Cubox vs Rasp Pi Vs Rasp Pi 2

[sam9s]

Thanks for the link Sam. Do you oknow if it supports DTS-HD-MA and Dolby True-HD passthrough? E350N does that smoothly.

Edit: Got the answer.

This NUC does NOT support DTS-HD in a Windows environment. The Intel specs clearly list DTS-HD as a supported audio format but Intel is refusing to release the correct driver stating that the NUC does not support DTS-HD. DTS-HD does work with OpenELEC installed. So the hardware does support it but there is no proper driver for Windows.

Thats seems strange, NUC passes through both DTS HD and DD THD on OpenELEC and this is my personal experience. I assembled an NUC for my friend and installed OpenELEC, and all passthrough worked just fine.

Coming to windows environment I cannot vouch as I did not try it, but it makes me hard to believe that windows would not support DTS HD passthrough on NUC

 

[sam9s]

I missed the budget part, if 15K is your budget then stick to NUC model. Brix will land up much expensive. I would suggest THIS, ofcourse you have to add RAM and HDD to it.

This would easily run KODI will pass through via HDMI, run your music app, would easily do torrent and would not consume more than 30W at load .... maybe even less.

I think I should quote that I did not try XBMC on windows so I do not know if DTS HD works on NUC.(as pointed by mgdelhi) I personally installed OpenELEC and all HD Audio passthrough works, so please make sure that people know what to install and expect before purchasing NUC

 

[sivakuru]

While DTS-HD is not really in the top of my criteria list, its good to have the support.

While OpenElec is good (and I am using it right now), I dont want just to be restricted
to OpenElec.

So what are my other options?. (besides Intel NUC since it does not do DTS-HD).

I am OK for getting components individually and getting it assembled. Budget remains
around 15k. (can stretch it slightly).

Also Sam on the ebay link that you had sent for Intel NUC, if I were to buy that,
which RAM do I need to buy (I think there has to be compatability of 1.35v or something
that I read). Also there seems to be a difference between DDR3 vs DDR3 SODIMM?.
I would need 4 GB I think.

Also the Intel NUC on Amazon comes with 500 GB regular HD. I would probably go
for a 128 GB SSD (or 64 GB SSD) for the sake of faster boot times. So which SSD
should I go for?.

Or I can totally ditch the Intel NUC and go for Zotac Zbox from newegg
such as the following:
Zotac ZBOX-CA320-P AMD A6-1450, 4GB RAM,64GB SSD,AMD HD8250 graphics integrated by CPU,Mini PC - Newegg.com

I guess this should take care of everything and comes to about 18k. What say?.

Thanks for all your help.

 

[manniraj]

@siva

I am using a Foxconn Intel based fanless PC brought from US couple of years back. I am not using this for HTPC but music only PC. I got it for only $160 with 64GB SSD and 4GB RAM free during the christmas sale. Look for this model as well on Newegg which occasionally comes below $200 I think with these freebies.

 

[sam9s]

While DTS-HD is not really in the top of my criteria list, its good to have the support.

While OpenElec is good (and I am using it right now), I dont want just to be restricted
to OpenElec.

So what are my other options?. (besides Intel NUC since it does not do DTS-HD).

I am OK for getting components individually and getting it assembled. Budget remains
around 15k. (can stretch it slightly).

Also Sam on the ebay link that you had sent for Intel NUC, if I were to buy that,
which RAM do I need to buy (I think there has to be compatability of 1.35v or something
that I read). Also there seems to be a difference between DDR3 vs DDR3 SODIMM?.
I would need 4 GB I think.

Also the Intel NUC on Amazon comes with 500 GB regular HD. I would probably go
for a 128 GB SSD (or 64 GB SSD) for the sake of faster boot times. So which SSD
should I go for?.

Or I can totally ditch the Intel NUC and go for Zotac Zbox from newegg
such as the following:
Zotac ZBOX-CA320-P AMD A6-1450, 4GB RAM,64GB SSD,AMD HD8250 graphics integrated by CPU,Mini PC - Newegg.com

I guess this should take care of everything and comes to about 18k. What say?.

Thanks for all your help.

if you are unsure of the RAM then its better to get the complete kit something like below ..

Intel NUC KIT DN2820FYKH Mini PC With 2 GB RAM 500 GB HDD Wifi Hdmi BT USB 3 0 | eBay

You can mail and ask the seller to remove the HDD and minus the price or you can ask him to include an SSD instead of HDD. If your data is on network drive I think even a 32GB SSD will do, but if you plan to store data on the SSD as well then you can go higher. LIke I have a scandisk 32 GB SSD in my HTPC and all data is stored on my NAS.

Zbox is also is decent machine, I have no experience with the one you shared, but I had worked upon Zbox NANO series and it was pretty satisfactory ,,,,,

 

[sivakuru]

OK. One last question.

From the same ebay seller, he has a 128 GB SSD at Rs 17,750
and 1 TB HD at Rs 15,231.
Intel NUC KIT DN2820FYKH Mini PC With 4 GB RAM 128 GB SSD Wifi Hdmi BT USB 3 0 | eBay
and
Intel NUC KIT DN2820FYKH Mini PC With 4 GB RAM 1 TB HDD Wifi Hdmi USB 3 0 | eBay

I dont necessarily need the extra space as I have other storage devices, for the
purpose of booting faster will the SSD be much better when compared to booting
from a regular HD?.

I know there will be a difference but if the difference is miniscule (say 10 sec vs 15 sec),
I might as well go for the 1 TB version which has more space and lesser cost.

Please let me know your thoughts on this.

Thank you.

 

[musicbee]

While DTS-HD is not really in the top of my criteria list, its good to have the support.

While OpenElec is good (and I am using it right now), I dont want just to be restricted
to OpenElec.

So what are my other options?. (besides Intel NUC since it does not do DTS-HD).

I am OK for getting components individually and getting it assembled. Budget remains
around 15k. (can stretch it slightly).

Also Sam on the ebay link that you had sent for Intel NUC, if I were to buy that,
which RAM do I need to buy (I think there has to be compatability of 1.35v or something
that I read). Also there seems to be a difference between DDR3 vs DDR3 SODIMM?.
I would need 4 GB I think.

Also the Intel NUC on Amazon comes with 500 GB regular HD. I would probably go
for a 128 GB SSD (or 64 GB SSD) for the sake of faster boot times. So which SSD
should I go for?.

Or I can totally ditch the Intel NUC and go for Zotac Zbox from newegg
such as the following:
Zotac ZBOX-CA320-P AMD A6-1450, 4GB RAM,64GB SSD,AMD HD8250 graphics integrated by CPU,Mini PC - Newegg.com

I guess this should take care of everything and comes to about 18k. What say?.

Thanks for all your help.

DTS-HD and especially pass-through should be a must IMHO. Only a matter of time before all content is in HD audio.

I can vouch for the Zotac ZBOX, I've used it and its great, some rigs even for gaming.

OK. One last question.

From the same ebay seller, he has a 128 GB SSD at Rs 17,750
and 1 TB HD at Rs 15,231.
Intel NUC KIT DN2820FYKH Mini PC With 4 GB RAM 128 GB SSD Wifi Hdmi BT USB 3 0 | eBay
and
Intel NUC KIT DN2820FYKH Mini PC With 4 GB RAM 1 TB HDD Wifi Hdmi USB 3 0 | eBay

I dont necessarily need the extra space as I have other storage devices, for the
purpose of booting faster will the SSD be much better when compared to booting
from a regular HD?.

I know there will be a difference but if the difference is miniscule (say 10 sec vs 15 sec),
I might as well go for the 1 TB version which has more space and lesser cost.

Please let me know your thoughts on this.

Thank you.

SSD is highly recommended. Its not only boot time, it makes the entire PC faster, accessing files, programs, loading apps/programs, etc. just about everything will be faster.

Do ask the seller how much he is adding for the SSD... I've picked up 120GB SSDs for around $50 on Amazon... not those prices here, but if you are lucky then you can pick up a Samsung 840 for around 4.5K INR on Amazon.in. You can work out which is the cheaper option and take it from there.

 

[sivakuru]

On the pass through, I thought the problem was only with DTS-HD and there
was no problem with pass through of DTS, DTS-MA. Is my understanding correct
or am I missing something?.

@musicbee, I am OK with the Zotac. Although I would like to know if there would
be any issues with this AMD platform?.

I am slightly inclined with the Intel NUC simply for the reason that in my budget
I can get the NUC here locally in India (so would help with warranty etc) but
if it were for the Zotac, I would have to get it from the US.

Thanks once again everyone for your time and help.

 

[musicbee]

@siva - The Zotac I used was with Intel i7, Intel HD Graphics and NVIDIA GPU, but that should run higher in terms of cost. Its still running well and being used by my cousin on a daily basis.

I've not used one with AMD so cannot state on reliability/performance. Personally, I'd be inclined to go with Intel too.

DTS-HD and DTS-MA are the same, pass-through is better (IMHO) though typically you can decode at the PC end with software like PotPlayer, either should be fine. But if you have an AVR then I'd recommend that do the primary heavy lifting and not the PC/HTPC.

I've not used Intel NUC myself, but don't see why it should not offer the same performance. Do check if its easily upgrade-able and you should be fine.

 

[sam9s]

OK. One last question.

From the same ebay seller, he has a 128 GB SSD at Rs 17,750
and 1 TB HD at Rs 15,231.
Intel NUC KIT DN2820FYKH Mini PC With 4 GB RAM 128 GB SSD Wifi Hdmi BT USB 3 0 | eBay
and
Intel NUC KIT DN2820FYKH Mini PC With 4 GB RAM 1 TB HDD Wifi Hdmi USB 3 0 | eBay

I dont necessarily need the extra space as I have other storage devices, for the
purpose of booting faster will the SSD be much better when compared to booting
from a regular HD?.

I know there will be a difference but if the difference is miniscule (say 10 sec vs 15 sec),
I might as well go for the 1 TB version which has more space and lesser cost.

Please let me know your thoughts on this.

Thank you.

128GD is too much just for the OS, if you are planning to have your media on network like NAS a 32 GB SSD is all you need or if you plan to have windows with few music applications and all then a 64GB will just do fine and yes SSD does makes quite a difference in everything.

Also DTS HD and DTS MA are the same thing.

 

[sivakuru]

OK. Thanks for the clarification on the DTS-HD and DTS-MA. Does this mean
it wont pass through even DTS?. I dont have any DTS-HD/MA stuff but I do
have DTS stuff.

I guess I will have to look at other options (because of the pass through issue).

If I were to go for assembling stuff, what are my options?.

 

[musicbee]

^ No correct answer actually. Its all s/w and codec related, though typically with Windows 7 & 8 there should be no issues in pass-through.

I love PotPlayer, you can use external filters like LAV, use madVR, and even bitstream audio via S/PDIF and HDMI, plus a ton of other things. MPC HC is another good option and allows bistreaming too.

Ideally it will depend on the OS. Linux is fine about being light weight, but extremely limited in other aspects. Recently I had issues with even Windows 7 in trying to get HEVC (H.265) content to play, though Windows 8 has no issues whatsoever. In the past I had a tough time getting MKV to play in Linux and so for HTPC I'd highly recommend sticking with Windows 7 & 8. All the modern CPUs and GPUs bitstream HD audio fine, should not be any issues on that front.

If assembling I'd look at Intel CPU with onboard GPU (Intel HD Graphics), no issues in playing even 4K with them. For anything else like madVR you will need a more powerful GPU. 8 GB RAM and an SSD are a must. Don't need a soundcard as long as mobo has HDMI, though HDMI 2.0 is where the future is headed.

 

[sivakuru]

OK. I know we are digressing a lot here and apologies to Prasanna (the thread starter)
but I hope our conversations do help him in one way or the other.

I think I am kind of back to square one as I am slowly drifting away from Intel NUC.

So, in summary if I have to go for assembling, I will have to look for Intel CPU with
onboard GPU (intel HD graphics). I will leave MadVR etc aside and just assume kodi
as my player. The Intel CPU can be celeron?. 4GB and 32 SSD (or 64GB) is enough
and the motherboard has to have HDMI (preferrably HDMI 2.0). Anything I have
left out?. I will install Win 7 as I have a license for it (and may be upgrade to Win 8
later).

Thank You.

 

[sivakuru]

OK. I know I am going in circles here and please bear with me.

I read one of the earlier post by Prasanna and he mentioned the following config:
1. Cooler Master Elite 130 Mini-iTX Cabinets (RC-130-KKN1) - 3750
2. Gigabyte E350n - 4600
3. 2 GB RAM : 1385

And some one mentioned that the E350n is not good for music (due to EMI/RF,
fan etc).

Lets assume that my budget is slightly flexible (than the 15-18k mentioned earlier),
what configuration would give me a config that I can use both for HTPC and
music usage?.

The motherboard should have HDMI and Co-axial (I think USB3.0 are granted these days).

Fast boot into Win 7 (Win 8)
I just want a smooth playback with pass through using kodi
rdio music playback
uTorrent
YouTube browsing

Thank you.

 

[sam9s]

for what its worth I did not have any issue EMI/RF with 350n, I installed windows 7 on it and then kodi and it played all movies and music fine

Also if NUC on windows cannot bitstream DTS-MA then it does not mean it would not bitstream DTS ...The below thread confirm that DTS works (thought DTS MA does not)

https://communities.intel.com/thread/48173

post no 5

 

[gcpraveen]

I have both amazon fire tv stick ($40 - I got it as gift from office) where you can sideload XBMC. This is the hasslefree solution and performance is good for 720p and 1080p movies. I have not tried/have no clue on 3d movies. I have connected it to my yamaha 677 and works perfectly fine.

I also have Raspberry Pi 2 and tried xbmc, even it works fine with openelec. I am planning to use this as squeezebox server.

since it has xbmc you can stream music/movies.

 

[sivakuru]

OK. One last question (hopefully) going to E350n kind of solution, would allow me
to upgrade to an Graphic card if required later correct?. (for the purpose of say
MadVR etc)

I will go to local computer shops later this weekend and try to find the costs
associated for assembling options vs the Intel NUC and take a final decision.

Thanks everyone for your time and replies.

 

[sam9s]

GA-E350N the one which flipkart has............. the non USB 3 one seems to have a PCI slot and not PCIE, the USB 3 varient has a PCI-E. So with a non USB 3 one you would not be able to slot in a current gen GPU as far as I can tell from the specs ...

Gigabyte E350N Motherboard - Gigabyte : Flipkart.com

GIGABYTE - Motherboard - APU Onboard - GA-E350N (rev. 3.0)

so try to get USB 3 varient (which will be hard to find) or go with NUC

 

[sam9s]

I have both amazon fire tv stick ($40 - I got it as gift from office) where you can sideload XBMC. This is the hasslefree solution and performance is good for 720p and 1080p movies. I have not tried/have no clue on 3d movies. I have connected it to my yamaha 677 and works perfectly fine.

I also have Raspberry Pi 2 and tried xbmc, even it works fine with openelec. I am planning to use this as squeezebox server.

since it has xbmc you can stream music/movies.

I am not a fan of side loading apps, specially XBMC, never performs in comparison to a dedicated app. If Android Media player has to be on of the choice I would recommend, Minix X8-H Plus which has a dedicated XBMC app, specially made for the hardware, true 4K video support and as far as I can tell best XBMC experience out there on a Android TV box. Cost around 150 USD and with shipping and all it should not cross 12-13K .....

 

[musicbee]

OK. One last question (hopefully) going to E350n kind of solution, would allow me
to upgrade to an Graphic card if required later correct?. (for the purpose of say
MadVR etc)

I will go to local computer shops later this weekend and try to find the costs
associated for assembling options vs the Intel NUC and take a final decision.

Thanks everyone for your time and replies.

If it has PCIE it will work. Of course PCIE is backwards compatible, but go for one with the latest specs i.e. PCIE 3.0.

Go for motherboard and also a front panel with USB 3.0. It makes a huge difference in data transfers.