Alternatives to Raspberry Pi

[vgrove]

Hello Friends,

What is the next best alternative to using Raspberry Pi as an HTPC? When I say next best, I am looking for something
1. similar in size
2. better in performance
3. similar in costs (maybe just marginally higher)
4. capable of running XBMC

Thanks in advance

 

[gobble]

Cubox i4-pro. I use one for music. It is excellent!

 

[alladinkachirag]

Cubox i4-pro. I use one for music. It is excellent!

+1 to that. I use the same with LMS + Squeezelite. I find it excellent and convenient!

 

[gobble]

yeah..! Good to see one more i4 user - I havent used it for video yet. Have you? How is 1080p playback?

Once you listen to a 10W fanless device, you will never reach for one with a fanny again ... hyeah: Apparently the pulse-width-modulation used to regulate fan speed adds a lot of electrical noise into the system. It beat my itx mobo with a soldered on-board e350m low power cpu hands down


G0bble

 

[alladinkachirag]

yeah..! Good to see one more i4 user - I havent used it for video yet. Have you? How is 1080p playback?

Once you listen to a 10W fanless device, you will never reach for one with a fanny again ... hyeah: Apparently the pulse-width-modulation used to regulate fan speed adds a lot of electrical noise into the system. It beat my itx mobo with a soldered on-board e350m low power cpu hands down


G0bble

Yeah, I am using 2 Cubox-i4Pro's.
1st: LMS + Squeezelite over Volumio ( not using the default MPD)
2nd: XBMC (Geexbox) to Sony LED.

XBMC is able to deliver 1080p + 3D flawlessly! Loving it

 

[haisaikat]

If it is music listening only then does a cubox offer any advantage over rpi in terms of Sound Quality? The price of cubox is 5 to 6 times over rpi.

Also one doubt, would it not be better to run just volumio alone instead of adding the overhead of LMS and Squeezelite combo if it is for serious audio listening only and not for multi room sync etc which otherwise comes with LMS?

 

[gobble]

If it is music listening only then does a cubox offer any advantage over rpi in terms of Sound Quality? The price of cubox is 5 to 6 times over rpi.

Also one doubt, would it not be better to run just volumio alone instead of adding the overhead of LMS and Squeezelite combo if it is for serious audio listening only and not for multi room sync etc which otherwise comes with LMS?

I wanted onboard WiFi + 2 USB + eSata originally although now I don't use esata at all because I discovered network file sharing over Wifi is not at all a problem causing any kind of stuttering or jitter.

If you factor in the price of the RPi board + shipping + case + shipping does the price difference narrow down? By how much? Does Rpi come with wifi? The dual core cubox is cheaper @100USD. Plus we have the flexibility of 2GB RAM.

G0bble

 

[alladinkachirag]

Also one doubt, would it not be better to run just volumio alone instead of adding the overhead of LMS and Squeezelite combo if it is for serious audio listening only and not for multi room sync etc which otherwise comes with LMS?

I was looking for -
1. Easier control - iPeng!
2. Multiplayer Control - I have squeezelite on Cubox, Squeezecast on iPhone and iPad, Squeezeplay on Galaxy S2 (wifes): This is just so convenient to listen music on your device(s), and wife also is happy as the controls are extremely intuitive (BIG FACTOR )
3. Easier to maintain - MPD has it own issues (for me it crashed a lot of times)

And it works beautifully!

I think hardware of Cubox-i4Pro is good enough to run LMS + Squeezlite, as I did not hear any crackling noise, or erratic playback even when the LMS is updating the library. Running the Volumio of a Class 10 8GB card.

 

[vgrove]

How's the XBMC performance on Cubox-i4Pro? And connectivity to a NAS? Can we add a remote to it?

 

[alladinkachirag]

How's the XBMC performance on Cubox-i4Pro? And connectivity to a NAS? Can we add a remote to it?

XBMC runs great, and 1080p is flawless...even 3D. I have attached a 1 TB WD HDD to the router, and using this as a NAS. XBMC is able to scan and play movies without any problems with this setup.

The best part of using Geexbox is...it works with my TV remote! It is CEC compliant and my Sony Bravia remote works flawlessly. I have remote apps on my iPhone and android devices too, but never had to use them as TV remote is just works great!

 

[gobble]

XBMC runs great, and 1080p is flawless...even 3D. I have attached a 1 TB WD HDD to the router, and using this as a NAS. XBMC is able to scan and play movies without any problems with this setup.

The best part of using Geexbox is...it works with my TV remote! It is CEC compliant and my Sony Bravia remote works flawlessly. I have remote apps on my iPhone and android devices too, but never had to use them as TV remote is just works great!

Yep, The cubox comes with an IR receiver too ..

:clapping:

 

[alladinkachirag]

Yep, The cubox comes with an IR receiver too ..

:clapping:

I think for me it is not using the IR receiver, because my Cubox is well hidden behind my router and in no way exposed to the remote. Seems like it is the way HDMI CEC works...

 

[vgrove]

That's great. But I am still not convinced given the $100 difference.

As long as XBMC on a $35 raspberry b+ gives a decent performance I think it does not justify going for a $130 cubox. No?

 

[gobble]

That's great. But I am still not convinced given the $100 difference.

As long as XBMC on a $35 raspberry b+ gives a decent performance I think it does not justify going for a $130 cubox. No?

That's right. If you get a rpi With case for $35, that's more cost effective. I hope you are getting WiFi and USB with that? And ability to play 1080p flawlessly?

 

[haisaikat]

As long as XBMC on a $35 raspberry b+ gives a decent performance I think it does not justify going for a $130 cubox. No?

I found the RPi with XBMC UI having very slow response times while navigating

 

[Jams4znik03]

Agree, I used the Rpi with all the 3 flavours.. RBMC, XBMC & one more. Forget the third one as its been quite a while. The interface and navigation is great. Was not too happy with the performance. I see a lot of rave review of the cube.. can you throw more light on it & can it be used for videos as well. I am again on lookout. The Samsung smart TV has limited capabilities and would prefer to have one stop solution for AV. More inclined to music though..

 

[gobble]

Agree, I used the Rpi with all the 3 flavours.. RBMC, XBMC & one more. Forget the third one as its been quite a while. The interface and navigation is great. Was not too happy with the performance. I see a lot of rave review of the cube.. can you throw more light on it & can it be used for videos as well. I am again on lookout. The Samsung smart TV has limited capabilities and would prefer to have one stop solution for AV. More inclined to music though..

The Cubox i4 is a Best Buy for Audio. Very silent background and low noise floor in audio signal compared to a desktop with 350w smps. Combined with a USB DAC in the $500 range like an iFi nano with usb purifier or micro dac I am speculating that it should beat all the CDPs and network players in the $1200 to $2000 range in price/performance ratio. As long as you don't blame the source for all the other faults in the chain from room reflections to poor ICs. I am confident that by diverting the money saved by using a cubox+DAC combo into room correction and cables or power filtering the whole chain you will achieve much more satisfaction than merely buying a $2000 CDP. I am running the cubox now on a 12000maH lithium polymer battery bank that supplies 2.1amps of power and its even better now with the wallwart PSU out of the chain.

I haven't used it for video but another FM is very happy with xbmc on it.

G

 

[sann]

Hi Guys,
Is Cubox available in India? Where to import it from?
-sann

 

[gobble]

Hi Guys,
Is Cubox available in India? Where to import it from?
-sann

You can import directly from SolidRun. I didn't get billed any customs duty.

 

[smnrock]

That's right. If you get a rpi With case for $35, that's more cost effective. I hope you are getting WiFi and USB with that? And ability to play 1080p flawlessly?

Is the case is must? I thrown my b+ running openelec behind the TV with out any case. This is powered from TV's usb port itself. Now I don't use any smart TV functionality at all... Very happy with the nfs and navi x plugin. No performance issue on what so ever... Occasionally some jittery when traversing the menus and that also when something is playing in background. Maybe 5.1 audio cause problems according to various reviews, this is something I've not tried so far.