Love4sound
Well-Known Member
Yeah I tried all. But nothing beats Blu Ray player wen it comes to audio quality. And also u cannot connect a stick to a Blu Ray player as it only has hdmi out and not hdmi in.
Feasibility of Building a HT room with a streaming device/service like Netflix.
- Thread starter Prashob
- Start date
I think the fire stick WiFi supports 802.11ac, if the wifi router is good, then shouldn't be an issue.I have grey hair and grey beard too. If that makes me senior I would be glad to help
The only reason why Netflix might sound better on a 4k player than a streamer will be because of a wired ethernet connection. Ofcourse the visuals will be vastly superior from a 4k player. But not a huge leap for audio. There are wired ethernet adaptors for Amazon fire TV stick, which improves connection stability and quality of audio and video
I'm streaming 4K with atmos over my WiFi network
May not be true for 'all ' BDP's, I have HDMI in on my Oppo 103D
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Yes, i have and its really nice. Titles with atoms audio is really amazing
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Love4sound
Well-Known Member
Yeah in selective models. But what is the point? No need to connect stick since most of the latest Blu Ray players will have Netflix and prime integrated
Oppo 103D has Netflix but no prime and Oppo UHD players has nothing !
Love4sound
Well-Known Member
Ok Sony Blu-ray player has Netflix nd I used a PS4 which had all the apps required for streaming. Netflix, Prime and plex
Do you think your blue ray player sound better than PS4 for Netflix ?
Love4sound
Well-Known Member
My Blu Ray player is also Sony so the picture quality and audio quality were unique.
Okay, I think I can add some value to this discussion.
I initially built my entertainment room setup around 3 devices:
1. PS4 Pro for gaming, not valid for this discussion
2. nVidia Shield for 4k streaming and Plex server for UHD rips. I have a 4k Netflix plan, an Amazon Prime account, Google Play movies account, and some 30 4k movies ripped at 40-50GB/movie.
3. Xbox One S for UHD blu ray playback
All of this with a 500Mbps internet connection and a 5.2.2 speaker setup on a 65" Bravia X930e which is both Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos compliant.
After 5 month of using this setup, I quickly realized a few things:
- Streaming at the highest quality, means you WANT Dolby Vision and Atmos. In both streaming and disc playback. The nVidia Shield doesn't do either for Netflix, it does Atmos in Amazon Prime and Plex. The Xbox does Vision + Atmos in Netflix, only Atmos on discs, and overall interface is not as good as the Shield.
- Google Play movies absolutely sucks in India. HD is more like 720p, and that's their highest quality
- Buying discs is nostalgic and nice, but not convenient when you sit down for dinner and just want to watch something in a library.
- Downloading UHD movies on a 500mbps connection is possible, but it's still slow, illegal and requires you to use a VPN mostly
- 3rd party streaming aggregators like Terrarium and Popcorn TV are great on smaller screens, but quite shit on a system that is built for the highest source quality
With all this said, I found only ONE solution: the Apple TV. As much as I hate to admit it, I'm not a fan of Apple products but this one just ticked of all the boxes: Dolby Vision + Atmos in Netflix and other streaming, an extensive movie library that has a few 4K HDR titles today all at the same cost as the other titles, beautiful interface and ability to play files on the network using VLC.
This is how my set up looks like today:
1. PS4 Pro
2. Apple TV, used daily. iTunes Movies, Netflix are the most used apps. So good. I have Ready Player One on UHD Bluray, iTunes and a 40gb print. I prefer the Bluray for sure but simply going to my library to play it on the Apple TV is so convenient.
3. nVidia Shield, barely ever used. May sell it soon. I don't need Plex server since the files are all on my network drive anyway.
4. Sony X700 bought on a clearance sale in the US. Rarrrellly used. I have about 10 UHD movies, but I guess my biggest disappointment was Infinity War, such a bad bluray experience. Dunkirk, A Quiet Place, Ready Player One are my favorites.
Xbox One S out for sale now, should post soon on this.
My recommendations:
- Get the Apple TV if you want the iTunes movies library. It's simply the most convenient and fastest way to Dolby Vision and Atmos 4K content. Having Netflix, Amazon and other apps in their highest quality on the same device is a huge plus.
- Get the Firestick 4K if you are only streaming Netflix and Amazon. You get Dolby Vision AND Atmos out of the box, but you don't get access to the movie library of iTunes or heck even Google Play. You also don't get YouTube, which IMO is one of the biggest drawbacks.
- Get a Mibox S or nVidia Shield if you're the types to download a lot of movies. Apart from the nVidia falls flat for me. I have a dedicated game console, so I don't need the games. And incompatibility across so many apps is quite a bummer.
- Definitely get a UHD bluray player if you want the hiiiiiiighest quality out there, but it's not convenient for daily usage. A lot like having a great track car for track days, and a comfy car for daily driving.
In the middle of all this, I'd like to mention a couple of things. The PS4 does streaming too but doesn't have half the apps - Sony, Hotstar etc. The Xbox does steaming too but has the same issue.
I initially built my entertainment room setup around 3 devices:
1. PS4 Pro for gaming, not valid for this discussion
2. nVidia Shield for 4k streaming and Plex server for UHD rips. I have a 4k Netflix plan, an Amazon Prime account, Google Play movies account, and some 30 4k movies ripped at 40-50GB/movie.
3. Xbox One S for UHD blu ray playback
All of this with a 500Mbps internet connection and a 5.2.2 speaker setup on a 65" Bravia X930e which is both Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos compliant.
After 5 month of using this setup, I quickly realized a few things:
- Streaming at the highest quality, means you WANT Dolby Vision and Atmos. In both streaming and disc playback. The nVidia Shield doesn't do either for Netflix, it does Atmos in Amazon Prime and Plex. The Xbox does Vision + Atmos in Netflix, only Atmos on discs, and overall interface is not as good as the Shield.
- Google Play movies absolutely sucks in India. HD is more like 720p, and that's their highest quality
- Buying discs is nostalgic and nice, but not convenient when you sit down for dinner and just want to watch something in a library.
- Downloading UHD movies on a 500mbps connection is possible, but it's still slow, illegal and requires you to use a VPN mostly
- 3rd party streaming aggregators like Terrarium and Popcorn TV are great on smaller screens, but quite shit on a system that is built for the highest source quality
With all this said, I found only ONE solution: the Apple TV. As much as I hate to admit it, I'm not a fan of Apple products but this one just ticked of all the boxes: Dolby Vision + Atmos in Netflix and other streaming, an extensive movie library that has a few 4K HDR titles today all at the same cost as the other titles, beautiful interface and ability to play files on the network using VLC.
This is how my set up looks like today:
1. PS4 Pro
2. Apple TV, used daily. iTunes Movies, Netflix are the most used apps. So good. I have Ready Player One on UHD Bluray, iTunes and a 40gb print. I prefer the Bluray for sure but simply going to my library to play it on the Apple TV is so convenient.
3. nVidia Shield, barely ever used. May sell it soon. I don't need Plex server since the files are all on my network drive anyway.
4. Sony X700 bought on a clearance sale in the US. Rarrrellly used. I have about 10 UHD movies, but I guess my biggest disappointment was Infinity War, such a bad bluray experience. Dunkirk, A Quiet Place, Ready Player One are my favorites.
Xbox One S out for sale now, should post soon on this.
My recommendations:
- Get the Apple TV if you want the iTunes movies library. It's simply the most convenient and fastest way to Dolby Vision and Atmos 4K content. Having Netflix, Amazon and other apps in their highest quality on the same device is a huge plus.
- Get the Firestick 4K if you are only streaming Netflix and Amazon. You get Dolby Vision AND Atmos out of the box, but you don't get access to the movie library of iTunes or heck even Google Play. You also don't get YouTube, which IMO is one of the biggest drawbacks.
- Get a Mibox S or nVidia Shield if you're the types to download a lot of movies. Apart from the nVidia falls flat for me. I have a dedicated game console, so I don't need the games. And incompatibility across so many apps is quite a bummer.
- Definitely get a UHD bluray player if you want the hiiiiiiighest quality out there, but it's not convenient for daily usage. A lot like having a great track car for track days, and a comfy car for daily driving.
In the middle of all this, I'd like to mention a couple of things. The PS4 does streaming too but doesn't have half the apps - Sony, Hotstar etc. The Xbox does steaming too but has the same issue.
Atmos on fire stick 4K is limited to Amazon prime and that too just one title so far. Since the new Apple TV 4K supports atmos on Netflix, that make the ideal choice for streaming and iTunes is a bonus.
thanks for your detailed reply.
Apple TV video quality is very good I heard, but audio is just Dolby digtal plus, not much better than Netflix right?
Akshit2111
Active Member
Thats a detailed reply
and quite some gear u have Now 4k is imo a little over hyped. 1080p plus hdr is itself more than enough for ppl. When blu ray came ppl never stopped using dvds.. dvds have been selling alongside blurays for more than a decade now. And i see that happening with blu ray as well now that we have uhd. In terms of video quality m pretty much satisfied with 1080 but what bugs me is the audio quality. If apple tv supports dolby digital plus then its no better than netflix on fire tv and far more expensive.
How was ur experience in terms of audio? Like comparing every gear u have. If you say that nothing beats a blu ray disk on a blu ray player then i wud want to know by how much.
I have been in this dilemma of buying a br player but i am skeptical coz i don't think i wud be buying br disks. Also audio quality on netflix(fire stick) never satisfied me infact i found audio on my smart tv native netflix app to be better.
I think that is best answered by this audiophile over on reddit who did a proper comparison. Keeping it simple, the Apple tv gets freakishly close to the quality of BR Atmos only its not as loud.
https://i.redd.it/r6goyrzsnjy11.jpg
Here you go.
Thats a detailed reply
Now 4k is imo a little over hyped. 1080p plus hdr is itself more than enough for ppl. When blu ray came ppl never stopped using dvds.. dvds have been selling alongside blurays for more than a decade now. And i see that happening with blu ray as well now that we have uhd. In terms of video quality m pretty much satisfied with 1080 but what bugs me is the audio quality. If apple tv supports dolby digital plus then its no better than netflix on fire tv and far more expensive.
How was ur experience in terms of audio? Like comparing every gear u have. If you say that nothing beats a blu ray disk on a blu ray player then i wud want to know by how much.
I have been in this dilemma of buying a br player but i am skeptical coz i don't think i wud be buying br disks. Also audio quality on netflix(fire stick) never satisfied me infact i found audio on my smart tv native netflix app to be better.
I don't think 4K is hyped at all, in my honest opinion. 4K today almost always comes with HDR and devices with HDR almost always come with 4K devices anyway. Basically, 4K HDR come as a package except in the rarest of circumstances. Netflix has an extensive library of great 4K HDR content, and an almost equal number of Dolby Vision content. And all that for 800rs per month for FOUR screens. Split it across a few friends (if you want to), and it's some of the highest quality content for 2400inr a year. Apple's library is rentable at 150rs/movie, which for the quality it offers could come close to a proper theater experience with the right equipment - I watched A Star Is Born the other night and was honestly blown away. I've ordered the Bluray to compare, but the quality is mind blowing as it is.
So Yea, 4K HDR is mainstream today, and devices are available aplenty starting at 25-30k almost. But then, you'll start noticing real quality differences (both positive and negative) only with equipment that let's see that difference. With a 1080p 60" screen connected a Logitech Z906, I never would have known this world exists. But now with this setup, I really crave for high quality source content but with convenience.
On normal fire stick (read 1k) YouTube is via silk browser and experience is almost as similar as an YouTube app on tv or media player. Moreover it supports casting from mobile phones too if they are on the same network and supports queuing function too.
I know, and it's the same in the 4K Firestick too. Sorry, but I just find the Google-Amazon fight silly, it all started with Amazon not stocking the Chromecast and now it's led to this. It's just an unnecessary jugaad.
That said I believe the Firestick 4K is one of the best and affordable options to get into Dolby Vision and Atmos content. If and when Amazon starts its movie services in India, it'll be the up there with the best. Apple TV is at 17k vs the 6k for the Firestick 4K, that's a substantial difference.
Whoa!! This discussion is interesting.
My 2 paise (w.r.t what I have at home); TV + AVR + 3.1 as of today.
LG TV has Netflix/Prime apps; TV wired to router. 4K video is directly rendered on TV
Audio passes thru ARC to AVR (non-ATMOS) but I get DD+ (guess it's 5.1 at least)
I need to change the HDMI cable to high bandwidth type to check if there is any improvement.
Also have Chromecast-Ultra (aka Chormecast-4K) connected to TV; CC wired to router
Have tried casting 4K content from Netflix (app on IPAD/mobile). Video is 4K quality same as on native TV app.
Audio passes thru ARC to AVR (non-ATMOS) but I get DD+ (guess it's 5.1 at least)
Someday I'll try an ATMOS AVR; but then will need more speakers (4 coming soon)
The setup is TV centric; even though there are 7 HDMI inputs on AVR; none are used (no sources).
Doubt I'll go back to physical media ever.
FYI, CC-Ultra is cheap (USD 69).
Cheers,
Raghu
My 2 paise (w.r.t what I have at home); TV + AVR + 3.1 as of today.
LG TV has Netflix/Prime apps; TV wired to router. 4K video is directly rendered on TV
Audio passes thru ARC to AVR (non-ATMOS) but I get DD+ (guess it's 5.1 at least)
I need to change the HDMI cable to high bandwidth type to check if there is any improvement.
Also have Chromecast-Ultra (aka Chormecast-4K) connected to TV; CC wired to router
Have tried casting 4K content from Netflix (app on IPAD/mobile). Video is 4K quality same as on native TV app.
Audio passes thru ARC to AVR (non-ATMOS) but I get DD+ (guess it's 5.1 at least)
Someday I'll try an ATMOS AVR; but then will need more speakers (4 coming soon)
The setup is TV centric; even though there are 7 HDMI inputs on AVR; none are used (no sources).
Doubt I'll go back to physical media ever.
FYI, CC-Ultra is cheap (USD 69).
Cheers,
Raghu
If one want's more impact meaning higher volume and more um, punch, set the sound to Original instead of Original 5.1 in Netflix and try the receivers dolby sorround stuff. I am only saying that the impact is better but it will be in stereo and you will have to depend on the AVR software to give you the 5.1 effect. No harm in trying it out. I cant tell much difference in the way surround sound is presented as I only have Front Centre and Left with sub. I have stopped watching in 5.1. The sound in Stereo is way better.
You have nividia shield now as per your signature, how it compares in audio department to BD player for Netflix streaming?
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