Cheap vs Expensive Media Streamers?

[Bharadwaj Bunga]

Dear members,

I'm in the hunt for a decent streaming device for my Home Cinema. I have come across many recommendations across various forums/reviewers through out the web.

My requirements:

1. Resolution support: 4K
2. Imaging tech support: Dolby Vision, HDR 10+
3. Audio format support: Should be able to pass-through Dolby Atmos in Prime and Netflix
4. Product should be worth the value spent.

My picks:

Fire TV 4K Max : Cheapest option and ticks all the boxes but UI is a bit cluttery.

Apple TV 4K : Premium offering with awesome, fluidic UI.

Shield TV Pro : AI upscaling, good for playing local files too.

I'm inclined more towards Fire TV 4K Max as I'm planning to get a dedicated media player for local files [Zidoo Z9X or Z10Pro]

 

[Subbu68]

Chromecast with google TV - connect to your HTS, have a NAS, stream NAS content to CC, Cast from your mobile any other stuff including Spotify, tidal, YT Music.

Mi Box - same as above but found NAS is sometimes iffy

 

[Gvtpraj]

Hi,

Not sure about Fire TV 4K Max, but have used Fire TV Stick 4K for a while.
If you are planning to get a dedicated media player like Zidoo or Zappiti for local file playback, I would highly recommend Apple TV 4K for streaming.
Whenever a streaming service starts supporting new audio format, Apple TV gets the update almost immediately.

 

[Bharadwaj Bunga]

Chromecast with google TV - connect to your HTS, have a NAS, stream NAS content to CC, Cast from your mobile any other stuff including Spotify, tidal, YT Music.

Mi Box - same as above but found NAS is sometimes iffy

Thanks for the suggestions but I would like to ask how Google TV is better than Fire TV and Apple TV? Casting is a good feature to have but I suppose Fire TV can do it too.

I felt the UI in Google TV is much better than Fire TV but can't beat the Apple TV's UI

Any noticeable improvements in Video/Audio output as compared to other contenders?

 

[Bharadwaj Bunga]

Hi,

Not sure about Fire TV 4K Max, but have used Fire TV Stick 4K for a while.
If you are planning to get a dedicated media player like Zidoo or Zappiti for local file playback, I would highly recommend Apple TV 4K for streaming.
Whenever a streaming service starts supporting new audio format, Apple TV gets the update almost immediately.

Thanks for the response! Since you seem to be already using Apple TV, I'd like to take the privilege of bugging you with a lot more questions. Hope you don't mind!

1. I heard many good things about the video & audio output quality in Apple TV. Is it significantly perceivable? Let's say when compared to your Shield TV?

2. Do you/did you face any issues in audio pass-through while playing atmos content in Netflix/Prime ? (Cames across few users reporting such issues on the web and few say that ATV doesn't pass through the audio but decodes it)

3. Finally, do you feel Apple TV offers the value for what it costs? I mean the Fire TV 4K sells for peanuts (as low as 30$ at times) and does everything Apple TV does.

 

[amrutmhatre90]

Curious, why not just have Nvidia shield tv pro which will do all the above and you wouldn't have to spend on Zido.

Any differences?

 

[Bharadwaj Bunga]

Curious, why not just have Nvidia shield tv pro which will do all the above and you wouldn't have to spend on Zido.

Any differences?

Well, as far as from what I heard, Zidoo offers the best performance when it comes to local file playback.

Since most of my media content will be stored in mkv and iso formats and I prefer stored media over OTT content anyday, I decided to opt for the best one out there.

I'm picking a streamer just for the system completion sake.

 

[amrutmhatre90]

I decided to opt for the best one out there.

Many people swear by Nvidia Shield as one stop box, no idea how it compares to Zidoo for local playback but I am happy with the output.

I use shield for OTT, Local playbacks of blu ray files. Throw anything at it and it plays, did not try ISO as of now.

 

[Gvtpraj]

1. I heard many good things about the video & audio output quality in Apple TV. Is it significantly perceivable? Let's say when compared to your Shield TV?

I have been using both Apple TV and Shield TV for more than five years (currently having latest versions of both). So, these are my personal opinions.
I found Audio to be a bit better on Apple TV, but video is perceivably better on Apple TV, like instantaneously switching to 4K, better streaming bit-rate etc on Apple TV.

2. Do you/did you face any issues in audio pass-through while playing atmos content in Netflix/Prime ? (Cames across few users reporting such issues on the web and few say that ATV doesn't pass through the audio but decodes it)

There used to be problem on Apple TV when streaming Atmos content on Netflix, like sometimes center channel sounds coming from surrounds, but this bug was fixed long back. I never had any problems with prime on either devices.

3. Finally, do you feel Apple TV offers the value for what it costs? I mean the Fire TV 4K sells for peanuts (as low as 30$ at times) and does everything Apple TV does.

Definitely!
As a standalone streaming device, I don't think there is anything better than Apple TV.

I'm not saying shield TV is bad, I had used Shield TV 2105 for 4 years and currently using Shield TV Pro 2019.
If both streaming and local file playback are important, Shield TV is your best bet.

If its only for local file playback, definitely look into Zidoo or Zappiti. I had used Zappiti for a while and currently using Oppo 203 clone, both are way better than Shield TV (both audio and video).

Hope it helps.

Cheers!

 

[Subbu68]

Thanks for the suggestions but I would like to ask how Google TV is better than Fire TV and Apple TV? Casting is a good feature to have but I suppose Fire TV can do it too.

I felt the UI in Google TV is much better than Fire TV but can't beat the Apple TV's UI

Any noticeable improvements in Video/Audio output as compared to other contenders?

I don't use any of the TV feature (on both CC and my SONY TV) since we have IPTV with relevant channels included in our internet package in UAE. I am not a movie buff to subscribe to Netflix etc. and Netflix, Amazon Prime etc. in UAE are channeled to Western and Arabic content. Very less Indian content. So even my wife who likes movies doesn't want them.

Not sure if Fire TV has casting like Android. It can screen mirror I believe.

With CC, cast from any Android phone, tab etc. and it can be video or audio. You can then use the device for anything else or even switch it off. CC takes care of playing the movie or music. With screen mirroring you need to keep the screen "alive" on your device.

 

[Enkay78]

I have

Fire TV 4K
Fire TV 4K Max
Apple TV (2021)
SHIELD TV (2017)

In the past I had also own Fire TV CUBE (2021)

I would say this :

Apple TV is good if you want atmos from Apple Music.
Fire TV 4K and Max : there is not much difference, except for faster processing in Max. Audio output is limited to Dolby plus. There is no audiopassthrough.

Shield TV is in my opinion the best for OTT and LOCAL FILE PLAYBACK (both movies and audio). It can pass through audio. The USB audio output is 192kz. And the newer experience has picture & frame matching.(I find this to be very good). As per reviews newer Shield TV pro has better tone mapping.

 

[mbhangui]

I have

Fire TV 4K
Fire TV 4K Max
Apple TV (2021)
SHIELD TV (2017)

In the past I had also own Fire TV CUBE (2021)

I would say this :

Apple TV is good if you want atmos from Apple Music.
Fire TV 4K and Max : there is not much difference, except for faster processing in Max. Audio output is limited to Dolby plus. There is no audiopassthrough.

Shield TV is in my opinion the best for OTT and LOCAL FILE PLAYBACK (both movies and audio). It can pass through audio. The USB audio output is 192kz. And the newer experience has picture & frame matching.(I find this to be very good). As per reviews newer Shield TV pro has better tone mapping.

+1 to this. The other disadvantage with Apple TV is that it resamples all audio to 48K, which means apple never meant the ATV to be a product used for serious high quality audio. Unless you are ok with losing bitperfect, ATV is no no for music. So shield should be having superior sound, but I don't have shield at the moment. When I use my system to play apple music, I use an external dac rather than use my apple tv.

Shield can do everything that ATV, Firestick, chromecast can do and it can do it better. The only disadvantage I see with shield is that it is a android system.

Here is a comparsions between the various products in a neat table

NVIDIA SHIELD TV vs Apple TV, Fire TV, and Roku Ultra

See why NVIDIA SHIELD TV is the dominant streaming media device today.

www.nvidia.com

 

[Bharadwaj Bunga]

Apple TV is good if you want atmos from Apple Music.
Fire TV 4K and Max : there is not much difference, except for faster processing in Max. Audio output is limited to Dolby plus. There is no audiopassthrough.

AFAIK ATV doesn't pass through the audio but decodes/re-encodes audio, where as Fire TV 4K Max does pass through audio.

 

[trumee]

Shield can do everything that ATV, Firestick, chromecast can do and it can do it better.

Unfortunately, Shield also resamples everything to 48MHz.

 

[mbhangui]

Unfortunately, Shield also resamples everything to 48MHz.

Nvidia supports upto 192 Khz. It all depends on the music app that you are using to play music.

NVIDIA Support

nvidia.custhelp.com

 

[trumee]

@mbhangui Thanks for correcting me. My primary player is Plexamp, and it is stuck at 48KHz. I did try Kodi and it was able to output bitperfect audio.

 

[superczar]

+1 to this. The other disadvantage with Apple TV is that it resamples all audio to 48K, which means apple never meant the ATV to be a product used for serious high quality audio. Unless you are ok with losing bitperfect, ATV is no no for music. So shield should be having superior sound, but I don't have shield at the moment. When I use my system to play apple music, I use an external dac rather than use my apple tv.

Shield can do everything that ATV, Firestick, chromecast can do and it can do it better. The only disadvantage I see with shield is that it is a android system.

Here is a comparsions between the various products in a neat table

NVIDIA SHIELD TV vs Apple TV, Fire TV, and Roku Ultra

See why NVIDIA SHIELD TV is the dominant streaming media device today.

www.nvidia.com

So I finally got a chance to use a shield and a s7+ for an extended period of time.
You are right in that its android that prevents both devices from living up to their potential.

For context, I am a long term user of ATV 4K units .
The video quality on the shield for streaming is noticeably subpar in a lot of scenarios even though there is no good reason for it to be.
Bear in mind that all of the below is on a low latency wired gbps connection with up/down speeds both above 900/900 so there is zero network bottleneck:

Streaming
- Hotstar plays at noticeably lower resolution and no HDR/ATMOS . Frame rate matching did not work on shield
- Netflix playback starts at noticeably lower resolution and takes time (15-25 seconds) to stabilise vs instantaneous full res/high bitrate on ATV . Frame rate matching worked
- Prime works fine on both although initial login takes longer on ATV
- YT works fine on both
- ATV+ did not do frame rate matching on shield

Local
Using plex on Shield and Infuse on ATV, both seemed at par to me on VQ .. The UI on both is well regarded and UI preference is subjective so I will skip that (although both are significantly superior to Kodi)

Shield showed ATMOS-DD+ on AVR while ATV showed ATMOS. I understand the latter is resampled/remuxed but I did not hear a noticeable difference. Technically though, the Shield should have better audio for local playback but the difference will be subtle

All in all, shield is a good device, no doubt - but at that price, the user experience did not really feel up to the mark.
It makes sense if someone wants to use Kodi with *ahem* services and my 25 year old self would have probably preferred it - but as of now, the ATV is a definite winner - at least for my usage scenario

 

[Phani24]

Well, as far as from what I heard, Zidoo offers the best performance when it comes to local file playback.

Since most of my media content will be stored in mkv and iso formats and I prefer stored media over OTT content anyday, I decided to opt for the best one out there.

I'm picking a streamer just for the system completion sake.

Ism using zidoo z10 pro for hdd and Apple fir streaming. Zidoo is best.

 

[Bharadwaj Bunga]

My hunt for the streaming device is still on. I'm not able to pick one which ticks all the boxes. Although my primary requirement is ability to output surround sound audio from major OTT platforms like Netflix, Prime, Zee5 & Disney+ Hotstar.

Any pointers will be highly appreciated!

 

[liverpool_for_life]

Although my primary requirement is ability to bit-stream surround sound audio through HDMI from major OTT platforms like Netflix, Prime, Zee5 & Disney+ Hotstar.

Why do you need bit-streamed audio from streaming services?