to this function specifically so I can get the best stereo output through my stereo amplifier with the Solo 4k which is coming tomorrow. I know most of you will not use this and the optical SPDIF is there in the 4K II Pro anyway. My crappy 21.5" TV uses up the only SPDIF input on my amplifier you see but I have a spare coax input left for the 4k Solo.

Looking to put it into my yacht someday as it'll run off 12V without a power adapter and better efficiency :D
 
Neat little unit there Sir Oled, can it output digital co-axial audio through the white cable like in the old players? I'm looking forward to this function specifically so I can get the best stereo output through my stereo amplifier with the Solo 4k which is coming tomorrow. I know most of you will not use this and the optical SPDIF is there in the 4K II Pro anyway. My crappy 21.5" TV uses up the only SPDIF input on my amplifier you see but I have a spare coax input left for the 4k Solo.

Looking to put it into my yacht someday as it'll run off 12V without a power adapter and better efficiency :D
Thanks, but yes there are a lot of adapters to get that well done for your use digital co-axial output. At first sight i think it must work without adapters.
 
Well I have the Solo 4k setup (alas I am now a Dune user :smashin: ) with the digital coax feeding straight into my DAC digital input on my Arcam SA10 stereo amplifier and it was worth buying the Dune for this reason alone as it sounds fantastic compared to Bluray HDMI into a TV then Toslink into my amplifier.

Not sure how many of you are audiophiles but the Dune even plays SACD ISO files which my fancy Arcam SACD player wouldn't.

These Dune players are so much better than those generic Android boxes I am glad I did not buy and I found the subtitles are now available for everything, unlike my Bluray player which hardly ever 'seen' them unless using discs.

The only video files it wouldn't play were VP9 files I downloaded from YouTube, I thought it did play the older VP9 but not VP9 profile 2 which the new Dunes do, maybe they actually are VP9 profile 2 files and that is why but it only states VP9 in the Media Info software.

Another weird thing is it said it didn't recognise the file format in my main video storage which is a 1TB portable USB HDD, it did recognise the other 1TB HDD which I have music on and another 500GB HDD... BTW all are NTFS formatted.

The picture quality is amazing through my 1080p photography monitor which I temporarily swapped out with my LCD TV and it is difficult to go back, maybe I should buy a small set top box for it so I can get TV.

The Dune OS is very good if not a little dated looking, I wonder is it the same OS in the new players? I love how it remembers where in every file you were watching even after switching it off.

If I had have known about Dune players years ago I would have got one, to think that I persisted (and nearly bought a newer BD player) with that LG Bluray player with it's dinosaur media file capability for so long... :facepalm:

But now I have found salvation :D
 
Well I have the Solo 4k setup (alas I am now a Dune user :smashin: ) with the digital coax feeding straight into my DAC digital input on my Arcam SA10 stereo amplifier and it was worth buying the Dune for this reason alone as it sounds fantastic compared to Bluray HDMI into a TV then Toslink into my amplifier.

Not sure how many of you are audiophiles but the Dune even plays SACD ISO files which my fancy Arcam SACD player wouldn't.

These Dune players are so much better than those generic Android boxes I am glad I did not buy and I found the subtitles are now available for everything, unlike my Bluray player which hardly ever 'seen' them unless using discs.

The only video files it wouldn't play were VP9 files I downloaded from YouTube, I thought it did play the older VP9 but not VP9 profile 2 which the new Dunes do, maybe they actually are VP9 profile 2 files and that is why but it only states VP9 in the Media Info software.

Another weird thing is it said it didn't recognise the file format in my main video storage which is a 1TB portable USB HDD, it did recognise the other 1TB HDD which I have music on and another 500GB HDD... BTW all are NTFS formatted.

The picture quality is amazing through my 1080p photography monitor which I temporarily swapped out with my LCD TV and it is difficult to go back, maybe I should buy a small set top box for it so I can get TV.

The Dune OS is very good if not a little dated looking, I wonder is it the same OS in the new players? I love how it remembers where in every file you were watching even after switching it off.

If I had have known about Dune players years ago I would have got one, to think that I persisted (and nearly bought a newer BD player) with that LG Bluray player with it's dinosaur media file capability for so long... :facepalm:

But now I have found salvation :D
Enlightenment can have strange effects:rotfl: The OS is pretty much the same with those new players.
The only players that do a pretty good job are the oppo and the Cambridge plus the new pioneer lx 500 but you miss out the poster lay out but that is only personal preference.
 
Ok playing around for a few days and overall pretty pleased. For sdr the chroma sub sampling makes a a subtle but noticeable difference between this player and the zidoo x20 pro. Colours are deeper and richer so this chipset can make a difference in that area. For hdr 10 (+) same noticeable subtle differences. There is a lot to fiddle around but for now it looks stable enough. Poster wall is on par with the zappiti with lot's of information and NO missing posters and episode's info like on the zidoo.
I have to compare it with the oppo clone upstairs for DV play , The sammy does not like that kind of metadata :eek: . One negative so far is you have to re power it twice before i got the home screen . It's connected to the Sennheiser so a bit a hit and miss there. For the next couple of months it's becoming my main player but for present time definitely a keeper. Next couple of weeks try to post some pictures and comparing stuff if i find the time.:)
 
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This little beast gets more and more appreciation :) I can confirm android applications like android Tv ,Netflix, You tube (4k stereo) and third party apps works flawlessly, no crashes so far all steady.
The zidoo for that part was a bit messy and practically unusable so another win for this little f**ker.:D .
With a few firmware updates ahead this could be the media player too beat.:censored:
 

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