Dune Solo 4k vs Nvidia Shield vs ??

luciofulci

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Hi Everyone,


I’m looking for a media player and I’m getting a little lost between the above two players.


I want to be able to connect it to a NAS and for it to play X265 files. Well mainly X264 files but I think X265 is becoming more common so I want to make sure it’s future proofed.


I don’t have a 4k TV so that isn’t an issue for me. I’m also not going to be ripping blu rays so I don’t need to play blu ray menus.


I’ve read the build quality of the Dune Solo is a little better but the Nvidia Shield has kodi (which I don’t currently use but it’s an added benefit I might end up using).


I don’t know if I need the dune or if the fact that I don’t need 4k or blu ray means I won’t benefit from having the dune over Nvidia Shield.


Cost isn’t really an issue, just want the best kit for my situation. Also I want to make sure it’s reliable, there are so many cheap knock off media players out there – I want something that is quality and will last.


Can anyone share their thoughts?


Many thanks in advance to anyone who replies.


Cheers
 
Hi,

Like you I don't have 4k setup yet. But I do own a Dune solo 4k and nvidia shield and another player you can add is popcorn a500.

I stream all my movie from my qnap nas to mainly ripped into mkv files.

I have had many media players in the past from mede8er 1000x3d, Popcorn a410, himedia q5, Intel nuc, firestick, qnap kodi to name a few.

From all the players I have owned I alway find myself using my dune as it just works and is very reliable and plenty of firmware updates to fix bug and new features.

There is a issue with hd audio dropout with subtitles which I hope will get fixed in next firmware update, it also has few movie scrapers like yadis, zappiti and my movies.

The nvidia with spmc is great player and quick menu response time and support more 4k formats and will have a hdr firmware update soon

The popcorn a500 uses same chipset as dune solo 4k but uses the outdated flash based menu which can be clunky and the movie scraper is not very accurate.

Thanks
 
Last edited:
Ouya. Openelec Nuc. 4k Fire Tv and my Nvidia Shield TV is the one I now use all the time.
 
The Vten would also work well for your needs.
No TrueHd dropouts.
If you still have A410 there's some firmware updates just out. Back ported from the A500/Vten.
Vten is cheaper running single core chip and no internal storage. A500 runs dual core chip same as solo and has internal storage.
 
Hi,

Like you I don't have 4k setup yet. But I do own a Dune solo 4k and nvidia shield and another player you can add is popcorn a500.

I stream all my movie from my qnap nas to mainly ripped into mkv files.

I have had many media players in the past from mede8er 1000x3d, Popcorn a410, himedia q5, Intel nuc, firestick, qnap kodi to name a few.

From all the players I have owned I alway find myself using my dune as it just works and is very reliable and plenty of firmware updates to fix bug and new features.

There is a issue with hd audio dropout with subtitles which I hope will get fixed in next firmware update, it also has few movie scrapers like yadis, zappiti and my movies.

The nvidia with spmc is great player and quick menu response time and support more 4k formats and will have a hdr firmware update soon

The popcorn a500 uses same chipset as dune solo 4k but uses the outdated flash based menu which can be clunky and the movie scraper is not very accurate.

Thanks

Apologies for the hijack.... How do you find the Mede8er to the Dune Solo if you can remember?

I'm considering binning my HTPC and getting my 1000X3D out of storage and using that instead. Have to admit the Mede8er has great picture quality but not a great UI. Might try Yadis to see if the UI is any better (also annoys me that I have to manual scan for new media).....
 
The mede8er is a good solid player but the solo 4k is better in my opinion I found my hdi dune base 3d better than the mede8er but that's my opinion. The picture processing in the sigma chipset to better, I have been down the htpc root from custom built one with nvidia gpu to Intel nuc and keep coming back to dune.

I use yadis and prefer to scrape on the pc to have better control, but I download all my coverart for yadis, kodi, plex and emby uses same as kodi nfo.

The new solo has very quick interface but still needs the truehd bug fixed hopefully in next firmware.
 
Thanks for that. I'm using Emby for the other media players myself so considering writing an app to watch and convert the Emby library for a Mede8er one. Might be too much grief though..... I also had a Dune D1 so they are capable players.

Tell me, can the Dune Solo auto-update it's library from the Yadis library off the PC? I have a feeling that even if the PC automatically creates the Yadis library I still have to manually tell the Mede8er to import. With the Solo is that all automatic? I have a Windows virtual machine always running on my unRAID box so it's fine for Yadis to be scraping/watching 24/7. Could even run Yadis in a Docker.
 
Thanks for your suggestions everyone, gives me something to think about. I might go for two players, the dune and perhaps the popcorn. Cheers
 
Thanks for that. I'm using Emby for the other media players myself so considering writing an app to watch and convert the Emby library for a Mede8er one. Might be too much grief though..... I also had a Dune D1 so they are capable players.

Tell me, can the Dune Solo auto-update it's library from the Yadis library off the PC? I have a feeling that even if the PC automatically creates the Yadis library I still have to manually tell the Mede8er to import. With the Solo is that all automatic? I have a Windows virtual machine always running on my unRAID box so it's fine for Yadis to be scraping/watching 24/7. Could even run Yadis in a Docker.
Hi,

With yadis you have to process it manually every time, it does not even have a schedule or anything like that.

So when you add a movie you have to open yadis on pc them click process and then export which then exports it to the dune.

Zappiti I believe has a more automated process with latest version but which cost money, I have never tried it so can't comment.

My movies also works on the dune. Again tried it.

Word is that dune is working on it own built in scraper which one of the distributors mentioned on AVSforum nit sure if there is any truth to it but it does also have an android icon with coming soon when you click it.

Thanks
 
Thanks for your suggestions everyone, gives me something to think about. I might go for two players, the dune and perhaps the popcorn. Cheers
I always say if you can go for both and return the one you don't like.

If popcorn had better library management, html 5 based menu and good firmware development then it would Def be a winner.

Thanks
 
So when you add a movie you have to open yadis on pc them click process and then export which then exports it to the dune.

That is a real pity and probably a deal breaker for me (stupid as it sounds).....
 
I always say if you can go for both and return the one you don't like.

If popcorn had better library management, html 5 based menu and good firmware development then it would Def be a winner.

Thanks
The Popcorn has excellent firmware support, they have fixed truehd dropouts, mvc/mkv, and other solo issues already.
The scanner works great for the nmj library just scanned my whole collection and not one error. You have to follow the naming guide, simples.
Watch the videos there's nothing outdated about it.
 
The Popcorn has excellent firmware support, they have fixed truehd dropouts, mvc/mkv, and other solo issues already.
The scanner works great for the nmj library just scanned my whole collection and not one error. You have to follow the naming guide, simples.
Watch the videos there's nothing outdated about it.
Hi,

I'm not talking about from what I have read I use to own a popcorn a410 hence my opinion.


The truehd issue has already been fixed with dune and they just need to release the beta, but if you look at the time between firmware updates between the two that will answer your question in regards to regular firmware updates.

Popcorn a410 firmware
July 2014
March 2015
Now beta 1 and 2 in 2016

That's like a firmware a year. The dune beta firmware are solid as 90% of the time they can be official firmware. they do internal testing before they release the beta firmware.
Heck I was getting forward updates on my prime 3 which was discontinued years ago.

My naming convention is spot on as I name all my rips manually and work great with kodi, emby, plex and yadis.

I think the build quality is fantastic on popcorn players and they have some really cool features but in my opinion if the above was improved and they moved to html 5 gui and better firmware support then it would be a great little player.
 
Like I say the Popcorn has excellent firmware development. Look at the number of releases for the Vten and A500 over the last year. Name me a company that doesn't do any internal testing on beta releases? CM certainly do. CM firmware development has been back to 100 levels for the last year. We have Firmware Fridays once more during the beta cycle, weekly releases nearly every week.

The A400 had one dip whilst the new Sigma chip was developed. Now the A400 is benefiting from that as the new chip fixes for the A500/Vten are backported to the A400. The A400 is a legacy product now but still benefits from the standard UI as it can thereby receive backported improvements from the newer models.

Naming for Kodi etc is irrelevant for NMJ. NMJ naming guide is available on the NMT forum. NMJTB even takes tvdb/tmdb/imdb id's to scrape should you not like the internal scanner or be bothered to name as per NMJ standards.

HTML5 is already being discussed for the next Sigma HDR chip along with QT.

MVC/MKV is supported, highend Audio (DSD/SACD), highend video including 3D subtitles. CM have had the SDK for the SOLO series longer than Dune so i'd expect them to be ahead, however I'm sure that like you say they will fix things as they are already fixed and need to simply be ported from the CM firmware to the Dune firmware :D

The more that Dune and CM push each other the better it is for us as owners.
 
Thanks for the feedback, but your opinion would be biased as your you are a moderator on number of popcorn player forums i.e like Network Media Tank forum.

Also why did the Popcorn A500 start of on kickstarters with ETA Nov 2015? was it lack of funds?

Popcorn Hour A-500 PRO: A Jukebox for Music & Movie Lovers
 

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