As usual, Tony, your passion and enthusiasm is infectious. Thank you for a great description of this great piece of equipment. So much so, I would like one now to play with, along with $3K and 3RU space to house it. Keep up the magnificent work.
Thank you for the tip on turning subtitles off! Your review of the Z1000 solidified my decision to get two Zidoo players and drop Plex. I got tired of Plex not playing well with all 4K Dolby Vision movies.
Thanks for the video Tony, my take away from this if I am only using it for movie playback I would not really be getting much of an upgrade moving from the Z1000 Pro to this. Is that an accurate statement and if not what did I not understand in the video on what they have improved?
@@Justeric78 I'm fairly certain you didn't miss anything as there is no comment in the video that I noticed around people who only want it for movies are better off saving their cash and getting the z1000 pro. At least Tony has confirmed that above though.
You can tell that this model is designed for higher end. I love my Z9X, but the build quality is nothin compared to this model. Those small Wi-Fi antennas are awesome! My Zidoo Z9X are HUGE and cannot be detached (small wire inside them that is soldered). Nice touch on this product Trakt integration was a nice touch. I still manage a Plex server for remote access and my living room setup. This makes it seamless when I go into my theater to continue a movie. Your example is why is it a great feature. I'd love this model, but def an overkill for my needs. Looks like an awesome product for the 2.0 setup audiophiles!
Fantastic bit of kit. It really does revitalise your entire collection of Blu-rays, by tone mapping them to HDR other than the bit depth, many 1080 discs are indistinguishable from their 4K counterparts.
Exactly!! of course it's still really 8bit 444 instead of 12bit 422 but still, it looks beautiful and adds new lease of life to movies that havent been released in 4K as yet. Thanks for watching Paul.
I still don't understand why you don't just use the disc rather than go to all the trouble of ripping them? Like, is there a website where all these rips exist? If we still had rental movies, then I would definitely recommend this, but at the moment, I'm just confused about why this product exists.
If you don't see the value that's totally fine. People like me who really enjoy having disc level quality but also like to be able to go quickly between movies, especially for demos when people come over, and be able to browse around with my kids to see what they feel like watching, it's like our own personal netflix. YES, we could just go into the rack and look at disk spines but this way is so much nicer in my opinion - and there is no sacrifice on quality.
Fantastic video, thanks for the upload, subbed. The Neo Alpha looks a killer box, but damn, it's expensive compared to Zidoo's other products. I'm currently looking at buying the Zidoo Z1000 Pro - can you tell what makes the Zeo Alpha so expensive compared to the Z1000 Pro?
Thanks for watching. I have the Z1000 Pro and because all I want to use it for is 1:1 movie playback, its more than enough for my needs - the Neo Alpha and the S are designed for hybrid music and movies - so there are audio grade components in it specifically for music playback which will possibly make it better.
Thank you for this very useful video. You mention how good a job it does at displaying 1080p content such that it is hard to tell from 4k. Does it do anything different in this area as opposed to the Z1000 Pro? I am looking at getting the latter, but I don't want to miss out on that upscaling.
You buy disks so you have the highest possible fidelity. You rip them so you get the convenience of a "netflix" style movie poster wall and the ability to browse around your library, check the posters out, enjoy the experience. This is for those people who enjoy that type of thing - nothing to do with being bored, but everything to do with enhancing the experience. Nothing wrong with flipping disks but this is my preferred way.
You can rip your disc then create a whole library of high end ISO - full quality unlike streaming apps ie Netflix etc. You get the convenience of having it all at your fingertip, no need to get up and change discs
Hi Tony, another great video. If you had a choice between the Zidoo UDH 3000 or the Zappiti Neo which would you choose? Any comments or recommendations would be greatly appreciated. Thanks mate.
I would choose the Zidoo because I have experience with it. Both would be pretty close in performance as they share the same hardware. I like the look of the Zidoo's Movie Poster Wall better as well. That being said I don't have a Zappiti to test out but I have seen them in action plenty of times.
I don't believe that's correct. My understanding of UHD is based on resolution. 4K is 3,840 x 2,160 where as UHD is 4096 x 2160 ie - more horizontal pixels but both resolutions work pretty much the same way.
@@BuildMontage I wasn't referring to image resolution here, but other aspects of image quality like, colour reproduction, dynamic range, noise etc. Its quite obvious to me in your side-by-side comparisons that there is a difference in these areas, even over UA-cam on a 1440P calibrated wide-gamut monitor (not that my monitor really has any bearing in analysing web-based content). NB- Im new to this channel and home theater. Though I was served this video via the often strange nature that is the youtube algorithm. As such I'm by no means an expert in home theatre and devices such as this.
Have you by chance checked out a Dune media player? Used their version of the poster wall? Thank you for this great overview of the Zidoo Neo Alpha! Also what made you choose a m2ts file over something like an iso or a backup(BMVD). Cheers!
Ive seen the older Dune players not the new ones. I like the Zidoo products. I never got a chance to review Zappiti. The m2ts files are inside the ISO file btw - so I choose ISO for rips. 1:1.
@@BuildMontage Ah ok thank you - that makes sense. I think I'm gonna end up going with a zidoo mostly because I think they have the nicest looking poster wall and UI.
Dear Tony, i am thinking to buy a Zidoo , i have listed the Z1000Pro or UHD3000 can you tell me your favorite is UHD 3000 much better for the AUDIO vs Z1000 for Movies i have an OPPO203 for Audio too
I think if I was to be laying my cards on the table, the Zidoo NEO Alpha is my ultimate device - but I just can't afford it right now. It's around $4000 AUD. One day I may be able to get it.
Great video Tony. Sometimes though, I just think Plex is just as good for organising ripped movie libraries. It also has support for HDR10 (not sure about Dolby Vision). However, it doesn't upscale 1080p as seen in your video. What's your thoughts on Plex?
It's all about what you would like to get from the experience. I love the Zidoo inteface, how it renders movies and plays back the audio. Also its the movie poster wall I love it more than PLEX and im a lifetime member of PLEX.
Hey Tony 👋 thx fir bringing this to my attention! Didn't no this existed. I have a pretty elaborate hometheater abd use the nvidia sheild pro as I thought that was the best stream player . Is this better then the sheild pro !? Thx
I did a video comparing the Shield to the Zidoo - they are both great, it will come down to quality of life improvements you get from the Zidoo vs the Shield: ua-cam.com/video/6thNXOpAj-o/v-deo.html
@@BuildMontage awesome thx for the response & the link. Would love better upscaling of none 4k. The 77" lg c2 is a great tv but it's very unforgiving with none 4k content. And I don't have a cable box , I use iptv fir cable use .
@@BuildMontage during your time with the player, we’re you able verify native apps such as Spotify and Tidal (similar to DMP-A6)? Is it worth the step up from the UHD3000 or Neo S?
I have the Z1000 pro which uses the same software, but I'm annoyed by the lag in the posterwall because the posters have to reload when you scroll just like you see in your video. I use a fast Unraid server for my ripped movies. What settings do you use to store the posters? The Infuse app on my Apple TV doesn't have this issue at all, no matter how fast you scroll.
@@spizzy7996 wow, that's almost the same as the kaleidoscope and that one already have a big movie library, I though this one would be cheaper considering that you have to go thru the ripping process and buy the movies
@@yt_kong2013 A Kscape system it actual a lot more $$$$. Your looking at $6 for a model with only a 6TB hard drive. Add more Hard drives and the price goes up as you need a Terra Server so over $10k just for that let alone a Strato player to use with the server. Then you have to repurchase your movie library via KScape and even though they run specials, a lot of titles are at or near RRP. Then some titles might not have the Atmos tracks that are on the disc versions. They do have movies in 4K that are not yet released on UltraHD disc though. So this in comparison to a KScape system the Neo Alpha is much cheaper, even if you factor in a NAS and all the hard drives to store all your movies on. The only thing is the KScape interface is pretty slick though. The Neo Alpha seems to be more aimed at the Audiophile market ie. those whom are using Roon, or Native DSD Multi-Channel playback which even the Lumin's don't offer.
Correct, the Z9X is a BEAST - this one, as mentioned, has premium audio grade components which elevate the price, however for movies, you will not get a diminished experience with the Z9X
@@BuildMontage Based on what I read before on these having once owned the Z10-Pro there will be a difference in VQ because of the power supplies in the hi-end unit you may see better black levels in the higher end units.
@@paulmardis1512 possibly true, but I didn't notice any difference in audio or video performance from the NEO vs Z9X - maybe my ears are just not good enough.
You have to store them somewhere on the network or move them into the Zidoo internal drive if you add one over the network. You can turn on the Zidoo Samba server and connect to it from a PC to transfer the data.
Not in all cases... some are shot on film, or some have been shot on RED cameras prior to 4K disks so the original footage exists. I have tested disk bluerays with their 4K counterparts and the Zidoo renders the bluerays MUCH better than the disk player does with the VS10 upscale and tone mapping. I have done tests of this in my previous video (card in the video toward the end)
If you don't see the difference, it won't be for you. Older films are also mastered in higher quality on analogue reel, e.g. Predator 35mm negative. The resolution would be as high as 5K. The difference is significant with older films.
Hello Tony We been watching your shoot since long. We are from India. We are building home theater. We need your help. Can you give us your email Id or usa number i can call. Thank you Manoj Sudhakara
Hi Manoj, While i'd love to help, unfortunately I can't offer one on one help for home theaters mostly because I get a LOT of requests for this and it just isn't possible. You can join my Discord server and chat with the community which may be helpful.
💰 SUPPORT the channel - bit.ly/3quBkTw
@P T that’s a good list right there
As usual, Tony, your passion and enthusiasm is infectious. Thank you for a great description of this great piece of equipment. So much so, I would like one now to play with, along with $3K and 3RU space to house it. Keep up the magnificent work.
Great video Tony. Thank you!
Thanks for watching!
Awsome sounds like zidoo playing there cards right.
It’s a pretty sexy unit
Thank you for the tip on turning subtitles off! Your review of the Z1000 solidified my decision to get two Zidoo players and drop Plex. I got tired of Plex not playing well with all 4K Dolby Vision movies.
That’s the way I went as well ;)
Thanks for the video Tony, my take away from this if I am only using it for movie playback I would not really be getting much of an upgrade moving from the Z1000 Pro to this. Is that an accurate statement and if not what did I not understand in the video on what they have improved?
The detail was in the video but for movies the z1000 pro is perfectly good. It’s what I have for my room :)
@@BuildMontage Thanks, I will have to watch again, lots of information very fast but very informative.
@@Justeric78 I'm fairly certain you didn't miss anything as there is no comment in the video that I noticed around people who only want it for movies are better off saving their cash and getting the z1000 pro. At least Tony has confirmed that above though.
You can tell that this model is designed for higher end. I love my Z9X, but the build quality is nothin compared to this model.
Those small Wi-Fi antennas are awesome! My Zidoo Z9X are HUGE and cannot be detached (small wire inside them that is soldered). Nice touch on this product
Trakt integration was a nice touch. I still manage a Plex server for remote access and my living room setup. This makes it seamless when I go into my theater to continue a movie. Your example is why is it a great feature.
I'd love this model, but def an overkill for my needs. Looks like an awesome product for the 2.0 setup audiophiles!
It’s real advantages for music but of course is nice for movies too
Great video mate. Love the look of the Neo
Its a pretty beast!
Fantastic bit of kit. It really does revitalise your entire collection of Blu-rays, by tone mapping them to HDR other than the bit depth, many 1080 discs are indistinguishable from their 4K counterparts.
Exactly!! of course it's still really 8bit 444 instead of 12bit 422 but still, it looks beautiful and adds new lease of life to movies that havent been released in 4K as yet. Thanks for watching Paul.
@@BuildMontage all discs even 4K UHD are encoded at 10 bit 4:2:0.
What a Monster....great vid. Thx.
I have heard some audiophile you tubers come back with analog output quality integration vlogs.
I still don't understand why you don't just use the disc rather than go to all the trouble of ripping them? Like, is there a website where all these rips exist? If we still had rental movies, then I would definitely recommend this, but at the moment, I'm just confused about why this product exists.
If you don't see the value that's totally fine. People like me who really enjoy having disc level quality but also like to be able to go quickly between movies, especially for demos when people come over, and be able to browse around with my kids to see what they feel like watching, it's like our own personal netflix. YES, we could just go into the rack and look at disk spines but this way is so much nicer in my opinion - and there is no sacrifice on quality.
I still like my Nvidia shield pro
Fantastic video, thanks for the upload, subbed.
The Neo Alpha looks a killer box, but damn, it's expensive compared to Zidoo's other products. I'm currently looking at buying the Zidoo Z1000 Pro - can you tell what makes the Zeo Alpha so expensive compared to the Z1000 Pro?
Thanks for watching. I have the Z1000 Pro and because all I want to use it for is 1:1 movie playback, its more than enough for my needs - the Neo Alpha and the S are designed for hybrid music and movies - so there are audio grade components in it specifically for music playback which will possibly make it better.
Thank you for this very useful video. You mention how good a job it does at displaying 1080p content such that it is hard to tell from 4k. Does it do anything different in this area as opposed to the Z1000 Pro? I am looking at getting the latter, but I don't want to miss out on that upscaling.
They all do the upscaling really well from the cheaper Z9X all the way up to the Neo Alpha. I have the Z1000 pro and it works like a dream!
So what's the point in buying original discs than burning into a player? ? I think this device is for those who are bored with there system.
You buy disks so you have the highest possible fidelity. You rip them so you get the convenience of a "netflix" style movie poster wall and the ability to browse around your library, check the posters out, enjoy the experience. This is for those people who enjoy that type of thing - nothing to do with being bored, but everything to do with enhancing the experience. Nothing wrong with flipping disks but this is my preferred way.
@@BuildMontage fair enough. Keep up the good work.
You can rip your disc then create a whole library of high end ISO - full quality unlike streaming apps ie Netflix etc. You get the convenience of having it all at your fingertip, no need to get up and change discs
Hi Tony, another great video. If you had a choice between the Zidoo UDH 3000 or the Zappiti Neo which would you choose? Any comments or recommendations would be greatly appreciated. Thanks mate.
I would choose the Zidoo because I have experience with it. Both would be pretty close in performance as they share the same hardware. I like the look of the Zidoo's Movie Poster Wall better as well. That being said I don't have a Zappiti to test out but I have seen them in action plenty of times.
Just for watching movies, I guess Zidoo 1000 pro will do same job as this one.
Any video/sound quality difference between two?
Can we stream apps like Netflix,Hulu and .... on zidoo? Thank you.
i actually thought there was a massive difference between 4k and UHD, particularly in dynamic range
I don't believe that's correct. My understanding of UHD is based on resolution. 4K is 3,840 x 2,160 where as UHD is 4096 x 2160 ie - more horizontal pixels but both resolutions work pretty much the same way.
4k and uhd are the same thing
@@estusflask982 No its not. True 4k is 4,096x2,160 though is often marketed to consumers as 3840x2160, which technically speaking is actually UHD.
@@BuildMontage I wasn't referring to image resolution here, but other aspects of image quality like, colour reproduction, dynamic range, noise etc. Its quite obvious to me in your side-by-side comparisons that there is a difference in these areas, even over UA-cam on a 1440P calibrated wide-gamut monitor (not that my monitor really has any bearing in analysing web-based content).
NB- Im new to this channel and home theater. Though I was served this video via the often strange nature that is the youtube algorithm. As such I'm by no means an expert in home theatre and devices such as this.
Have you by chance checked out a Dune media player? Used their version of the poster wall? Thank you for this great overview of the Zidoo Neo Alpha! Also what made you choose a m2ts file over something like an iso or a backup(BMVD). Cheers!
Ive seen the older Dune players not the new ones. I like the Zidoo products. I never got a chance to review Zappiti. The m2ts files are inside the ISO file btw - so I choose ISO for rips. 1:1.
@@BuildMontage Ah ok thank you - that makes sense. I think I'm gonna end up going with a zidoo mostly because I think they have the nicest looking poster wall and UI.
Is this player region free meaning can you play blue rays from other countries?
Yes of course - it plays ANY video file format.
Dear Tony, i am thinking to buy a Zidoo , i have listed the Z1000Pro or UHD3000
can you tell me your favorite is UHD 3000 much better for the AUDIO vs Z1000 for Movies
i have an OPPO203 for Audio too
Can you install 3rd party Android apps for live TV streaming?
Yes you can, but it's not technically supported.
So how's this comparing with the new zappiti you have got?
Man I hate the lag on the zappiti in reference to cover loading...
I think if I was to be laying my cards on the table, the Zidoo NEO Alpha is my ultimate device - but I just can't afford it right now. It's around $4000 AUD. One day I may be able to get it.
Great video Tony. Sometimes though, I just think Plex is just as good for organising ripped movie libraries. It also has support for HDR10 (not sure about Dolby Vision). However, it doesn't upscale 1080p as seen in your video. What's your thoughts on Plex?
All 4K TVs automatically upscale 1080p to 4K.
@@estusflask982 I wasn’t aware of this. Thanks for the comment
It's all about what you would like to get from the experience. I love the Zidoo inteface, how it renders movies and plays back the audio. Also its the movie poster wall I love it more than PLEX and im a lifetime member of PLEX.
Hey Tony 👋 thx fir bringing this to my attention! Didn't no this existed. I have a pretty elaborate hometheater abd use the nvidia sheild pro as I thought that was the best stream player . Is this better then the sheild pro !? Thx
I did a video comparing the Shield to the Zidoo - they are both great, it will come down to quality of life improvements you get from the Zidoo vs the Shield: ua-cam.com/video/6thNXOpAj-o/v-deo.html
@@BuildMontage awesome thx for the response & the link. Would love better upscaling of none 4k. The 77" lg c2 is a great tv but it's very unforgiving with none 4k content. And I don't have a cable box , I use iptv fir cable use .
@@bric7244 Zidoo does great upscale for sdr to hdr as well
Hi, thank you for your review. If you browse your videos through file manager will it generate thumbnails?
Im not sure I understand the question. The Zidoo generates thumbnails based on it's own operating system.
@@BuildMontage Never mind. Thank you for your kind answer!
If I had the opportunity to purchase this for $1900…would you pull the trigger?
This is my dream player.. It's $4000 AUD and I couldn't afford it at the time... Im definitely going to aim for it.
@@BuildMontage during your time with the player, we’re you able verify native apps such as Spotify and Tidal (similar to DMP-A6)? Is it worth the step up from the UHD3000 or Neo S?
Can use PLEX app ?
I am not sure if you can side load PLEX, there could be a way, but I see no reason to when the player on the Zidoo is WAAAAY better.
I have a music streamer considering that, between neo alfa and neo S which one is better for me? Thanks
I really want to but the Neo Alpha for my setup. This was just a loaner to do the video... Brilliant piece of hardware. I would still go Neo Alpha.
@BuildMontage thank you sir. You are the man🙏🏼
lpcm 5.1 and sacd 5.1.... yes or no
Yes, it does pretty much every format.
hello bro
How are you? I want to know the difference it makes to you Trinov from Denon 8500
The Trinnov is next level... I will be making a video on that subject very soon..
So how is everyone making digital copies of their Blu-Ray and 4k discs?
I showed how I did it in the video.. Check the chapter markers.
@@BuildMontage Thanks. I was being lazy. Was going to watch this review after I learned how, but I'll watch it all now!
I have the Z1000 pro which uses the same software, but I'm annoyed by the lag in the posterwall because the posters have to reload when you scroll just like you see in your video. I use a fast Unraid server for my ripped movies. What settings do you use to store the posters?
The Infuse app on my Apple TV doesn't have this issue at all, no matter how fast you scroll.
You have to save all your posters on local disk for it to be faster - I prefer network so I can share them with my other Zidoo players.
@@BuildMontage I was afraid of that. I also use a separate Unraid server for my rips.
How did the CEC work for you?
It’s enabled in the settings
First
does it have spotify connect ?
As mentioned in the video, yes it does :)
Too bad this doesn't include a dvd transport for those with disc collections.
rip your discs, play them as iso on zidoo
Does it add any sharpness or detail to the picture?
It does help with tone mapping yes which helps with clarity.
@@BuildMontage I thought Tonemapping was more highlights and shadow detail. It can make things sharper / more finer detail?
@@BuildMontage It's got the same Realtek CPU and Arm GPU As the Z9x. I'm just saying, for video it probably looks the same as the much cheaper Z9x.
Yes that’s accurate.
will this player play files ripped by any dvd hd
Yes it will.
No, DVDs are SD. But it will play any DVD, in SD.
Where can I buy it? Can you please share the link
Links should be in the description
@@BuildMontage there are links for the other 3 models, but not to this one Alpha
@@yt_kong2013 Looks like it won't be available to order until late August and at an Aussie RRP of $3999.
@@spizzy7996 wow, that's almost the same as the kaleidoscope and that one already have a big movie library, I though this one would be cheaper considering that you have to go thru the ripping process and buy the movies
@@yt_kong2013 A Kscape system it actual a lot more $$$$. Your looking at $6 for a model with only a 6TB hard drive. Add more Hard drives and the price goes up as you need a Terra Server so over $10k just for that let alone a Strato player to use with the server. Then you have to repurchase your movie library via KScape and even though they run specials, a lot of titles are at or near RRP. Then some titles might not have the Atmos tracks that are on the disc versions. They do have movies in 4K that are not yet released on UltraHD disc though. So this in comparison to a KScape system the Neo Alpha is much cheaper, even if you factor in a NAS and all the hard drives to store all your movies on. The only thing is the KScape interface is pretty slick though. The Neo Alpha seems to be more aimed at the Audiophile market ie. those whom are using Roon, or Native DSD Multi-Channel playback which even the Lumin's don't offer.
The $220 one has the same processor and the same software features.
Correct, the Z9X is a BEAST - this one, as mentioned, has premium audio grade components which elevate the price, however for movies, you will not get a diminished experience with the Z9X
@@BuildMontage Based on what I read before on these having once owned the Z10-Pro there will be a difference in VQ because of the power supplies in the hi-end unit you may see better black levels in the higher end units.
@@paulmardis1512 possibly true, but I didn't notice any difference in audio or video performance from the NEO vs Z9X - maybe my ears are just not good enough.
no DAC is very different for audio ESS9038!
Does the neo alpha work when your internet goes down?
Yes. Unless you’re streaming from the internet.
There's definitely a difference between 1080 and 4k.
The camera footage doesnt do it justice - in person it's very difficult to tell. I need to upgrade my mobile camera to match my studio cameras!
First and a half lol
How do you get movies on this
You have to store them somewhere on the network or move them into the Zidoo internal drive if you add one over the network. You can turn on the Zidoo Samba server and connect to it from a PC to transfer the data.
As mentioned in the video, there is an internal storage bay but also I use a Synology NAS to store the movies on and connect via the network.
@@BuildMontage I understand
@@Justeric78 I see
Ouch $1500
There is no difference to the 4k because movies are mastered in 1080p.
Not in all cases... some are shot on film, or some have been shot on RED cameras prior to 4K disks so the original footage exists. I have tested disk bluerays with their 4K counterparts and the Zidoo renders the bluerays MUCH better than the disk player does with the VS10 upscale and tone mapping. I have done tests of this in my previous video (card in the video toward the end)
If you don't see the difference, it won't be for you. Older films are also mastered in higher quality on analogue reel, e.g. Predator 35mm negative. The resolution would be as high as 5K. The difference is significant with older films.
No disk player
Hello Tony
We been watching your shoot since long.
We are from India. We are building home theater.
We need your help. Can you give us your email Id or usa number i can call.
Thank you
Manoj Sudhakara
Hi Manoj, While i'd love to help, unfortunately I can't offer one on one help for home theaters mostly because I get a LOT of requests for this and it just isn't possible. You can join my Discord server and chat with the community which may be helpful.
@@BuildMontage how to join?
@@Manoj_K_Sudhakara link in description for Discord