Lossless Digital Media on Network in 2014
What "Audiophile Approved" options are there for streaming or pulling digital media FROM A PC SHARE on a home network?
In 2014 we have many new devices, including gaming consoles, chromecast, tablets, phones, wifi, DACs galore...
DLNA options exist but often your devices end up doing a conversion on them resulting in quality loss.
Accessing media on a PC network SHARE (shared folder) means any video processing is happening on the player, not on the PC. It also means you can share from 1 PC to many devices or TV's in the house, which beats a hard drive connected to a media player for some of us.
On one TV we have an Oppo BDP-93 and never use Discs in it, I stream everything DLNA but feel I'm losing some quality at times. Also, the remote and slowness of the device is quite annoying. Menus could be much better and it occasionally pukes and needs to be rebooted.
Our 2nd TV has a WDTVLive which is great for format support but I suspect it could be better. Perhaps I need to use the optical link rather than the copper outputs.
Of course we also have a house full of tablets doing DLNA and media share access to get videos as well.
We used to use 2 hacked 1st gen xboxes running XBMC which was fantastic for audio and didn't use DLNA at all. But it didn't support newer formats like .MKV without studdering. I read the DACs on original Xboxes weren’t good for music but to me it sounded better than most other options.
I bought an Xbox 360 without realizing you can't even do netflix on it without an xbox live subscription - ridiculous. Then it's interface as a media player is horrible. I'm sure you can update it, but again you need a live subscription which is highway robbery.
The WDTVLive+ does allow either DLNA or PC Shares which is great. So far it’s the best thing I’ve found.
Other suggestions greatly appreciated!
In 2014 we have many new devices, including gaming consoles, chromecast, tablets, phones, wifi, DACs galore...
DLNA options exist but often your devices end up doing a conversion on them resulting in quality loss.
Accessing media on a PC network SHARE (shared folder) means any video processing is happening on the player, not on the PC. It also means you can share from 1 PC to many devices or TV's in the house, which beats a hard drive connected to a media player for some of us.
On one TV we have an Oppo BDP-93 and never use Discs in it, I stream everything DLNA but feel I'm losing some quality at times. Also, the remote and slowness of the device is quite annoying. Menus could be much better and it occasionally pukes and needs to be rebooted.
Our 2nd TV has a WDTVLive which is great for format support but I suspect it could be better. Perhaps I need to use the optical link rather than the copper outputs.
Of course we also have a house full of tablets doing DLNA and media share access to get videos as well.
We used to use 2 hacked 1st gen xboxes running XBMC which was fantastic for audio and didn't use DLNA at all. But it didn't support newer formats like .MKV without studdering. I read the DACs on original Xboxes weren’t good for music but to me it sounded better than most other options.
I bought an Xbox 360 without realizing you can't even do netflix on it without an xbox live subscription - ridiculous. Then it's interface as a media player is horrible. I'm sure you can update it, but again you need a live subscription which is highway robbery.
The WDTVLive+ does allow either DLNA or PC Shares which is great. So far it’s the best thing I’ve found.
Other suggestions greatly appreciated!
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